We are happy to report that Rabbi Hoffman's condition has stabilized, ב"ה, thank G-d, and he was able to dictate Netvort to a visitor earlier today, which enables us to send you a new, freshly baked edition. However, he still most definitely needs Divine mercy, prayers, blessings, and assistance for recovery, so please continue to keep him in mind in your prayers and so on, Yeshoshua ben Yonina, among the other ill of Israel, בתוך שאר חולי ישראל. Thanks and good Shabbos - Netvort Editor.

Vayishlach 5775:        It’s Only Natural

By: Rabbi Joshua (naturally known as the Hoffer) Hoffman

Yaakov, returning from Charan on his way to Eretz Yisroel, prepares for a confrontation with Eisav, who is out to kill him. His preparation, as Rashi points out, was in three areas. He prepared a series of gifts to send to Eisav, he prayed to G-d for help, and he prepared for battle. Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky points out, that the peace offering came first because it is always preferable to arrange for peace rather than engage in war. This parallels the procedure we find regarding the battles we fought in Eretz Yisroel, as presented in Parshas Shoftim. The first step is always to offer peace.

In his prayer, Yaakov says, “please save me from the hand of my brother, the hand of Eisav” (Bereishis 32:12). Why the apparent redundancy? Rashi says that Eisav was not acting like a brother, but purely out of hatred. The Beis HaLevi explains differently. He says that sometimes an enemy will act as a friend to mislead his victim. Eisav will sometimes present himself as a brother in order to mislead Yaakov. Yaakov was asking to be saved from Eisav, no matter what guise he took on.

Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Katz, one of the founders of the Telshe Yeshiva in Cleveland, pointed out something remarkable. Yaakov, in all his preparation, did not at all take into account the possibility that Eisav, as his brother, would have some natural sympathetic feeling for him and thereby refrain from hurting him. This indicates that bad character traits can overcome natural feelings of love, like that which normal brothers have for each other. This indicates how fundamentally important it is to have good character traits. Yaakov, on the other hand, sends a different message. Rashi points out that when Yaakov told Eisav that he had dwelled with Lavan, he was implying that in all of those years he had not learned from Lavan’s evil actions. When someone has good character traits, they can overcome the otherwise evil influence of others.

The importance of having good character traits as a foundation of Torah can be found in the Mechilta on Parshas Yisro. G-d began the Decalogue by saying “I am the Lord your G-d who took you out of the land of Egypt.” The Mechilta likens this to a king, who before issuing a set of laws for the nation, bestows many kindnesses upon them, so that they will follow his laws out of gratitude. Similarly, G-d first took the Jews out of Egypt, and only afterward gave them the Torah, so that they would follow his laws out of gratitude. Rabbi Shubert Spiro pointed out that in this Mechilta there is an assumption that people have an innate sense of gratitude, and that this feeling will lead them to follow the laws of the Torah. Because of his good character traits, which Yaakov employed to resist the influence of Lavan, he was the one who laid the foundation for the building of the House of Israel.