From the Rabbi

From the Rabbi’s Desk

Rabbi Manes Kogan

Vayishlach

(November 26, 1999)

We read in our weekly Torah Portion, Sidrat Vaishlach

.©jÂ³H³u I·k r†mÉ¯H³u s«¼t§n c«Áe…gœ³h tÍ¨rh°H³u"

:,Iœb£jœ©n hË¯b§Jˆk oh¼ˆK©n±D©v±u rÁ¨eŠC©v›,¤t±u it«ÍM©v›,¤t±u I½T¦t›r¤J£t oÉŠg¨v›,¤t

lmrtk cua hkt rntv vuvh ejmh hct hvktu ovrct hct hvkt cegh rnthu

lscg-,t ,hag rat ,ntv-kfnu ohsxjv kfn h,bye :lng vchyhtu l,skunku

shn hjt shn tb hbkhmv :,ubjn hbak h,hhv v,gu vzv isrhv-,t h,rcg hkenc hf

":ohbc-kg ot hbfvu tuch-ip u,t hfbt trh-hf uag

¿Jacob became very frightened...So he divided the people with him, and the flocks, cattle and camels, into two camps].. [Then Jacob said, ‘God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, Hashem Who said to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will do good with you’ – I have been diminished by all the kindnesses and by all the truth that you have done Your servant; for with my staff I crossed this Jordan and now I have become two camps. Rescue me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him lest he come and strike me down, mother and children" (Genesis 32:8-12).

How different is this Jacob from the one we met in the beginning of our previous Sidra, Sidrat Vayeitze.

21 years ago, we met a young Jacob fleeing from his brother Esau, after receiving his father’s blessings. Although deprived of any wealth, Jacob has confidence in himself. He fears the unknown future, but on the other side, he takes for granted God’s protection.

As in our Sidrah, in the beginning of the previous Sidrah, Jacob also prayed to God for protection. However, his prayer at Beth El is of a different kind. Let’s review its content:

lkuv hfbt rat vzv lrsc hbrnau hsng ohvkt vhvh-ot rntk rsb cegh rshu

ictvu :ohvktk hk hh vhvu hct ,hc-kt oukac h,cau :ackk sdcu kftk ojk hk-i,bu

:lk ubragt rag hk-i,, rat kfu ohvkt ,hc vhvh vcmn h,na-rat ,tzv

"Then Jacob took a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, will guard me on this way that I am going; will give me bread to eat and clothes to wear, and I return in peace to my father's house, and Hashem will be a God to me, then this stone which I have set up as a pillar shall become a house of God, and whatever You will give me, I shall repeatedly tithe to You" (Genesis 28: 20-22)

In Sidrat Vayeitze, 21 years ago, Jacob offered a deal to God: "if you, God, will provide me with food, clothes and protection, I will build a house of prayer for You, and I will tithe the produce of my harvest." Jacob, the young, the strong, the one who deceived his father and got his blessings, feels strong enough to make a deal with God himself.

In our Sidra, however, the same Jacob is really not the same. He changed, he matured. He is not young any more (according to the Jewish tradition he was 97 years old when he returned from Haran and met his brother Esau), and life was not so easy for him. He was deceived by his uncle Laban, he has family problems, and although God really blessed him with wealth, he needs to use it to pay Esau for his life, as we read:

ohah,u oh,tn ohzg :uhjt uagk vjbn ushc tcv-in jehu tuvv vkhkc oa ikhu’

ohgcrt ,urp ohaka ovhbcu ,uehbhn ohknd :ohrag ohkhtu oh,tn ohkjr ohrag

rnthu usck rsg rsg uhscg-shc i,hu :vrag orhgu ohrag ,b,t vrag ohrpu

ladph hf rntk iuatrv-,t umhu :rsg ihcu rsg ihc unha, juru hbpk urcg uhscg-kt

ceghk lscgk ,rntu :lhbpk vkt hnku lk, vbtu v,t-hnk rntk lktau hjt uag

‘:ubhrjt tuv-od vbvu uagk hbstk vjuka tuv vjbn

"He spent the night there, then he took, from that which had come in his hand, a tribute to Esau his brother: Two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats; two hundred ewes and twenty rams: thirty nursing camels with their colts; forty cows and ten bulls; twenty she-donkeys and ten he-donkeys: He put in his servants' charge each drove separately and said to his servants, "Pass on ahead of me and leave a space between drove and drove.": He instructed the first one, saying, "When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, 'Whose are you, where are you going, and whose are these that are before you?': You shall say, 'Your servant Jacob's. It is a tribute sent to my lord, to Esau, and behold he himself is behind us. ' " (Genesis 32:14-19)

After 21 years of hard work, Jacob learned that he can not take his blessings for granted. Although his father blessed him with everything, he needed to work hard to bring those blessings alive. However, the most important lesson he learned was that he could not make deals with God. The only words he can utter now are:

shn hjt shn tb hbkhmv

u,t hfbt trh-hf uag

"Rescue me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him" (Genesis 32: 12).

No conditions, no vows, only a plea. Moreover: Jacob had not had an easy life, but he still feels blessed:

lscg-,t ,hag rat ,ntv-kfnu ohsxjv kfn h,bye

:,ubjn hbak h,hhv v,gu vzv isrhv-,t h,rcg hkenc hf

"I have been diminished by all the kindnesses and by all the truth that you have done Your servant; for with my staff I crossed this Jordan and now I have become two camps" (Genesis 32:11) – he prays.

I couldn’t find a more appropriate portion for Thanksgiving than our Tora portion, Vayishlach, a portion full of lessons to be learned. We learn that we can not take our blessings for granted, and we learn also that only hard work and sacrifice can teach us this lesson. As parents and teachers, it is our responsibility to share this lesson with our own children and students.

However, the most important lesson I learned from Jacob’s story is that we don’t need to have a perfect and happy life to feel blessed and be thankful.

Because God and life do not owe us anything, everything we have, every single day of our life, is a gift to be thankful for. And by the way, my family and I feel very blessed to live in a country that has established a day to say thank you.

Shabbat Shalom!