The Parsha we will read B'ezrat Hashem this Shabbat is Parshat Vayishlach. At the beginning of the Parsha, the Torah deals with the meeting between Yaakov Avinu and Eisav – after 34 years apart. Yaakov and Eisav received the brachot when they were 63 years old, following which, Yaakov hid in the yeshiva of Shem v’Ever for 14 years and spent 20 years in Charan. After 34 years, Yaakov returned to Eretz Yisrael and hears that Eisav is on his way to him. According to one Midrash, this was triggered by Yaakov, who sent gifts that caused Eisav to be aroused to fight against him. According to a second Midrash, the one who aroused this war was Lavan, who sent messengers to Eisav and told him to go out and fight against Yaakov Avinu. The Torah states:
And Yaakov sent messengers before him to Eisav his brother to the land of Seir, the field of Edom. And he commanded them, saying: Thus shall you say to my lord, to Eisav: Thus says your servant Yaakov: I have sojourned with Lavan and delayed until now. And I have oxen and donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants, and I have sent to tell my lord, to find favor in your eyes. And the messengers returned to Yaakov, saying: We came to your brother, to Eisav, and he is also coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him. And Yaakov was very afraid and distressed, and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks, and the cattle, and the camels, into two camps.
The Midrash states (Bereishit Rabbah, 76:2) – Yaakov said: “If he overpowers me, he will kill me, and if I overpower him, I will kill him.” This is what it means וַיִּירָא – and he was afraid that he should not kill; and וַיֵּצֶר לוֹ – he was distressed that he should not be killed by the others.
Rashi says he prepared himself for three things: לְדוֹרוֹן (for a gift), לִתְפִלָה (for prayer) וּלְמִלְחָמָה (and for war). After the meeting with Eisav, Yaakov goes to live in Sukkot for eighteen months, after which he arrives in Shechem, where his daughter Dinah is forcibly taken, leading to the inhabitants of Shechem being killed by Shimon and Levi. On the way back, Yaakov Avinu passes through Beit El, and on his way to Chevron, Rachel Imeinu passes away and there Binyamin is born. Later, the Torah deals with the passing of Yitzchak Avinu, and at the end of the Parsha, the Torah deals with Eisav's extended family and the eight kings who ruled in Edom לִפְנֵי מְלָךְ לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל – Before any king reigned over Bnei Yisrael.
Today we will address a topic that forms a central axis throughout this entire Parsha, but to understand it we must first review and understand several items. Yaakov Avinu was very afraid of the battle against Eisav, and the question that arises is: what exactly is he afraid of? After all, Hakadosh Baruch Hu had appeared to him just a few days earlier and said:
Return to the land of your fathers and to your birthplace, and I will be with you. And when he left Har HaMoriah on his way to Charan, once again he was given such a promise: And behold, I am with you and I will guard you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land, for I will not abandon you until I have done what I have spoken to you.
Yaakov has an explicit promise that Hakadosh Baruch Hu will not abandon him, so why is he so afraid?! The Midrash states (Bereishit Rabbah, 75:13): Yaakov Avinu said before Hakadosh Baruch Hu, "Ribbono Shel Olam, You wrote in Your Torah that And an ox or a sheep, it and its young you shall not slaughter on the same day; If this wicked one comes and destroys my children and their mother all at once, who will read the Torah that You are destined to give at Har Sinai? I beg of You, הַצִּילֵנִי נָא – save me from his hand so that he does not come and strike me – mother with children.”
The Peninim Yekarim comments on Rashi’s explanation that Yakov was distressed that he might have to kill someone, noting that others share this opinion and add that Rabbi Meir was destined to emerge from Eisav and thus he could not be killed in battle right now (Gitin 56b). Other commentators say that perhaps he would kill Eisav and then his father Yitzchak would become very angry with him because Yitzchak especially loved Eisav.
According to the Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 76:2), Yaakov feared Eisav not because of physical danger, but because Eisav might confront him on the strength of his merits – the merit of dwelling in Eretz Yisrael and the extraordinary honor he showed their father. Chazal teach that even Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel admitted he could not match even one-hundredth of the respect Eisav gave Yitzchak, serving him only in royal garments and with exceptional care. Knowing this, Yaakov’s fear centered on Eisav’s spiritual credit, not his power; just as Moshe Rabbeinu feared Og Melech HaBashan not because of his size, but because of the merits he possessed.
Regarding Yaakov Avinu’s fear, the Kli Yakar writes that the commentators search but could not find a proper reason for why this was, or what exactly he was afraid of given the two promises he had received from Hakadosh Baruch Hu. He rules out the answer given by some that Yaakov feared the promises given were nullified because he had sinned; as only eight days had passed since the last promise in Lavan’s house! The resolution he then presents is along the lines of what Chazal said (Sotah 41b): Anyone who flatters another ultimately falls into his hands. Similarly, Yaakov felt within himself that he had sinned by flattering the wicked when he said, Thus says your servant Yaakov. Therefore, he was afraid, for he knew that whoever flatters the wicked will ultimately fall into his hand. And since Yaakov undoubtedly had so many merits that would outweigh this transgression, nevertheless he was distressed that some of his merits would be deducted from him in order to save him from Eisav. In the Midrash, Chazal teach this lesson regarding the Pasuk from Mishlei (26:17): A passerby who gets embroiled in someone else’s quarrel is like one who seizes a dog by its ears. They bring a parable: There was a bandit sleeping at a crossroads; a person came and began to wake him up, saying, “Get up! There’s danger here!” The outlaw got up and started beating the passerby, saying, “It’s your fault – you woke me up!” So too Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to Yaakov Avinu, “Eisav was going on his way, and you sent gifts to him and invited him with such flattery!”
Some say that Yaakov’s fear was the very fact that he was afraid. But if Hakadosh Baruch Hu tells you to go, why are you suddenly afraid? This story does not add up.
With that, I would like to move in a completely different direction. Yaakov Avinu brought all his family across Ma’avar Yabok – the Yabok River or Crossing. Suddenly, a man came and wrestled with him: And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. In Chazal there is a dispute about who this was – whether it was שָׂרוֹ שֶׁל עֵשָׂו – the minister of Eisav, or according to the view of Targum Yonatan ben Uziel, it was the angel Michael. We will follow the view that it was the minister of Eisav. The Torah states: And Yaakov was left alone; what happened that he was left alone? Rashi says he forgot small vessels and went back for them. The Gemara (Chullin, 91a) says we learn from this that for the righteous, their possessions are more precious to them than their own bodies (because they do not stretch out their hands to steal). But even if his possessions were precious to him, why would he go back specifically now? Rabbeinu Bachya answers that Yakov did not want the small children to not be endangered on the road if they lacked these items, and therefore he put himself in danger to return. This means, these small vessels were baby bottles, or similar – although they don’t cost all that much, without them the entire neighborhood would know they’re missing!
The Siftei Kohen explains that Chazal say regarding this Pasuk: do not read it as alone, but rather as for his vessel, hinting that Yaakov returned across the Yakob to retrieve a small jug of oil. Where did this jug come from? When he placed stones around his head, and awoke to find them miraculously fused into one, he discovered beside it a small vessel of oil. He poured the oil on the stone to anoint it, and the jug immediately refilled itself. Realizing from this miracle that the oil was destined for holiness, Yaakov refused to leave it behind. That oil, the Siftei Kohen writes, was the very oil from which the Mishkan and all its vessels were anointed, as well as the Mizbe’ach, Aharon and his sons, and the kings of Israel – and it remained intact for generations. The Birkat Shmuel adds to these words of the Siftei Kohen.
The flask of oil found by the Chashmonaim came from the very same miraculous oil, as it was sealed by the Kohen Gadol, descendant of Aharon HaKohen. They used the oil to light for eight days, according to their need, and the remainder was hidden away for Olam Haba.
The Gemara (Chullin, 91a) says that And a man wrestled with him teaches that they raised dust – אָבָק – from their feet up to the Kiseh HaKavod – the Throne of Glory. And when was that dust raised? There is a piyyut that Ashkenazi Jews recite at the Seder: And so it was in the middle of the night. There the paytan says: Then You performed many wonders at night, at the beginning of the watches of this night, the righteous convert You made him victorious when it was divided for him at night, and it was at midnight.
This implies that the struggle took place on the night of Pesach. The Rokeach explains it this way: Yaakov remaining alone teaches that until now the angels had been with him, and he was afraid of Eisav. They departed from him in order to intimidate Eisav. The angel of Eisav then said: “Now that the angels are no longer with him, I will go and harm him.” But it was a leil shimurim – a night guarded from destructive forces.
The Zohar Hakadosh comes and teaches that one who eats on Tisha B’Av is as if he ate the sciatic nerve. He explains that the gid hanasheh is the place where the yetzer hara lies in wait, the point from which it comes upon a person. When the angel wrestled with Yaakov and could not overpower any part of him, it struck only the sciatic nerve – its own place and nature. Therefore, the Torah forbade Bnei Yisrael from eating it, for they are not from that side, whereas the nations, whose angel is the ס"מ, do eat it, strengthening themselves from it.
The Zohar continues: a person has 248 limbs corresponding to the 248 positive Mitzvot and 248 angels, and 365 sinews corresponding to the 365 prohibitions and the 365 days of the year. Tisha B’Av corresponds to ס"מ among those 365. Just as the angel found only the sciatic nerve to weaken Yaakov, so too he found Tisha B’Av as the day on which judgment intensified, and the Beit Hamikdash was destroyed. Therefore, one who eats on Tisha B’Av is considered as if he ate the sciatic nerve.
The Chatam Sofer writes that Yaakov fled from Lavan on the day before the 1st of Av, and after seven days Lavan caught up with him – on the 6th of Av. On the night of the 7th, an angel came to Lavan in a dream, and that day, Yaakov and Lavan made a covenant with each other. Yaakov was punished, as the Ramban says, because of this – he feared and was troubled about making a covenant with Lavan. On that very day, the 7th of Av, Yaakov caused two words to be written in the Torah in Aramaic – יְגַר שָׂהֲדוּתָא – bringing some impurity into holiness. Therefore, through him gentiles entered the heichal – impurity entering a holy place. On the 8th of Av, Yaakov rose early in the morning; he was afraid and distressed, sent his messengers, and lodged there on the night of the 9th. It was on the night of the 9th – Tisha B’Av – that he wrestled with the angel, and then on the day of the Tisha B’Av he bowed seven bows to Eisav, kissed him, and made peace with him. Corresponding to the seven times he bowed to Eisav, Chazal (Midrash HaGadol) say that seven were taken from Yaakov: The Ohel Moed, the Mishkan in Gilgal, Shiloh, Nov, and Givon, the First Beit Hamikdash, and the Second Beit Hamikdash.
The Chatam Sofer writes: This is the meaning of their raising dust up to the Kiseh HaKavod – which refers to the Beit Hamikdash, the Throne of Glory, the place of our Sanctuary from the beginning. This is the word ירך (thigh), which is an acronym for י׳ם ר׳קיע כ׳סא – sea, firmament, throne. The angel touched יְרֵכוֹ בְּכַף – the kaf of his yarech – meaning, the letter that alludes to כ סא, the Throne. It was there that he struck, shaking the Sanctuary, and therefore the kaf of Yaakov’s thigh was dislodged when he wrestled with him.
The Navi says: אַל תְּנַבֵּל כִּסֵּא כְבוֹדֶךָ אַל תִּנְאַץ לְמַעַן שִׁמְךָ – Do not abhor us, for Your name's sake; do not disgrace the throne of Your glory (Yirmiyahu 14:21). Rashi explains, the throne of Your glory is the Beit Hamikdash, and the Midrash Aggadah says Yisrael, who are engraved on the Kiseh HaKavod. The Mahari Kara writes, Yerushalayim is called the throne of glory, as it says כִּסֵּא כָבוֹד מָרוֹם מֵרִאשׁוֹן – A glorious throne on high from the beginning.
Related to the prohibition against eating the gid hanasheh, the Shelah HaKadosh adds to the Zohar’s teachings. Hinted in the phrase אֶת גִּיד are the four fasts of the year that stemmed from the dislocation of Yaakov’s thigh. The word הַנָּשֶׁה is like the reversal of הַשָּׁנָה – the year, meaning, therefore Bnei Yisrael shall not eat on the 3rd of Tishrei – 'ג, nor the 10th of Tevet – 'י; or the 17th of Tammuz, which is the sum of ד'ג י. The word אֶת then comes to include Tisha B’Av.
From all these learnings, it emerges that Yaakov's battle with the angel of Eisav revolved around the Beit Hamikdash. If these are the facts, we can proceed to the next stage. When Eisav sees Yaakov Avinu, the Torah states: And Eisav ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him; and they wept.
The Midrash states (Bereishit Rabbah, 78:9): And Eisav ran to meet him and kissed him, there are dots above it. Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said: In every place where you find the text greater than the dots, you expound the text; where the dots are greater than the text, you expound the dots. Here, neither the text is greater than the dots nor the dots greater than the text, but this teaches that his mercy was aroused at that moment and he kissed him with all his heart. Rabbi Yannai said to him: If so, why are there dots above it? Rather, it teaches that he did not come to kiss him but to bite him, and Yaakov Avinu's neck became like marble and that wicked one's teeth were blunted. And what does it mean to say "and they wept"? Rather, this one wept over his neck and that one wept over his teeth. Rabbi Abbahu in the name of Rabbi Yochanan brings it from here: "Your neck is like an ivory tower" etc.
Chazal state (Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, 37) that when Yaakov crossed to come to the land of Canaan, Eisav came to him from Har Seir in fierce anger and plotted to kill him. Eisav said: “I will not kill my brother Yaakov with arrows and a bow, but with my mouth I will kill him and suck his blood.” The word וַיִּשָּׁקֵהוּ (and kissed him) is to be read as וַיִשָכֶהוּ (and bit him). And why did he want to kill him specifically through biting? Are there not easier ways to kill a person? The sefer Velo Od Ela answers that it appears the reason was measure for measure – middah k’neged middah – since Yaakov took the birthright and brachot through a matter of eating that comes to a person's mouth; and this is also in the manner of Bilaam, whose power is only in his mouth.
I thought to answer based on the bracha Eisav received: And by your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; and it shall come to pass when you have dominion, that you shall break his yoke from off your neck. It could be said that he thought he had received a hold on the neck of Am Yisrael at a time when they sin – and therefore he wanted to bite him specifically on his neck.
The Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer continues: Yaakov's neck became like ivory, and about this the Pasuk says: Your neck is like an ivory tower; and Eisav's teeth were blunted. When Yosef HaTzaddik meets his brother Binyamin, the Torah says: And he fell upon his brother Binyamin's neck and wept, and Binyamin wept upon his neck. Rashi states that he wept over the two Batei Mikdash that would be in Binyamin's portion and would ultimately be destroyed. The source of Rashi's words is in the Gemara (Megillah 16b), noting that Binyamin did not have two necks, but this was the meaning of the word in plural.
The question arises – why is the Beit Hamikdash called by the name צַוָּאר – neck? Shlomo HaMelech says (Shir HaShirim 4:4): Your neck is like the tower of David built with turrets, a thousand shields hang upon it, all the shields of the mighty men. The Gemara asks the meaning of Your neck is like the tower of David built with turrets, and answers, it is a mound to which all mouths turn.
But why is it called by the name neck? Chazal compare the human body, where the head corresponds to Hakadosh Baruch Hu and the body corresponds to Knesset Yisrael. The part that connects the head with the body is the neck. Similarly, the Beit Hamikdash connects us with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Additionally, just as the neck is placed at the height of a person, so the Beit Hamikdash is placed at the height of the world. And just as most ornaments hang on the neck, so the Kehuna comes from the Beit Hamikdash, and the Levi’im from the Beit Hamikdash. And just as when the neck is removed a person has no life, since the Beit Hamikdash was destroyed there is no life for the enemies of Israel (meaning, Israel itself).
It emerges therefore that Eisav wanted to give a bite to the Beit Hamikdash; and the angel, when wrestling with Yaakov, struck him in the sciatic nerve because he wanted to raise dust up to the Kiseh HaKavod – for the Beit Hamikdash is called the כִּסֵּא הַכָּבוֹד.
Yaakov Avinu prepared for war. He went and separated the first group from the second by a day's journey because Rivka had told him that on the day he dies, Eisav will also die. Therefore, if he distanced them one day's journey, one camp will naturally be able to escape. The Torah then tells us: And he placed the maidservants and their children first, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Yosef last: And he passed before them and bowed to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother:
Rabbotai, why did Yaakov arrange everything this way? Why did he need to position the mothers next to the children? Why did Eisav need to know how many children each mother had? The Zera Bareich discusses extensively what lies behind this arrangement. First, we can notice that Yaakov Avinu tried to invoke a principle called You shall not slaughter it and its offspring on the same day. Therefore, he placed the women before the children. But after Yaakov arranged them in this order, Yosef stood before Rachel. Why? So that they wouldn't think the prohibition of it and its offspring applies only if you slaughter the mother and then the offspring. The prohibition applies in both directions.
I thought to offer something wonderful based on his words. The Torah states in Parshat Emor: “And whether it be ox or sheep, you shall not slaughter it and its offspring on one day.” Since Yosef HaTzaddik is called שׁוֹר (ox), he placed himself before Rachel, since in the Pasuk, the ox is mentioned first. Rashi Hakadosh comes and quotes the words of the Midrash in explaining why Yosef stood before Rachel. Yosef said, “My mother is beautiful, perhaps that wicked one (Eisav) will set his eyes upon her; I will stand opposite her and prevent him from looking at her.” From here, Yosef merited the bracha of...
