After returning from חרן and meeting עשו, eventually יעקב arrived in the city of שכם.
The תורה tells us that וַיָבֹא יַעַקֹב שָׁלֵם עִיר שְׁכֶם – he arrived _________.
רש"י explains that this refers to ________ things: He was no longer limping from the injury by the מלאך who fought him, he had regained all of the wealth that he had given to עשו as a gift, and during his time in לבן’s house, he did not forget any of the תורה he had learned.
Question
Why doesn’t רש"י simply say that שָלֵם means that יעקב had survived his encounters with עשו and לבן?
Answer
On his way to חרן, Hashem had promised יעקב that he would protect him from the dangers of עשו and לבן. So, there is no need for the תורה to tell us that this actually occurred.
However, there are things that happened to יעקב that Hashem’s __________ would not necessarily protect him from.
His limp might not have been completely healed, because it was caused by a מלאך of Hashem.
He might not have made back _____ the money that he had spent on his gift to עשו, because he still had much wealth even without that money.
And the risk of forgetting his תורה while he was by לבן, was not because of anything לבן did, but because of how hard יעקב himself was working, which could have happened anywhere.
Therefore, רש"י explains that _____ is referring to things that יעקב might have lost, since they were not necessarily included in Hashem’s promise.
Further Discussion
How does this apply to our עבודה in גלות? (See אותיות ז-ט in the שיחה)
