Parshat Vayishlach 19 Kislev 5761, 16 December 2000

by Shlomo Riskin

Efrat, Israel-Who is the real Jacob? Is he the "whole-hearted man, a dweller of tents," or a scheming deceiver who cheats his brother, deceives his father, and takes advantage of his uncle? An investigation of a difficult - and even mysterious passage - in this week's torah reading will provide an interesting insight into the most significant of our Patriarchs, Israel our Grandfather.

"Jacob remained alone. A stranger [ish] wrestled with him until just before daybreak" (Genesis 32:25).

Second, who is this 'stranger' called 'ish' in the Torah? Many of the commentators identify this mysterious 'ish' as none other than the guardian angel of Esau. Was this then a struggle with supernal, other-worldly forces, an occult wrestle with the power of Evil and anti-Semitism? The Bible usually does not record such supernatural events.

Third, what is the real root-meaning of the Hebrew "va'ye'avek," and he wrestled. Rashi quotes Menachem Ben Serek who suggests the root of the word is 'avak,' or dust, an inevitable by-product of two fighters in the field. Citing two Talmudic prooftexts, Rashi posits a different meaning --'vayeavek' expresses the idea that Jacob 'fastened himself on' the stranger, a form of joining. Interestingly enough, Nachmanides cites a number of verses where the alef and the chet interchange, so that the word 'va'ye'avek' (and he wrestled) bears a striking resemblance to 'va'ye'havek,' which means 'and he embraced.' Does this then mean that Jacob 'embraced' the anonymous person (ish)? The context certainly doesn't suggest it. But perhaps Nachmanides is suggesting that during this night at the river, Jacob didn't merely wrestle with the individual in the traditional sense; instead two opposite emotions and actions surfaced simultaneously: wrestling and embracing. What reinforces this idea is that in the very next chapter, when the two brothers finally meet after their long separation, Esau is so excited that he "... ran toward (Jacob), and embraced him." (Genesis 33:4).

And fourth, after the wrestling match and after Jacob and Esau finally confront each other in the flesh, Esau seems perfectly ready for a rapprochement and it is Jacob who is reluctant. Esau says, "Let us take our journey, and let us go together, and I will go before you (Genesis 33:12)," to which Jacob responds, "My lord knows that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with young are with me, and if men should overdrive them all the sheep shall die". (Genesis 33:13) In fact, when Jacob adds that he will eventually meet "my lord in Seir," Rashi comments that Jacob has no intention of ever meeting Esau at all during this lifetime. He is suggesting that they can only get together when "G-d will judge Mount Se'ir - in the days of the Messiah. Why is Jacob loathe to effectuate a real brotherly reconciliation?

To answer these questions, we should to re-examine the story of what happened when Isaac and Rebecca become the parents of twin sons. Tragically, each parent has his and her own favorite, creating an inevitable imbalance in the family. "Now Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his venison; and Rebecca loved Jacob." (Genesis 25:28) This is not necessarily the occasion to query why Isaac felt drawn to Esau. Perhaps the rather passive son of the illustrious and dominating Abraham - remember that Isaac was brought a wife, was taken to the akedah, and acquiesced when he was banished by Avimelekh, - is drawn to the more aggressive and ambitious Esau. Often fathers (unfairly) look to their sons to make up for what they perceive as their own deficiencies. But whatever the reason, it is logical to assume that Jacob was hurt, even devastated, by his paternal rejection - and yearned for his father's acceptance and approval. It is even logical to assume that the wholehearted student desired to adopt some of the aggressive out-doorism and skills of verbal manipulation ("for the entrapment was in his mouth") of his more favored brother.

From this perspective, Rebecca's suggestion that Jacob enter his father's tent dressed in goatskins and disguised as Esau may very well have struck a responsive chord in Jacob's psyche. Finally he has at least the external trappings of a personality which may give him access to his father's blessings and love, which he sorely lacks.

Having dressed as Esau, it's possible Jacob is now making room for a little bit of Esau inside his own being. Actually, the timing could not be more propitious, since he will now be dealing with one of the craftiest men in Haran, his father-in-law Laban. In Haran he learns how to grow a second coat of skin, more aggressive and assertive; Jacob becomes crafty of hand and mellifluous of tongue, effectuating a deal that transfers a good deal of wealth into his own 'bank' account. After two decades with Laban, Jacob has become more Esau than Esau.

Two events bring Jacob back to his old self. First of all, although he may have grown comfortable in his quasi-Esau role, he doesn't want his most beloved son Joseph to be so different from Abraham and Isaac.

"And it came to pass when Rachel had given birth to Joseph that Jacob said unto Laban,'Send me away that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country (Genesis 30:25).'"

But returning to his father's land as the old Jacob is not as simple as it sounds. The extra skin, the Esau-like qualities that cling to his personality, will have to be expunged before he can even step on the soil of the land of Israel. Jacob understands that he is a personality divided within himself and the real Jacob must emerge victorious.

Now we should be able to get a better idea of what it means that Jacob remained 'alone.' At the moment that he is ready to have the final struggle with the guardian angel of Esau, the spirit and nature of Esau, he is alone with himself. What he is about to do must be done alone. Jacob has an Esau inside him, and the task at hand is nothing less than exorcizing Esau's spirit, thereby restoring his original self as "the wholehearted (naive) man, dweller of tents;" he must restore his original dream of a ladder connecting heaven and earth with ascending and descending angels.

That he triumphs earns him the right to be given a new name, Yisrael. As we know, the name Yaakov is the name of the brother who grasps onto Esau's heel in order to overtake him --overtake him at his own game: it even has the nuance of "deceiving." Yaakov (Jacob) is in a perpetual struggle with Esau, the struggle ends only when Jacob, standing alone, dramatically wrestles with his innermost self and succeeds in exorcizing Esau from himself. Yaakov then becomes Yisrael. And once Jacob has finally rediscovered his authentic self, he cannot complicate matters by teaming up with Esau on any level. Just as he remained alone on that dark night by the side of the River Jabok, so must he remain alone with his family as he forges the children of Israel to whom he bequeaths the personality and the dreams of a seeker of the Divine!

Shabbat Shalom. Shabbat Shalom: Parshat Vayetze     Genesis 28:10-32:3

by Shlomo Riskin

Efrat, Israel- Monuments or MATZEVOT are a common and sensitive aspect of religious ritual when we ceremoniously erect them over the graves of our loved ones. The origin of such monuments is to be found in next week's Torah reading, when Jacob places a MATZEVAH on the grave-site of his beloved Rachel, who has tragically died in childbirth. But in this week's Torah reading, VAYETZE, Jacob erects the first monument in Jewish history. Until this point, the great Biblical personalities have erected altars (mizbeah),to G-d: Noah when he exited from the ark, Abraham when he first came to Israel, Isaac when he dedicated the city of Beersheba and Jacob on two significant occasions. An altar is clearly a sacred place dedicated for ritual sacrifice. What is a monument? An understanding of the first monument in Jewish history will help us understand the Biblical attitude towards life and death - and even the true significance of the land of Israel.

Our portion opens with Jacob leaving his Israeli parental home and setting out for his mother's familial home in Haran. That night he sleeps in the fields outside of Luz - the last site in Israel he will occupy before he begins his exile - and dreams of a ladder standing (MUTZAV-matzevah) on land with its top reaching heavenwards,

"and behold, angels of G-d are ascending and descending on it" (Genesis 28:12).

Two more aspects bear mention. The monument is made of stone - the Hebrew word for stone being "even", a contraction of "father-son" (av-ben, the eternity of family continuity). And the monument is consecrated with oil, as will be the King-Messiah (lit. anointed with oil), the ultimate herald of peace and redemption for Israel and the world.

Jacob then spends two decades with his uncle Laban, who does his utmost to assimilate his bright and capable nephew-son-in-law into a life of comfort and business in exile. Jacob resists - escaping Laban's blandishments and secretly absconding with his wives, children and live-stock for return to Israel. Laban pursues them, and they agree to a covenant - monument. "And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a monument" (Genesis 31:44). Here again, we have the expression of an eternal promise: Abraham's descendants will never completely assimilate - not even into the most enticing Diaspora. The text continues: "And Jacob said to his brethren, Gather stone, and they took stones and made a heap.. And Laban called it (the matzevah) Yegar -Sahaduta, but Jacob called it Gal-Ed " (Genesis 31:44-47). The wily Laban wants the monument to bear an Aramean name, a symbol of the Gentile part of Jacob's ancestry; Jacob firmly insists upon a purely Hebrew-inscription of GAL-ED.

When they take their respective oaths at the site of the monument, the deceptive Laban still endeavors to get in his licks: "The G-d of Abraham and the god of Nahor, the G-d of their father judge between us" (Genesis 31:53). Jacob refuses to give an inch: this monument is a witness to the eternity of his commitment to Israel, the faith and the land: "But Jacob swore to the fear of his father Isaac" (Genesis 29:53). Jacob's response is a polite - but emphatic - rejection of Laban's assimilationist lure.

Since this monument with Laban is erected in the exile, however, it is not anointed with oil. Whatever important role the diaspora may have played in the history of Israel - as long as we refused to assimilate and remained true to our unique values and life-style - the oil of redemption will only emerge in the land of Israel. When Jacob returns to Bet-El, the House of G-d, he obviously erects another stone monument - the symbol of G-d's faithfulness which he anoints with oil. (Genesis 35:14,15)

In the next sequence, tragedy befalls Jacob's family, when the beloved Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin.

"And Rachel died, and she was buried on the road to Efrat which is Bethlehem. And Jacob erected a monument on her grave, it is the monument of the grave of Rachel until this day" (Genesis 35:19,20).

Rachel's grave is a truly fitting place for a monument, a link between heaven and earth. It represents the eternity of the Jewish spirit and our eternal relationship to the land of Israel. Max Nordau became the leader of World Zionism after the death of Theodore Herzl. He was a Viennese physician who was not at all an observant Jew and had no previous connection to the Zionist movement. What made him a committed believer in Jewish return? He writes in his diary that a Hassidic family whose young daughter had been stricken with a mysterious disease came to him for a diagnosis. He diagnosed the malady and discovered the cure. The grateful family returned, promising - despite their poverty - to pay whatever they owed him because he had saved their daughter's life. He smiled and suggested that she kiss him on the cheek as a fitting payment. The young girl, who had just reached the age of 12, blushed as she explained that she could not kiss a grown man. He then suggested that she give over to him the Torah lesson she had learned that morning as substitute payment. She cited the midrash I have just brought about Rachel's grave site. Max Nordau writes in his diary that if after 2000 years of exile Jewish children still learn about and believe in Jewish return to Israel, the Jews will certainly return.

Shabbat Shalom.

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