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Vayishlach / וישלח
Vayishlach /
וישלח
The possuk says I
delayed until now.
Yaakov proclaimed
his piety in the
house of Lavan, "I
kept the mitzvos",
but ended his
statement with the
words, "until now".
What is the meaning
of the expression
"now"? The Baal
Haturim explains.
Esav was prepared
for war with Yaakov.
He said, "if you are
so confident, come
wage war with me
now". To this Yaakov
answered with a
prediction of the
future contained in
the letters of the
word "atah" (now).
The letter "iyin" is
the seventy years of
the exile of Bavel.
The "tuv" is the 400
years of the "galus"
Egypt and the "heh"
is the five
(thousand) years
until the last
thousand when the
Moshiach will come
to judge the
mountain of Esav.
The Brisker Rav
understood from the
comment of Rashi
"the camp will
escape because I
will wage war
against Esav" that
Yaakov was confident
he could defeat Esav
in war. Nevertheless
he tried to avoid
confrontation and
opted for the other
two choices, gifts
and honor, or a
peace settlement.
From this, he
concludes, the way
for Bnei Yisroel to
deal with the enemy
is to first engage
in dialogue before
resorting to
physical strength,
even in a situation
of superiority.
And the malach
wrestled with Yaakov
– Chazal tell us
this was the
minister of Esav who
came to fight with
Yisroel. They add,
that so it is in
every generation –
the evil struggles
with the holy ones
for dominion. R’
Elchonon ‘z’l asks
“why didn’t he come
and fight against
Avrohom and Yitzchok
as he did with Yakov?”
He answers that the
Chazal tell us that
Hashem will forgive
and overlook all
types of sins, from
the easiest to the
most severe.
However, He will not
forgive the sin of
spending idle time
instead of learning
Torah. The reason,
he explains, is that
one can count upon
the strength of the
warrior in all
cases, as long as he
has his weapons.
Once he loses his
weapons, the war is
lost. The Torah is
the weapon of the
Jewish people.
Avrohom possessed
chesed – kindness.
Yitzchok embodied
true service to
HaShem. But, only
Yaakov was the
personification of
Torah study, the
weapons of the Bnei
Yisroel. To this
end, the angel put
all his efforts into
trying to disarm the
Jewish people of
their precious
weapon, the Torah.
When Yaakov was
rehearsing the
language to be used
by the messengers
when talking to Esav
he referred to his
brother as “my
master” and himself
as “your servant”.
The problem is that
this was used even
before the dictation
of the exact
message. Why was it
necessary to
belittle himself
even before the
message, in front of
the messengers? The
answer could be
found in the
statement expressed
by Yaakov, “exactly
as I spoke, you
should say to Esav.”
Yaakov meant to
inform Esav that
even when Yaakov
spoke to the plain
messengers, he was
careful to give
proper respect,
showing his true
obedience to his
older brother. (Shai
L’Torah)
A fascinating idea
is given by the
Chasam Sofer as to
why Chanucah was not
affixed as a day for
simcha and seudos.
In Seder Hadoros,
the passing of
Yaakov Avinu is
reported as being
the first day of
Sukkos. If so, the
seventy days of
mourning ended on
the first day of
Chanucah. Therefore,
the Chachamim did
not see fit to
establish it as a
festive day.
The essence of
Chanucah is days of
Hallel to HaShem
Yisborach. The only
other action of
mitzva we are
commanded to do is
the lighting of the
menora. This is to
publicize the
miracle, but the
main objective is
the joy and Hallel.
Every other Yom Tov
contains an element
of eating, drinking
and physical
enjoyment. Perhaps
for this reason the
Rambam chose to
detail all the laws
and customs of
Hallel in Hilchos
Chanucah, as opposed
to another Yom Tov.
Previous Parshos
Tazria
Metzora
Achrei Mos
Kedoshim
Emor
Behar
Bechukosai
Bamidbar
Shavuos
Naso
Behalosicha
Shilach
Korach
Chukas-Balak
Pinchos
Matos-Masei
Devorim
Voeschonon Ekev
Reah
Shoftim
Ki Seitzei
Ki Savo
Nitzovim
- Vayelech Rosh
HaShana Haazinu-Yom
Kippur Sukkos V'zos
HaBrocha
Breishis
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