Returning to Yaakov Avinu’s request from Hakadosh Baruch Hu upon waking from his dream, he asks:
אִם יִהְיֶה אֱ-לֹהִים עִמָּדִי וּשְׁמָרַנִי בַּדֶּרֶךְ הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי הוֹלֵךְ וְנָתַן לִי לֶחֶם לֶאֱכֹל וּבֶגֶד לִלְבֹּשׁ :
If Hashem will be with me and guard me on this path that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to wear:
The Midrash explains (Bereishit Rabbah 70:4) that he requested Hakadosh Baruch Hu guard him on his path away from lashon hara, illicit relations, bloodshed, and finally – idolatry.
At first glance this is not understood. Why would Yaakov Avinu suddenly ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu to save him from bloodshed? Was he a murderer?! Rather, according to our explanation it now makes sense. He was concerned that perhaps he would encounter bandits on the road, and this bandit would start fighting with him or try to kill him, and then, G-d forbid, he would come to kill him, and then there would be no Beit Hamikdash – because if there is blood on one's hands, there is no Beit Hamikdash! – And this is also why he requested וְשַׁבְתִּי בְּשָׁלוֹם; meaning, that he should not only return, but return in peace, without a battle on the way.
The Chatam Sofer explains: Rashi notes that Yaakov feared he might kill others, and one may wonder why this troubled him so deeply. The answer lies in Yaakov’s own words: “And I return in peace to my father’s house... and this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be the house of Hashem.” Yaakov understood that the stone beneath his head was the Foundation Stone from which the Beit Hamikdash would one day emerge. But from the case of David HaMelech, Yaakov learned that the Beit Hamikdash could be built through someone who has spilled blood. Therefore, he tied his vow to the condition “I return in peace” – meaning, not through war, not through killing, not through bloodshed. Because only then would “the stone be the House of Hashem.”
This is why Yaakov was so determined not to kill even in self-defense. He feared that doing so would forfeit the privilege of having the Beit Hamikdash built through him. And this, the Chatam Sofer says, was precisely Eisav’s intent! Eisav marched toward Yaakov with four hundred men, not merely to defeat Yaakov, but to provoke a battle that would force Yaakov to kill, thereby eliminating his claim to the Beit Hamikdash. Even if Yaakov himself survived, the Beit Hamikdash would be lost!
But Hakadosh Baruch Hu overturned Eisav’s plan. He softened Eisav’s heart, dissolved his desire for war, and caused the four hundred men to slip away. Eisav understood that his attempt had failed, that the Beit Hamikdash would indeed arise from Yaakov, and therefore Eisav wept.
On the reason behind Eisav’s weeping during this encounter, the Shemen Rosh says he wept because suddenly Yaakov loved him and did not fight him. “I came to fight with him, and he came out unscathed, with no blood on his hands!" And therefore, Eisav wept specifically on Yaakov’s neck, for the Beit Hamikdash is called neck.
After concluding the war, where did Yaakov Avinu go? The Torah tells us he went to Sukkot, and an extra detail is added – he built a house. No, there was no thought that he’d sleep in the park, but the house he built represents him saying, "With Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s help, I didn’t fight with Eisav – and there is now a Beit Hamikdash!" And what happened next? The Torah tells us וַיָּבֹא יַעֲקֹב שָׁלֵם עִיר שְׁכֶם – And Yaakov came to Shalem, a city of Shechem. The Shemen Rosh says שָׁלֵם refers to Yerushalayim, and the meaning of this Pasuk is: Yaakov saw Yerushalayim in its splendor after not fighting with Eisav.
Shemen Rosh then brings another idea. The Gemara (Ta’anit 16b) states that in the Beit Hamikdash, they did not answer אָמֵן to the brachot, but rather בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד. And this is why Yaakov later says: אֲנִי נָתַתִּי לְךָ שְׁכֶם אֶחָד, where the word שכ"ם is an acronym for ש'ם כ'בוד מ'לכותו.
So, we can understand that Yaakov Avinu returned joyfully, in peace, since he hadn’t caused anyone’s death. But here begins the snag – the pancher (פַּנְצֵ'ר), the sudden flat tire in the story.
Yaakov Avinu camps in Shechem, and there was an overlord in town called Shechem ben Chamor, who, together with his father Chamor, were the city leaders. One day Yaakov's sons went to graze in the field; Shechem ben Chamor saw this and took advantage of the opportunity to kidnap Dinah. The Midrash tells us (Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer 38) that Yaakov's daughter was a tent-dweller and didn't go outside, so Shechem ben Chamor brought young women playing outside with drums. Dinah went out to see the girls playing, and he abducted her and lay with her, and she conceived and gave birth to Asnat.
After the brothers returned home, they heard what Shechem ben Chamor did to their sister; and both Shechem and Chamor knew that what was done would not pass quietly, so they immediately approach Yaacov. Shechem and his father pleaded with Yaakov’s family to allow Shechem to marry Dinah, offering any dowry or gift they requested. They assured them that Shechem dearly desired her and would comply with whatever terms were set. When Yaakov’s sons responded, they insisted that they could not give their sister to an uncircumcised man and proposed that if all the males of the city underwent circumcision, they would join with them as one people. Pleased with the offer, Chamor and Shechem eagerly agreed, and Shechem immediately sought to fulfill the condition. They then persuaded the men of their city, arguing that Yaakov’s family was peaceful and that allowing them to dwell and trade among them would benefit the whole community – a new Middle East! With a Cofix on every street corner! The men agreed and underwent circumcision.
According to the Rama MiPano there were 24,000 men there, and Shimon and Levi killed them all. Yaakov Avinu then rebuked his two sons, and Shemen explains the rebuke as Yaakov saying to them, “I left Eisav with clean hands. But now because of you there will be a new war; if there is war – there is blood, and if there is blood there is no Beit Hamikdash!" This is why he concludes with: ווְנִשְׁמַדְתִּי אֲנִי וּבֵיתִי – And I and my house will be destroyed. The Torah continues and says:
וַיִּסָּעוּ וַיְהִי חִתַּת אֱ-לֹהִים עַל הֶעָרִים אֲשֶׁר סְבִיבוֹתֵיהֶם וְלֹא רָדְפוּ אַחֲרֵי בְּנֵי יַעֲקֹב:
And they journeyed, and the terror of G-d was upon the cities that were around them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Yaakov:
The Midrashim are divided about what exactly happened. Some say they were afraid to enter into war with the sons of Yaakov and therefore fled. And some say that there actually was a war – and Yaakov Avinu shed blood in this war and consequently lost the Beit Hamikdash!
Because of this, Yaakov Avinu was very broken; Hakadosh Baruch Hu saw his pain, and the Torah says:
וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ אֱ-לֹהִים שִׁמְךָ יַעֲקֹב לֹא יִקָּרֵא שִׁמְךָ עוֹד יַעֲקֹב כִּי אִם יִשְׂרָאֵל יִהְיֶה שְׁמֶךָ וַיִּקְרָא אֶת שְׁמוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל:
And G-d said to him, Your name is Yaakov; your name shall no longer be called Yaakov, but Yisrael shall be your name; and He called his name Yisrael:
"Yaakov shed blood. But Yisrael did not – so you have nothing to worry about now!"
If this is the case, we can proceed to a wonderful explanation. The Yerushalmi (Berachot 1:6) states that anyone who calls Avraham 'Avram' transgresses a positive commandment. But one who calls Yaakov 'Yaakov' and not 'Yisrael' does not transgress a positive commandment? What is the difference between Avraham and Yaakov? The answer to this is simple. The name ‘Avram’ was given by a gentile – by Terach. And the name ‘Avraham’ was given to him by Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Besides this, Chazal write that after Hakadosh Baruch Hu added the letter ה' to him, five things were added to him: two ears, a heart, lips, and Brit Milah. Therefore, if you call him by the name 'Avram' it implies that he is lacking five things, and therefore one transgresses a positive commandment.
Unlike 'Avram', 'Yaakov' is the name that Hakadosh Baruch Hu originally gave him. Hakadosh Baruch Hu then added the name 'Yisrael', so that the name 'Yaakov' would be secondary and the name 'Yisrael' would be primary.
The Shemen Rosh, in his drashot on Parshat Vayeira, asks a wonderful question. Hakadosh Baruch Hu sends Avraham Avinu to offer up his son Yitzchak as a sacrifice. And what did Avraham call the place after the Akeida? הַר – mountain, as it says: אֲשֶׁר יֵאָמֵר הַיּוֹם בְּהַר ה' יֵרָאֶה. But before the Akeida he called it מָקוֹם – place, as it says: וַיַּרְא אֶת הַמָּקוֹם מֵרָחֹק. The Midrash (Tanchuma, Vayeira 22) states that initially that place was flat land, but Hakadosh Baruch Hu said it is not the way of a king to dwell in a valley but rather in a high, elevated, beautiful place visible to all. Immediately Hakadosh Baruch Hu signaled to the surrounding valleys that the mountains should gather to make a place for the Shechinah. Therefore, it is called Har HaMoriah, because from the awe of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, it became a mountain.
