From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, December 08, 2006
3:52 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas
Vayishlach, 5767
Bringing Up
Baby
By Rabbi Joshua (nurturingly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
In
this week's parsha we read of Ya'akov's meeting with Eisav after a separation of
twenty years. Fearing that Eisav still wishes to kill him, Yaakov makes a series
of preparations, sending a generous gift to appease Eisav, praying to God, and
preparing for battle if all else fails. At night, he arises from his sleep and
moves his family and all of his remaining possessions across the river Yabok.
The Torah then tells us that Yaakov remained alone, and that a 'man' wrestled
with him until the break of dawn. Rashi, citing the Talmud, says that Ya'akov
was alone because he went back for some small jars he had left behind. As the
citation continues, from here we learn that the righteous treat their property
with care, because (or 'so that') they do not steal. In Netvort to Vayishlach,
5761 (available at Torahheights.com), we mentioned two different ways of
understanding how the Talmud knew that Yaakov went back to retrieve the jars he
left behind, and the wider implications of one of these explanations. The
interested reader is referred to that Netvort. We did not, however, at that
time, discuss what exactly these jars were used for, and what was in them, but
an exploration of these questions, as we will see, yields some very interesting
results.
The Yalkut Reuveni, a compendium of midrashic and
kabbalistic sources, writes that the jar that Ya’akov went back for was the one
which he used to pour oil from when he dedicated the stone he slept on as a
pillar for divine service. After Yaakov poured the oil, it miraculously
replenished itself, and was later used to consecrate the mishkan. Later still,
the oil in that jar was the oil that the Tsarfatite woman poured out to make a
cake for Eliyohu, and which then, miraculously continually replenished
itself and lasted for a year, as recorded in the first book of Melochim, chapter
seventeen. Finally, that same jar, according to the Ari, was the one that was
found in the Temple the time of the Chashmonaim (Hasmoneans), and provided the
oil for the miracle of Chanukah. Interestingly, Rabbeinu Bachya suggests that
the jars Yaakov went back for were the baby bottles used to feed the infants as
they traveled. He needed to go back for these jars because not having them could
lead to a life-endangering situation. This suggestion, on the one hand, is a bit
difficult to understand, since the infants could have been nursed. Although one
could argue that, on the road, it was easier to feed them from the jars than to
nurse them, if it came to a life threatening situation, it is hard to believe
that they would not have been nursed. However, I believe that Rabbeinu Bachya's
suggestion is very meaningful, but in a different way.
We
mentioned the Talmudic comment that Ya'akov's concern over his jars teaches us
that the righteous people treat their property with care, because they do not
engage in theft. In Yaakov's case, this statement means that he attained all of
his possessions through twenty years of hard work that he did for Lavan. Yaakov,
in fact, is projected in the Talmud as the ideal example of a conscientious
worker, and the Rambam, in describing the faithful way in which Yaakov worked
for Lavan, describes him as 'Yaakov the tzaddik. ' Rav Zechariah Gelley recently
mentioned, in the name of his uncle, Rav Berish, that this is why, according to
the midrash, Ya'akov sent a message to Eisav that, while he lived with Lavan, he
observed the six hundred thirteen commandments. What he meant to say was that
all of the possessions that he now had were obtained through faithful work done
in accordance with all the regulations of the Torah. It was with jars obtained
through this kind of effort that Yaakov provided food for his children, in order
to raise them, from infancy, in strict accordance with the Torah. The Talmud in
Bava Metzia tells us that Rav Chiya taught children in a way that would assure
its perpetuation. He first slaughtered deer, then made parchment from their
hides, then wrote Torah scrolls from which he taught the children. The idea
behind this involvement in the preparatory stages of teaching Torah is that it
is important to assure that the study is done in purity, from the earliest,
preliminary stages. The Vilna Gaon,in fact, is reported to have said that if
someone would build a synagogue in a manner that every last nail was procured
through pure means, according to halacha, that synagogue would never be
destroyed. According to Rav Ovadiah Seforno, that is why the mishkan, built in
purity by Moshe and then Bezalel, was never destroyed, but only buried. Yaakov,
too, raised his children in this way, and that is why the baby bottles he used
were so dear to him.
Rabbi Yissochor Frand, in a taped shiur
on parshas Vayeitzei, mentions that Rabbi Leib Gurwicz, who was Rosh Yeshivah in
Gateshead Yeshiva once visited the British Museum, and saw cow horns that were
used in ancient times as baby bottles. Rabbi Gurwicz explained, based on this
fact, the command issued by the Syrian Greeks to the Jews in the time of the
Chashmonaim, that they should write on the horn of an ox that they have no
portion with the God of Israel. The horn of an ox, said Rabbi Gurwicz, was a
reference to the baby bottles, and, in a broader sense, the decree meant that
the Jews were ordered to change the way they raised their children from infancy.
Perhaps, then, following Rabbeinu Bachya, and combining his remarks with those
of the Yalkut Reuveni and the Ari in regard to the contents of the jars Yaakov
went back to salvage, we can suggest that the jars were baby bottles consisting
of cows' horns, and it was the same form of purity and dedication exhibited in
Yaakov's use of those jugs for his children, in complete conformity with
halacha, that was followed in the future dedication of the mishkan, the work of
Eliyohu on behalf of the Tsarfatite woman, and the rededication of the Beis
HaMikdash in the time of the Chashmonaim. In all of these instances, care was
taken to assure, that, from the very beginning, the acts of building sanctuaries
and homes were done in complete purity, in order to assure their perpetuation.
Please
address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman) with the following
address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.
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