Parshat Vayishlach By Mr. Nachum Lerner
In Parshat Vayishlach, Yakov is on his way to meet his brother Eisav for the first time in many years. In the middle of the night, he wrestles with an angel. He is then told that his name will no longer be Yakov, but Yisrael.
Rabbi Norman Lamm z”l raises an interesting question: Why does the Torah mention four times in this parasha that Yakov’s brother, Eisav, is the ancestor of the nation of Edom? The reason, he suggests, is that these references follow the section in which Hashem confirms that Yakov’s name will be changed to Yisrael. The Torah is emphasizing the juxtaposition between Eisav/Edom on the one hand, and Yakov/Yisrael on the other.
Why is it so important to make the connection between Eisav becoming Edom and Yakov becoming Yisrael? The key to understanding the question lies in the characteristics of each of the brothers. When the Torah describes Eisav’s birth, it says he was extremely hairy. Rashi comments that in terms of his hair, the baby was as mature as a young man. Rashbam notes that the name Eisav is related to “asuy venigmar” – developed and completed. In addition, Eisav asked Yakov for his meal of lentils using the word “adom,” or red, connected to the name Edom. The food that the future father of Edom desired so strongly was cooked and ready to eat. Rabbi Lamm notes that Edom implies the idea of “completion, maturity, finished development,” and Eisav, later Edom, symbolizes one “who experiences no development or growth, one who has no place to go.”
Yakov’s birth is described very differently. He is the second of the twins to be born, and the Torah says that he was holding on to the heel of Eisav. Rabbi Lamm writes that he is “born a straggler . . . he hangs on to his brother’s coattails.” He adds that Yakov is “hesitant, diffident, backward” and his “insecurity and weakness plague him all his life.” Because of this, Yakov must always struggle. In one of the most important encounters of his life, he struggles with the angel, and only then is his name changed to Yisrael.
In describing the two brothers, the Torah presents us with a stark contrast. We learn of one brother, Eisav, “who arrives on the scene already finished, and leaves it in the same manner, experiencing no change of growth,” according to Rabbi Lamm. Yakov, on the other hand, “begins very low indeed and then, by sheer will and resolve and determination, struggles to superiority and triumph.”
We can learn much from Yakov and his struggles. Inspiring change can be very difficult for us, but it is often necessary. Rabbi Lamm writes that “Judaism is predicated on man’s self-transformation.” Teshuva, or repentance, is much more than regretting our actions and mending our ways. It also implies “the concept of spiritual movement, of growing, of changing for the better.”
The Torah states that we are not permitted to eat the thigh-vein of an animal because the angel struck Yakov there. Rabbi Lamm understands this as teaching us to be proud of Yakov’s struggles. He writes that we need to have a “commitment to embrace such growing pains for ourselves as we attempt to emulate his adventure of growth” from Yakov to Yisrael. Even if it proves difficult or painful, we must learn to not be satisfied with our level of Torah, Avodah and Gemilut Chasadim, and always stride forward.
As Vayishlach is read around the time of Chanukah, we are reminded of the way we light the candles. We increase the number of candles each night, so that on the last night eight candles are lit. This follows the idea of “maalin bekodesh ve’eyn moridin” – increasing, rather than decreasing the level of holiness. Rabbi Lamm concludes his discussion with the hope that we may “incorporate to our own lives this governing principle of never declining in sanctity, but always growing and increasing in the realm of the spirit.”
Shabbat Shalom!