Transcript
Okay, good morning to all. It should be a good morning, it should be a good day. We should hear ישועות ונחמות *Yeshuos v'nachamos* for כלל ישראל *Klal Yisrael*, בשורות טובות *b'soros tovos*, only good news. I want to thank our generous series sponsor, our פרשה *parsha* series sponsor, the dear Beck and Avi Katz family in memory of Becky's father, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנש *l'iluy nishmas David ben Menachem Manish*. David Grossman, his נשמה *neshama* should have an עליה *aliyah*. A reminder, immediately following שיר *shiur*, as we've been doing each and every week and each and every שיר *shiur*, we'll complete all of ספר תהלים *Sefer Tehillim*. The more of you stay, the shorter it will take to divide all of ספר תהלים *Sefer Tehillim* and complete it. Also, if you've not yet taken from the lobby, please take two flags, three flags. We now have the Israeli flag, the American flag, and the צה\"ל *Tzahal* flag to fly on your car. Be a proud Jew, share it everywhere you go. Let people know we will not cower and we are not afraid.We are on page 170 in the Artscroll Stone חומש *Chumash*. Page 170, פרשת וישלח *Parshas Vayishlach*. The story that we know so well, and yet, each time that we read it, we relive the excitement, the anxiousness, the anticipation as if it is the first time. Each time we read it, there's something new. You're not going to believe me when I tell you how much I have to say on the first two פסוקים *psukim* this week. I know you won't believe me. What's remarkable is we have every year had so much to say about the first two פסוקים *psukim* of this and every פרשה *parsha*, and yet, each year there's still so much more to say. The תורה *Torah* is just endless. You keep digging, you keep uncovering the layers and layers of it. And each year, whatever you're meant to be seeing and living and learning for that year is something new that comes to your attention that year.So, וישלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו אל עשיו אחיו *Vayishlach Yaakov malachim l'fanav el Eisav achiv*. We know this is the long-awaited reunion. I don't know, long-awaited by whom, but by us since last שבת *Shabbos*. The long-awaited reunion between יעקב *Yaakov* and עשיו *Eisav*, these brothers, these adversaries, who've been on opposite sides, are trying to reconcile and come together and forge a future as brothers. How does he do it? יעקב *Yaakov* sends מלאכים לפניו אל עשיו אחיו *malachim l'fanav el Eisav achiv*. He sends emissaries, he sends agents ahead of him to his brother, ארצה שעיר שדה אדום *artza Seir sdeh Edom*, to where עשיו *Eisav* is. He doesn't stand on ceremony, he doesn't sit back and wait, he's not afraid, but rather he sends these agents. And in fact, we know from the תלמוד *Talmud* until מנחם בגין *Menachem Begin* and today, פרשת וישלח *Parshas Vayishlach* is what Jewish leaders have always read when we need to engage in a conflict, when we need to confront adversaries, when we need to be willing to find the courage to stand up to enemies. פרשת וישלח *Parshas Vayishlach* has the formula, the recipe for the Jewish approach to these things. And while some years that is academic, and please God we long to go back to a time in which it is academic, and we're studying יעקב's *Yaakov's* formula for fighting as theoretical, this year, of course, there are so many lessons for today. So יעקב *Yaakov* sends these agents. You ready? Next פסוק *pasuk* already. ויצו אותם לאמר כה תאמרון לאדני לעשיו *Vayitzav osam leimor koh somrun l'adoni l'Eisav*. And יעקב *Yaakov* tells them, \"This is what I want you to tell לאדני לעשיו *l'adoni l'Eisav*, tell my master עשיו *Eisav*.\" Anything peculiar about that? אדני *Adoni*. Now we understand why יעקב *Yaakov* refers to עשיו *Eisav* as אדני *adoni* when he is in front of עשיו *Eisav*. When he's to his face, we understand a little better why does he call him אדני *adoni*. He's trying to show him respect and honor, hoping that will contribute to their reconciliation. But here יעקב *Yaakov* is not talking directly to עשיו *Eisav*. To whom is he talking? To the agent that he's going to send. So why does he refer even to his own people as אדני עשיו *adoni Eisav*? כה אמר עבדך יעקב עם לבן גרתי ואחר עד עתה *Koh amar avdecha Yaakov, im Lavan garti v'echar ad ata*. And what is the message? What is this critically important message that he should communicate, that he should transmit? Okay, you're going to go see my brother. He hates me. He's wanted to kill me. He wants to kill me right now. Here's what you need to tell him when you first see him. Are you ready? You're going to get in the Oval Office, you're going to get to the White House. Here's the message. You're in Qatar. Head of Mossad is in Qatar today. You're going to be negotiating. Here's the message. I lived with לבן *Lavan* and I was a good boy. I kept all of תורה *Torah* and מצוות *mitzvos*. עם לבן גרתי *Im Lavan garti* ואחר עד עתה *v'echar ad ata*, and that's where I've been. I'm so sorry I'm late. So sorry I've delayed. I'm so sorry it took me so long. You know where I've been? I was with לבן *Lavan*. And while I was with לבן *Lavan*, you should know, עם לבן גרתי *im Lavan garti*, says רש\"י *Rashi*, one of the most famous in the תורה *Torah*, עם לבן גרתי *im Lavan garti* and, לא נעשיתי שר וחשוב אלא גר *lo na'aseisi sar v'chashuv ela ger*. You think I stole the ברכה *bracha* and the ברכה *bracha* was I was going to become some famous influencer, I was going to become some superstar, rockstar, I was going to have so many followers. Know that I was a stranger. I was a stranger. I was fighting for my life against this used car salesman father-in-law of mine, this trickster who kept deceiving me. אינו כדאי לך לשנוא אותי על ברכת אביך *Eincha k'dai l'snos oisi al birchas avicha*. It's not worthwhile for you to hate me. I haven't broken through to have what you want. You should know where I was and how I was living and what I needed to do to get by. And despite that, גרתי *garti*, I lived with לבן *Lavan*. גרתי *Garti* is גמטריא *gematria*, the same numerical value as תרי\"ג *Taryag*, 613. כלומר *klomar*, it comes to teach, עם לבן הרשע גרתי *im Lavan harasha garti*, I lived with לבן *Lavan* the wicked, ותרי\"ג מצוות שמרתי ולא למדתי ממעשיו הרעים *v'taryag mitzvos shamarti v'lo lamadeti m'maasav hara'im*. And it didn't, I didn't compromise. I was uncompromising. I lived in the literally the den of den of iniquity. I lived in the backyard of a wicked person. I lived in the metropolis of spiritual decadence and corruption and I didn't compromise an iota. That's the message? That's what עשיו *Eisav* cares about? That's what's going to win him over? עשיו's *Eisav's* still bitter that you dressed up like him, that you fooled the father, that you stole the blessings. And the message is, ich bin a tzaddik. Just want to let you know, shul dinner, mafteir yonah. I'm a צדיק *tzaddik*. From my kapela to my feets I'm a צדיק *tzaddik*. עם לבן גרתי *im Lavan garti*, I lived with לבן *Lavan* and I kept. That's what's going to do it? You're going to go see the head of Hamas in Qatar, just want to let you know, in BRS, eight minyanim shabbos morning, morning kollel, afternoon kollel, night kollel. We're killing it in the Torah and mitzvos category. Okay. Why is it of interest to Eisav? Why is that what's on Yaakov's mind? So many interpretation, we've seen many interpretation. If you want to hear old ones, you can listen to previous parsha shiurim. These are all new, new to me. New to me at least. Maybe not to you. Says Rav Soloveitchik, עם לבן גרתי *im Lavan garti*. Despite having lived in Padan Aram for 20 years, Yaakov remained an alien there. The Gemara in Bava Basra defines a יושב העיר *yoshev ha'ir* as one who lives continually in a city for 30 days, while אנשי העיר *anshei ha'ir* live in a city for 12 months. These two categories are different levels of citizenship. The first thing Yaakov is telling him is, I didn't settle down. I never became a resident. I didn't have the luxury of fitting in or belonging. I not only was I not a superstar leader, influencer, I couldn't even fit in. I wasn't even a resident. But moreover, says the Rav, the following. Yaakov was taken away from his parental home and experienced a long night of darkness, misery, and distress. He was burdened with the mission of proving to the world that the covenantal community was capable of practicing Avraham's unique moral code by living a lifestyle of saintliness, not only in the promised land, but in גלות *galus*, in exile, far from the hills and valleys of חברון *Chevron* and שכם *Shechem*. עם לבן גרתי *Im Lavan garti*, I lived with לבן *Lavan*, and yet, תרי\"ג מצוות שמרתי *taryag mitzvos shamarti*. Yaakov stayed with Lavan 20 years, enough time to settle down and become a citizen of Charan, to consider himself a veteran resident, and he should have said עם לבן ישבתי *im Lavan yashavti*. He should have said, I dwelled, I became a citizen, a resident, ישבתי *yashavti*, I was a יושב *yoshev*, a תושב *toshav*. Why does it say גרתי *garti*? גרתי *Garti* comes from the word גר *ger*, because he felt like a stranger. The way his son Yosef later felt in Egypt. He had not assimilated. He had not integrated himself into Lavan's society and community. He had not accepted their morals, their code of ethics or their lifestyle. He sojourned to Charan for a long time, yet he preserved, he preserved his moral and religious identity, his commitment to the Hashem of Avraham, his commitment to the way of life that Hashem of Avraham sanctioned, his commitment to the promised land, to ארץ ישראל *Eretz Yisrael*. All those commitments and many more were not affected at all. Yaakov was as dedicated at the end of his 20 years of servitude in Lavan's house as he was the first night he spent on the cold stones in בית אל *Beis El*, when he pledged Hashem will be my God. At the completion of his sojourn in Charan, the angel of Hashem revealed himself to Yaakov. In other words, you remained loyal to your spiritual heritage and faith in me. It's a very beautiful insight. Yaakov was not saying this as a message to Eisav to win Eisav over. Yaakov was saying this as a statement of himself. And who was he saying it to? You and me, each and every one of us. Wherever you are, you're in גלות *galus*, you're in exile, whether geographically outside the land of Israel, or even in Israel, in a state of exile when the kind of atrocity of October 7th could have happened, we are in a state of exile, in a time and a period of השראת השכינה *hashra'as haShechinah* that can't happen. We feel the bitterness of that exile in the land and outside the land right now. And one might think, how are we meant to navigate? How can we live a righteous, religious life? How can we see and find Hashem here? And Yaakov says, I lived with Lavan. I lived with Lavan. And I didn't assimilate. I didn't lose my identity. I didn't compromise on iota. עם לבן גרתי *Im Lavan garti*, ותרי\"ג מצוות שמרתי *v'taryag mitzvos shamarti*. Yosef was burdened with a similar task. He again had to prove that Avraham's covenant could be practiced outside the promised land, that the moral laws are not contingent upon geography and chronology. The difference between Yaakov and Yosef's assignment is a dual one. First, says the Rav, Yaakov had to prove that the Torah is reliable in poverty and oppression. That the immigrant, no matter how hard he has to work for a livelihood, no matter how poor and oppressed, is capable of, if he makes up his mind to give devotional loyalty to his ancestral tradition. Yosef's mission was to demonstrate that enormous success and limited riches, admiration, prominence, and power are not in conflict with a saintly covenantal life. The immigrant, no matter what his destiny turns out to be, glorious success or miserable failure, can, if he possesses the heroic quality of either Yaakov or Yosef, attend to his commitment. It's an incredible insight. Yaakov and Yosef both proved to us that the Torah travels. You know, Rav Hirsch writes that the poles that are put into the ארון *Aron*, the other כלים *keilim* of the בית המקדש *Beis Hamikdash* or the משכן *Mishkan*, the poles, once the משכן *Mishkan* rests, are removed out of that כלי *kli*, out of that utensil. But the ארון *Aron*, the Ark of the Covenant, the תורה הקדושה *Torah HaKedosha*, the לוחות הברית *Luchos HaBris*, the poles remain. Writes Rav Hirsch, you know why? Because the ארון *Aron* is transportable. Torah comes with us wherever we are. Torah is not only relevant in the promised land, Torah is not only relevant while you're in Yeshiva or shul, Torah is not only relevant when you're in your gap year, Torah is not only relevant when you're a newly married kollel couple, Torah has those poles, it travels with us wherever we go, wherever we live, whatever we are confronting, Torah comes with us. Yaakov and Yosef both proved that to us. They both took Torah, were informed and inspired by it in a place of גלות *galus*. But they did it from diametrically opposed socioeconomic statuses. Yaakov does it from a place of poverty. And he says, even with nothing, even with working overtime, with honesty and integrity and fighting to go collect פכים קטנים *pachim ketanim*, even building myself up from nothing and from poverty, I didn't abandon Torah. Yosef had the opposite problem. It is a problem that we have not had too many times in our history, and that's why I don't think we have such a rich tradition for it, and we're suffering from that today. And that is, living Torah in a place of not poverty, but a place of of great wealth, of great prosperity. We have a מסורה *mesorah* of how to live with pogroms and persecution and poverty. We got 2,000 years of practice. But how to have a מסורה *mesorah* to live with prosperity? What should be our priorities? What's our attitude to material success? How do we integrate it with spirituality? Do we flaunt it in the face of those, our host nation and neighbors? What's our מסורה *mesorah* for living with prosperity? That we have less of a rich tradition. And we are living in truly prosperous times, not to suggest that we don't have a large Tomchei Shabbos program here at BRS, that we're not launching the Florida Chesed Network. We have enormous chesed needs, but even those living with the least have much more than the wealthiest had just a short time ago. The family who are receiving the most help from the community still have the latest versions of smartphones and cars with power windows and a roof over their head and food to eat. That's a great testimony to our community. That's not a indictment of them, but it means that even our poverty is with a level of prosperity that was unprecedented from before. And Yosef teaches us that because Yosef descends to Egypt, he rises to be the viceroy, he has great prosperity, and it's very easy to lose your way. You could become an assimilated observant Jew. You go to the daf, you make it to minyan, you pay your tuition, but in your values and priorities, you're totally assimilated. You could become an assimilated observant Jew when you have too much prosperity. So says Rav Soloveitchik, עם לבן גרתי ותרי\"ג מצוות שמרתי *im Lavan garti v'taryag mitzvos shamarti*. First Yaakov and later we'll get to Yosef, teach us that the Torah is relevant, the Torah is accessible, the Torah informs and inspires and enriches and empowers and obligates wherever we are and whatever state we are, whatever time of life we are, and whether we are in poverty or whether we are in prosperity, the Torah remains relevant. And that's what Yaakov was saying after all these years in this moment of reunion, he is reflecting back on that experience. That is Rav Soloveitchik. The אמרות טהרות *Amaros Tehoros*, the Rachmistrivka Rebbe, עם לבן גרתי *im Lavan garti*, quotes the אור יצחק *Or Yitzchak*. Rashi says, עם לבן גרתי ותרי\"ג מצוות שמרתי *im Lavan garti v'taryag mitzvos shamarti*. הדין באמת כל אדם ישראל צריך לקיים התרי\"ג מצוות *D'hinei b'emes kol adam Yisrael tzarich l'kayem ha'taryag mitzvos*. He has now a different nuance, not our question why would Eisav care, but Yaakov says תרי\"ג מצוות *taryag mitzvos*, עם לבן גרתי *im Lavan garti* ותרי\"ג מצוות *v'taryag mitzvos* שמרתי *shamarti*. באמת כל אדם מישראל צריך לקיים תרי\"ג מצוות *B'emes, kol adam mi'Yisrael tzarich l'kayem taryag mitzvos*. Now the truth is every Jew has to fulfill all 613. והנה יש מצוות עשה ומצוות לא תעשה *V'hinei yesh mitzvos asei u'mitzvos lo sa'asei*. Now our תורה הקדושה *Torah HaKedosha* is made up of positive commandments and negative commandments. Now גבי מצוות עשה יש אפשרות לקיים המצוות כפשוטן *gabei mitzvos asei, yesh efsharus l'kayem ha'mitzvos k'pshutan*. I understand why it makes sense to say I fulfilled the positive. I put on ציצית *tzitzis*, I put on תפילין *tefillin*, I will light the חנוכה *Chanukah* candles, I heard the שופר *shofar*, I shook the לולב *lulav*. Positive commandments, you can say I fulfilled. But מצוות לא תעשה *mitzvos lo sa'asei*, יש לדעת, היאך שייך לקיים מצוות לא תעשה *yesh l'daas, heich shayach l'kayem mitzvos lo sa'asei*? How do you fulfill... there is a fly. I don't know who this fly was in a previous life. Maybe I mistreated him in a parsha shiur and he's back to get me. But he will not leave me alone. Welcome, welcome back to shiur fly. Welcome back. So it makes sense to say קיימתי *kiyamti*, I fulfilled the positive commandment. How do you fulfill a negative commandment? Don't eat non-kosher. Ooh, I fulfilled it. What do you mean you fulfilled it? Just don't do it. Don't do it. Imagine at the end of the day you say to your spouse, wasn't I an extraordinary husband today? What did you do? I didn't scream at you, I didn't yell at you, I didn't hit you, I didn't abuse you. I don't know that you get the Nobel Peace Prize for that. What did you fulfill? You just did what you were supposed to do. You didn't violate what you're not supposed to do. We don't call that a קיום *kiyum*, a fulfillment. הלא עניינו הוא שלא לעשות ואינו מקיים כלום *Halo inyano hu shelo la'asos, v'eino m'kayem klum*. The לא תעשה *lo sa'asei*, the negative commandment is don't do that. You didn't actually do anything. To be מקיים *m'kayem* means you did something. A לא תעשה *lo sa'asei*, a negative, means you didn't do. אלא העניין הוא, דיש יצר הרע מפתה אדם לעבור על עבירות הלאווין, ומתגבר על יצרו ואינו עובר, זה נקרא מקיים *Ela ha'inyan hu, d'yesh yeitzer hara m'fateh adam la'avor al aveiros ha'lavin, u'misgaber al yitzro v'eino over, zeh nikra m'kayem*. That's a misnomer. The truth is that the person who can withstand and resist the temptation, the drive, the urge to do the wrong thing, did do something. You know what they did? They defeated the urge. They defeated that drive. They defeated that instinct. They did something. The premise of our question was wrong. We asked, you do something when you do a positive commandment. You didn't do anything if you didn't violate a negative one. Says the Rachmistrivka, wrong. If you found the courage, the energy, the conviction, the will, the resolve to not do the wrong thing when you were tempted, when you were driven, when you wanted to, then you did do something, there was a קיום *kiyum* there too. לא לכל אדם מזדמן להעדיף את האפשרות לנצח היצר הרע בכל איסורי לא תעשה *Lav l'chol adam mizdamen l'he'adif es ha'efsharus l'natzeiach ha'yeitzer hara b'chol isurei lo sa'asei*. זה כוונת יעקב, עם לבן גרתי, וממילא תרי\"ג מצוות שמרתי *V'zeh kavanos Yaakov, im Lavan garti u'memayla taryag mitzvos shamarti*. Now, when is it you can say that by fighting the יצר הרע *yeitzer hara* you did something in the positive? When you had a יצר הרע *yeitzer hara* for something. If you didn't have a יצר הרע *yeitzer hara* for that thing, you didn't do anything by not doing it. So I have a יצר הרע *yeitzer hara* for food that is unhealthy for some non-kosher foods. I have no יצר הרע *yeitzer hara* for lobster, for shellfish. Zero, nada, nothing, no temptation. If Hashem would come to me ברוב עם *b'rov am* and say, Goldberg, enjoy a lobster, I'd say, thanks, no thanks. No interest. No interest. So I'm not fighting a יצר הרע *yeitzer hara*, that's not a קיום *kiyum*. But if there is a יצר הרע *yeitzer hara*, and I don't need to spend now, and if you want for later, for the right donation, I'm happy to tell you all my יצר הרע's *yeitzer haras*, but not right now. But if I have a יצר הרע *yeitzer hara* and I in fact fight it and I and I resist it, so there's a קיום *kiyum*, there's a fulfillment. So how could יעקב *Yaakov* say תרי\"ג מצוות שמרתי *taryag mitzvos shamarti*, I fulfilled all 613? You know why? עם לבן גרתי *Im Lavan garti*. He lived with the captain of יצר הרע *yeitzer hara*. He lived with the יצר הרע *yeitzer hara*. He lived with the engine of יצר הרע *yeitzer hara*. So because he lived with לבן *Lavan* who was the greatest source of יצר הרע *yeitzer hara* to do the wrong thing, he can say, not only did I fulfill the positive commandments, but he can say wholeheartedly, ותרי\"ג מצוות שמרתי *v'taryag mitzvos shamarti*, all 613 including the negative ones, I kept and I observed. A *az zagt* the Rachmistrivka. Let's keep going. תפארת שמואל *Tiferes Shmuel*. You know I was getting back to Rav Shmuel Berenbaum. I got a beautiful email from his grandson who was so gratified to hear how much we're quoting his grandfather. It's not a favor, his Torah is beautiful. I've been really enjoying it. And in this new sefer, תפארת שמואל *Tiferes Shmuel*, Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, the Rosh Yeshiva of the Mir Brooklyn says the following. Again, Rashi quotes, לא נעשיתי שר וחשוב *lo na'aseisi sar v'chashuv*, I didn't become influential and famous, I was a גר *ger*. גרתי *Garti*, not ישבתי *yashavti*. ותרי\"ג מצוות שמרתי *V'taryag mitzvos shamarti*, the same גמטריא *gematria*. לכאורה צריך לעמוד בביאור על פי הפשט הראשון ברש\"י והדברים מפיסים לעשיו *L'chora, tzarich la'amod b'veiur al pi ha'pshat harishon b'Rashi, v'hadvarim m'fayisim l'Eisav*. I understand the first interpretation of Rashi, why this would make Eisav happy. Eisav, you think I became all that? All these years you've been wondering, I stole the ברכה *bracha* and then I fulfilled it? Don't worry, I didn't. I've been a stranger, I've been hated upon, I've had to navigate. Don't worry. However, the second interpretation that I kept all תורה and מצוות *Torah and mitzvos*, מה איכפת ליה לעשיו הרשע אם יעקב אבינו קיים התורה או לאו *ma ichpas leih l'Eisav harasha im Yaakov Avinu kiyem ha'Torah o lav*? What in the world would Eisav care if Yaakov kept all the Torah or no? כיצד יש לפייס לעשיו בדברים כאלו לקיחת הברכות *Keitzad yesh l'fayes l'Eisav bidvarim ka'eilu l'kichas ha'brachos*? Eisav's angry, why? Yaakov, you pulled the biggest fast one in the world. You pretended to be me and you stole my ברכות *brachos*. So if you tell me, but you've not yet received the fulfillment of those ברכות *brachos*, maybe he's appeased. But that you're a good frum boy still? That's part of why I hated you to begin with. How does that make Eisav happy? ויש לומר בפשטות עשיו ידע מה שאמר יצחק בברכתו ליעקב, והיה כאשר תריד ופרקת עולו מעל צוארך *V'yesh lomar b'pshitos, Eisav yada ma she'amar Yitzchak b'virchaso l'Yaakov, v'haya ka'asher tarid u'farakta ulo mei'al tzavarecha*. Rashi says לשון צער *lashon tza'ar*. שיעבור ישראל על התורה ויהיה לך פתחון פה לצער על הברכות שנטל, ופרקת עלו *sheya'avor Yisrael al ha'Torah v'yihiyeh l'cha pischon peh l'tza'er al ha'brachos shenatal, u'farakta ulo*. Because יצחק *Yitzchak* had told יעקב *Yaakov*, if at any time you don't fulfill who you're meant to be, if you don't meet your potential, if you don't reach out and grab onto these ברכות *brachos*, if you violate them, then you no longer are covered by the ברכות *brachos*. You'll now be exposed to the elements. לפיכך אמר יעקב לעשיו שהוא שמר את התורה בשלימות בבית לבן וממילא אין ביכולתו לפרוק עולו מעל צוארו *L'fikach amar Yaakov l'Eisav shehu shamar es ha'Torah b'shleimus b'veis Lavan, u'memayla ein b'ycholso lifrok ulo mei'al tzavaro*. Know I'm not vulnerable, because I kept Torah and mitzvos. Built into the original ברכה *bracha* was a condition that if I wouldn't observe, then the ברכות *brachos* would not protect me. So as we're about to meet up, I want you to know עם לבן גרתי, תרי\"ג מצוות שמרתי *im Lavan garti, taryag mitzvos shamarti*. Know that there's no chink, there's no crack in my armor. I kept Torah and mitzvos, I still am deserving of those ברכות *brachos*, and therefore I am not vulnerable, I am not vulnerable to you. עוד יש לומר *Od yesh lomar* says the תפארת שמואל *Tiferes Shmuel*. עוד יש לומר *Od yesh lomar* דכשיודע לעשיו שיעקב מקיים רצון השם, הרי הוא ירא מלפניו כי עשיו, וביקש ידע שהשם עמו, ולפיכך השם עמו, ולכן יהיה לו רצון לעשות ברית שלום עם יעקב *d'k'sheyivada l'Eisav she'Yaakov m'kayem r'tzon Hashem, harei hu yarei m'lfanav ki Eisav, v'yivakesh yeda she'Hashem imo, v'l'fikach Hashem imo, v'lachen yihyeh lo ratzon la'asos bris shalom im Yaakov*. Now he'll change gears, paradigm shift. Instead of Eisav wanting to battle Yaakov, defeat Yaakov, maybe he'll want to enter a covenant. If Hashem is with you, let me grab on. Let me make a covenant. We see that with Yitzchak and Avimelech, we saw that earlier. And that's what Yaakov's hope is here. עוד יש לומר *Od yesh lomar*, another interpretation, דברי החפץ חיים *divrei ha'Chafetz Chaim*. You know what the חפץ חיים *Chafetz Chaim* said about this? Again, what's the question? Why in the world will Eisav care that Yaakov kept observing Torah and mitzvos? Why should that appease him in any way? שיעקב אבינו היסר עם עצמו מצד אנווותו שלא למד מהנהגת לבן ורדיפתו אחר הרע *She'Yaakov Avinu hiser im atzmo m'tzad anvasanuso she'lo lamad mei'hanhagas Lavan u'rdifaso achar hara*. להפך, לצד הטוב לעבודת השם *L'hefech, l'tzad ha'tov l'avodas Hashem*. דהא יש ללמוד מלבן מקל וחומר *D'ha, yesh l'lmod mi'Lavan mi'kal vachomer*. In fact, the חפץ חיים *Chafetz Chaim* understood this, listen carefully, it'll change the way you hear this Rashi forever. עם לבן גרתי *im Lavan garti*, the pasuk says. Says Rashi, ותרי\"ג מצוות שמרתי *v'taryag mitzvos shamarti*, גמטריא *gematria* גרתי *garti* is תרי\"ג *taryag*. I lived with Lavan and I kept all of Torah and mitzvos. Was Yaakov flexing? He didn't know what the word flex meant at that time. What the kids would call a T4. Who cares you kept all Torah and mitzvos? Why is Yaakov flexing? Says the Chafetz Chaim, Yaakov is not flexing at all. He's not showing off with pride. He's in fact offering self-criticism. And what's the criticism he's offering himself? He says, I should have learned from Lavan. עם לבן גרתי ותרי\"ג מצוות שמרתי *Im Lavan garti, v'taryag mitzvos shamarti*, ולא למדתי ממעשיו הרעים *v'lo lamadeti mi'ma'asav haraim*, and I didn't learn from his evil ways. Isn't that a good thing? If you live with bad people and you don't adopt their bad habits, isn't that a good thing? Says the חפץ חיים *Chafetz Chaim*, no, because there's something to learn from everyone. You shouldn't have learned to follow their bad habits. What could you have learned? מה לבן הרמי רודף בהתלהבות אחרי הממון שהוא דבר כלה, ולא חס על כוחותיו *Ma Lavan ha'arami rodef b'hislahavus acharei ha'mamon shehu davar kaleh, v'lo chas al kochosav*. Lavan neglected his power, his potential, the person he was meant to be. He dropped it all, he abandoned it all to pursue money, material possessions. He was driven, he was passionate, he pursued it. Yaakov should have learned from that. Not to run after money, but to run after Torah, chesed. Looking at Lavan, his drive, his passion, his single-minded focus, there was something to learn. I could have learned, I could have learned that, and I didn't. I didn't. I didn't learn it. אמר יעקב לעשיו שלא יתרגז על הברכות כי עם לבן גרתי וראיתי כמה הוא חם ומתלהב אחר הממון *Amar Yaakov l'Eisav shelo yitragez al ha'brachos, ki im Lavan garti v'ra'isi kama hu cham u'mislahav achar ha'mamon*. Don't worry that I got the brachos for money. You know why? I lived with Lavan, I saw how much he valued money, how greedy he was, but I didn't learn that from him. עשה כל מה שביכולתי כדי לחיות אחר רמאויותיו ממילא נהיה עייף, וכל יצר הרע לא חס קל וחומר לחיות כל כך בלהט עבודת השם ובלימוד התורה. ולפי שלא למדתי ממנו לא נתקיימו בי הברכות. *asa kol ma sheb'yecholti k'dei l'chayos achar r'ma'uyosav u'memayla n'hiyeh ayef, v'chol yeitzer hara lo chas kal vachomer l'chayos kol kach b'lahat avodas Hashem u'v'limud haTorah. U'lfi shelo lamadeti mimenu, lo niskymu bi ha'brachos*. This is the opposite of the first interpretation. I should have learned from him the same passion, the same pursuit, the same drive only for Torah instead of money, but I didn't. לא למדתי *Lo lamadeti*. I failed to learn from him. Therefore, I am unworthy of the ברכות *brachos*, so don't be jealous of me that I took the ברכות *brachos*. Don't worry and don't be jealous. Don't worry and don't be jealous. Others say, maybe we're going to see this now. I think the Rav Druck has a similar interpretation. לבוש *Levush*, and he says similarly, I should have learned from him. Says Rav Druck בסיעתא דשמיא בדרך מיוחדת *b'siyata d'Shmaya b'derech m'yuchadess*. דוד המלך אומר בתהילים *Dovid HaMelech omer b'Tehillim*, it's a beautiful, the תפארת שמואל *Tiferes Shmuel* and Rav Druck say similarly. What does דוד המלך *Dovid HaMelech* say in תהילים *Tehillim*? ק\"כ *Kuf Yud Tes*. Do you see the picture of the soldier with the תהילים *Tehillim* that the bullet, the תהילים *Tehillim* stopped the bullet? Someone said to me, even a bullet can't make it through ק\"כ *Kuf Yud Tes*. ק\"כ *Kuf Yud Tes* is the longest פרק *perek* in תהילים *Tehillim*, the one that's alphabetical order, you spell names, takes forever to say. Even a bullet can't make it through ק\"כ *Kuf Yud Tes*. Anyways, ק\"כ *Kuf Yud Tes* פסוק צ\"ח *pasuk tzadi ches*, the pasuk says, מאיבי תחכמני *mei'oyvai sechkameni*. מאיבי תחכמני *Mei'oyvai sechkameni*. מצוותיך כי לעולם היא לי *Mitzvosecha ki l'olam hi li*. מפסוק זה למדים כי האדם צריך ללמוד מן היצר הרע כיצד לעבוד את הקדוש ברוך הוא *Mi'pasuk zeh lomdim ki ha'adam tzarich l'lmod min ha'yeitzer hara keitzad la'avod es haKadosh Baruch Hu*. מאיבי *Mei'oyvai*, from my enemies, תחכמני *sechkameni*, I gain wisdom. What wisdom can I get from my enemy? We can learn what not to do, how not to behave, who to never become, but we can also learn that single-minded focus, that unyielding passion and tenacity, that resolve. It's channeled and directed in the wrong way, but if we can somehow adopt and then adapt, we can achieve incredible things. כאשר רואה את עבודתו של יצר הרע, שאינו מתעייף ואינו נח לרגע *Ka'asher ro'eh es avodaso shel yeitzer hara, she'eino mis'ayef v'eino nach l'rega*. When you see the power of the יצר הרע *yeitzer hara*, that it never gives up, and it never gives in, and it never takes a break, and it never rests. רק בכל עת ובכל שעה מוכן ומזומן לפורענות, עומד על האדם להחטיאו, על האדם ללמוד ממנו *Rak b'chol eis u'v'chol sha'ah muchan u'mezuman l'pur'anus, omed al ha'adam l'hachti'o, al ha'adam l'lmod mimenu*. A person should always learn from that. And that's what it means, מאיבי תחכמני מצוותיך *mei'oyvai sechkameni mitzvosecha*. From my enemies, I should learn how to pursue מצוות *mitzvos*. כאשר הוא רואה את עבודתו של האויב של האדם, שהיצר הרע, החשק, הזריזות, לעבירה, לתאווה *Ka'asher hu ro'eh es avodaso shel ha'oyev shel ha'adam, she'ha'yeitzer hara, ha'cheshek, ha'zrizus, la'aveira, l'ta'avah*. Look at the way that people pursue, look at the money they spend, look at how they run after, look at how they stay up at night to do the wrong thing. Take those same energies and direct it to do the right things. And now we can understand what Yaakov sent to Eisav. לא בא להשביח את עצמו *Lo ba l'hashbiach es atzmo*. He didn't come to flex, he didn't come to praise himself, it wasn't a point of pride. His point was, I could have and I should have learned and I didn't. I didn't learn. And therefore if he's knocking himself to his brother, in the hope that Eisav will be more open to to greeting him. Okay, that's the תפארת שמואל *Tiferes Shmuel* and the לבוש *Levush*. Let's keep going. Skip to פסוק ח *pasuk ches*. Turn the page, 172. ויירא יעקב מאוד ויצר לו, ויחץ את העם אשר איתו ואת הצאן ואת הבקר והגמלים לשני מחנות *Vayira Yaakov me'od vayetzer lo, vayachatz es ha'am asher ito v'es hatzon v'es habakar v'hagamalim lishnei machanos*. Yaakov became very frightened. ויירא *Vayira* means frightened. ויצר *Vayetzer*. What does ויצר *vayetzer* mean? יצר *Yeitzer* could mean a יצר הרע *yeitzer hara*, inclination. יצר, יצירה *Yeitzer, yetzira* can mean to create. What does יצר *yeitzer* mean here? ויירא יעקב *Vayira Yaakov*, Yaakov was scared, ויצר לו *vayetzer lo*. All right, you're all cheating, you're looking in the English. You could cheat. It's an open book test. He became frightened and it distressed him. It distressed him. It made him stressed. What's the difference between being afraid and being stressed? ויירא *Vayira*, ויצר *vayetzer*. If the Torah uses two words, it's describing two separate emotions that Yaakov was experiencing. Maybe we can relate to them, maybe there's a lesson in it for us. What was he experiencing? ויירא *Vayira*, he was afraid, and as a result of that, ויצר *vayetzer*. So what did he do? He led to action. ויחץ את העם *Vayachatz es ha'am*, he divided the people into two, the flock, the cattle, the camels, two camps. It was a military strategy. He was diversifying the encampments. So if he got attacked, eliminated one, they would survive. There would be a, there would be a future. What's the difference between ויירא *vayira* and ויצר *vayetzer*? And here again we have many interpretations for you. So the אמרות טהורות *Amaros Tehoros*, the Rachmistrivka, quotes first the אבא שלום *Aba Shalom*. ויירא יעקב מאוד *Vayira Yaakov me'od*, Yaakov was very afraid, ויצר לו *vayetzer lo*. שהיה יעקב מצער ודואג על זה עצמו מדוע הוא מסיר מעשיו *Shehaya Yaakov me'tzaer v'do'eg al zeh atzmo, madu'a hu misya'er mei'Eisav*. Yaakov was really afraid. And then the fact that he was afraid got him very anxious. Why would being afraid make him anxious? Why would being afraid make him anxious? I mean, being afraid is in itself an expression of anxiousness. But it's not just the fear included anxiousness, it's being afraid made him anxious. Why? Why? So the פנים יפות *Panim Yafos* continues. שהיה יעקב מצער על זה שהוא מסיר מעשיו, שיוצא מזה דאינו שלם בבטחונו בהשם יתברך שיעזור לו *Shehaya Yaakov me'tzaer al zeh shehu misya'er mei'Eisav, she'yotzei mi'zeh d'eino shalem b'vitchono b'Hashem Yisbarach she'ya'azor lo*. If you ever feel yourself panicked, afraid, frightened, then you have to ask yourself, where's my emunah? Now there is a natural, in the emunah shiur we've been learning, we finished, we're going to start something new tomorrow. We were learning the a maamar of the Pnei Menachem, the previous Ger Rebbe, during the Persian Gulf War. We learned a beautiful maamar of his. During the Persian Gulf War, in which he validated, if you put on a gas mask and you're going into a sealed room, there's something wrong with you if your heart's not fluttering a little bit. A little healthy fear. If you live fearless, then you will live reckless. Healthy fear is good because it means you'll drive safer, and it means you won't go to the edge of the cliff, literally and figuratively of life. So a healthy fear is good. But a debilitating fear, a fear in the extreme, is in fact an expression of a failure of emunah and bitachon. Because if a person realizes, and you can listen to the conversation I had the other night with Moshe Gersh, Rav Moshe Gersh, the author of It's All the Same to Me and his new book, The Three Conditions. We had a conversation on Sunday night. The Baal Shem Tov's idea of hishtavus, shaveh, everything's equal, equanimity, it's all the same to me. That means that I have a range of emotions in life. There's happiness and joy and laughter. There's sadness and grief and pain and everything in between. There's a range of emotions that's human and that's real and that's valid. But behind each of those emotional experiences and expressions is the absolute knowledge that what's all the same is that it's all from השם Hashem. There's an Almighty who's curating, he's choreographing, he's organizing all that happens. I'm not a victim of randomness or chance. To know that nothing that happens is random or chance doesn't bring a loved one back, doesn't make pain less as much as it doesn't make me less happy to know that the source of this happiness is not coincidence, but is השם Hashem. In both directions, it's not meant to dull the emotion that's natural to experience, but behind the emotion is the knowledge, השתות hishtavus, equanimity, that it's all the same. Why is it all the same? Because it all traces to השם Hashem. It all traces, it all comes back to השם Hashem. I'm going to give you a terrible metaphor. But if a person is watching a film, if there is such an appropriate film that a person should watch, speaking of the יצר הרע yetzer hara, but if a person is watching a film, there are parts of the film that will make you cry. They tug on the hearts, the heartstrings, they're emotional, they make you cry. Parts of the film that you laughed out loud. They were hilarious. But one thing you know about the film is that there was a writer and a director to the whole film. You're not watching something unfold that's just random or chance or it's just happens to be coming together. That's what השתות hishtavus means. There are times in life I'm going to cry, there are times in life I'm going to laugh. I'm not trying to suppress those emotions, but I meant to trace back that at all times I know with a certain sense of peace, inner peace. I can have an inner peace and cry because there's grief. I could have an inner peace and be singing and dancing with joy because there's שמחה simcha. But inside there's a peace and a sameness to know that nothing is chance and random, it all comes from a higher power we call השם Hashem.That's the summary of the conversation Sunday night. Still read his book, still listen to the conversation, and this is something that needs חיזוק chizuk every single day, more and more and more work to live with that אמונה emuna and בטחון bitachon, that השתות hishtavus, that as I live my life with the range of emotion, I'm not living it as Rav Moshe put it down here. I'm not going for my range of emotion at a low level. I'm living it up here. I'm with you, השם Hashem. השתות Hishtavus. I'm living with the director. I'm living with the writer. I don't know how the movie turns out. I don't even know what's in the next scene. And I don't know whether I'm going to be laughing or crying, but however the next scene turns, I know that there's a writer and there's a director and that the film will conclude the way it's meant to be, that nothing about it is chance or random. So says the פנים יפות Pnim Yafos, what was יעקב Yaakov saying? וירא יעקב מאוד Vayira Yaakov meod. יעקב Yaakov was experiencing a moment of unhealthy, unwarranted panic. And what did he do immediately? He did a gut check. He did an evaluation, and he said to himself, uh-oh, ויצר לו vayaytzar lo. I'm deeply troubled. My level of panic, my level of anxiousness, my level of fear, I'm not talking by the way, I want to be very clear, you know our support for mental health. Somebody who's diagnosed with anxiety and those challenges, we're not talking about it's because you lack אמונה ובטחון emuna u'bitachon. Don't go to a doctor, skip your medicine, just go to the אמונה שיעור emunah shiur. The אמונה שיעור emunah shiur is also very helpful. It's not me saying that, doctors will tell you that. But a person needs to also engage the other support they need. We're not talking about somebody who's been diagnosed with anxiety. We're talking about everyday anxieties that we have, that more and more of us have, that before Corona, certainly during Corona, since October 7th, a person almost needs to see a doctor if they're not having some anxiety and ask themselves how are they alive? Do they have a pulse if they're not after Corona, after October 7th, after the rise of antisemitism. But but there's out of range. And יעקב Yaakov felt what I'm feeling is out of range. This is not the range of what the פני מנחם Pnei Menachem validated you should feel if you put on a gas mask and go to a sealed room. יעקב Yaakov felt וירא יעקב מאוד vayira Yaakov meod, מאוד meod, severe. And therefore ויצר לו vayaytzar lo, what bothered him was, uh oh, מי שיש לו אמת ובטחון אינו מתירא משום דבר שבעולם. והבטחון עצמו גורם שבזכותו לבד יבוא הישועה כמו שהיה בקריעת ים סוף אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה דבר אל בני ישראל ויסעו. So therefore הצטער יעקב על שמזעזע מעשיו. mi sheyesh lo emes u'bitachon, eino misyareh mishum davar sheba'olam. V'habitochon atzmo gorem she'bizchuso levad yavo hayeshua, kmo shehaya b'krias yam suf, amar Hakadosh Baruch Hu l'Moshe, daber el bnei Yisrael v'yisau. So therefore hitztayer Yaakov al she'miz'yarei mei'Eisav. What the two separate experiences, it's not a redundancy. We asked, פסוק pasuk says וירא יעקב vayira Yaakov, יעקב Yaakov was afraid, ויצר לו vayaytzar lo and he was afraid. שכוח Shkoyach. It's a redundancy, it's repetitive. Says the רב חשקא Rav Chashka, no it's not. וירא יעקב מאוד vayira Yaakov meod, he was very afraid of עשיו Eisav. ויצר לו vayaytzar lo and then he got very afraid that he was afraid. Where's my אמונה emunah and where's my בטחון bitachon? What's going on? I'm the son of יצחק Yitzchak, I'm the grandson of אברהם Avraham. I'm the father of the שבטי קה Shivtei Kah. Where's my אמונה emunah and בטחון bitachon, where's my דבקות dveikus? Where's my equanimity, where's my השתות hishtavus? Where's my confidence and my clarity, my knowledge that everything's from השם Hashem. So I'll take my three-step formula, diplomacy, and prayer, and preparing for war, my three-step formula. I'm going to do it all, but without panic, because I know השם Hashem is in charge. So a very important and beautiful interpretation with the רב חשקא Rav Chashka that these are two separate experiences. וירא vayira and ויצר vayaytzar.See several more, several more. The מדרש הגדול Midrash Hagadol says וירא מבחוץ מעשיו vayira mibachutz me'Eisav. וירא vayira who was very afraid of עשיו Eisav. He's about to face his brother. He's about to face his beast, hunter, barbarian of a brother. He was afraid. ויצר מבפנים מנשיו vayaytzar mibifnim minashav. The fear came from his brother, the worry came from his wives. שאמרו לו נשיו, למה לקחתנו מבית אבינו למות על ידי עשיו. she'amru lo nashav, lama lekachtanu m'beit avinu lamus al yedei Eisav. רחל ולאה Rachel v'Leah say, hey יעקב Yaakov, we were happy at home, shepherdesses, growing up, nice life, all good. Would you bring us to this dangerous situation? Why are you bringing us to the Middle East where everyone's got rockets pointed at us? We were all well and good. What's going on? So the מדרש הגדול Midrash Hagadol says וירא vayira is עשיו Eisav. ויצר vayaytzar מנשיו minashav from his wives who had the seemingly legitimate complaint, what did you bring us into this?The העמק דבר Ha'amek Davar, the נצי\"ב Natziv says differently. וירא מעשיו, ויצר לו על זה שיש לו פחד הוא מורה מעשיו. vayira me'Eisav, vayaytzar lo al zeh sheyesh lo pachad hu moreh me'Eisav. זה המורא שמגיע אליו רעה, שהלב מרגיש שתבוא הרעה, שהיצר לו להשם מה שלח שלוחים ועודו בעצמו להביא המכה. zeh hamorah she'magia eilav ra'ah, shehaleiv margish shetavo hara'ah, she'yaytzar lo laShem mah sheshalach shluchim v'odo b'atzmo l'havi hamachama. Meaning, he was afraid of עשיו Eisav, but then ויצר לו vayaytzar lo says the נצי\"ב Natziv is, he sensed, he had a premonition, שהלב מרגיש שתבוא הרעה shehaleiv margish shetavo hara'ah, and the premonition is what scared him. You ever wake up in the morning having after had a dream? You have a premonition about something? Says the נצי\"ב Natziv, those are the two emotions that he felt. The אברבנאל Abarbanel says וירא מעשיו ויצר מארבע מאות איש שהימו. vayira me'Eisav, vayaytzar me'arba me'os ish she'imo. וירא Vayira, he was afraid of עשיו Eisav himself. He also was anxious over, what distressed him was עשיו's Eisav's army. Again, each of them are bothering from are starting from the same point. What's the point each of them are starting from? Why do we have two words? וירא vayira and ויצר vayaytzar. We just read the חומש Chumash. בעל קורא Baal Korei, day almost done, הפטרה haftorah, let's get to the קידוש kiddush. We don't stop and think. Each of these מפרשים, ראשונים ואחרונים mefarshim, Rishonim v'Acharonim were bothered. They weren't just reading the פרשה parsha. They weren't just trying to get through it. They were trying to understand it. And when you read a פסוק pasuk and there seems to be a redundancy, you have to stop and ask what, why. וירא, ויצר vayira, vayaytzar. Same emotion, different emotion, same cause, two different causes? And what's beautiful is once you ask the question, then look how many beautiful answers there are. Look how many beautiful answers. The אמרי טהרות Amrei Taharos we saw too, the מדרש הגדול Midrash Hagadol, the נצי\"ב Natziv, the אברבנאל Abarbanel, the דעת זקנים Da'as Zekeinim. וירא לפי ששמע שעשיו בא בדרך אליו למלחמה. Vayira l'fi she'shama she'Eisav ba b'derech eilav l'milchama. He was afraid because he heard that עשיו Eisav was coming after him to fight. ויצר vayaytzar, and he was distressed, שחשש שמא יצחק אבינו מת she'chashash shema Yitzchak avinu meis. He thought, why is עשיו Eisav now coming to get him? What must that mean? What is that indicating? יצחק Yitzchak must have died. Why? The fact that עשיו Eisav is coming to attack him now, why would that indicate that יצחק Yitzchak died? שהרי עשיו אמר יקרבו ימי אבל אבי ואז יהרגנו sheharei Eisav amar yikrevu yemei evel avi v'az yahrgenu. Because עשיו's Eisav's whole strategy was, who is עשיו Eisav? What's the מצוה mitzvah he excels at? כיבוד אב ואם kibud av v'em. עשיו Eisav is even better than יעקב Yaakov, even better than יעקב Yaakov at כיבוד אב ואם kibud av v'em. So יעקב Yaakov says to himself, I know that עשיו Eisav will never put a finger on me while my father's alive. He would never do that to dad. So if he's coming after me now, what must that mean? Something happened to תתי Tati, something happened to אבא Abba. I'm hedging because I don't know what יעקב Yaakov called his father. Something must have happened. So that's how the דעת זקנים בעלי התוספות Daas Zekeinim Baalei HaTosfos understand the two words. וירא vayira, uh oh, brother's coming after me. ויצר vayaytzar, uh oh, that must mean something happened to אבא Abba.The אור החיים Or HaChaim has another interpretation. וירא vayira, שלא להכין עצמו למלחמה שמא עשיו יראה גם אם לא יהיה מוכן ומזוין. she'lo l'hachin atzmo l'milchama shema Eisav yireh gam im lo yihiyeh muchan u'mezuyan. He says you know what? I'm not going to prepare myself for war because what message will that send? What will that signal to עשיו Eisav if I show up wearing a ceramic bulletproof vest and a gun around my back? You know when you're ready and living with war. My sister's birthday the other day. I FaceTime'd her to wish her happy birthday. She was out for dinner with her husband for the first time since before ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. She has two sons-in-law and a son in the army. So she was almost apologetic, not that she had to be, she certainly deserved it to be out for dinner, she deserved it. But she said to me, she showed me, she turned her FaceTime camera around and said, let me show you what being out to dinner right now means. And at almost every table there was somebody wearing an M16, a gun, on their back. That's what it means to be out to dinner right now in Israel. So יעקב Yaakov says if I show up to dinner with עשיו Eisav, and even if I'm dressed nicely, but I've got a gun around my, what message am I sending him? So ויצר לו כי יביא שיביא לעשיו רע כי יראה מוכן וכלי חרב יאמר לו יעקב דורש רעתי בחר תנוסו ולכן vayaytzar lo ki yavi she'yavi l'Eisav ra ki yireh muchan u'chli cherev yomar lo Yaakov doresh ra'asi be'char tnaso v'lachen so he's worried to not come with a gun, he's worried to come with a gun. If I come with the gun, he doesn't come with the gun, I'm going to ruin it all. If I don't come with the gun, but he came with the gun, I'm in trouble. That's why וירא, ויצר vayira, vayaytzar.אור החיים Or HaChaim has another interpretation, but I think we've seen a lot. So isn't it amazing if you just stop and pause to ask the question וירא, ויצר vayira, vayaytzar, look how many we saw, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven interpretations so far about why we would have those two words. But we're not done yet. Order now and you get... we're not done yet. תפארת שמואל Tiferes Shmuel. שמואל בירנבוים Shmuel Birnbaum, another interpretation. תפארת שמואל Tiferes Shmuel says the following. אלו הפסוקים ורמזים שכי יעקב אבינו היה בסכנה מעשיו בוא כנגדו עשה התחלה להשתדל להצלחתו להצלת משפחתו. Eilu hapsukim v'ramazim sheki Yaakov avinu haya b'sakana me'Eisav, bo k'negdo, asa hatchala l'hishtadel l'hatzlachaso, l'hatzalas mishpachto. These פסוקים psukim all go together, and in these פסוקים psukim you see that יעקב Yaakov did several things. עשה התחלה להשתדל להצלחתו, להצלת משפחתו. Asa hatchala l'hishtadel l'hatzlachaso, l'hatzalas mishpachto. כמו שכתוב ויחץ את העם לשני מחנות k'mo shekasuv vayachatz es ha'am l'shnei machanos. He divides his family into two. When did he do this? Before or after he listened to a Living with אמונה שיעור Emunah shiur. Look at the chronology of the פסוק pasuk. This is very important, חבר'ה chevreh, listen up. יעקב's Yaakov's afraid of עשיו Eisav. Then he's afraid of the fact that he got afraid. Uh-oh, I just had a major dip, fail in בטחון ואמונה bitachon v'emuna. Then he girded himself in אמונה ובטחון emuna u'bitachon, got himself ready, reoriented, recalibrated himself to have faith in השם Hashem and did what next? Divided his camp in two. If you have such faith in השם Hashem, what are you doing? Just get to the בית מדרש beis medrash. Just open your תהלים Tehillim. Why do you need an army? Why do you need a military? Isn't תורה Torah protects us? Isn't תהלים Tehillim what will take care of us? Why did he divide the arm the camp in two? What's the problem? I thought if you have אמונה ובטחון emuna u'bitachon then everything will be okay. And if you have soldiers or דאווען daven for them, then maybe you're showing that you don't really have faith that השם's Hashem's going to take care of you. Why is יעקב Yaakov doing that? Says the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of the Mir Brooklyn, תפארת שמואל, רב שמואל בירנבוים Tiferes Shmuel, Rav Shmuel Birnbaum. You know why? Because a איד Yid has a responsibility to do השתדלות hishtadlus. A Jew has to take initiative. We have to operate in the natural order and the natural world. אחר שעשה השתדלות, אז התפלל להקדוש ברוך הוא. Achar she'asa hishtadlus, az hispalel la'Kadosh Baruch Hu. Once he divides the camp in two, then he turns to open his תהלים Tehillim and to דאווען daven. ויאמר יעקב אלקי אבי אברהם אלקי אבי יצחק השם האומר אלי שוב לארצך ולמולדתך ואטיבה עמך. Vayomer Yaakov, Elokei avi Avraham v'Elokei avi Yitzchak, Hashem ha'omer eilay shuv l'artzecha u'lmoladetecha v'eitiva imach. Then he opens the תהלים Tehillim, he starts to דאווען daven. What did he do first? Say תהלים Tehillim and then when that's done, just to hedge, just in case, a few of you grab a gun, go to the front, just in case. We won't need it because the תהלים Tehillim will take care of us. No. Says רב שמואל בירנבוים Rav Shmuel Birnbaum, first, army, soldiers, military. Then, when that's set in the natural order, the natural world, you've taken the initiative that is required of you, now he opens the תהלים Tehillim and starts דאווענען davening. ולמדין מכאן, דאף על פי שאין מסכת סנהדרין לעולם יקדים אדם תפילה לצרה, אבל אם אחד כבר נמצא בצרה, צריך לעשות השתדלות בדרך הטבע, ואחר כך יתפלל להשם על הצלתו. V'lamdin mikan, d'af al pi she'ein maseches Sanhedrin l'olam yakdim adam tefillah l'tzara, aval im echad kvar nimtza b'tzara, tzarich la'asos hishtadlus b'derech hateva, v'achar kach yispalel la'Hashem al hatzlaso. רב שמואל בירנבוים Rav Shmuel Birnbaum, ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of the Mir. First, השתדלות hishtadlus. First, initiative. And then you go דאווען daven. שקודם אדם צריך לעשות מה שבידו לעשות בדרך הטבע לצאת מן הסכנה ואז יפנה ויתפלל She'kodem adam tzarich la'asos ma she'b'yado la'asos b'derech hateva latzeis min hasakana v'az yifneh v'yispalel. You know why? Because if you begin with דאווענען davening, you know what השם Hashem says to you? Uh, buddy, how do you expect me to make a miracle for you if you don't take the steps, the initiative for yourself? What do you want me to do? You have thousands to the north and thousands to the south, and Iran on the verge of a nuclear weapon, and in the natural order, if you don't have a border and boundaries, and you don't have a military and soldiers, and you don't have a strategy and a system, then there's השם Hashem says, those kind of miracles I don't do. So you take the initiative and I'll make miracles within your initiative that look like the natural order. So you've got to take the first step. Here's how I understand it. And where do we learn this from? What happened when we were found between the rock and the hard place? The first rock and hard place, called the ים סוף Yam Suf and the מצרים Mitzrim. Before we were between Hezbollah and Hamas, we were between the rock and the... the sea and the מצרים Mitzrim. And you know what כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael did? They just got back from their year in Israel and they found themselves in a crisis. Oh, they had the biggest תהלים Tehillim rally ever. Opened up their תהלים Tehillim and they started, ooh, תהלים Tehillim. And what does השם Hashem say to משה Moshe? דבר אל בני ישראל daber el Bnei Yisrael... השם Hashem says to משה Moshe, משה Moshe, what's what's going on down there? What are you doing? משה's Moshe's like, yeah, isn't it beautiful? תהלים Tehillim, massive תהלים Tehillim, unbelievable. השם Hashem says, buddy, this is not the time for תהלים Tehillim. דבר אל בני ישראל ויסעו daber el Bnei Yisrael v'yisau. There'll be a time, of course we say תהלים Tehillim, of course the centrality of תורה Torah and תפילה tefillah, we're going to get to that. Of course the קול קול יעקב kol kol Yaakov. But first, start walking. Start moving. השתדלות Hishtadlus, initiative. Says רב שמואל בירנבוים Rav Shmuel Birnbaum, from our פרשה parsha you see the formula for moments of crisis and urgency, for moments of conflict and war. We have to take our initiative. And the way I have always understood it is, what is the תורה Torah telling us? Not that we take initiative that has nothing to do with השם Hashem and then we דאווען daven and it's all up to השם Hashem. The way that I always understood it is, we דאווען daven in two ways. We דאווען daven with our hands and feet and we דאווען daven with our mouths. We דאווען daven through initiative when we say השם Hashem, I'm taking my initiative but guide it, protect it, make it successful. And then we דאווען daven with our words. But if we don't דאווען daven with our hands and feet, then השם Hashem says, don't come דאווענען davening with your words.Rav Soloveitchik says similarly. Soloveitchik says, also. וירא יעקב מאוד vayira Yaakov meod. יעקב Yaakov was very frightened. If יעקב's Yaakov's entourage included angels ready to take orders, why was יעקב Yaakov so afraid? The book of מלאכים Malachim describes how one angel destroyed 180,000 of סנחריב's Sanheriv's army. So that's a pretty good ratio. One angel got rid of 180,000 of סנחריב's Sanheriv's army. Must be we devalue the lives of סנחריב Sanheriv because of that ratio. Why was יעקב Yaakov so concerned about an army of only 400? If one angel could take care of 180,000, then certainly the angel השם Hashem promised them could take care of 400 measly soldiers of עשיו Eisav. Says Rav Soloveitchik similarly, because this is obvious and this has always been our מסורה mesorah. Miracles do not occur as long as the natural cosmic order is not pursued. Man must seize the initiative in a natural way. No miracles occur until all natural means are exhausted. The angels would not give assistance as long as יעקב Yaakov could handle the situation. Why then did יעקב Yaakov send angels at all? יעקב Yaakov thought it was impossible for a son of יצחק Yitzchak and a grandson of אברהם Avraham to be spiritually insensitive, that עשיו's Eisav's road to repentance could not be entirely blocked. Angels were a common sight in אברהם Avraham and יצחק's Yitzchak's home. יעקב Yaakov thought the sight of angels might awaken a feeling of longing in עשיו Eisav of nostalgia and contrition, but יעקב Yaakov understood that despite sending an angel and an angel easily could defeat 400, that's only if you also operate in the natural order. We have to take initiative. We have to take השתדלות hishtadlus. We have to take השתדלות hishtadlus.Okay. He also has... well, you know what, I'm going to read this one too. Rav Soloveitchik says וירא יעקב מאוד ויצר לו vayira Yaakov meod vayaytzar lo. We shared seven, eight interpretations. Why both words? וירא, ויצר vayira, vayaytzar, do they mean two separate things and where they stimulated by two separate reasons? Says Rav Soloveitchik, yet another reason. רש\"י Rashi comments that וירא יעקב vayira Yaakov suggests יעקב Yaakov expressed fear he might be killed. ויצר vayaytzar conveys יעקב's Yaakov's concern he might have to kill others. You know the famous Golda Meir quote? We can forgive them for killing us, but we can't forgive them for turning our sons into killers who have to kill them. Something like that. That's what Rav Soloveitchik understands here is וירא ויצר vayira vayaytzar. וירא vayira, I'm afraid עשיו's Eisav's going to kill us. ויצר vayaytzar, but I just realized that means to stop him, we might have to kill him. And to turn me and my family and my entourage into people who have to kill, ויצר vayaytzar. That made him afraid. Why? יעקב Yaakov recognized this conflict with עשיו Eisav would continue until the Messianic era, was afraid that his descendants would ultimately come to adopt עשיו's Eisav's violent modus operandi of ידים ידי עשיו yadayim yedei Eisav. What scared him was that they would have to wear the ידי עשיו yedei Eisav. He didn't want them to have to wear the ידי עשיו yedei Eisav. וירא vayira, he was afraid of עשיו Eisav. ויצר vayaytzar, I can't tell you how afraid I am of this. We ran a program in our community a couple of times called Peace of Mind. It's extremely expensive, in which we brought a unit of the army to Boca who had gone through a conflict in Israel, who fought one of the wars, and never dealt with their PTSD. And we brought them with their therapist, they spent a week in our community. It's a beautiful program. It's not Boca, they run it all over. Our community did it twice, Peace of Mind. Because when a person is in a battlefield, and what they face and what they're forced to do and the decisions they have to make and the conditions they have to live in are not easily forgotten. ויצר לו vayaytzar lo. יעקב וירא Yaakov vayira, he's worried, what if something happens to them in the battlefield? ויצר לו vayaytzar lo, and what will be with them after the battlefield? If that's not a פרשה parsha perspective for today, I don't know one. It's incredibly... oh, you see, I'm guilty. Now I got to pay for the initial... because my kids don't know I give a פרשה שיעור parsha shiur on Tuesday mornings, 9:30 to 10:30. Ay, it's like give them a קנס kenas. I have to give them a קנס kenas. So וירא ויצר vayira vayaytzar, we saw eight or nine interpretations, why both words. But this last one of Rav Soloveitchik, boy does it resonate today. וירא vayira, what if they kill our boys? But ויצר vayaytzar, what will be of our boys if they have to kill them? ויצר לו vayaytzar lo. Wow. Wow.Okay, let's keep going. פרק ל\"ב, פסוק י\"א Perek Lamed Beis, Pasuk Yud Aleph. קטנתי מכל החסדים ומכל האמת אשר עשית את עבדך כי במקלי עברתי את הירדן הזה ואתה הייתי לשני מחנות. Katonti mikol hachasadim umikol ha'emes asher asisa es avdecha, ki b'makli avarti es haYarden hazeh v'atah hayisi l'shnei machanos. Says יעקב אבינו Yaakov Avinu, קטנתי katonti, I've become diminished by all the kindness and all the truth that you've done for me, for with my staff I crossed the ירדן Yarden, and now I have become separated, broken up into two separate camps. קטנתי מכל החסדים Katonti mikol hachasadim. I understand why יעקב Yaakov feels קטנתי מכל החסדים katonti mikol hachasadim. I understand why he feels diminished by the חסד chesed. השם Hashem, you did more for me than I deserved, you went above and beyond. קטנתי Katonti, I understand. But what does it mean מכל האמת mikol ha'emes? What does that mean? I became diminished מכל האמת mikol ha'emes. אמת emes means truth. If it's truth and if it's just, then why should יעקב Yaakov be diminished for it? He wasn't cashing in on anything, he was deserving of it. It's truth, it's אמת emes. Says רש\"י Rashi, אמת emes, אמיתת דבריך ששמרת לי כל ההבטחות שהבטחתני amitas d'varecha she'shamarta li kol hahavtachos she'hivtachtani. קטנתי Katonti, maybe I'm diminished, השם Hashem, that you followed your word, that you kept your word, that you guarded me and you followed through on all the promises that you made me. So bothered, says the תפארת שמואל Tiferes Shmuel, he's bothered, לכן יש להבין מה החידוש שהקדוש ברוך הוא מקיים את דבריו. lachen yesh l'havin ma hachidush she'Hakadosh Baruch Hu mekayem es d'varav. That's a big deal. יעקב אבינו Yaakov Avinu is so impressed, ooh השם Hashem, you kept your word. והכי יעלה על הדעת שהקדוש ברוך הוא ינהג את כל העולם שלא על פי מידת האמת vechi yaaleh al hada'as she'Hakadosh Baruch Hu yanhig es kol ha'olam shelo al pi midas ha'emes? Would you ever contemplate for a moment that השם Hashem would want to run his world not through truth? והלא חותמו של הקדוש ברוך הוא אמת vehalo chotamo shel Hakadosh Baruch Hu emes. God's signature is truth. ופרט ובעלי יכולת כמו הבטחתו u'prat u'baalei yecholes kmo haftachaso. So what's going on over there? עוד יש לדקדק למה אמר רש\"י לשון שמרת לי כל ההבטחות. Od yesh l'dakdek, lama amar Rashi lashon shamarta li kol hahavtachos. שמרתי shamarta. When רש\"י Rashi interprets this, I don't know what he's adding, not only did you keep your promises, שמרת shamarta, you safeguarded your promises. Not קיימת kiyamta, not you fulfilled your promises. What language does רש\"י Rashi use מכל האמת mikol ha'emes? ששמרת she'shamarta. Not קיימת kiyamta, you fulfilled. שמרת shamarta means you guarded. ויש לומר, שיעקב הודה ושבח להקדוש ברוך הוא על מה ששמר הבטחותיו, היינו שנתן ליעקב סיוע דשמיא שיוכל לעמוד בניסיון שלא יכשל בחטא ויאבד את זכותיו. שאז היה עולה לאבד הבטחה. V'yesh lomar, she'Yaakov hodah v'shibach la'Kadosh Baruch Hu al ma she'shamar havtachosav, hainu she'natan l'Yaakov siyua dishmaya she'yuchal la'amod b'nisayon she'lo yikshal b'cheit v'yabed es z'chusav. She'az haya oleh l'abed havtacha. אין השבח להקדוש ברוך הוא שקיים הבטחותיו אלא ששמר אותו למען יוכל לקיים הבטחותיו. Ein hashevach la'Kadosh Baruch Hu she'kiyam havtachosav, ela she'shamar oso l'ma'an yuchal l'kayem havtachosav. What יעקב Yaakov is thanking השם Hashem for here is not that השם Hashem fulfilled his word, what יעקב Yaakov is thanking השם Hashem for is, thank you for guarding me so that I lived in a way that I was worthy of you fulfilling your promise. Thank you. And that's what he says is the meaning at the הגדה Haggadah, ברוך שומר הבטחתו לישראל ברוך הוא baruch shomer havtachaso l'Yisrael baruch hu. ברוך שומר הבטחתו baruch shomer havtachaso. Never did we doubt for a moment that God, you would follow through on your word, but שומר shomer, what it means you guarded is you guarded me, so that I made the right decisions and I lived the right life, so that I was worthy of your indeed following through on that promise. Rav Druck also was bothered by this expression of מכל האמת mikol ha'emes. He also tackles it. קטנתי מכל החסדים, מכל האמת katonti mikol hachasadim, mikol ha'emes. What kind of אמת emes over here? So listen to what he says. It's a very novel, very interesting interpretation. הצילני נא מיד אחי מיד עשיו כי ירא אנכי אותו פן יבוא ויכני אם על בנים. Hatzileni na miyad achi miyad Eisav, ki yarei anochi oso, pen yavo v'hikani em al banim. מדוע חושש כל כך Madua choshesh kol kach? God promised him הנה אנכי עמך hinei anochi imach, I'm with you, ושמרתיך ushmarticha, I'll take care of you. So why was יעקב Yaakov so worried? The גמרא בברכות דף ד Gemara b'Brachos daf daled tells us כי חששה של יעקב היה שמא יגרום החטא. ki chashasha shel Yaakov haya shema yigrom hachet. יעקב Yaakov was worried about, שמא יגרום החטא shema yigrom hachet, it means maybe the sin will lose out on the, maybe because of his mistakes he'll be unworthy of the promise, the protection of השם Hashem. Which mistake? שמא יגרום החטא shema yigrom hachet, maybe because of a חטא cheit. Which חטא cheit? What was he worried about? חששו של יעקב אבינו שיגרום החטא, זה החטא של הדק בלשונו, ויאמר ליצחק אביו בבוא לקבל הברכות chashasho shel Yaakov Avinu sheyigrom hachet, zeh hachet shelo dikdek b'leshono, vayomer l'Yitzchak aviv b'vo l'kabel habrachos. When יעקב Yaakov first came to יצחק Yitzchak to get the ברכות brachos, what did he say? אנכי עשיו בכרך anochei Eisav b'chorecha. I am עשיו Eisav your eldest son. Now true, רש\"י Rashi has a whole way of getting out of it. אנכי anochei, period, hard stop. עשיו Eisav, period, hard stop. בכרך b'chorecha. רש\"י Rashi has a creative way of getting out of it, but למעשה l'maaseh, יעקב Yaakov lied. למעשה L'maaseh, יעקב Yaakov told his father, אנכי עשיו בכרך anochei Eisav b'chorecha, I am עשיו Eisav your eldest son. He lied. He wasn't מדקדק בלשונו medakdek b'leshono. He didn't say the truth. And now he's worried. All this time, 20 years, he's been holding on to, uh oh, I lied to my father, and I'm the תתן אמת ליעקב titen emes l'Yaakov and I lied to my father, that's going to come back to bite me. כוונת יעקב הייתה אנכי, עשיו בכרך kavanas Yaakov hayta anochei, Eisav b'chorecha. אבל על כל פנים סוף סוף אין זו הליכה בדרך הישרה והאמת aval al kol panim sof sof ein zo halicha b'derech hayeshara v'ha'emes. So that's what he says now הצילני נא מיד אחי מיד עשיו כי ירא אנכי אותו hatzileni na miyad achi miyad Eisav, ki yarei anochei oso. That's a strange word, because אנכי anochei, I am afraid of him, it's a peculiar word there, אנכי anochei. Says Rav Druck, not peculiar at all. כי ירא ki yarei, you know why I'm afraid? אנכי anochei, because I lied to my father and I said אנכי עשיו בכרך anochei Eisav b'chorecha. Now we can understand קטנתי מכל החסדים ומכל האמת katonti mikol hachasadim umikol ha'emes because what's the שמא יגרום החטא shema yigrom hachet? What was the יגרום החטא yigrom hachet, which חטא cheit? The חטא cheit of אנכי anochei. That's what he was worried about. That's what he was worried about. That's what he wasn't being מדייק medayek in. אנכי Anochei. That was the fear.Okay, we have time for one last idea which gets us about a third of through what we prepared. I wanted to spend some time talking to you about collective punishment, also a big message for today. Collective punishment. Do we believe in collective punishment? Maybe we'll finish with this. Why is collective punishment come up in our פרשה parsha? Also very important for what's going on. Because we know the story Dina is abducted. So this is not the first time in Jewish history we've had Jewish hostages. Dina was held hostage. She was kept captive by a terror group called שכם Shechem. And what do לוי ושמעון Levi v'Shimon do? They come up, they concoct an entire scheme in order to retrieve, rescue their sister Dina. And why do they do that? Why are they led to do that? Because the pasuk, the Torah tells us, no way this can happen. We can't let this stand. פרק ל\"ד פסוק כ\"ה Perek Lamed Daled pasuk kaf hei. ל\"ד כ\"ה lamed daled kaf hei. They say, this can't stand. Our sister is abducted, no way. Goes back first to the beginning of פרק ל\"ד Perek Lamed Daled. ובני יעקב באו מן השדה... ויחר להם מאוד u'vnei Yaakov bau min hasadeh... vayichar lahem meod, they're very upset. And they say, וכן לא יעשה v'chen lo ye'aseh, this can't happen. This can't happen. We can't sit by. We can't allow this. לא נוכל לעשות הדבר הזה לתת את אחותנו לאיש אשר לא עורלה כי חרפה היא לנו Lo nuchal la'asos hadavar hazeh lases es achoseinu l'ish asher lo orlah ki cherpa hi lanu. We can't give him. So what do we do? They concoct the whole scheme. And they get the entire city of שכם Shechem to pretend they can convert, give ברית bris, and the third day when they're the weakest, they come and they decimate. And the commentaries are all bothered, isn't this collective punishment? The innocent civilians of שכם Shechem. Just kill חמור בן שכם Chamor ben Shechem, who was the one who who kidnapped and raped Dina. Just go after the Hamas savages. What about the innocent civilians? What about collective punishment, the ethics of war and collective punishment? We don't have time to go through it at length, but the רמב\"ן Ramban deals with this question, and the רמב\"ן Ramban quotes the רמב\"ם Rambam who deals with this question. But I want to read to you in conclusion, the גור אריה Gur Aryeh, which is the commentary of the מהר\"ל מפראג Maharal mi'Prag on רש\"י Rashi. And he says the following. קשה, אם שכם חטא, כל העיר מה חטאו להרוג? Kasha, im Shechem chata, kol ha'ir ma chatu la'harog? If שכם Shechem sinned, good, kill him. But the whole city, what did they do? Collective punishment, innocent civilians? And he quotes תורת הרמב\"ם Toras haRambam. The רמב\"ם Rambam says בני נח הצטוו על הדינין Bnei Noach nitz'tavu al hadinin. Because all non-Jews are obligated in the seven נוחייד Noachide laws, and one of the seven נוחייד Noachide laws is... to observe a system of justice, and this was a gross injustice. This is also a lesson. When people sit idly by and allow terror to reign in their hospitals and mosques and kindergartens, when they vote in terrorists democratically as governance, when they are polled and 70% say, we're proud of what the terrorist did, then they are not innocent civilians and victims, they are in fact accomplices to the heinous terror. That's the רמב\"ם Rambam, because there is an obligation, one of the seven Noahide laws is דינים dinim, is justice. And when a person does not stand for and fight for and vote for justice, then they are also guilty. That is the רמב\"ם Rambam. But says the מהר\"ל Maharal, nearly, דלא קשה מידי. דלא דמי שתי אומות כגון בני ישראל לכנענים שהם שני אומות, ולפיכך הותר להם ללחום כדין אומה שבא ללחום אומה אחרת שהתירה התורה delo kasha midi. delo dami shtei umos kegon Bnei Yisroel le'Knanim she'hem shnei umos, u'lefichach huter lahem lilchom kedin umah she'ba lilchom umah acheres she'hitira haTorah. You know when you talk about innocent bystanders and innocent civilians? When you're not in a war. But war by definition has its own set of rules and laws.For example, a person can't go up to someone else and kill them. But in war, you defeat the enemy. You're not violating murder. It's not an act of murder in war, because war has its own set of laws. היכי דעתיה סרה דאור כגון זה שפרצו בהם לעשות להם נבלה, אף על גב דלא עשו רק אחד מהם, כיוון דכלל העם Heichi da'aseih saro d'or kegon zeh she'partzu bahem la'asos lahem nevelah, af al gav de'lo asu rak echad mehem, keivan de'klal ha'amu. Since this was a national war, שכם Shechem abducted דינה Dinah in the name of the whole city, in the home of the name of the whole nation, the whole country, it became a war between two nations. And when there is a war between two nations, and when there is a war between two peoples, the laws of warfare are what, are what govern. כיוון שבאו אותה אומה שעשו להם רע, מותר לבוא עליהם למלחמה, וכן הם לכל המלחמות Keivan she'ba'u oso umah she'asu lahem ra, mutar lavo aleihem le'milchama, v'chein heim lechol hamilchamos. Now in war, let me be very clear, there's not a more ethical, moral army in the world than the Israeli army. And in war, of course, we still try to preserve. Of course, we have to still try to protect innocent lives. However, war always has civilian casualties. Google, look it up later. How many civilians did America kill in Iraq and Afghanistan? How many? What do you think it is? 10? 100? 1,000? 10,000? It's more than half a million. We're not proud of that. I am sure the American army did everything it could to avoid that, but that is the nature of war. And do you know who is responsible for the loss of those civilian lives is not the army who protected itself, but the aggressor, the initiator, the amoral, unethical terrorists who launched it to begin with. They are the ones responsible with the loss of those civilian lives. But don't hesitate, because that's part of war. And says the מהר\"ל Maharal, the גור אריה Gur Aryeh on רש\"י Rashi, that that is the right and the responsibility. The right and the responsibility. And רב שכטר Rav Schechter quotes this מהר\"ל Maharal in his בעקבי הצאן Be'ikvei ha'tzon as applying still to today. It's a lot more to say and unpack on this question of collective punishment and civilian war. We didn't get into יעקב Yaakov wrestling with the angel at all. Who was the angel? Why did he go back for these small flasks? When יעקב Yaakov meets up with עשיו Eisav, למי אתה lemi ata, to whom do you belong? He tells the messengers, they're going to ask who do these belong to? Which is a funny question. Who else could they belong to? There's a lot more to say, but we're going to read פרשת וישלח Parshas Vayishlach again next year. במרצת השם b'mirtzashem in ירושלים Yerushalayim. In ירושלים Yerushalayim together. Please stay for
