From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2005 3:43 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas Vayishlach, 5766





                                              Brothers Under the Skin
                   
                      By Rabbi Joshua (brotherly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman


  In this week's parsha, the Torah describes the meeting between Ya'akov and his brother Eisav, after they hadn't seen each other for twenty years. Ya'akov, fearing that Eisav still hated him and wanted to kill him, takes a number of precautions, to protect himself. Rashi cites the midrash which sums up these precautions as consisting of a gift to Eisav, a prayer to God, and preparation for war. When the brothers finally meet, the Torah tells us, " Eisav ran toward him, and he embraced him, and fell upon his neck, and kissed him ; and they wept. Rashi mentions that there is a dispute in the Sifrei concerning the sincerity of Eisav's emotional response to Ya'akov's visit. However, Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, in his commentary, notes that while one can give an insincere kiss, he cannot fake tears. Eisav's tears, says Rabbi Hirsch, indicate that he had true feelings for his brother. A spark of humaneness still existed within him, and Ya'akov was able to tap into it. Rabbi Moshe Einstadter, in his Yesodos of Sefer Bereishis, elaborates on this theme, and notes that we find such moments throughout history, when the 'vestigial spiritual essence' that existed deep within Eisav comes to the fore, illuminating Eisav's world like lightning against a black sky. The Netziv, in his Ha'amek Davar, notes that the word 'vayivku' - 'and they cried' - is in the plural, indicating that once Eisav cried, Ya'akov cried, as well, thus foreshadowing those times in Jewish history when the descendants of Ya'akov and Eisav would share friendly relations, as occurred in the time of Rabbi Yehudah and Antoninus, and, the Netziv adds, at many other junctions in history. Following the approach of these commentators, it would be instructive to explore what it was that moved Eisav to unleash the good side of his personality when he met Ya'akov, since, as the rabbis tells us, Ya'akov's deportment with Eisav is meant to serve as a model for his descendants in dealing when confronting Eisav's descendants.


  Ramban, in his commentary (Bereishis 32:7-8), writes that even though Eisav originally showed hostility to Ya'akov and his messengers, in the end, when he saw the great honor that Ya'akov accorded him, his compassion was aroused, and he thought that Ya'akov had actually acknowledged his claim to the birthright, and he was therefore mollified. Ramban then paraphrases a verse in Mishlei (21:1), which reads, " Like streams of water is the heart of a king in the hand of God, wherever he wishes, so He directs it, " and applies it to human hearts, in general. One of the commentaries on Ramban, Lev Tzion, explains that, although it would seem that Eisav's response to Ya'akov was caused by Ya'akov's attitude to him, it was, actually, caused by divine intervention. However, I do not believe that this is the meaning of the Ramban's statement, nor that it is the meaning of the verse in Mishlei. Man has free will, and God is not a 'Grand Puppeteer' who controls their actions. This, in fact, is what Rav Yitzchak Elchonon Spektor of Kovno, the great nineteenth century authority in Jewish law, who often interceded with the Russian government on behalf of the Jewish people, writes in a footnote to his introduction to Ayn Yitzchok, a two volume work of halachic responsa. Explaining the same verse in Mishlei that is paraphrased by the Ramban, Rabbi Spektor writes that the verse does not mean to say that God determines how kings act. If this were so, then the kings of the nations could not receive reward for their good actions, or punishment for their bad actions. Rather, a king’s heart is like a stream, or a river, which is described in the Talmud as being only one-third revealed, and two parts hidden. So, too, God arouses the heart of a king, inclining him to act in a certain way. However, the final course of action they take remains hidden in the recesses of their hearts, and up to them to decide. I believe that this is what the Ramban means in regard to Eisav, as well. God aroused Eisav's heart to release his inner feelings of brotherly love for Ya'akov, and, seeing Ya'akov's deportment toward him, he did so. However, according to Ramban, this arousal of brotherly feeling was actually one-sided, because Ya'akov made Eisav think that he was acknowledging his superiority. In effect, then, Ya'akov was really fooling Eisav into reacting the way he did, and did not share in these feelings. As we have seen, however, the Netziv writes that Ya'akov, as well, shared in these feelings, as indicated by the fact that he cried along with Eisav. If all his overtures to Eisav were merely a ruse, it seems unlikely that he would have responded in this way. What, then, did Ya'akov do to stir up these mutual emotions?


  Rabbi Ya'akov Sakly, a student of the great medieval Talmudic authority Rashba, writes, in his Toras HaMincha, that even though Ya'akov knew that God was watching over him, and, moreover, sent him angels to protect him, he did not want to arouse Eisav's anger. Therefore, he sent messengers of peace to him, and Eisav responded in kind. As soon as he heard that Ya'akov inquired about his welfare, he gathered four hundred men and sent them to greet him. Unlike Ramban, who understood this as a belligerent move, Rabbi Sakly understands it as a positive response to Ya'akov's overture, coming out of brotherly love. The proof to this explanation, he says, is the emotional reaction that Eisav exhibited when the two brothers actually met. If we add Ramban's invocation of the verse in Mishlei to this explanation, we can say that God aroused Eisav's heart to draw on his inner, brotherly love for Ya'akov, and Ya'akov's gesture of sending messengers to inquire about his welfare, and to seek peace with him, moved him to respond positively to this divine arousal. What we can take away from this encounter, then, as a lesson for future generations, is the importance of treating all of our fellow human beings with love and respect, as Ya'kov did when he sent his messengers to Eisav. When we do so, we may, with divine help, be able to tap into the inner feelings of universal brotherhood implanted deep within them, to our mutual benefit.



  Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman) with the following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.

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