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TORAH SPARKS

 

The Shirley & Jacob
Fuchsberg Center

8 Agron Street, P.O. Box
7456, Jerusalem, Israel 94265

Tel:
972-2-625-6386 Fax: 972-2-623-4127

Parashat Vayishlah

December 16-17, 2016 17
Kislev 5777

Annual (Genesis 32:4-36:43): Etz Hayim p.
198-220; Hertz p. 122-134

Triennial (Genesis 32:4-33:20): Etz Hayim p.
198-206; Hertz p. 122-127

Haftarah (Obadiah 1:1-21): Etz Hayim p.
221-225; Hertz p. 137-140

 

 

For want of a few small jars

Rabbi Daniel Goldfarb, CY Faculty and Coordinator,
Torah Sparks

 

Preparing to meet his brother
Esau, from whose wrath he had fled decades earlier, Yakov moves his family and
property across the Yabok River. So Jacob was left alone, and a man
wrestled with him till daybreak (Gen 32:25). He was left alone, Rashi
explains: he went back for some small jars [pachim katanim] he had
forgotten. The Talmud (Hulin 91a) which Rashi quotes adds that from this we
learn that for tsadikim, righteous people like Yakov, their money is
dearer than their bodies, as Yakov s action had put his life in danger. The
Talmud continues, lest we think that tsadikim are driven by a lust for
material things, that their concern stems from their careful way of life –
every penny is hard and honestly earned, no monkey-business, and of course,
nothing that smells of theft (gezel).

 

So it turns out that the most
important encounter with God in Yakov s life from which he leaves transformed
(with a new name [Yisrael], the blessing for prevailing in struggles with God
and man, and a muscle

 

sprain) happens when
(because?) he went back to retrieve a few small jars. Odd? Just coincidence?

 

Fast-forward to Exodus 3:1,
where Moses, following in Jacob s footsteps, is shepherding his father-in-law s
sheep, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness (achar
ha midbar
) and came to Horeb, the mountain of God, where, in the very next
verse, Moses sees the burning bush, his most important encounter with
God. To the far side of the wilderness seems a superfluous detail
here, or is it? Rashi, quoting the Midrash, says Moshe purposely led them
there, to keep far from theft (gezel) were they to graze in other
people s fields. Moses, like Yakov, seems to have a particular sensitivity
(compulsion?) to avoid even a whiff of financial impropriety. Both were
evidently talmidav shel Abraham, disciples of our earliest forefather,
who sent his servant off to seek a wife for Isaac with ten camels, muzzled
lest they commit gezel, theft, enroute according to Rashi (Gen 24:10).

 

We can only speculate would
Jacob have encountered the mysterious figure with whom he wrestled had he not
gone back for those jars? Would Moses have ever seen the burning bush had he
not taken his sheep to graze in the most remote wilderness? There is a message
here for leaders in all generations and at all levels of governance and
organization.

 

For want of a nail, a shoe was
lost
and so,
in turn, were lost a horse, a knight, a battle and the kingdom, according to
the proverb; just insert pachim katanim for a nail. Rashi however,
as indicated, omitted the Talmudic addition about the lesson of theft to be
learned here. Maybe those small jars had their own meaning for Yakov; they
might have represented something of importance from his past. Our lives are
composed of big objects and small jars. As the people left homeless by the
recent fires in Israel attested, sometimes the latter are the more important –
furniture and appliances can be replaced, but not childhood albums, mementos
from family occasions, grandma s candlesticks or an old wine-stained Haggadah.
We all have pachim katanim in our closets and in our souls. The Baal
Shem Tov said that we should go back for them from time to time. The story of
Hanukkah coming up soon teaches that even one little jar may contain the oil
needed to light the darkness of our lives.

 

 

A Vort for Parashat
Vayishlah

Rabbi Daniel Goldfarb, CY Faculty

 

Jacob and Esau
finally meet (Gen 33:4), Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, fell on his neck,
and kissed him [vay yishakeihu]; and they wept. Regarding the
dots over the letters of vay yishakeihu in the Torah one Midrash says
the word should be read bit (from nashach, bite, a pun on the root nashak,
kiss), on which the Sfat Emet (Rabbi Yehudah Arieh Alter, Poland, 19th-20th Cent.) comments
that what Esau offers as a kiss can be a bite to Jacob. Noting that both
brothers wept, Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, ( the Netziv, of Volozhin,
Lithuania 19thC) said that Jacob suddenly felt love for Esau, and that it is
possible that both sides, through the generations, will recognize each other
as brothers. Halevai

 

 

 

 

 

Table
Talk

Vered
Hollander-Goldfarb,
CY Faculty

 

Yaakov (Jacob) is returning to
his father s land, dreading the meeting with his brother Esau. As part of his
journey he returns to Beth El, and receives a new name. Benjamin, the youngest
of Yaakov s sons, is born in this Parasha.

 

1) As Yaakov approaches the
land of his father he sends messengers to Esau (32:4-6). Pay attention to the
titles used: How does Yaakov think of Esau? What does Yaakov call himself and
what does he call Esau in the message delivered by the messengers? Why?

 

2) Yaakov fears his brother
Esau (32:8-16). What is he afraid might happen? How does he try to prepare for
this meeting? Note that he approaches the issue in several different ways.
Which do you think might be best? Why?

 

3) After taking his family
and all his belongings across the Jabok crossing, Yaakov is left alone
(32:23-30). A man struggles with him until the dawn rises. What is the
significance of the time of this struggle? What 2 changes occur in Yaakov
following this encounter?

 

4) Yaakov s journey comes full
circle in 35:1-7. Compare Yaakov s state now to his situation in the beginning
of last week s Parasha (28:10-22). What might Yaakov be feeling at this point?

 

5) The story of Yaakov
becoming Yisrael (Israel) appears twice in our parasha. In 35:9-15 the name
change is accompanied by a promise. What is Yaakov promised by God? Can you
remember another person who got a similar promise together with a name change (17:3-8
might help). What is the relationship between Yaakov and this person?