פרשת וישלח תש"כ - לקראת פגישת יעקב ועשו

And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying: ‘We came to thy brother Esau, and moreover he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.’

WE CAME TO YOUR BROTHER, ESAV. and you have found favor in his eyes, as you said. AND NOW he, out of his joy in your approach and his love for you IS COMING TO MEET YOU AND 400 MEN WITH HIM out of respect for you, and this is the plain sense. Similarly (Ex. 4:14), "EVEN NOW HE IS SETTING OUT TO MEET YOU, AND HE WILL BE HAPPY TO SEE YOU."

To my master, Eisov. It is usual for a younger sibling to speak with deference to the first born. Yaakov, however, had purchased the right of the firstborn, which is why Eisov hated him. Therefore he now spoke to him deferentially — as if the sale was meaningless — in the hope of placating him.

(2) RIGHT BEHIND US. Since Ya'akov wanted to flee that night in a different direction, had the angel not detained him, and thus, he intended to fool Esav so that he would not meet him.

ויקם בלילה ההוא , he crossed the river at night because he intended to change direction to avoid a meeting with Esau. We find that David did something similar when he was fleeing from his son Avshalom at the same location of Machanyim as reported in Samuel II 17,21-24. At that time, coming from the direction of Jerusalem, David crossed the river Jordan, a more formidable river than the Yabbok, a mere tributary of the Jordan which could be crossed relatively easily. [flight by crossing a river, eliminating footprints and wading along the bank before crossing to the other side slows down the pursuers who first have to find in which direction the fugitive continued. Ed.].

ויותר יעקב לבדו, after he had transferred all his belongings to the other side of the river, so that the only one still to be brought across was he himself. The reason that he wanted to cross only after everyone else had already crossed was that he intended to flee in a different direction so as to avoid a face to face encounter with Esau.

ויאבק, an angel engaged him in a physical fight, his purpose being to prevent Yaakov from fleeing. Only in this way could G’d’s promise to Yaakov that Esau would not harm him be fulfilled.

כי לא יכול לו, the angel did not succeed in preventing Yaakov from crossing and fleeing.

And the fact that Ya'akov was struck and made lame is because the Holy One, blessed be He, assured him and [yet] he fled. And we've found the same thing with all those who go on the road contrary to the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, or who refuse to go, that they are punished. With Moshe, it is written (Exod. 4:13), "Send whomever you wish," "And the LORD's anger flared" (v.14) against Moshe. And according to the midrash, even though the Sages said that, in every instance the "flaring of [God's] anger" leaves a physical impression, but here, what such physical impression is there? "There is your brother Aaron the Levite" (v.14) -- _he_ is destined to be the Levi, and _you_ the priest, but now _he_ will be the priest, and _you_ the Levi. However, acording to the straightforward sense, it was because he [Moshe] made excuses from going, it is written (v. 24), "At a night encampment on the way, the LORD encountered him and sought to kill him." And likewise with Yonah -- he was swallowed into the fish's belly. And so with Bil'am -- "But God was incensed at his going" (Num. 22:22), and he was lamed, as it is written (v.25), "squeezed Balaam’s foot " and he walked SHEFI -- with a limp -- V'SHAFU ATZMOTAV "his bones rubbed away" (Job 33:21).

ויבא יעקב שלם, to the city named Shalem. The construction is similar to ותבאנה בית לחם, “they arrived at Bet Lechem.” (Ruth 1,19)

ויירא...ויצר HE FEARED GREATLY AND WAS DISTRESSED — He was afraid lest he be killed, and he was distressed that he might have to kill someone (Genesis Rabbah 76:2).

ויירא...ויצר HE FEARED GREATLY AND WAS DISTRESSED — He was afraid lest he be killed, and he was distressed that he might have to kill someone (Genesis Rabbah 76:2).

ויירא ויצר, the reason why the Torah repeated the emotions Yaakov experienced twice but in different words was to underline how strongly he felt this fear. In Bereshit Rabbah 76,2 these two expressions are described as basically meaning the same thing, the only difference being that the former is intransitive, Yaakov being afraid of being killed, whereas the latter describes a similar fear, but that of having to kill one’s adversary.