Musar su Genesi 32:63

הצילני נא מיד אחי מיד עשו . The Zohar comments on this verse (Sullam edition page 21) that when someone prepares a prayer it is important that he chooses his words carefully. At first glance we would think that an appeal to G–d such as "save me!" would be sufficient; Jacob added the words "from my brother” so that he would not be misunderstood as requesting to be saved from Laban. In the event that G–d could use the term "brother" in a wider sense, [as Jacob himself had done in Genesis 29,4 for instance, Ed.] he added the word "from Esau," to make certain G–d knew whom he had in mind. He added what it was exactly that he needed to be saved from, i.e. an onslaught against his family. One must not rely on the fact that G–d is well aware of our unspoken thoughts. I believe that since the very letters used in prayer are holy, they are able to penetrate the outer shell of Heaven and penetrate to G–d's throne.

The following is the way the Zohar and other Kabbalistic books explain the mystical dimension of the prohibition of this commandment. Man's various limbs are perceived as branches of the מרכבה in the higher regions The Torah has given us 248 positive commandments which correspond to each one of the 248 limbs of אדם העליון man's counterpart in the spiritual regions. Kabbalists speak of 248 angels bearing the name of their Master. These angels are perceived as the clothing of the שכינה. There are also 365 branches of דין, Justice, on the "tree" in the "upper regions," corresponding to the 365 days of the year and the 365 sinews of man. There is both a sinew and a negative commandment for every day of the year, and the ninth of Av is the day which corresponds to the prohibition of the גיד הנשה. Our sages saw an allusion in the extra word את in על כן לא יאכלו בני ישראל את גיד הנשה (Genesis 32, 33), to include תשעה באב [a day when any food intake is prohibited anyways]. They also included סמאל ויצה"ר Satan and the evil urge. Both the eating of that sinew and profiting from it in some other manner is prohibited. Neither Israel, nor any of its limbs could be defeated on any other calendar date, nor could any other sinew have succumbed to its adversary except the גיד הנשה. Only on that date was the power of דין strong enough to undermine the strength of Israel. On that date G–d abandoned us in exile, until a wind (spirit) will blow from the Heavens. Anyone who eats on the Ninth of Av, is considered as if he had eaten the גיד הנשה.

קטנתי מכל החסדים . Jacob was afraid that his merits had decreased due to the many favors G–d had already showered upon him. If even our patriarch Jacob felt that way, what shall we sinners say, who are so much inferior to our patriarchs? A person must therefore live very frugally so that he does not squander the few merits he has accumulated, even if he performed a lot of charitable deeds, etc.

“Say not to yourselves, when the Lord your God has thrust them from your path, saying, ‘The Lord has enabled us to possess this land because of our virtues, etc.’ It is not because of your virtues and your rectitude, etc.” (Deuteronomy 9:4-5). We are warned with this not to imagine to ourselves that our success is from our righteousness and the rectitude of our hearts, but rather that we believe and know in our hearts that our success is from the kindness of the Most High and His great goodness - and like the matter that was said by our father, Jacob (Genesis 32:11), “I am unworthy of all the kindness and all the truth.”

“Therefore the Children of Israel do not eat the sciatic tendon” (Genesis 32:33). The sciatic tendon is forbidden in benefit, so it is forbidden to give it to one’s Canaanite slave or maidservant. And it is forbidden to send a thigh (as a gift) to a Canaanite with the sciatic tendon inside it. (And likewise does Rosh bring in the name of [Rabbeinu Yonah] at the beginning of the chapter [entitled] Gid HaNashei in the discussion of a man sending a thigh to a Canaanite. But we do not establish [the law to be] like him in this, but rather like the opinion of Rambam - that the sciatic tendon is permissible in benefit, so one may send a thigh to a Canaanite with the sciatic tendon inside it. And it is explained in Tur and Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh Deah 65.)

ויותר יעקב לבדו . Rabbi Eliezer in Chulin 91a learned from here that Jacob crossed the river in order to retrieve small insignificant utensils, and that righteous people are wont to endanger their lives over minor possessions. They do not do so out of excessive greed; because they are so careful not to acquire something that rightfully belonged to someone else, all the things they do acquire assume significance for them.

The expansion of the גיד הנשה is the “מרכבה,” vehicle, of Samael in our world which touched, i.e. hurt, the thigh joint of Jacob. The Arizal explains Genesis 32, 26: וירא כי לא יוכל לו, ויגע בכף ירכו, "When he saw that he could not overpower him, he touched his thigh joint," as referring to Jacob's descendants. Samael, the guardian angel of Esau, left his mark on all the צדיקים, righteous people, who would stem from Jacob, i.e. any generation in which Jews would abandon their religion, etc. The words ותקע כף ירך יעקב, "Jacob's thigh joint was disjointed" (ibid.), are an allusion to the negative effect of the destruction of the Temple on this earth on the Celestial Regions. G–d swore an oath that He would not take up residence in the Jerusalem of the Heavenly Regions until the Jerusalem on earth had been restored and He would be able to take up residence there. This concept is known to us as "the name of G–d is not complete, neither is His throne complete, until matters on earth are developing to G–d's satisfaction."Put differently: "what happens down here is called גיד הנשה. The Talmud speaks about גזרות קשות כגידים, decrees as tough as sinews." The sinews referred to in such statements are the branches of the גיד הנשה. This גיד is the "evil" sinew of the 365 sinews in our bodies because it strengthens the power of Samael, i.e. the power of Esau. The damage to the Celestial Regions is done in a single "day." The word "day" in those regions is the one thousand years that Bereshit Rabbah 8, 2 describes as the length of G–d's day. [Because of this definition of "day," Adam could live almost one thousand years in terms of our days, though G–d had said he would die on the day he would eat from the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Ed.] The Zohar, commenting on Lamentations 1, 13: נתנני שוממה כל היום דוה, "He has made me desolate, I am in misery a whole day," states that this verse proves that when the destruction of the Temple was decreed, the exile was meant to last at least one thousand years.

We are taught in Chulin 91a that the choice of that word, i.e. אבק, dust, indicates that the dust stirred up during this struggle rose all the way to the throne of Glory -which is not complete, as we shall set out to show. The meaning of the word "he touched," is similar to the English "he touched a sore point." Samael had found something in Jacob's lifestyle which he thought he could turn into an accusation against him. This was the fact that Jacob had married two sisters while both were alive. He should not have done so, since the patriarchs had accepted for themselves the laws of the Torah which had not yet been officially formulated. Nachmanides writes about this at length in his commentary on Genesis 26, 5 where the Torah credits Abraham with having observed all of G–d's statutes. According to Nachmanides the patriarchs assumed this obligation as valid only while they resided in the land of Israel; the word מפשט used in the verse is by definition legislation that varies from country to country. G–d's משפטים apply only in G–d's country, ארץ ישראל. When Jacob married two sisters he did not live in the land of Israel. Samael's accusation was by necessity based on the yardsticks that Jacob claimed to live by. He argued that a man of Jacob's stature whose features were engraved on G–d's throne should not have taken advantage of the fact that technically he was allowed to marry two sisters, for did he not carry the atmosphere of ארץ ישראל with him wherever he went? We are familiar with such expressions as אבק רבית, something not actually an interest payment but nonetheless giving the impression that someone rendered a service for free which would have been charged for had the recipient of the service not been a lender to the person rendering the service. We have a similar expression when dealing with the laws of לשון הרע, evil gossip. The Tosephta Avodah Zarah 1, 10 describes four areas in which the term אבק is used halachically. All of them are not transgressions that are dealt with by the Courts, but are matters of individual piety. When the Talmud described the "dust" of the struggle between Jacob and the guardian angel of Esau as having risen to the throne of G–d, what is meant is that the issue was such a paralegal impropriety committed by Jacob as marrying two sisters outside the boundaries of ארץ ישראל.

Jacob attained the distinction of ים, seeing that he said of himself כי במקלי עברת את הירדן הזה, "Originally I crossed this river Jordan with no more than my walking staff." Bereshit Rabbah 76, 5 states that the crossing of the Sea of Reeds by the Israelites became possible through the merit acquired by Jacob when he crossed the Jordan on his way to Laban, relying only on G–d for he was bereft of material possessions. Jacob merited the horizon of the sun, (רקיע), that the sun set or shone especially for him, as we know from Genesis 32, 32: "The sun shone for him." Jacob also merited a special relation with the "throne" of G–d in that we have a tradition that his features were engraved on it.

Jacob attained the distinction of ים, seeing that he said of himself כי במקלי עברת את הירדן הזה, "Originally I crossed this river Jordan with no more than my walking staff." Bereshit Rabbah 76, 5 states that the crossing of the Sea of Reeds by the Israelites became possible through the merit acquired by Jacob when he crossed the Jordan on his way to Laban, relying only on G–d for he was bereft of material possessions. Jacob merited the horizon of the sun, (רקיע), that the sun set or shone especially for him, as we know from Genesis 32, 32: "The sun shone for him." Jacob also merited a special relation with the "throne" of G–d in that we have a tradition that his features were engraved on it.

[And his friend will only lose because of this. For it is known that one who robs his friend is only a fool and an evildoer. For his grant will not increase beyond what was decreed for him on Rosh Hashanah, because of his theft. For in exchange for taking the grant that came or that was destined to come to the hand of his friend, there will be taken from him the grant that was decreed for him on Rosh Hashanah. And the end of the matter will be that the money of [i.e., attained by] the wrong will consume also the "surviving remnant," the "kosher" grant that had already been allotted him. As Chazal have said (Succah 29b): "Because of four things a man's property goes lost," one of them being because he divests himself of his own yoke and places it on his friend. And so we find in Derech Eretz Zuta, Chapter 3: "If you have taken what is not yours, yours will be taken from you." And he will remain only with the bartering of a kosher grant for one that is forbidden. For he will be destined to give din and accounting for every [misappropriated] p'rutah [small coin]. As Chazal have said (Bava Kamma 119a): "If one steals from his friend the worth of a p'rutah, it is as if he has taken his soul." And he also constrains the Holy One Blessed be He to return the theft to its owner. As Chazal have said (Sanhedrin 8a): "The Holy One Blessed be He says to the wicked: 'It is not enough that you steal, but you also constrain Me to return the theft to its owner." And all of these things are intimated in our holy Torah, in Parshath Vayetze, where it is written (Bereshith 32:11-12): "And the angel of the L-rd said to me in a dream: 'Yaakov, … lift up your eyes and see all the rams that go up on the sheep — ringstraked, speckled and grizzled" (As Rashi explains there, the angels would bring them from the flock assigned to the sons of Lavan to that assigned to Yaakov. And lest you ask, how am I permitted to take from the grant of Lavan and give it to you? The angel, therefore, concludes: "For I have seen all that Lavan does to you," that he has changed your wage ten times and taken your grant; therefore I am returning it to you.)]

Continuing the allegory, Jacob, "concealed" the letter ע in his name when he crossed the river יבק, (which is יעקב minus the letter ע), as reported in 32, 23: ויעבר את מעבר יבק. The Kabbalists say that the remaining letters of his name, i.e. י-ב-ק stand for יעננו ביום קראנו, "May He respond to us on the day we call upon Him." The letter ע is "swallowed up," concealed in the word יעננו. Since the letter ע, when following the letter י, is practically not heard, it supplements the word יבק as if the former had been spelled יעקב. The expression יעננו ביום קראנו can then be perceived as a call by Jacob. I have elaborated elsewhere on the numerical value of the word ויעבור being equivalent to the Ineffable Four-Lettered Name being spelled in words i.e. 72 + 216, both permutations of the name of G–d.

G–d was not satisfied with this refusal by Samael, but pointed out that because Esau was the first-born, it was he who was entitled to receive the Torah. Samael replied that the birthright had already been sold to Jacob, and that he, Samael, had concurred in the validity of the sale during his nocturnal encounter with Jacob in Genesis 32,29. G–d thereupon said to Samael: "Since you are not interested in My Torah, depart from My domain." Samael accepted. G–d said to Samael: "Since you suggested that I offer the Torah to Israel, give me some advice how to go about persuading the children of Israel to accept the Torah from Me." Samael replied that it would be necessary to bribe Israel into accepting the Torah. He suggested that a suitable bribe would be to endow Israel with some of endowments of the Celestial Regions so as to make Israel feel superior. As an opening gesture he himself volunteered to bestow some of his own light on Israel and handed it over to G–d there and then. It is this "light" that the Torah describes as וזרח משעיר "It shone forth from Se-ir towards it" (Israel). This is the mystical dimension of Leviticus 16,22: ונשא השעיר עליו את כל עונותם, "The male goat will carry all their (Israel's) sins." The שעיר refers to Samael.

There is another mystical dimension to the love between Esau and Jacob, or to love generally. Under certain conditions the feeling of love for something may transform evil into good and the קליפה, unworthy outer shell, may be transformed into something sacred. This is the very dimension which enables people to convert from paganism to Judaism. Our sages have connected this phenomenon with the גיד הנשה, when they explained Genesis 32, 27 where Samael says: "Let me depart, for dawn has come." Chulin 91a, has Jacob ask the angel: "Are you a thief or a gambler that you shun daylight? Samael responded that he was an angel and that from the day he had been created he had not had an opportunity to sing G–d's praises in the heavenly choir until that very day. Rashi interprets the word kubiestous in the Talmud to mean "soul snatcher." [I have translated it as "gambler." Ed.] There is a profound meaning in Rashi's comment, since souls are viewed as oppressed and held hostage by Samael. The Zohar in Parshat Mishpatim comments on this subject.

Let him learn from Jacob, our father, who was miserly without parallel as it is said, "And Jacob was left alone" (Gen. 32:25), and our Rabbis, of blessed memory, said that he had forgotten some small jugs and returned to get them. This teaches us that the righteous value their money more than their bodies, because they do not get their money easily through plunder (Hullin 91a). Behold this great miserliness — that a man as rich as Jacob felt compelled to return for some little jugs. Yet we find in another place that he was genereous without parallel, as our Rabbis taught, "In my grave which I have digged for me" (Gen. 50:5). This teaches us that Jacob took all the silver and gold that he had brought from Laban's house and he made a pile and said to Esau. "Take this for your share in the cave of Machpelah" (Ex. Rabbah 31:17). Was there ever anyone else as liberal as this?

The numerical values of the names משה, and the name עקיבא, when we ignore the zeros, i.e use the system of מספר קטן, are identical. We would write it thus: משה=300+40+5=12. עקיבא=70+100+10+2+1=12. When you use the regular system of arriving at numerical values, you will, of course, find that the name משה=345, adds up to more than the name עקיבא=183.

On (32, 4): וישלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו אל עשו אחיו ארצה שעיר שדה אדום,"Jacob sent angels (resp. human messengers) ahead of him to his brother Esau to the land of Se'ir," Rashi comments that these were "real" angels. If that were so, it is difficult to understand Jacob making use of holy beings for a secular, totally private mission. He could just as well have sent human messengers! We have an explicit ruling that even nowadays, when the כהן cannot perform sacred duties due to the absence of the Temple, one must not employ a כהן to perform mundane tasks. How then could Jacob employ angels for such a purpose? (gloss of the Mordechai on Gittin).

Let me now pursue my own path in explaining all the unusual phrasings in the text as listed earlier. According to the author of Bereshit Rabbah 74,4 the מלאכים sent ahead by Jacob were of the flesh and blood variety; unnamed other scholars claim that they were angels. Remember that the struggle between Jacob and his adversary occurred on two levels, the physical and the spiritual, with Esau in this world and with Samael in the Celestial Regions. The latter had an excuse to challenge Jacob's moral integrity for Jacob had married two sisters, as explained. We have mentioned that though Jacob had a legal excuse for what he did, it was not considered appropriate for a man of his stature, whose features were engraved on G–d's throne, to avail himself of such an excuse. Jacob's name on G–d's throne made a profound impression in the Celestial Regions. We know from the description in Chulin 91 that in Jacob's dream the two angels ascending and the two angels descending compared the features engraved on the throne of G–d with the features of Jacob on earth. They threatened Jacob's life because they found discrepancies between the respective features. As a result, G–d quickly intervened and placed Himself on top of the ladder in order to protect Jacob.

The words ארצה שעיר, שדה אדום, allude to both the physical and the spiritual domain. ארצה שעיר is an allusion to Samael, whose share in the world is the שעיר, the goat or scape-goat, which is offered to him "as a bribe" on the Day of Atonement, as will be explained in due course. Another reason he is called Se'ir is that Samael is identical with Satan, or the evil urge; to his people [those who are held in his sway, Ed.] he appears like a שער, as thin and insignificant as a hair. The message is that for צדיקים Mount Se-ir, i.e. the threat of the evil urge, looms large as a mountain, whereas for the sinners it appears as insignificant as a hair. To carry this hyperbole a little further: When the Torah described Esau-Edom-Se'ir as completely covered with hair, (25,25) this is an allusion to his being as full of sins as a fur coat is full of hair. When the Torah also described the destination of Jacob's emissaries as שדה אדום, it merely described Esau=Edom their destination on earth.

Since the blessing Jacob received from his father had been of a material nature, such as "the dew of the heavens, the fat parts of the earth, etc." [seeing Isaac thought he was blessing Esau], he could not really receive Isaac's spiritual blessings until he had successfully confronted Esau, i.e. had experienced the fear of Esau approaching him with four hundred armed men. Jacob's very desire to belong to the choicest of the בני עליה, the spiritually most refined human beings, necessitated that he undergo a thorough process of refinement. His stay at Laban, i.e. physical and mental hardship for over twenty years were all part of the preparation for receiving the ultimate spiritual blessings. After Jacob had successfully confronted the spiritual power of Esau in his nocturnal encounter in Genesis 32,25 ויאבק איש עמו (compare Bereshit Rabbah 77,3), he finally obtained the consent of his adversary that he was entitled to the blessings he had received from his father. This is why Esau said in 33,9: "you may keep what is yours." Esau's spiritual counterpart had already acknowledged this during the struggle when he had bestowed a blessing on Jacob in 32,30: ויברך אותו שם, "He blessed him there." At that time Jacob was also informed about the forthcoming change of his name to ישראל. The Esau on earth, had previously called him Jacob as a slur when he had felt himself betrayed in 27,36.

The verse (26,5) we have just quoted contains ten words corresponding to the Ten Commandments. When you examine the wording of the Ten Commandments you will find that it contains 172 words, the same as the numerical value of the word עקב, as pointed out by Baal HaTurim. You may ask: If this is so why was יעקב not called עקב? The answer is already alluded to when we read about Jacob's birth, when he is described as holding on to עקב עשו, the heel of Esau (25,26). The last three letters in Jacob's name are an indication that the sanctity, holiness expressed by the letter י in his name will prevail in the world only at the end of history, at the עקב, or סוף. The heel of Esau, however, the one that Jacob held on to, is symbolic of the serpent which hisses: it is the end of life, signifies darkness and death, as we have explained earlier. When the enmity that exists between the serpent and man is described in the Torah in Genesis 3,15: הוא ישופך ראש ואתה תשופנו עקב, "He (man) will strike at your head, and you (the snake) will strike at his heel," the Zohar writes on this verse that the word ראש refers to the first letter in the name יעקב, an allusion to the Ten Commandments. If Jacob observes the Ten Commandments, then he can successfully strike at the ראש, the head of the serpent and all that the serpent represents; but והיה כאשר תריד (Genesis 27,40) "when you will backslide in your service of G–d," then you (the snake) will strike at עקב, the part of the name יעקב when detached from the י and all that this letter stands for." If Jacob had not had the letter י in his name his name would have been associated only with elements derived from the סטרא אחרא, the negative side of the diagram of the emanations. When the Torah reports that וידו אוחזת, that "his hand was holding on to," the letters in the word for "his hand,” i.e. ידו, are the same as the letter יוד. The potential contained in the name יעקב, enabled Jacob to become ישראל, a name that was accorded to Jacob only after his successful refinement through harassment at the hands of Esau. The name ישראל is the pinnacle that the spiritually most refined people can achieve. It indicates that he had been able to contend with Heavenly forces and to prevail (Genesis 32,29). Onkelos translates this verse: "You have fought before G–d with man and have succeeded."

"The emissaries returned to Jacob." This refers to the human as well as to the spiritual emissaries. The spiritual emissaries told Jacob: באנו אל אחיך, "We have come to your brother, whereas the human emissaries told him: אל עשו, "To Esau." He is also coming to meet you;" this was said by the emissaries sent to the Celestial Regions who reported about Samael. וגם ארבע מאות איש עמו; "and he also has four hundred men with him." This was reported by the human messengers who had been despatched to Esau.

Having this in mind, we can understand an enigmatic Midrash Rabbah Genesis 63,3 on this פרשה: "These are the descendants of Isaac the son of Abraham, Abraham begat Isaac. Abraham was called Abraham; Isaac was called Abraham for the Torah says "these are the descendants of Abraham, Abraham." Jacob's name was called Israel because the Torah says in Genesis 32,29: "He said to him: 'Your name will no longer be called Jacob but Israel.' Isaac was called Israel, as the Torah says in Exodus 1,1 'And these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob.' Abraham is called Israel." Rabbi Natan added that there is a profound meaning in: ומושב בני ישראל אשר ישבו במצרים ובארץ כנען ובארץ גשן שלושים שנה וארבע מאות שנה. "The period that the children of Israel lived in Egypt, Goshen and Canaan respectively prior to the Exodus was 430 years."

Afterwards (32, 10) Jacob prayed to the "G–d of my father Abraham and the G–d of my father Isaac who has said to me: 'return to your country and birthplace, etc.'" Rashi mentions that G–d had given Jacob two assurances, one at the time he had left his father's home at Beer Sheva, and the second when He told Jacob to return home and that He would be with him. On the latter occasion, G–d appeared to him using only the four-lettered ineffable name י-ה-ו-ה. The first assurance was clearly meant to reassure Jacob concerning his dealings with Laban and Esau, whereas the latter was to fortify Jacob against the fear of Samael. The very use of this name by G–d meant that Jacob had access to a dimension of G–d not available to the Gentile nations whose fate is guided by the attribute אל-הים, meaning agents or deputies of G–d such as the שרים. Jacob pointedly referred to both these assurances in his prayer.

To return to the subject which we touched upon earlier of how the שר can don the "mantle" of the שכינה. Although this is a tremendous display of power for such a שר, it will boomerang and become the cause of his downfall as we mentioned earlier. This procedure is alluded to in the words of our פרשה in 10,2, where the Torah says: "how I have made a mockery of the Egyptians." Rashi explains that the word התעללתי במצרים, means "I have toyed with them." We need to understand the meaning of this שחוק, game, that G–d played. When we consider the august position of the שר של מצרים as we have described, we realise that when he was at the height of his power, this שר gave no thought to his eventual demise, and that the higher he would rise, the greater would be his eventual fall into a deep pit. The very "mantle" of the שכינה which he wore would become the cause of his downfall. At that time, G–d in Heaven, who is aware of the exact moment in time when events would cause the שר של מצרים to fall, would smile. The timing of these events is alluded to in Moses' words to Pharaoh in 10,3: "How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me?" Humbling oneself means to turn from being evil to being good. We have a prime example of this when Samael, who had been Jacob's arch-enemy, changed direction and accorded Jacob his blessing, his recognition (Genesis 32,29).

My merit has been depleted by all the favors and the fulfillment of Your promises." According to Rabbi Aba in Bereshit Rabbah 76,5 the word קטונתי, means that Jacob felt unworthy of all the favors he had experienced at the hands of G–d. Rabbi Levi, however, feels that Jacob had felt entitled to receive favors, but had exhausted his merits by so doing. Both Rabbis are quite correct. Jacob's remarks expressed both his feelings vis-a-vis Esau and his feelings vis-a-vis Samael. Concerning his standing vis-a-vis Esau, Jacob expressed concern that the very favors he had experienced up to now might place him in a disadvantageous position, for Esau had not been recompensed for his merits. We know from Shabbat 32a that a miracle performed for someone draws on his accumulated merits. The Talmud derives this principle from our verse. Rashi understands the verse in the latter sense. We must conclude that Jacob appealed to G–d at this point to perform a miracle for him now too, in order to save him from Esau. When he invoked the four-lettered Name of G–d, we see a similarity to Psalms 20, 8: ’אלה ברכב ואלה בסוסים ואחנו בשם ה' אלוקינו נזכיר, "They (call) on chariots, they (call) on horses, but we call on the name of the LORD our G–d," for true salvation is G–d's domain. Not feeling morally entitled, Jacob pleaded with G–d to perform the miracle for the sake of His Name. Regarding his imminent confrontation with Samael, however, he said: קטונתי מכל האמת, he invoked his own specific attribute of “אמת,” as we have explained repeatedly in connection with Michah 7,20: תתן אמת ליעקב, "You will keep faith with Jacob." This attribute is a reference to the Torah which is known as תורת אמת, in other words the Torah was given to the people of Israel through this attribute of Jacob. According to the Kabbalists the Torah originates in the upper regions of Heaven, a region where the attribute of Jacob is at home. Jacob is described in the Torah as being איש תם, "a perfect individual residing in the 'tents' of Torah” (Genesis 25,27). The expression קטונתי, "I am too insignificant, too unworthy," may be understood better when we compare it to the last Mishnah in tractate Sotah 49, where we are told that after the death of Rabbi Yossi the “קטנותא,” there were no longer any men deserving the title "the pious one." If Rabbi Yossi was so pious, why does the Mishnah refer to him as "the little one?" According to Rashi the meaning is that Rabbi Yossi was the least pious of all the pious men preceding him. According to Maimonides it means that Rabbi Yossi was the "root" of all the pious men, and the root is by nature something that has small beginnings. Jacob then alluded to the process of attaining significance as being one that commences by one's being small, קטן. This is also why Jacob is popularly known as יעקב הקטן, "little Jacob." In his entreaty to G–d to save him from Samael, Jacob referred to this when he said: קטונתי. When Rabbi Levi said in the Midrash that Jacob meant: "I was deserving, he meant "but now I have become 'small' seeing that my merits may have been used up."

כי במקלי עברתי את הירדן . Rashi understands this to be a reference to the fact that Jacob did not have either silver or gold with him. He used these words vis-a-vis Esau in order to convince him that he, Jacob, had not seen his father's blessing fulfilled, just as Rashi explained earlier when Jacob had acknowledged to be the owner of flocks, herds, men servants and maid servants. ועתה הייתי לשני מחנות, "now I have become two camps," was meant to also show that none of this wealth was related to the blessings bestowed on him by Isaac. Rashi adds a homiletic explanation, that the "staff" that Jacob had crossed the Jordan with was endowed with the power to split the waters of that river for him, and enable him to cross. This indicates that Jacob certainly had great merits. He wanted G–d to remind Samael of this so that the latter should not even entertain the thought of successfully challenging Jacob on moral grounds.

This is why he instructed Israel to offer a male goat as a sin offering each New Moon in compensation for having reduced the moon's size (i.e. Israel's size in this world). The Rekanati, in his commentary on Exodus 12,2, explains at length that the function of this sin-offering on the New Moon is very similar to the function of the scapegoat which is tendered to Azzazel on the Day of Atonement. Allegorically speaking, the reduction in size symbolizes the diminution of the forces of holiness due to Adam's sin. This results in the powers we call חיצוניות experiencing an uplift, increased strength. By sacrificing the male goat on the New Moon as a sin-offering to G–d we are symbolically sacrificing the קליפה, the symbol of negative influences which in turn undermines the influence of this קליפה. By doing this we re-convert some of the forces that though they originated in a holy domain had become active as negative forces. Such a positive act results in atonement. Rashi describing Genesis 32,2,1 explains Jacob's motive in sending gifts to Esau with the words: אכפרה פניו, to mean קנוח, "wiping clean." Atonement then is a way of "wiping the slate clean." Sin is considered to be a stain on our soul or character. Atonement is the removal of the stain in question. We follow this procedure every month whenever the moon renews itself. This process will continue until the קליפה has been reduced so much that the moon can regain its former size and its light equals that of the sun. At such a time, when the world will be filled with knowledge of G–d, the physical part of our bodies as well as matter in the universe will be imbued with sanctity similar to that intangible part of man, his soul.

This is why he instructed Israel to offer a male goat as a sin offering each New Moon in compensation for having reduced the moon's size (i.e. Israel's size in this world). The Rekanati, in his commentary on Exodus 12,2, explains at length that the function of this sin-offering on the New Moon is very similar to the function of the scapegoat which is tendered to Azzazel on the Day of Atonement. Allegorically speaking, the reduction in size symbolizes the diminution of the forces of holiness due to Adam's sin. This results in the powers we call חיצוניות experiencing an uplift, increased strength. By sacrificing the male goat on the New Moon as a sin-offering to G–d we are symbolically sacrificing the קליפה, the symbol of negative influences which in turn undermines the influence of this קליפה. By doing this we re-convert some of the forces that though they originated in a holy domain had become active as negative forces. Such a positive act results in atonement. Rashi describing Genesis 32,2,1 explains Jacob's motive in sending gifts to Esau with the words: אכפרה פניו, to mean קנוח, "wiping clean." Atonement then is a way of "wiping the slate clean." Sin is considered to be a stain on our soul or character. Atonement is the removal of the stain in question. We follow this procedure every month whenever the moon renews itself. This process will continue until the קליפה has been reduced so much that the moon can regain its former size and its light equals that of the sun. At such a time, when the world will be filled with knowledge of G–d, the physical part of our bodies as well as matter in the universe will be imbued with sanctity similar to that intangible part of man, his soul.

הצילנו נא מיד אחי, מיד עשו . The first half of this verse is addressed to G–d concerning the threat from Samael, whereas in the second half Jacob implores G–d to save him from Esau.

You have said: "I will do good good with you." The word הטיב refers to the good G–d would do with Jacob on earth, whereas the word אטיב referred to the good G–d would do for Jacob in the "higher" world.

Jacob achieved perfection in matters concerning money when he did not purchase the birthright for the material advantages this might confer upon him but for the added religious duties it imposed upon him.

When Jacob instructed the men accompanying the gifts to reply: לעבדך ליעקב, "they belong to your servant, to Jacob," the word “ליעקב,” was the reply intended for terrestrial Esau; the word “לעבדך,” was the answer intended to Samael's enquiry for whom the gift was intended. Samael is meant to accept our sins when we send them to him as a gift. This is the whole secret of the שעיר המשתלח, the scapegoat that is dispatched to the desert and has its neck broken on the Day of Atonement.

The significance of the number seventy is the number of Jacob's offspring that went down to Egypt which corresponded to the seventy spiritual representatives of the Gentile nations in the Heavenly Regions. The reason that the seventy souls went to Egypt and into exile was to enable them to be refined there in what our sages have called "the crucible of Egypt." The Kabbalists tell us that of the seventy שרים, representatives at the Celestial Court we have mentioned, thirty five are perceived as lining up on the "right" side of the diagram of the ספירות, emanations, whereas the other thirty five are found on the "left" side. Israel has a סנהדרין, Supreme Court, of seventy judges corresponding to those שרים of the Gentile nations. All of these judges are from the root of קדושה. This is why the Torah warns us not to turn either right or left from what these judges (elders) tell us (Deut. 17,11). Rashi and other commentators interpret this to mean that even if the Sanhedrin tells you that "right" is "left," and that "left" is "right," we must abide by their ruling (Jerusalem Talmud Horayot 1,5). A Jewish Court of Law composed of expert scholars who have received the ordination called סמיכה, is called אלו-הים. It is the nature of this ordination that there is a continuous chain of authority going back all the way to G–d Himself via the scholars in each generation, including Moses who was ordained by G–d Himself. The very word used to describe this ordination, סמוכים, "adjoining, next to one another,” hints at the nature of the ordination, that it is valid only because it represents an unbroken chain of tradition. This idea is expressed in the Torah in Deut. 4,4 ואתם הדבקים בה' אלוקיכם חיים כלכם היום, "You who have cleaved to the Lord your G–d, are all alive this day." The 70 שרים of the Gentile nations are called אלהים אחרים, "deities of the others," because they look up to them as their gods. This idea is alluded to when the angel, (Esau's celestial counterpart), justifies Jacob being called Israel by saying כי שרית עם אלה-ים, you have fought with the 70 deities of the Gentile nations.

When the High Priest performed the service in the Temple on the Day of Atonement, he first confessed the sins of the Jewish people over the scapegoat. We read in Leviticus 16,22: "The scapegoat carries upon it all their iniquities unto a land which is cut off;" in the case of Jacob, the Torah writes: "He took from what had come into his hand, a gift for Esau" (Genesis 32,14). This corresponds symbolically to the sins with which the Jews had dirtied themselves throughout the year, and which were now presented as a gift to our "cousin" Esau, as will be explained. The Torah continues by listing the gifts in detail, commencing with עזים מאתים, two hundred goats, etc.

There is another mystical aspect to this which is used by בעלי כשוף, those that cast spells and practice sorcery. Their activities do not involve females and perversions involving females. In consideration of this we present Samael with a male goat, acknowledging the fact that he is king in a certain domain and has not wasted his strength on self-gratification of a sexual nature. We treat Samael as if he were still a "son" eating at his father's (G–d's) table. We present two he-goats on the Day of Atonement. Samael does not realize that this very gift serves to remove him from the Sanctuary, the Holy Regions. Samael's experience may be compared to that of Haman whom Esther invited to share the meal she tendered for the king. Haman believed that he received a great distinction, little realizing that he was being set up for a fall. Our gift to Samael on the Day of Atonement is designed to produce a similar effect on him. Just as Haman left the meal with Esther and the king on the first occasion full of joy and self-esteem, so Samael reacts to our gift as if we had acknowledged his authority and the need to placate him. As a result, he does not feel that he could present accusations against people who had shown him that much honor (cf. Esther 5,9). G–d accepts Samael's testimony concerning the overall conduct of the Jewish people, and immediately grants them atonement. G–d "dumps" all of Israel's sins on to the head of Samael, who in turn distributes them among his underlings as described in Micah 7,19: "You will hurl all their (meaning "our") sins into the depths of the sea." Samael is viewed as the ruler of these "depths of the sea." Thus far the Tolaat Yaakov. Jacob's gift to Samael is to be understood in a similar way.

"There he praised the Almighty G–d of Israel." According to the view of Rabbi Eleazar in Megillah 18, this verse tells us that G–d called Jacob “א-ל”; his reasoning is as follows: – If this were an appellation Jacob had given, then the Torah should have written ויקרא לו יעקב א-ל אלוקי ישראל. The Torah wanted to go on record that Jacob represents only the “א-ל” part of “סמאל” . When we view the struggle between יעקב, who was all א-ל, and Samael, who was only partially א-ל, it is natural that Jacob should have prevailed, i.e. כי שרית עם אלוקים ועם אנשים ותוכל, "You have contended with G–d and with men and have prevailed." This description of a dual encounter refers to the struggle with the terrestrial force of Esau on the one hand, and with the Celestial forces of Esau, i.e. Samael, on the other. The name ישראל fittingly reflects this dual struggle. It is a name conferred upon Jacob by Samael himself, an acknowledgment that Jacob was the bearer of Isaac's blessings.

It is related in Zohar Chadash, Parashas Noach (26b): Rabbi Elazar and his father-in-law Rabbi Yose were traveling from Usha to Lud. Rabbi Yose said to Rabbi Elazar, “Did you happen to hear from your father, Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, what is meant by the verse, ‘And Yaakov went on his way and angels of God met him’ (Bereishis 32:2)? Who were these angels?” “I do not know…,” he replied. While they were yet traveling they noticed a certain cave and heard a voice saying, “There were two fawns of a gazelle that brought Me pleasure. They were the holy camp that met Yaakov and then went before him.” Rabbi Elazar became extremely agitated and fearful. “Master of the Universe!” he said, “Is this Your way? It would have been better had we not heard this, for now that we have heard it we still do not know who they were!” Then a miracle occurred and they heard a voice saying, “They were Avraham and Yitzchak.”

There is an excellent reason that Jacob should have experienced this revelation at the moment he mourned the death of his mother. I first have to explain something about the exalted meaning of the name ישראל, and also something about the name יעקב. On 32,29, Bereshit Rabbah "Your name shall no longer be Jacob but Israel," comments as follows: "This does not mean that the name Jacob was eliminated (as in the case of the name Abram), but it means that the name Jacob would henceforth be only subordinate to the name Israel” Rabbi Zecharyah in the name of Rabbi Chama adds that the name Jacob would continue to exist in any event, but the name Israel would lend it an additional dimension. Both these opinions are compatible with one another.

Having appreciated all the foregoing, we can now understand a statement in the Talmud Chulin 92a, commenting on Hosea 12,5: וישר אל מלאך ויוכל, בכה ויתחנן לו, "He contended with an angel and prevailed; the other had to weep and to implore him." The Talmud says that it is not clear who became “שר” over whom. When the angel implored Jacob to release him, it seemed that he implored Jacob, weeping. Evidently Israel then became שר over the angel. How then can the Talmud assume that the "Master" had implored the servant and wept?

We are dealing here with the dimension of "Jacob" as well as with the dimension of "Israel." First, Jacob assumed the position of שר, Master, vis-a-vis the angel. This is what Samael meant when he said: "You have fought with G–d and man and prevailed;" That aspect of the name "Israel" made him superior to the angel. However, from that development alone I would not have known that even the part of him that was still called "Jacob" could attain the spiritual level of the angels. This is why Hoseah said: "The angel wept and implored Jacob." [Hoseah speaks two verses earlier about Jacob as being punished by G–d, whereas he worked his way up on the spiritual ladder. Ed.] The lesson we learn from this is that even in his capacity as "merely" Jacob, the angel had to implore him, weeping. This was a preview of how things were going to be in the future. Both the names "Jacob" and "Israel" will reflect the highest spiritual achievements, higher even than those of the ministering angels, as we pointed out in connection with Numbers 23,23. Jacob's "victory" over an angel of the type of Samael will then be matched by his "victory" over angels which represent only positive spiritual values.

We have now explained this פרשה inasmuch as it refers to Jacob personally. We must remember that Jacob is also a symbol of his descendants. All the experiences of the patriarchs are viewed as forerunners of the experiences of the Jewish people as a whole. Nachmanides has demonstrated this in great detail. Bereshit Rabbah 75,3, describing the gifts Jacob sent to Esau, quotes Proverbs 26, 17: "He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own is like someone who takes a dog by his ears." G–d is quoted as saying to Jacob: "Esau was pursuing his own personal designs and you had to send him gifts describing yourself as his servant!" During the second Temple the rulers of the Jewish people voluntarily entered into a political alliance with Rome, only to eventually be devoured by the Romans. This alliance was the beginning of the decline of Jewish independence. All the struggles between Jacob and Esau mirror what was going to happen later on a national scale. Bereshit Rabbah goes on to comment on 32, 9: "If Esau comes to the one camp and smites it, then the remaining camp will escape." It is our experience in exile that when Jews are persecuted in the South, that they find relief in another part of the globe. The "thigh joint" of Jacob that the angel "touched," is also understood as referring to Jacob's descendants.

This is the meaning of the verse, “And Mordechai knew” (Esther 4:1). That is, he knew the essence of the matter — that the decree had been issued on account of the great harm they had done to the Shechinah when they benefited from the feast of that evildoer. Therefore it states, “And Mordechai donned sackcloth and ashes and cried out with a great and bitter cry.” “And he donned sackcloth” — This was to atone for the sin and to weaken the power of the “four hundred men” who accompanied Eisav when he came to meet his brother Yaakov. For it is stated concerning this event, “And Yaakov was very afraid” (Bereishis 32:8). That is, he was afraid of the four hundred impure husks and destroyers that accompanied Eisav. This is why Mordechai donned sackcloth, because the numerical value of the word “sackcloth” [שׂק] is 400. Thus his intention was to weaken the power of the wicked Eisav. Then Mordechai informed also Esther of the great harm that had been done at the feast of Achashveirosh. Therefore it states immediately after this, “And Esther donned ‘kingship’” (Esther 5:1). That is, she donned the spirit of prophecy (Megillah 14b). Esther then proposed that they fast for three days and three nights in order to counteract the filth that Haman and Achashveirosh had injected into them by means of their feast. In this way the power of the filth that had sullied them through that eating and drinking would be enfeebled, for it was weakened through their fasting, thereby enabling the collective soul of Israel to shine as before.

Some mystical elements pertaining to the Chanukah lights: We shall now proceed to explain part of the deeper meaning of the חנוכה lights which issue forth from the ירך המנורה, the stem of the candelabra (the equivalent of ירך, thigh, in a human body). The expression רגל, foot, is also found in connection with נר, light, when the Psalmist describes הר לרגלי דברך, "Your word is a lamp to my feet" (Psalms 119,105). According to Halachah, the period during which the Chanukah lights have to burn concludes when תכלה רגל מן השוק, when the foot (pedestrian) leaves the market-place, when the streets empty out. Let us get back to the meaning of the word ירך. The Torah reported that Samael succeeded in dislocating Jacob's כף ירך, thigh joint. The immediate cause for this had been Jacob's having remained alone while he had gone to retrieve some trinkets of minor value (Rashi on 32,25). No doubt these פכים קטנים, "insignificant trinkets," are of great symbolical significance. We are reminded of the פך קטן, "small cruse" of oil which the Hasmoneans found when they entered the Temple precincts after their victory over the Greeks.

How does this Midrash fit in with the opening words of our portion, ואלה המשפטים? Besides, why did the Midrash bring so many (5) examples of people who were punished, and why is the order in which those people are listed so peculiar? The order Miriam, Moses, Isaac, Abraham, Jacob, certainly needs some explanation! One cannot say that the punishments listed represent some ascending or descending order of severity, since "blinding" is certainly less severe than banishing Moses from entry into the Holy Land! Most commentators are also agreed that Genesis 15,13, is a prediction of what is to come, not a punishment for Abraham whose faith had not wavered. It is rather a promise that his descendants through the experience in Egypt would qualify for liberation and possession of the Holy Land after they had experienced the revelation at Mount Sinai and had accepted the Torah. Jacob's "punishment" was certainly quite minor and brief, since Genesis 32,32, tells us that the "sun shone for him because he was limping," i.e. he was cured by Divine intervention.

Jacob, on the other hand, had gracefully accepted his injury without protest, and as a result Israel was given an additional מצוה, not to eat the גיד הנשה, to commemorate Jacob's quality of cheerfully accepting a rebuke. He is the prime example of how to walk away from a guilty verdict in a happy frame of mind.