Today's Learning Zevachim 8:8-9 O.C. 433:4-6 Chullin 101 Yerushalmi-- Sanhedrin 23 Hamaayan/The Torah Spring edited by Shlomo Katz Vayishlach Vol. XI, No. 8 (491), 19 Kislev 5757, November 30, 1996 At the beginning of this parashah, Yaakov prepares to meet Esav after a 22-year separation. Afraid that Esav still wishes to kill him, Yaakov prepares a bribe. The bribe is successful, and the brothers separate in peace. How is this possible? asks Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv (the "Alter of Kelm") z"l. So great was Esav's hatred that he was marching towards Yaakov with 400 soldiers -- some say, 400 battalion leaders, each with his own battalion! How was Esav's anger assuaged by the relatively meager gift which Yaakov offered (as described in 32:15- 16)? This question becomes all the greater when one appreciates Esav's spiritual and intellectual greatness. The Torah relates several times that Yaakov was afraid of Esav. Chazal explain that he was afraid because of two merits which Esav possessed: While Yaakov had been away for 22 years, Esav had had the opportunity to (1) live in Eretz Yisrael and (2) honor his parents. Surely, says Rav Simcha Zissel, Yaakov would not have been afraid if Esav had performed these mitzvot perfunctorily; rather, Esav truly was a spiritual giant, albeit one who used his immense abilities for evil. How then was Esav taken in by Yaakov's meager bribe? Simply put, explains the Alter, such is the power of money over one who is obsessed with it. "For a bribe will blind the eyes of the wise, and will make just words crooked." (Devarim 16:19) ************************************ Parashat Vayishlach In Halachah "Therefore Bnei Yisrael do not eat the gid hanasheh / displaced sinew on the hip socket to this day, because he struck Yaakov's hip socket on the displaced sinew." (32:33) This is the third of the 613 mitzvot/commandments. Although this verse is written in narrative form, writes Sefer Hachinuch, it is actually G-d's command. One of the purposes of this mitzvah, he continues, is to hint to Bnei Yisrael that, although they will suffer greatly at the hands of Esav's descendants and other nations, they may be confident that they will never perish. "Devorah, the wet-nurse of Rivkah, died, and she was buried below Bet El, below the plateau, and he named it Alon Bachut / The Plateau of Tears." (35:8) Rav Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin z"l ("Netziv") writes that this is the source for the halachah that one must mourn for a "kosher person," even one who is not a relative. What is a "kosher person"? A person who fulfilled a role such as Devorah's, who passed on to Yaakov the traditions of his mother's household. Others say that any person known for his piety is a "kosher" person. (Ha'emek Sh'eilah, Chapter 14.) "Yaakov set up a monument over her [Rachel's] grave; it is the monument of Rachel's grave until this day." (35:20) This verse is the source for the custom of erecting tombstones, writes Rav Moshe Feinstein z"l. Although the Torah does not record that Hashem commanded Yaakov to build a monument to Rachel, we can assume that He did so command. How so? Firstly, writes Rav Feinstein, Yaakov buried Rachel where he did (on the side of the highway) because Hashem told him to (See Rashi to 48:7). That being the case, we can assume that Yaakov would not add or detract one iota from G-d's command. Also, Rambam (Hil. Eivel 4:4) writes that we do not build monuments to tzaddikim, for their words are their monuments. Why then did Yaakov build a monument to Rachel, if not that Hashem told him to?! Indeed, there is no evidence that any of the other Matriarchs or the Patriarchs had tombstones erected on their graves. (From the newly published Igrot Moshe, Y.D. IV, No. 57) [The reason that today we do build monuments on the graves of tzaddikim is to identify that place so that we can go there to pray in times of need. (Ta'amei Hamitzvot)] ************************************ "Save me from my brother from Esav, for I fear him, lest he come and strike me down, mother and children." (32:12) Why was Yaakov afraid of Esav? The rebbes of Lechovitz and Slonim explained as follows: Whenever a person is tested in the physical world, it is a sign that his soul is under attack in the spiritual world above. Thus, when Yaakov saw Esav's strength, he knew that a great spiritual challenge faced him. He said, "I fear him, lest he come and strike me down, mother (a reference to man's power of thought, which is the mother of action) and children (a reference to deeds)." In other words, Yaakov prayed that the yetzer hara -- symbolized by Esav -- not contaminate the Jews' thoughts and deeds. (Torat Avot) "He [Yaakov] got up that night and took his two wives, his two handmaids, and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Yabbok." (32:23) Rashi observes on verse 31:17 that Yaakov traveled with his children in front his wives, unlike the licentious Esav who traveled with the women in front (see 36:6). Why then does our pasuk place Yaakov's wives in front of his children? Rav Yisrael Isserlin z"l (author of Terumat Hadeshen) explains: Chazal say that the Yabbok River split so that Yaakov and his family could cross. Naturally the children were afraid to cross, so their mothers had to cross first. ************************************ From the humor of our sages . . . "And I acquired an ox and a donkey..." (32:6) Before they became renowned chassidic rebbes, the brothers Reb Zusia and Reb Elimelech used to wander from town to town disguised as beggars. Whenever they visited Ludmir, no one would take them in except a certain Reb Aharon. Years later, now famous, they arrived in Ludmir in a horse-drawn carriage. One of the city's gevirim/leading citizens ran out to greet them, offering his hospitality. The brothers did not answer, but proceeded to Reb Aharon's house. Once there, they sent their carriage on to the home of the gevir. The gevir was furious. "Why didn't you come?" he asked. "And why did you send your horses?" "We are the same Zusia and Elimelech that we always were," they said. "All that's new is the carriage with the horses, so we thought that you wanted to host them." ************************************ Rav Moshe Zvi Neriah z"l born 5673 (1913) - 18 Kislev 5756 (1995) Rav Neriah was a prolific author and a significant figure on the Israeli educational scene. Born in Lodz, Poland, he studied in yeshivot in Minsk and Shklov before arriving in Eretz Yisrael on the 20th of Tamuz 1930. There he entered Yeshivat Merkaz Harav, where he became a devoted disciple of Rav Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook, the Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Eretz Yisrael and one of the truly maligned figures of Jewish history. Rav Neriah began his long career as an educator within the Bnei Akiva youth movement. He saw that young people had a burning desire to build the Land, and he sought ways to enable them to fulfill that goal while remaining true to Torah values. In 1940, he founded a yeshiva in Kfar Haroeh (starting with 13 students) with the goal of educating scholars for the agricultural settlements and small towns which were blossoming throughout Eretz Yisrael. This yeshiva became the flagship of the Bnei Akiva network of yeshivot. Rav Neriah also founded the acclaimed girls' high school ("Ulpana") in Kfar Pines. Following the Six-Day War, Rav Neriah urged his students to settle all parts of the reclaimed lands of Eretz Yisrael. In the last years of his life, he spoke out strongly against the "peace process." Rav Neriah wrote six books about Rav Kook and his teachings. These books contain hundreds of stories about Rav Kook's warm relations with other great sages of his day (such as the Chafetz Chaim and Chazon Ish), notwithstanding the popular image of Rav Kook as an outcast amongst his rabbinical brethren. (Even Rav Neriah admits his surprise upon meeting Rav Kook for the first time and seeing that this rabbi who was friendly with Zionists and with the British High Commissioner looked like . . . a chassidic rebbe!--see Likutei Reiyah pp. 13-14) Rav Neriah also records many stories about his fellow disciples of Rav Kook including, for example, Rav Yitzchak Hutner (later of Yeshiva Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn). ************************************ Donations to Hamaayan are tax-deductible