Transcript
Okay, good morning. This Shabbos we have the privilege of reading פרשת וישלח Parshas Vayishlach and just to give a sense of context before we examine the פסוקים psukim themselves, before we delve into the verses we're going to study, we ended last week's פרשה ויצא Parsha Vayeitzei with יעקב Yaakov taking now his two wives, רחל Rachel and לאה Leah, and all of his children and fleeing from his father-in-law's home. He had now spent, he had spent a combined 20 years there. Right? He spent 14 years working for רחל Rachel and לאה Leah and another six years working for לבן Lavan. He determined it was time to go. It was time to leave. לבן Lavan was a negative influence on his family and after 20 years, it was time to break free. I mentioned that a שלום זכר Shalom Zachar last Friday night, that what exactly was the fundamental dispute between יעקב Yaakov and לבן Lavan? What gave לבן Lavan and יעקב Yaakov rather, indication that it was time to leave? So, perhaps one can argue that the distinction between the two of them was the notion, a very, very fundamental philosophical difference about how to live life. לבן Lavan lived life for the here and now. It was a very hedonistic, materialistic, pleasure-seeking life. All לבן Lavan cared about was pleasure, was riches, was wealth right now. יעקב Yaakov is invested in the future. יעקב Yaakov is invested in continuity. יעקב Yaakov is invested in a legacy. And I mentioned, in fact, you could see this in the very etymologies of their names. רב גולדויכט Rav Goldvicht from ישיבה יוניברסיטי Yeshiva University, I once heard him suggest that the name לבן Lavan comes, it's a contraction of the words לא בן Lo Ben. לבן Lavan is לא בן Lo Ben. No child, no son, no continuity. No concern for the future. Just living the here and now, just living for the moment, just living for the pleasures of of the immediate moment. On the other hand, in contrast, you have יעקב Yaakov. יעקב Yaakov, whose life is characterized, יעקב Yaakov who very much seems obsessed beginning in the beginning of last week's פרשה parsha and continuing through the end of ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis with playing with rocks. יעקב Yaakov has a dream and there's 12 rocks under his head and they combine and become one, and he wakes up and he makes a monument out of stones. And יעקב Yaakov when he leaves לבן Lavan, what does he do? Each of his sons, he takes stones and he makes a monument. He gives it one name and לבן Lavan gives it another name. He's constantly playing with these stones. What's יעקב's Yaakov's obsession with stones? There's a lot we could talk about. We're not going to right now. It's last week's פרשה parsha. But the Hebrew word for stone is אבן Even. אבן Even is a contraction of two words, אב Av and בן Ben. And אבן Even stands for continuity. Stands for future generations. It stands for playing it forward. In fact, we have the custom when we go to an unveiling or when we visit the cemetery in general, what do we do to affirm our commitment to the life of our parent, our grandparent, our loved one? We take a stone. We take an אבן Even and we place it on the monument. Because an אבן Even is אב Av and בן Ben. We affirm our commitment to our parent or grandparent or aunt or uncle or whomever that we will continue in their way. They are no longer here but they have left a legacy by placing that stone, the אב Av and the בן Ben. There's a lot more we could say about this, but that was the fundamental dispute between יעקב Yaakov and לבן Lavan. יעקב Yaakov is committed to the future, לבן Lavan is committed to the here and now to his pleasure. And that brings us to the beginning of this week's פרשה parsha, פרשת וישלח Parshas Vayishlach. So now yeah. Uh, we are, I'll tell you in a second. I just want to give a context to the beginning of וישלח Vayishlach. It's page 170 in the ארטסקרול Artscroll on the סטון חומש Stone Chumash. So יעקב Yaakov takes leave and he's ready to return home. It's been 36 years. 36 long, hard years since יעקב Yaakov took the ברכות brachos from his brother, fooled his father with the advice and and help of his mother. It's been 36 long years and now יעקב Yaakov is going to be returning home. But before he returns home, of course he's going to have a confrontation with עשיו Esav, with his big brother or little brother, depends if you're following chronology or birthright, but he's going to have a conflict, a confrontation with his brother. He needs to reconcile. You can't come home when you're not talking to your brother. You can't come home when you think your brother is ready to kill you, slit your throat. So he's got to reconcile with his brother. So עשיו Esav advances to attack and יעקב Yaakov prepares in three ways. And in so doing, our Rabbis teach us that this is a precedent and a model for how we the Jewish people, the progeny of יעקב Yaakov should prepare for every conflict we have with our enemies. Military preparations, we need to, we need to flex our muscles, show our might, be prepared to fight. Number two, prayer. We need to recognize ultimately our destiny is determined by the one above, by הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, we need to pray. And number three, gifts. Gifts can, today's terminology, one could express that as diplomacy. Diplomacy. So the three the three approaches that יעקב Yaakov employs are very, very much necessary today for the Jewish people, the State of Israel, and they are military preparedness, military preparations, prayer and diplomacy. יעקב Yaakov does all of that, he's on his way and he returns, he forgets something, this is what we're going to talk about in a moment, he goes back for it. At night he ends up wrestling with an angel. He wrestles through the night with this angel. Who is this angel? What are they wrestling about? We'll talk about that today. Those are the פסוקים psukim we're going to examine today. And as the result, as a result of this wrestling match, the angel injures him, his sciatic nerve, his leg, his גיד הנשה Gid HaNasheh, and we are instructed, we're not allowed to eat it until today. יעקב Yaakov and עשיו Esav actually meet. They embrace one another. It's a somewhat disingenuous embracement. עשיו Esav is really not fully forgiving and ready to reconcile, but at least superficially they show as if they are reconciled. And עשיו Esav says, hey, let's go together. יעקב Yaakov says, you know, why don't you go ahead of me? I'm not really, I can't keep up with you, but what he really means is I'm not interested in keeping up with you. And they go their separate ways. יעקב Yaakov arrives in שכם Shechem, his daughter דינה Dina is abducted there by the members of that community. יעקב Yaakov's family learns of it, and of course, you can imagine they're outraged that their sister was abducted and raped. And they therefore go ahead, לוי Levi and שמעון Shimon and deceive the people of שכם Shechem. Tell him no problem, you can marry our sister, you can marry into our family, just join our people. Here's what you have to do, a little something called a circumcision. They of course circumcise themselves. On the third day when they're weakest, they they're attacked by שמעון Shimon and לוי Levi who ultimately decimate שכם Shechem. יעקב Yaakov is very dissatisfied with their strategy and is fearful of the implications long term for having done so. יעקב Yaakov goes to בית אל Beit El. Then we have the death of רבקה Rivka, his mother. God blesses and renames יעקב Yaakov, ישראל Yisrael. בנימין Binyamin is born and now his beloved wife רחל Rachel dies and she's buried along the way. And and then the פרשה parsha heads towards conclusion. יעקב Yaakov and and יצחק Yitzchak are reunited, יצחק Yitzchak dies, and עשיו Esav separates himself from יעקב Yaakov and that's the end of the פרשה parsha. Okay, so the part I want to study today, leaving off, I believe where we were last year, is chapter 32, פרק ל\"ב Perek Lamed Beis, פסוק י\"ד Pasuk Yud Daled, verse 14. 32:14. I believe that's what we were up to last year. It's also the same place as שני Sheini, it's the second עליה aliyah in the פרשה parsha and it corresponds with page 172, 173 in the סטון חומש Stone Chumash. Okay, everyone sees where we are? Says the פסוק pasuk, וילן שם בלילה ההוא Vayalen sham balayla hu. Where we where we are in terms of the narrative is that יעקב Yaakov is with his family and they're making their way towards עשיו Esav to reconcile. And they're on the journey and they they camp out for the night. וילן שם בלילה ההוא Vayalen sham balayla hu, they spend the night there, ויקח מן הבא בידו מנחה לעשיו אחיו Vayikach min haba b'yado mincha l'Esav achiv. And יעקב Yaakov takes from that which is in his hand a gift to give to his brother עשיו Esav. Now what's unusual in that פסוק pasuk? וילן שם בלילה ההוא Vayalen sham balayla hu, he's sleeping there. Okay, he's got to sleep somewhere. They're journeying, it's nightfall, it's time to rest. Good. ויקח Vayikach and he takes a מנחה mincha, he takes a gift to give עשיו Esav to עשיו Esav. First of all, עשיו אחיו Esav achiv, why does it have to tell us עשיו Esav is his brother? But at this time in the story, we know who עשיו Esav is. So it could either say to עשיו Esav, or it could say to his brother. Why does it have to say עשיו Esav, his brother? It doesn't need it. It just talks about whatever the gift is going to be. Well וילן vayalen is that he spent the night there and that's setting up the story that's about to unfold in terms of his having gone back. Correct, that's a good point. The gift should have the list of what he's giving as gifts should have been included in the three-fold preparation of the military preparations, the prayers and the gift. Why is it introduced with וילן שם בלילה ההוא Vayalen sham balayla hu? It was only when he when he encamped. Okay, so let's see. So so עשיו Esav his brother, why the redundancy or repetitiveness, I didn't see anyone talk about. I'm just sharing it with you because again, the sensitivity to the text, whenever you see a redundancy or an extra word, an extra vowel, there should be a sensitivity. But what did bother me is something that I'm happy to tell you bothered רש\"י Rashi also. ויקח מן הבא בידו Vayikach min haba b'yado. יעקב Yaakov took, where did he get these gifts? He got these gifts from that which had come into his hand. Well what does that mean? As opposed to what? Again, whenever the Torah tells us something that you wouldn't expect to see, it means to tell us that to exclude the opposite, lest you think the opposite. So רש\"י Rashi was clearly bothered by this question, and רש\"י Rashi says, מן הבא בידו haba b'yado, he took the gifts from that which came into his hand, ברשותו b'reshuso. יעקב Yaakov took gifts that he owned. He didn't steal, he didn't borrow, he didn't beg. He took his own property. and he gave from his own property as a gift. וכן ויקח מכל ארצו בידו V'chein vayikach mikol artzo b'yado. במדרש רבה B'midrash Rabbah מן הבא בידו, אבנים טובות ומרגליות, שדרך אדם צר בצרור ונותנם בידו Min haba b'yado avanim tovot umargaliyot, she'derech adam tzar b'tzror v'nosam b'yado. So the מדרש Midrash says what it means is he gave precious jewelry, precious jewels, which normally a person bundles and keeps in his hand. So בידו b'yado doesn't mean in his ownership, because of course one would never consider that יעקב Yaakov would give a gift from something he didn't own. One would never entertain the possibility that he stole. So the מדרש Midrash says you don't need to say בידו b'yado his hand to tell us that it was his ownership. בידו B'yado means literally in his hand. And what's literally in his hand? Stones and precious jewels. או דבר אחר, מן הבא בידו, מן החולין O davar acher, min haba b'yado, min hachulin. שנתן מעשר Shenatan maaser, כמא דאת אמר, עשר אעשרנו לך, והדר לקח מנחה k'ma d'at amar, aser a'asrenu lach, v'hadar lakach mincha. So this is also interesting. Where did יעקב Yaakov take these gifts from? So what did we read in last week's פרשה parsha? If you recall at the end of our discussion last week's פרשה parsha towards the beginning of the פרשה parsha, יעקב Yaakov wakes up from this dream and he says, oh, there's a God in this place. I had no idea. Wonderful. Good to know God is here. Great. God says to him, יעקב Yaakov, you have nothing to worry about. I'm going to be with you. I'm going to stick with you your entire life. I'm going to take care of you. Everything's going to be safe. You're going to inherit this land. It's going to be all good. Everything's great. Go on your way. And what does יעקב Yaakov say? He doesn't say, oh, שכיח shkiach, thank you God. That's a pretty big relief. It's good to know. He doesn't say that. What does יעקב Yaakov say? וידר יעקב נדר לאמר Vayidar Yaakov neder lemor, יעקב Yaakov makes an oath and he says, God, here's how I feel about the situation. If you're with me, if you provide food and clothing, and we spoke about the significance then of food and clothing in the rest of the book of בראשית Bereishis. If you provide food and clothing, and you bring me back to my father's home, then, then you'll be for me a God. Then you'll be for me a God. And how does he end it? And how does that end it, that commitment, that oath, which seems out of עשר אעשרנו לך Aser a'asrenu lach, this is one of the biblical precedents for מעשר maaser, for tithing. יעקב Yaakov separates from his wealth that which he had earned in the home of לבן Lavan his father-in-law, he separates a portion, a percentage which he will use in the dedication of הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu. So רש\"י Rashi here tells us, where did he get these gifts? You might have thought, whose portion, which bank account did he take it from? יעקב Yaakov says, I have my general bank account where I put my paycheck, and I also created a charitable foundation. I've separated 10% of all my income that goes immediately into my charitable foundation, my charitable account, and from there God, I do your bidding. So now you might have thought, where did יעקב Yaakov take the money to pay for these gifts? Which account does it come out of? So I might have thought this comes out of the holy account, the charitable account. He's using it for a holy purpose. This is part of the destiny of the Jewish people. He's going to reconcile with his brother עשיו Esav and he's going to come home and so on and so on. No. Says רש\"י Rashi, you know why it says מן הבא בידו min haba b'yado, that which came into his hand, to tell us that which came into his hand for his use, not the consecrated money, not the money that was designated for holy use. He used מן החולין min hachulin, that which was for his mundane use. Because even though he had taken מעשר maaser, he had tithed, since יעקב Yaakov was scrupulous in his accounting and used only the money that was left for his personal use to be able to reconcile. That's how רש\"י Rashi explains מן הבא בידו min haba b'yado, from that which had come into his hand. Perhaps you could suggest, perhaps you can suggest, so what did he give? Let's let's read for a moment. עזים מאתים ותישים עשרים, רחלים מאתים ואילים עשרים, גמלים מיניקות ובניהם שלושים, פרות ארבעים ופרים עשרה, אתונות עשרים ועירים עשרה Izim mataim ut'yashim esrim, rechelim mataim v'eilim esrim, gmalim meinikos uvneihem shloshim, paros arbaim u'parim asara, asonos esrim v'ayarim asara. So יעקב Yaakov gave all of these goods. 200 goats and 20 he-goats, 200 ewes and 20 rams, 30 nursing camels and their colts, 40 cows and 10 bulls, 20 she-donkeys and 10 he-donkeys. That's a very nice barbecue dinner. I don't know what that is, but that's a very nice amount of animals. I don't know the net worth of it, the value of it, but that's what he gave. That's what he gave. Look at the בעל הטורים Baal HaTurim, רבי יעקב בן אשר Rav Yaakov ben Asher, כל תיבה שבזה הפסוק מסיימת במ\"ם Kol teiva she'b'zeh ha'pasuk mesayem b'mem. Every look in פסוק ט\"ו pasuk tet vav in verse 15, every single word in that verse ends with the same letter. Which letter? מ\"ם Mem. Similarly וכן בפסוק של ומנחתם ונסכיהם v'chein b'pasuk shel u'minchasam v'niskeihem. Similarly we have a verse in the book of במדבר Bamidbar, Numbers, which is talking about the קרבן מנחה korban mincha, the flour offering, in that verse talking about the sacrifices, every word in that verse also ends with the letter מ\"ם Mem. שבשביל הדורון ששלח לעשיו She'b'shvil ha'doron she'shalach l'Esav, תק\"ן בהמות Tav Kuf Nun beheimot, ולא סמך על הבטחת הקדוש ברוך הוא, הוצרכו בניו להביא תק\"ן קרבנות בשנה כדמפורש בפרשת פנחס v'lo samach al havtachat haKadosh Baruch Hu, hutzrechu banav l'havi Tav Kuf Nun korbanot b'shanah k'de'meforash b'Parshas Pinchas. So בעל הטורים Baal HaTurim says, really יעקב Yaakov, if he was truly trusting in השם Hashem, should have had faith. God said everything's gonna be all right. It's all good. You don't need to send gifts. You don't need to kowtow. You don't need to, you don't need to bribe or engage in this in this disingenuous diplomacy, because God says, I've got you covered. And יעקב Yaakov didn't fully trust. So he sends these gifts to cover his tracks. So the בעל הטורים Baal HaTurim says, how many gifts did he send? How many did he send? 550. That's the same number of קרבנות korbanos of the sacrifices that are offered throughout the year. And just like every letter in this verse ends with מ\"ם mem, so too every every word in this verse ends with the letter מ\"ם mem, so too every word in the verse in במדבר Bamidbar, מנחתם ונסכיהם minchasam v'niskeihem, which recounts the total sacrifices which are given, ends with the letter מ\"ם mem. It creates an analogy between the two. Says the בעל הטורים Baal HaTurim to tell us that because יעקב Yaakov spent his money when it was unnecessary, we spend our money dedicating it to השם Hashem. Because יעקב Yaakov spent his money violating his faith in השם Hashem, so to say, because he used it to give gifts to עשיו Esav when he should have trusted השם Hashem, we therefore have to use our money in these קרבנות korbanos, in these sacrifices, in these offerings, to reflect our trust in השם Hashem. So the בעל הטורים Baal HaTurim shows that cute connection between the two. we have to make an effort. But who says that maybe this was a little bit exaggerated, a little bit too much. Right. Okay, yeah, so Right. God will help you if you do what's necessary to help yourself. But the בעל הטורים Baal HaTurim understands it that maybe it was a little bit of an exaggerated effort on on יעקב's Yaakov's part. Okay, continuing. ויתן ביד עבדיו עדר עדר לבדו Vayiten b'yad avadav eder eder l'vado, פסוק י\"ז pasuk yud zayin verse 17. So he gave it in the hands of his servants to deliver to עשיו Esav. עדר עדר לבדו Eder eder l'vado, he gave it to the servants, each went separately. ויאמר אל עבדיו עברו לפני ורוח תשימו בין עדר ובין עדר Vayomer el avadav ivru l'fanai v'revach tasimu bein eder u'vein eder. He said, I want all of you to go ahead of me. He broke them up into three groups. You should all go ahead of me and I want you to create a healthy spacing between the groups. So in other words, you go ahead of me and after a few hours or a certain amount of distance, the next group come, and after a certain amount of time or a certain amount of distance, the next group come, and only then will I come with my family. Now why did he create this distance between them? How much is the distance by the way? רש\"י Rashi says, עברו לפני ivru l'fanai, דרך יום או פחות derech yom o pachos, either the length of a day or less that it takes to travel, and I'll be right there behind you. And place a רוח revach, ורוח תשימו v'revach tasimu, place a distance between. What was the purpose of creating this gap, this distance between the groups who are bringing the gifts to עשיו Esav? So here we have a, here we have a מחלוקת machlokes between רש\"י Rashi and the, and his grandson, and the רשב\"ם Rashbam. רש\"י Rashi says ורוח תשימו v'revach tasimu, עדר לפני חברו eder l'fnei chavero, מלאי עין malei ayin, כדי להשביע עינו של רשע k'dei l'hasbia eino shel rasha ולתמהו על ריבוי הדורון u'letabeho al ribui ha'doron. Says, you know, when something's all bunched up and grouped up, you don't appreciate just how vast it is. When something is spread out and it looks like an endless parade, then you're even more impressed. Since his goal was to impress עשיו Esav, his goal is perhaps even to intimidate עשיו Esav, but minimally to impress עשיו Esav, he wants them to spread out the gift. Lest עשיו Esav see it all as one grouping and say, okay, so there's some gifts here. Nice. יעקב Yaakov has some wealth. If it's spread out over an hour, half a day, a day, it keeps coming, עשיו Esav's going to be blown away. Wow, this is impressive. And that will influence his עשיו's Esav's desire to reconcile. So רש\"י Rashi says, this is part of the strategy. Part of the threefold strategy is space it out to impress עשיו Esav, that's the goal. Says the רשב\"ם Rashbam, רש\"י's Rashi's grandson, no. ורוח תשימו, דרך כבוד הוא V'revach tasimu, derech kavod hu, מחנות ארבעה זה אחר זה machanot arba'ah zeh achar zeh. This is an honorable way to display oneself. It's nothing to do with עשיו Esav. It has nothing to do with trying to intimidate or impress, but דרך כבוד derech kavod. This is the proper, dignified way to travel. It's the proper, dignified way to carry one's camp and to advance forward. So what does he say? פסוק י\"ח Pasuk Yud Ches. ויצו את הראשון לאמר, כי יפגשך עשו אחי ושאלך לאמר למי אתה ואנה תלך ולמי אלה לפניך Vayitzav et harishon lemor, ki yifgashcha Esav achi u'sh'elcha lemor l'mi atah v'anah seilech u'lemi eileh l'fanecha. He commands the first group and יעקב Yaakov here anticipates what his brother's going to say. יעקב Yaakov says, you know my brother עשיו Esav, when you get there, the first group, here are the three things my brother's going to say to you. למי אתה L'mi atah. Who do you belong to? This is a big parade. It's a lot of property, a lot of animals. It's a lot of wealth. Who do you belong to? And then he's going to say, ואנה תלך v'anah seilech, and where are you going? It's a funny place to meet you halfway in the desert in, where are you headed? ולמי אלה לפניך U'lemi eileh l'fanecha, and who is this before you? What what is this for? What what are you doing with all this stuff? These are the three questions he's going to ask. These are the three questions he's going to ask. So what's the answer? ואמרת V'amarta, the next פסוק pasuk 19, ואמרת לעבדך ליעקב v'amarta l'avdcha l'Yaakov, they belong to יעקב Yaakov. מנחה היא שלוחה לאדני לעשיו Mincha hi shlucha l'adoni l'Esav. They are a gift to you, עשיו Esav. והנה גם הוא אחרינו V'hinei gam hu achareinu, and don't worry, יעקב Yaakov, its owner is right behind us. Is right behind us. If you look at the אור החיים הקדוש Or HaChaim haKadosh, פסוק י\"ט pasuk yud tes, says the אור החיים הקדוש Or HaChaim haKadosh, פירוש כנגד אמרו למי אתה, תשובה של עבדך ליעקב. כנגד ואנה תלך, להוליך מנחה, והוא אמרו מנחה שלוחה, וכנגד למי, לאדני לעשיו Peirush k'neged umro l'mi atah, tshuva shel avdcha l'Yaakov. K'neged v'anah seilech, l'holich mincha, v'hu umro mincha shlucha, u'k'neged l'mi, l'adoni l'Esav. So יעקב Yaakov was preparing them, here are the questions עשיו Esav's going to ask, and here are the answers that you should give that will satisfy him. The ספורנו Sforno, רבי עובדיה ספורנו Rav Ovadia Sforno, sees it a little bit differently. ספורנו Sforno on פסוק י\"ט pasuk yud tes, ואמרת לעבדך ליעקב V'amarta l'avdcha l'Yaakov, תיבה שיֵראה השליח את עצמו כמכיר את עשיו Tivah she'yiraeh ha'shliach et atzmo k'makir et Esav, ושלוח אליו u'shluach eilav, פן יחשוב עשיו שידע אחיו שהוא הולך לקראתו ושלח לו דורון מחמת יראה pen yachshov Esav she'yada achiv she'hu holech likraso v'shalach lo doron machmas yir'ah, וייראה השליח את עצמו כמו שלוח לשעיר וכבלתי מכיר את עשיו v'yiraeh ha'shliach et atzmo k'mo shaluach l'Seir u'k'vilti makir et Esav. ספורנו Sforno says it's actually an entirely opposite approach being used. And again, here you have the beauty of studying Torah where it's somewhat ambiguous and you see a precedent already in our commentators, שבעים פנים לתורה shivim panim laTorah, the 70 faces to the Torah, that they actually come to the exact opposite conclusions. רש\"י Rashi had suggested that the whole philosophy is intimidate or impress עשיו Esav. Let him see, let him see the length of your parade, of your caravan, he'll be impressed, he'll be intimidated, he'll reconcile. Comes along the ספורנו Sforno, he says the exact opposite. He said, no, I don't want עשיו Esav to think that all of this was sent specifically for him. It should be as if you're headed to שעיר Seir, you're going to a place, and you run, oh, עשיו Esav? Is that you? I haven't seen you in so long. Guess who's coming right with us? Our master, your brother יעקב Yaakov. It's so funny running into you here. Why? Why did the ספורנו Sforno interpret the פסוקים psukim in that way? First of all, there's somewhat ambiguous. כי יפגשך עשו Ki yifgashcha Esav, when עשיו Esav happens upon you and he will ask you these questions, you should answer they belong to יעקב Yaakov, מנחה היא שלוחה לאדני לעשיו mincha hi shlucha l'adoni l'Esav. I don't know how you're gonna deal with that part. There are a gift that are sent to עשיו Esav, and he's with us. But ואמרת לעבדך ליעקב v'amarta l'avdcha l'Yaakov, when you say they belong to יעקב Yaakov, the ספורנו Sforno says, you don't want עשיו Esav thinking they were sent specifically for him. Why? What will עשיו Esav think? He's going to think that יעקב Yaakov is afraid of him. He's going to think יעקב Yaakov's afraid of him. Why do you send gifts to somebody? To appease them. To appease them. And what does that show? Fear and weakness. So you have here between רש\"י Rashi and the ספורנו Sforno perhaps a different dispute, not just in the text itself, but a fundamental dispute, a dispute that continues until this day, which is, what should your approach to your enemy be? Should you seek to flex your muscle, intimidate them with your military strength, have them recognize that every option is on the table, or should you send them gifts and diplomacy and extend your hand and perhaps reflect weakness and vulnerability? Let them guess. So here you have a debate between רש\"י Rashi and the ספורנו Sforno, maybe not just about how to interpret the פסוקים psukim, but maybe what is the most prudent form of reconciliation or extending yourself to your enemy. When will you be, when when will you have the most like greatest likelihood of actually reconciling? When they understand how strong you are or when you're when they're see you as willing to appease them? Yeah, where the ספורנו Sforno, I don't know exactly how the ספורנו Sforno is going to explain מנחה היא שלוחה לאדני לעשיו mincha hi shlucha l'adoni l'Esav. This is a gift which was sent. a gift which was sent. Well, you know, if he was going to עשיו Esav regardless, whether he was in שעיר Seir or there, it was just a question of whether or not they they were going to meet him on the road and Yeah, but he said, look at the ספורנו Sforno again, שלא יראה השליח את עצמו כמכיר את עשיו shelo yiraeh ha'shliach et atzmo k'makir et Esav. He, יעקב Yaakov commanded his his messenger, his ambassador, don't, don't present yourself as if you recognize עשיו Esav and that you're sent towards him. פן יחשוב עשיו שידע אחיו שהוא הולך לקראתו Pen yachshov Esav she'yada achiv she'hu holech likraso, lest lest he know, עשיו Esav, that יעקב Yaakov is aware that you're heading towards him, ושלח לו דורון מחמת יראה v'shalach lo doron machmas yir'ah, and he sent this gift out of fear. ויראה השליח את עצמו כמו שלוח לשעיר וכבלתי מכיר את עשיו v'yiraeh ha'shliach et atzmo k'mo shaluach l'Seir u'k'vilti makir et Esav. Well, presumably, עשיו Esav would have identified himself. So by the time this conversation took place, they would know it's עשיו Esav and and they could still pull it off as if, you know, they they were planning to go to שעיר Seir. It's hard to explain with the פסוק pasuk which says, ואמרת v'amarta, יעקב Yaakov tells the the agent, tell them that they belong to יעקב Yaakov and this is a gift sent to עשיו Esav. I'm not sure. He had advanced notice anyway. They said he was coming with 400 men. I understand. But יעקב Yaakov when he meets him, does he want עשיו Esav to say, wow, look at this army. He's a little afraid. Or does he want עשיו Esav to say, well if they're willing to throw these gifts at me, it means they're willing to settle, you know, in negotiations if you're willing to, then that's a, just hold all the questions and comments again because the people listening at home prefer that there not be any breaks. So let's keep going. Now, here's what's also interesting. יעקב Yaakov tells them, ואמרתם v'amartem, tell him והנה גם הוא אחרינו v'hinei gam hu achareinu. Tell him he is behind us. He is behind us. Now what too, what impression does that leave if he's behind us? So on the one hand it could leave a position of strength. You know, the Godfather sends out sometimes the the person who's really in power doesn't present themselves. They're a little bit enigmatic. There's a little bit of distance, they're a little bit mysterious. They don't come out front right away. So יעקב Yaakov lagging behind a day or two and עשיו Esav having to first encounter his entourage and his caravan could leave him with an impression of יעקב Yaakov being stronger. That's one possibility. On the other hand, look at the אור החיים Or HaChaim. The אור החיים Or HaChaim says, ואמרתם v'amartem, פירוש טעם שהינו הוא אחרינו ולא קודם ולא עמנו peirush taam sheheinu hu achareinu v'lo kodem v'lo imanu, יעקב Yaakov maybe should be out front. He's the leader, he's the captain, he's the general. Or at least minimally he should be with the group. כי אמר אכפרה Ki amar achapra קודם kodem ואחר כך v'achar kach, אראה פניו ereh panav, forgive us first and then I'll show his face. So that reflects a little bit of, I don't know if it's cowardice, but fear on יעקב's Yaakov's behalf. יעקב Yaakov says, you know what? Let the first group meet him, feel him out, get an impression. Is he willing to forgive? If he's willing to forgive, then יעקב Yaakov says, I'll bring up the rear. No problem. If he's not willing to forgive and he meets the group and he says, where's that guy? Where's my brother? I'm going to kill him. Then יעקב Yaakov in the back can avoid the confrontation because as we'll talk about momentarily, יעקב Yaakov has an avoidance issue. It seems that יעקב Yaakov has a major avoidance issue, which we have a pattern of. So let's keep going. פסוק כ\"א Pasuk chaf alef. I'm sorry. פסוק כ' Pasuk chaf, 20. ויצו גם את השני, גם את השלישי, גם את כל ההולכים אחרי העדרים לאמר Vayitzav gam es ha'sheini, gam es ha'shlishi, gam es kol ha'holchim acharei ha'adarim lemor, and יעקב Yaakov commanded the second group and the third group and all the groups, saying כדבר הזה תדברון אל עשיו במצאכם אותו k'davar hazeh t'dabrun el Esav b'motz'achem oso, when you encounter עשיו Esav, every one of your groups should have the same conversation. We belong to יעקב Yaakov, these are his goods, he's sending them to appease you. ואמרתם גם הנה עבדך יעקב אחרינו V'amartem gam hinei avdcha Yaakov achareinu. And you should say that your servant יעקב Yaakov is also behind us. כי אמר אכפרה פניו במנחה ההולכת לפני, ואחרי כן אראה פניו, אולי ישא פני Ki amar achapra panav ba'mincha ha'holeches l'fanai, v'acharei chein ereh panav, ulai yisa panai. What the אור החיים Or HaChaim said is essentially in the פסוק pasuk itself. That the way you should communicate is that יעקב Yaakov is behind us, for he said, I will appease him with the with the gift first that precedes me and afterwards I'll face him, perhaps he will forgive me. ותעבור המנחה על פניו והוא לן בלילה ההוא במחנה Vata'avor ha'mincha al panav v'hu lan balayla hu ba'machaneh. So יעקב Yaakov sent and distributed these gifts ahead of him and he went to sleep that night במחנה ba'machaneh in the camp. Okay, so that's the backdrop to the story, is that he's setting aside these goods, he's breaking them into groups, he's creating some distance between them in their travel, in their journey, he's giving them the script of what to say to עשיו Esav, everything is set, prepared, ready to go in the morning. He's gonna חאפ שלאָף chaf shlof. He's ready to go to sleep. He's ready to to encamp for the night. Where does he go to sleep by the way? והוא לן בלילה ההוא v'hu lan balayla hu, where? במחנה Ba'machaneh. Where would you expect him to sleep? Why is it telling us במחנה ba'machaneh as opposed to where? So look at the רמב\"ן Ramban. The רמב\"ן Ramban, נחמנידס Nachmanides, והוא לן בלילה ההוא במחנה v'hu lan balayla hu ba'machaneh, יאמר שלא בא באוהל או לן בלילה ההוא yomar she'lo ba b'ohel o lan balayla hu, he didn't go back into his tent, אבל לן במחנה עם עבדיו ועם הרועים והצאן, ערוך כאיש מלחמה, פן יבא אחיו בלילה ויכהו aval lan bamachaneh im avadav v'im haro'im v'hatzon, aruch k'ish milchama, pen yavo achiv ba'layla v'yakahu. He didn't go back into the safety and the security of his ivory tower of his palace of a of a tent, even though he could have, he after all was the owner of all this property, the leader of all these people, but rather he joined the המון עם hamon am, he joined the group, he slept in the camp because he was preparing for war. And when you're in war, you don't, the general doesn't go back to his cabin, he's with his men, he's with his troops, he's prepared to be attacked. So the רמב\"ן Ramban gleans all of this from וילן בלילה ההוא במחנה vayalen balayla hu ba'machaneh. He understands it במחנה ba'machaneh. Now what happens? The first camp, the second camp, or the third camp? He's with the camp, the general camp. ותעבור המנחה על פניו, הוא לן בלילה ההוא במחנה Vata'avor ha'mincha al panav, hu lan balayla hu ba'machaneh. ויקם בלילה הוא Vayakam balayla hu, he wakes up that night, ויקח את שתי נשיו ואת שתי שפחותיו ואת אחד עשר ילדיו ויעבר את מעבר יבק vayikach et shtei nashav v'et shtei shifchosav v'et achad asar yeladav vaya'avor et ma'avar yabok. He wakes up, and he takes his two wives, Rachel and Leah, and his two maidservants, and his 11 children, and he goes across the river, across the valley, מעבר יבק ma'avar yabok. He crosses the valley of Yabok.Now, his 11 children, look at the רש\"י Rashi, פסוק כג pasuk chaf gimmel. ודינה היכן היתה V'dina heichan haysa? What do you mean 11 children? He's got 12. He's got 11 boys and he's got a daughter, Dina. Where is Dina? Why isn't the פסוק pasuk acknowledging Dina? Says רש\"י Rashi, נתנה בתיבה ונעל בפניה nasna b'teiva v'na'al bifaneha. He put her in the suitcase. He put her in the trunk. And he locked it. Why? שלא יתן בו עשו עיניו shelo yitein bo Eisav einav. Because Yaakov had a big fear. Maybe more than losing his life is that his brother was going to have eyes for his daughter. He knew his brother to be a womanizer. He knew his brother to be a rapist, molester, abuser. He was not going to expose his beautiful daughter to his brother. ועל כך נענש יעקב V'al kach ne'enash Yaakov. And Yaakov was punished for this. שמנעה מאחיו, שמא תחזירנו למוטב, ונפלה ביד שכם shemono mei'achiv, shema tachzirenu l'mutav, v'nafla b'yad Shechem. First of all, he was punished because he withheld her from his brother, and maybe his brother would have done תשובה teshuva. Maybe he should have had a little more faith in his brother, that his brother wasn't this wicked guy. I would also say that God again promised him everything's going to be good. What are you worried about your daughter being raped by your brother? God promised you everything's going to be good.So רש\"י Rashi understands that יעקב Yaakov, the whole incident of Dina being captured by שכם Shechem was מידה כנגד מידה midah keneged midah, it was measure for measure. Yaakov says to himself, I'm going to protect Dina from my brother, even though God said everything's going to be okay, don't worry. So God says, you feel you need to protect Dina from your brother? I'll give you someone you have to protect Dina from. And Dina gets captured by שכם Shechem. So רש\"י Rashi sees that as measure for measure, a punishment to יעקב Yaakov for the fact that he didn't have complete faith in השם Hashem, and for the fact that he didn't have faith in his brother, that his brother could repair his ways. Okay.Now, the רמב\"ן Ramban says something else that's very significant here. What's going on in the chronology here? ויקם בלילה הוא Vayakam balayla hu. What happens? They go to sleep and then Yaakov wakes up in the middle of the night and says, come, wives, maidservants, kids, get your sister in the suitcase. Let's go, we're heading out. Didn't they just lie down to go to sleep? What's going on here? So the רמב\"ן Ramban was bothered by that too. The רמב\"ן Ramban was bothered by that as well. And the רמב\"ן Ramban says אין מוקדם ומאוחר בפסוק הזה להצלה ein mukdam u'meuchar b'pasuk hazeh l'hatzalah. This verse is really non-chronological. אבל אמר שאסף נשיו ושפחותיו וילדיו עד שפת הנחל, ועבר הוא לבדו את מעבר יבק לראות אם גבהו המים, ושב לקחם והעבירם כולם כאחד, והעבירם לנחל. ואחר כן ויעבר את אשר לו, מקנהו ורכושו Aval omar she'asaf nashav u'shifchosav yeladav ad shfas ha'nachal, v'avar hu l'vado es maavar yabok liros im gavu hamayim, v'shav l'kacham v'hevirom kulam k'echad v'hevirom la'nachal, v'achar kein vaya'avor es asher lo miknei v'ruchusho. He gathers them all, they come to the edge of the river. He crosses the river, he's checking the depth of the water to see whether they'll be able to cross successfully. He brings them across. He brings them all across, and then he goes back to get property. That's what's going on in this in this פסוק pasuk. ויקחם ויעבירם את הנחל ויעבר את אשר לו Vayikachem v'ya'avirem et ha'nachal v'ya'aver et asher lo. So he brings them across the river and he goes back. What did he go back for?Says רש\"י Rashi, פסוק כה pasuk chaf hei, שכח פכים קטנים וחזר עליהם shachach pachim ketanim v'chazar aleihem. The גמרא gemara in חולין Chullin says he forgot small jugs and he went back to get them. And he went back to get them. What? Small jugs? He went back to get them? He's moving tons of people. He's got his 11 kids and he's got his two wives and two maidservants. So that's 15 right there. Then he's got tons of servants and incredible amounts of cattle and he's got, he's moving a ton of people, a ton of property, and he's got little earthenware vessels. Who cares? What do you mean he goes back to get them? שכח פכים קטנים וחזר עליהם shachach pachim ketanim v'chazar aleihem. He forgot these small jugs and he went back to get them. What does that mean? What does that mean?So there's a מדרש medrash which says that this was not just an ordinary jug. This was an extraordinary jug. What did he go back to get? Says when he left his brother's home, when he left his parents' home and was fleeing for his life from his brother, so עשו Eisav went to his son אליפז Elifaz and he said, quick, run after him, I want you to kill him. I want you to kill your uncle. So אליפז Elifaz catches up with Uncle יעקב Yaakov. And he says to יעקב Yaakov, I hate to do this to you. כיבוד אב ואם Kibeid av v'eim. Remember there's one thing that עשו Eisav is fantastic at. עשו Eisav excels at honoring his parents, excels. Our rabbis instruct us to look to עשו Eisav as a role model for what it means to honor one's parents. Again, it's complicated why עשו Eisav specifically excels in that area, and does he excel genuinely, authentically, but עשו Eisav excels and he's taught his son אליפז Elifaz as well, the value of honoring your parents. So אליפז Elifaz comes to Uncle יעקב Yaakov and he's got a problem. He says, listen, uncle, on the one hand, I can't kill you. It's murder. The other hand, I got to honor my father. My father said to kill you. What do I do? So you know how יעקב Yaakov told him? גמרא Gemara tells us, עני חשוב כמת ani chashuv k'meis. A poor person is considered as if they're dead. They have no resources, no ability to sustain themselves. They're lonely. A poor, indigent, impoverished person is considered dead even in their life. So יעקב Yaakov says, take everything I have. And you could tell your father you killed me. It's as if you killed me because a poor person is considered dead. So עשו Eisav took everything. אליפז Elifaz took everything. And יעקב Yaakov went on his way. אליפז Elifaz was able to say that he completed, fulfilled both values. But יעקב Yaakov had one little jug left. The jug was a jug of olive oil. And how did יעקב Yaakov sustain himself? Because every time he would sell that olive oil, you know what happened in that jug? It filled up miraculously again. And this was his magic jug that miraculously filled up again and again. And the מדרש medrash tells us that this jug was handed down to his children and their children. And this was the jug that אהרן Aharon used to anoint his children. This was the jug that אליהו הנביא Eliyahu HaNavi used. This was the same jug of oil, and there's a connection. We often read פרשת וישלח Parshas Vayishlach right before a certain holiday which I hope now has come to your mind about a jug and oil that replenishes itself. And that is the holiday of חנוכה Chanukah. The holiday of חנוכה Chanukah, this mystical, magical jug and oil that lasts a lot longer than it's supposed to. and there are many connections. Rabbi Mattis Weinberg in his book, Frameworks, I think it's called. Is that what it's called? Has I believe an essay on this topic of the פכים קטנים pachim ketanim, the small jugs connecting יעקב Yaakov and וישלח Vayishlach with the story of חנוכה Chanukah. But there's another understanding. The גמרא Gemara says that you see from the fact that יעקב Yaakov went back for פכים קטנים pachim ketanim, that צדיקים חסה על ממונם tzaddikim chasa al mamonam. That righteous people care about their money. Righteous people care about their money. Now I read that and I get these like anti-Semitic imagery of the Jew who bends down to pick up a penny, of the Jew who negotiates, who Jews people down. You know, I think it reflects so negatively. So what do you mean, a righteous person is חסה על ממונם chasa al mamonam? The righteous person specifically is careful and vigilant and scrupulous about their money? What does that mean? Are we so materialistic? I would think the opposite. The righteous person is so spiritual, is so transcendent, they live in the clouds. They're not worried about picking down, bending down for the dollar bill. They're worried about pursuing spiritual pursuits. What does it mean? So I don't want to dwell on this too much. I want to get back to the text. But I think what it means is that the righteous person understands that every material good, possession, has a purpose, has a value, exists to advance a reason. They don't pursue the material because they think the material inherently has value. They're not in the pursuit of the material for their own pleasure, but the righteous person understands that every material possession, every good, every asset can be used to advance a godly mission in this world. The גמרא Gemara says that a person who eats food and doesn't make a ברכה bracha, person who eats and does not make a ברכה bracha, somebody who eats, הנהנה מן העולם הזה בלא ברכה, כאילו מעל haneneh me'olam hazeh b'lo bracha, k'ilu ma'al. What's מעילה me'ilah? מעילה Me'ilah is a biblical transgression. It's stealing from the Temple. Stealing from consecrated property, you're stealing from the Temple. What are you talking about? Stealing from the Temple? I take a bite out of an apple and I forgot to make a ברכה bracha, it's like I stole from the Temple? You're going to make that the same as I went into the ארון Aron and I took the ספר תורה Sefer Torah and I stole it? I went to the שול shul and I stole a סידור siddur, a חומש chumash? I stole, because I took a took a bite out of an apple without making a ברכה bracha? What do you see about the apple? That from our perspective, there's no difference between the apple and the ספר תורה Sefer Torah in the שול shul. That an apple is as holy an object as a ספר תורה Sefer Torah, because God has given us this world, every physical possession can be used to advance a spiritual pursuit. So the righteous person understands that even the פכים קטנים pachim ketanim, even the small, seemingly insignificant, seemingly unimportant jug has value and goes back and protects even the small insignificant thing. But of course, it was part of the master plan. Now, I'd like to suggest, by the way, that the reason has the וילן שם בלילה ההוא vayalon sham balayla hu and then tells us the gift is, because you'd think, it sounds like יעקב Yaakov is a very, what's the word opposite of generous? Miserly, stingy kind of person. Because he went back even to collect the small jug. But יעקב Yaakov is not stingy at all because look at how generous he is in the gifts that he gives עשו Eisav. So perhaps I'd like to suggest that maybe the תורה Torah enumerates all these gifts, even though it seems out of order and out of place, to tell us lest you think that יעקב Yaakov went back to get these jugs, these small פכים pachim, because he's miserly, stingy, cheap, no, that he did it because he sees the value of every physical object.Now what happens when יעקב Yaakov goes back? He crosses the valley, the river to go back to get these small jugs, and he finds himself alone. ויותר יעקב לבדו Vayivaser Yaakov l'vado, פסוק כה pasuk chaf hei. יעקב Yaakov finds himself alone. ויאבק איש עמו עד עלות השחר vaye'avek ish imo ad alos hashachar till the morning. וירא כי לא יכול לו Vayar ki lo yachol lo. Now this is a very unusual, very enigmatic section here. יעקב Yaakov's left alone, somebody wrestles with him 'til the break of dawn. So what happens? וירא כי לא יכול לו Vayar ki lo yachol lo, now we have an incredible series of pronouns. We don't know who's he, he, he, he, he. He perceived that he could not overcome him, he struck the socket of his hip. Who saw he who they couldn't overcome the other? So the simple understanding is the angel saw this man, this adversary, however we'll describe him momentarily, the adversary saw that he couldn't defeat יעקב Yaakov. So what did he do? He gave him a good זעץ zetz, a good קנאק knuck right in the hip. And ותקע כף ירך יעקב בהאבקו עמו vateka kaf yerech Yaakov b'heavko imo. He dislocates יעקב Yaakov's hip and he severs or hurts the sciatic nerve. ויאמר שלחני כי עלה השחר Vayomer shalcheni ki ala hashachar. He says to him, 'Let me go, set me free, it's the morning. Who is the he said to him? Who's requesting being set free? A lot of pronouns here. ויאמר לא אשלחך כי אם ברכתני Vayomer lo ashalchecha ki im berachtani, until you give me a blessing. ויאמר אליו מה שמך, ויאמר יעקב Vayomer eilav ma shmecha, vayomer Yaakov. At least in that verse we know who's talking to who. But until then, understand the ambiguity. So many pronouns. He said to him, he wrestled with him, he heard it. Finally, he said to him, what's your name? He answered יעקב Yaakov. ויאמר לא יעקב יאמר עוד שמך כי אם ישראל Vayomer lo Yaakov ye'amer od shimcha ki im Yisrael. They will not pronounce your name any further as יעקב Yaakov. Your name is not יעקב Yaakov. Why? כי שרית עם אלקים ועם אנשים ותוכל Ki sarisa im Elokim v'im anashim vatuchal. You wrestled with God and with man and you persevered. You overcame. וישאל יעקב ויאמר הגידה נא שמך Vayishal Yaakov vayomer hagidah na shmecha. יעקב Yaakov says, okay, now that you know my name, let's get on an equal playing field. What's your name? ויאמר למה זה תשאל לשמי ויברך אותו שם Vayomer lama zeh tishal lishmi. Vayevarech oso sham. He blessed him there. Who blessed who? So again, we don't have time. We only have a few minutes left. If we had time, we could spend just on these few verses themselves because as you can guess, the verses could be interpreted in many different directions. Who's the he, he, he, he, all these pronouns? Who's asking who, what question? What's happening here? What's going on? But there's some fundamental questions. Notice, it never tells us what they're wrestling about. Never tells us what they're wrestling about. Usually when people wrestle, when they fight, it's over money, it's over women, it's over power. What are יעקב Yaakov and this adversary, whoever this adversary is, what are they wrestling about? What are they fighting about?Rabbi Soloveitchik suggested beautifully that the text by design does not tell us what they're wrestling about because it doesn't matter. What matters is that יעקב Yaakov is wrestling. יעקב Yaakov is wrestling with himself. This is a יצר הרע yetzer hara, this is an inner voice, this is a voice of doubt. יעקב Yaakov is struggling. And Rabbi Soloveitchik concluded from this section that יעקב Yaakov is creating a precedent and a model to us of being engaged in the struggle. That one of the critical values in life is never to be complacent and apathetic, never to be satisfied, but to be engaged in the struggle, because only the struggle yields growth. It is the struggle, it is the tension, it is the fight, it is the conflict which yields growth. So the Rav suggested it never tells us what יעקב Yaakov was fighting about intentionally to tell us that what they were fighting about is unimportant. What's important is that they're fighting. Now by the way, the זוהר Zohar tells us when was this? What date on the Jewish calendar was this night? You know what night it was on the Jewish calendar? Or how it corresponds with our observance of our Jewish calendar? יעקב Yaakov wrestled with the angel on כל נדרי Kol Nidre night. כל נדרי Kol Nidre night, says the זוהר Zohar. יעקב Yaakov goes back and he wrestles with the angel. I once gave a כל נדרי Kol Nidre דרשה drasha which I'm happy to see no one here remembers. I could use it again next year. That that notion of יעקב Yaakov being לבדו l'vado, alone, is what should permeate our יום כיפור Yom Kippur experience. On יום כיפור Yom Kippur, we retreat into our own cocoon and spend 25 hours in a wrestling match with ourselves. What we're wrestling about is unimportant. What's important is that we're engaged in the wrestle. We're engaged in the struggle. Because that's how we advance, that's how we progress, that's how we grow. A person wants to build their muscles, you go to the gym and work out. You know what you're doing when you're lifting weights? You're literally stretching your muscles 'til they tear, and when they when they repair themselves, you've grown your muscle. What happens when you lie in a hospital bed and they don't move you, they don't turn you over, you don't get up, you don't sit up, you don't walk? You know what happens to your muscles? They atrophy. They die. So what's true for the muscles is true for the spiritual muscles. When we stretch them and tear them and struggle, they struggle, they grow. And when they sit still and do nothing, they atrophy, they die. So what they're fighting about is unimportant. What's important is being engaged in the struggle. That's what the Rav took out of here. He didn't make this point, but I will, that also explains at the end, you know the, if you assume it's the angel, when יעקב Yaakov says let me go, give me your name, don't give me your name and they go back and forth, the blessing, ויברך אותו שם vayevarech oso sham, he blessed him. What did he bless him? Longevity, נחת nachas, good health, prosperity. What was the blessing? Doesn't say. Because that too is unimportant. In other words, the blessing corresponds with whatever the struggle was. So if you struggled and grew, the blessing is having struggled. It doesn't need to say what the blessing is. You know what the blessing was? That you were engaged in the struggle. That is the goal. That is what we're supposed to do. So that's Rabbi Soloveitchik's, that's Rabbi Soloveitchik's interpretation is that יעקב Yaakov is engaged in a struggling match. What they're fighting about is unimportant. What's the blessing? Just having been engaged in the struggle. That's how the Rav interpreted what's going on here. But I want to share with you a רשב\"ם Rashbam that's going to blow your mind. Because this רשב\"ם Rashbam, this רשב\"ם Rashbam really startled me. Look at the רשב\"ם Rashbam on פסוק כג pasuk chaf gimmel. It's in the comment of ויקם בלילה הוא vayakam balayla hu. יעקב Yaakov wakes up in the middle of the night. You know why he's waking up in the middle of the night? says the רשב\"ם Rashbam. No one else we saw really answered this question. Right? They set it all up, they've got the gifts, they're going to send it, take a nap, they're going to sleep for the night. יעקב Yaakov wakes up in the middle of the night. And the answer is not because he goes to the bathroom 17 times in the middle of the night. The רשב\"ם Rashbam says, why did he wake up in the middle of the night? נתכוין לברוח דרך אחרת Nischaven livroach derech acheres. Because יעקב Yaakov got cold feet. And יעקב Yaakov had a plan. He's out of there. He is not ready to meet עשו Eisav. Again, if I would have suggested this, you would say, Goldberg's a little bit of a heretic. יעקב אבינו Yaakov Avinu, who could talk about יעקב Yaakov our forefather in this way? But the רשב\"ם Rashbam says that יעקב Yaakov woke up in the middle of the night and he had this plan. He's going to send his family, his servants, everybody, say, I just got to go back to get something. And he's out of there. He's got cold feet. He's booking. Can you imagine? Look at it in black and white. נתכוין לברוח דרך אחרת Nischaven livroach derech acheres. He planned to flee a different way. לפי שעבר את הנחל בלילה, כמו שמצינו בדוד בברחו מפני אבשלום, שדרכם הלילה שעל הירדן Lefi she'avar et ha'nachal balayla, k'mo shematzinu b'dovid b'varcho mipnei avshalom, she'darcham halayla she'al ha'yarden. מחנים שעבר יעקב בלילה כמו כן. ויאמר דוד קומו ועברו את המים. ויקם דוד וכל העם אשר אתו ויעברו את הירדן עד אור הבקר עד אחד לא נהדר אשר לא עבר את הירדן, ודוד בא מחנים, ואבשלום עבר את הירדן machanim she'avar Yaakov balayla k'mo chein. Vayomer Dovid kumu avru et hamayim, vayakam Dovid v'chol ha'am asher ito v'ya'avru et ha'yarden ad or haboker ad echad lo ne'edar asher lo avar et ha'yarden, v'Dovid ba Machanaim v'Avshalom avar et ha'yarden. The רשב\"ם Rashbam brings a precedent, it's not a precedent, דוד David comes later, but you have a similar incident with דוד המלך Dovid Hamelech. And the רשב\"ם Rashbam actually accuses יעקב Yaakov of wanting to flee, of wanting to run. יעקב Yaakov gets cold feet. What do you see about יעקב Yaakov? יעקב Yaakov has this measure of version to conflict. What happens, rather than confront his father and say, I deserve the blessings, what does he do? He disguises himself. Okay, his mother instructed him to do that, but יעקב Yaakov really should have gone to his father and said, listen pop, listen dad, listen tatti, I purchased the birthright. They're coming to me, I get the blessing. But he had this aversion to conflict. So he disguises himself. And then יעקב Yaakov comes to the house of לבן Lavan, and he sold a bad bill. Really he's supposed to marry רחל Rachel, she's exchanged for לאה Leah. Does he confront his father-in-law? Can't bring himself to. He decides it's time to take leave. Does he say goodbye? No. Rather than face conflict, he flees in the middle of the night with his wives and so on. יעקב Yaakov has an a major aversion to conflict. And even now, he's about to be reunited with עשו Eisav, says the רשב\"ם Rashbam, he's not ready. He went back and he created this whole scheme and strategy, because he was out of there. But rather than being able to get out of there, what happens? Consider in the רשב\"ם Rashbam, פסוק כה pasuk chaf hei. ויותר יעקב לבדו Vayivaser Yaakov l'vado, he finds himself alone. כלומר שהעביר כל אשר לו, שלא היה עוד לעבור אלא הוא לבדו Klomar shehe'evir kol asher lo, shelo hayah od la'avor ela hu l'vado. ורצה לעבור אחריהם V'ratza la'avor achreihem, he's all alone. The only thing left now to join them is him. כי לברוח דרך אחרת שלא יפגשהו עשו נתכוון ki livroach derech acheres shelo yifgeshehu eisav nischaven. And why was he alone? Because he planned on booking out and getting out of there. ויאבק מלאך עמו שלא יוכל לברוח Vaye'avek malach imo shelo yuchal livroach. God sent this angel to wrestle with him to prevent him from running away. God says, יעקב Yaakov, you spend your whole life on the run. It's over. It's over. You can't continue to run away. ויראה כי אמת דבריו של הקדוש ברוך הוא שלא יזקהו עשו V'yir'eh ki em d'varav shel hakadosh baruch hu shelo yizakeihu Eisav. God says, I made a promise to you. You have a destiny to live. Stop running away from it. You can't run away from your future. You can't run away from what destiny has in store for you, says God. Stop running away. So יעקב Yaakov runs, יעקב Yaakov creates a scheme so that he could find himself alone and he's on his way, he's about to run, and God sends an angel to wrestle with him. You can't run anymore. It's a very powerful message of the רשב\"ם Rashbam. What I take away from here is the idea that in life, stop, people have an avoidance syndrome. They're constantly avoiding their destiny, what destiny keeps presenting towards them that they have to confront, they keep trying to avoid. The רשב\"ם Rashbam is saying the תורה Torah is teaching, stop avoiding. Confront your destiny. What it holds for you, you're going to have to live. יעקב Yaakov therefore wrestles, you're not going to. Now the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, look at the כלי יקר Kli Yakar. פסוק כט Pasuk chaf tet. פסוק כט Pasuk chaf tet. Says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, and we're going to end with this כלי יקר Kli Yakar. There's so much more to talk about. But we'll end with this כלי יקר Kli Yakar. Which pasuk? כט Chaf tet, 29. What's his name? The angel changes his name. He wrestles, he can't avoid any longer. And after having to confront his destiny, he gets a new name which is ישראל Yisrael. Says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, לשון ישר אל lashon yashar el, כי ישר הוא לשון ראיה, מלשון אשורנו ולא קרוב ki yashar hu lashon re'iyah, milashon ashurenu v'lo karov. והודה לו בזה, כי יעקב רואה פני קל, ולא עלתה בידו לסמא אותו במציאות הקל יתברך V'hodah lo b'zeh ki Yaakov ro'eh pnei Kel, v'lo asah v'yado l'samei oso b'metzius ha'Kel yisbarach. יעקב Yaakov sees God. ישראל Yisrael, ישר yashar comes from the language of to see. יעקב Yaakov see ישראל Yisrael, יעקב Yaakov saw God. ובאמרו כי שרית עם אלקים על כך שם יעקב ממנו, כי יעקב מורה על עיקוב הלב מכל ואנשו Uv'omro ki sarisa im Elokim, al cach shim Yaakov mimenu, ki Yaakov moreh al ikuv ha'leiv mi'kol v'enosho. יעקב Yaakov means a heel. It's your Achilles' heel. is to be a man, is to be restricted, is to be limited. וישראל לשון מישור, כמו שעשה כמו שכתוב לעתיד, והיה העקוב למישור V'Yisrael lashon mishor, k'mo she'asah k'mo she'kasav la'asid, v'hayah ha'akov l'mishor. ולא מישור הנראה ישר בעיני הבריות, כי אם הנראה ישר בעיני אלקים ואדם V'lo mishor ha'nir'eh yashar b'einei habriyos, ki im ha'nir'eh yashar b'einei Elokim v'adam. It doesn't just mean to be straight in the eyes of man, but יעקב Yaakov goes from being עקב eikev, having an Achilles' heel, having a weakness, to being ישר yashar, to being straight in the eyes of God. על כן אמר כי שרית עם אלקים ועם אנשים Al kein omar ki sarisa im Elokim v'im anashim. You wrestled with God and with man. כי על ידי קושי מפעלך תהיה שר ונגיד עם אלקים ואנשים ותוכל, וזהו ישראל ישר אל מישור הנראה גם בעיני האל יתברך ki al yedei kosheh mifalcha t'hyeh sar v'nagid im Elokim v'im anashim vatuchal, u'v'zehu Yisrael yashar el mishor ha'nir'eh gam b'einei ha'El yisbarach. But listen to what the כלי יקר Kli Yakar writes. That's what he writes. What else did he write? Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. Who was the angel? I'm sorry. I read the wrong כלי יקר Kli Yakar. I wanted to read the כלי יקר Kli Yakar on כה chaf hei. Who was this angel that יעקב Yaakov wrestled with? Go back to the כלי יקר Kli Yakar on פסוק כה pasuk chaf hei, that's the one I meant to read. בענין היאבקות עם יעקב, רבו הדעות B'inyan his'afkus im Yaakov, rabu ha'deos. This issue of wrestling that יעקב Yaakov wrestled, there's many opinions. Who did he wrestle with? What did they wrestle about? What's going on? By the way, I'll remind you, I mentioned it last week, the רמב\"ם Rambam writes in מורה נבוכים Moreh Nevuchim, this whole thing never happened. This was a dream. יעקב Yaakov had a dream. This was a premonition. It was a prophecy that he wrestled. It never happened. The רמב\"ן Ramban asks, how could you say it's a dream? He woke up and he had a limp. The ריטב\"א Ritva, a student of the רמב\"ן Ramban, of יום טוב Yom Tov, writes the ריטב\"א Ritva, that defending the רמב\"ם Rambam, that he had that limp because it was psychosomatic disorder. He had this dream, this prophecy, this premonition that he wrestled with the angel and that he was struck in the leg. When he woke up, he carried his limp forever because it was a psychosomatic disorder. That's the רמב\"ם Rambam's philosophy throughout חומש Chumash, is that these things didn't happen. They were dreams. בלעם Bilam's donkey didn't really talk. And יעקב Yaakov didn't really wrestle with an angel and so on. But most people assume that there was a real rest, the רמב\"ן Ramban assumes that there was a real wrestling match. It really took place. And the כלי יקר Kli Yakar says, who did he wrestle with, what did they wrestle about? So he says, אמרתי על עולם כן פתרונים עיני, גם אני חלקי ועיני שם. אחר שהסכימו רוב המפרשים שמלאך זה הוא סמאל, שרו של עשו amarti al olam kin pitronim einei, gam ani chelki v'eini sham. Achar shehiskimu rov ha'mefarshim she'malach zeh hu Samael, saro shel Eisav. This angel that he wrestled with is known as סמאל Samael, the angel of עשו Eisav. הנקרא סמאל על שם כי כל חפצו וישעו לסמא עיני האדם ולהכסותו בעוורון ולעשותו סומא מעין השכלי Ha'nikra Samael al shem ki kol cheftzo v'yis'o l'samei einei ha'adam u'l'hachoso b'ivron u'l'asoso suma mei'ein ha'sichli. What does the word סמא samah mean? Blind. This angel has one mission and one goal: to blind the eyes of his victim. What is he trying to blind them from? מעין השכלי Mei'ayin ha'sichli. From common sense. He's trying to blind them from common logic. אשר לא יוכל לראות במראות האמת, לבל יראה פני השם Asher lo yuchal liros b'maros ha'emes, l'valah ro'os pnei Hashem. He's trying to blind them so that a person, his victim, the victim of this angel סמאל Samael, doesn't think, doesn't arrive at the truth based on logic, but rather is distorted and perverted in their thinking till they arrive at a distorted version of the truth. so that they don't come לראות פני השם, לבוא בסוד השם, לראיה בסתרי התורה. כי הוא שטן, הוא מלאך המות, הוא יצר הרע liros pnei Hashem, la'vo b'sod Hashem, l'riyas bisre ha'Torah. Ki hu satan hu malach ha'maves hu yetzer hara. ורמז לדבר כי סמאל שותפו של ענבים, באלפא ביתא באותיות שניות V'remez l'davar ki Samael shutfo shel anavim. B'alfa beisa b'osios shniyos. Take the word סמאל Samael and every letter, replace it with the next letter in the alphabet. After the סמ\"ך samech comes an עי\"ן ayin. After the מ\"ם mem comes נו\"ן nun. After the אל\"ף alef comes בי\"ת beis. And after the למ\"ד lamed comes מ\"ם mem. ע, נ, ב, מ Ayin, nun, beis, mem are the letters after ס, מ, א, ל samech, mem, alef, lamed. So corresponding with סמאל Samael is ענבים anavim, which means grapes, wine. כי כמו שהיין היוצא מן ענבים Ki k'mo she'hayayin hayotzei min anavim, כשהוא משכר את האדם ומראהו עוור בסתם עיניו k'shehu m'shaker es ha'adam v'mar'ehu ivair b'stam einav. Just like wine intoxicates a person so they can't think clearly. They become drunk to their own reality. They're not arriving at truth. Similarly, סמאל Samael, this angel, seeks to distort our own thinking and to blunt our own reality and our own logic. בסתם שיכור הולך כעור וסומא B'stam shikor holech k'or v'suma. A drunk person walks like they're blind. כך סמאל זה שותפו Kach Samael zeh shutfo. The angel סמאל Samael is the partner of alcohol. כל מגמתו לסמא עיני האדם על שלא יוכל לראות השמש. ואם כי ענבים מסמאים עין הגשמי, זה סמאל שותפו, מעביר עין השכלי, שלא יראה במראות הקל, וזהו סמאל מלה מורכבת Kol megimaso l'samei einei ha'adam al shelo yuchal liros ha'shemesh. V'im ki anavim misamim einei ha'gashmi, zeh Samael shutfo, ma'avir ayin ha'sichli, shelo yir'eh b'maros ha'Kel, v'zehu Samael mila murkeves. So he goes on and on, this is a long כלי יקר Kli Yakar. But basically what he says what we're what we're what we are wrestling with is our יצר הרע yetzer hara. And how does the יצר הרע yetzer hara work? The יצר הרע yetzer hara works to cloud our thinking. And how does it cloud our thinking? Because it seduces us. Why do we make self-destructive decisions? Why do we regularly give into a voice that says do something? I'll give you not a religious example, I'll give you a health example. We know that we shouldn't have that piece of chocolate cake. But how does the יצר הרע yetzer hara work? If I just use my logic, I would say that piece of chocolate cake has sugar and carbs. That piece of chocolate cake is unhealthy for me. My cholesterol is going to go up, it's going to affect my blood pressure, I'm going to get diabetes, I'm going to get fat and obese. If I only use logic, of course I'll avoid the chocolate cake. It's poison to me. It's going to kill me. So how does the יצר הרע yetzer hara work? How does it seduce us? It blinds our eyes and our logic and it says, you had a piece of chocolate cake last week, it didn't kill you. And this chocolate cake, you know, you skipped breakfast this morning, so you had chocolate cake at dinner, that took the place of all of breakfast this morning. And how often do you have chocolate cake? It's a special occasion, and this is a special chocolate cake. And all kinds of logic the יצר הרע yetzer hara uses, what's the ultimate strategy? is to cloud our logical thinking and to blind us to the truth. So says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, the angel that יעקב Yaakov is wrestling with is this angel, סמאל Samael. There is a piece of עשו Eisav in every one of us that seeks to seduce us to give in, to cloud our logical thinking, to cloud what is makes sense for us, and rather instead to engage in self-destructive behavior. And we carry that injury of יעקב Yaakov with us to remember the casualty of giving in to this יצר הרע yetzer hara and how we need to be able to defeat it. There's so much more that goes on here. And that's the name ישראל Yisrael, ישר yashar, we could remain straight. and truth, we can maintain our logical thinking like our forefather and able to, in order to be able to overcome. Again, there's a lot more to talk about on this passage and in general, but we will stop here. Have a wonderful rest of the week and שבת Shabbos.
