VaYishlach 5633 First Ma'amar

“... כי שרית עם א-להים ועם אנשים ותוכל/… for you have struggled with [angels of] God and with men and have prevailed.”  The ability to influence the world around us, both physical and spiritual, through our actions is a quality that Ya’akov Avinu passed down to his progeny.  Our actions have ramifications in all the spiritual realms.[1]  And the spiritual realms directly influence the physical world.  We find this concept in a Zohar in our parsha. 

The Zohar quotes a pasuk from Tehillim (91:11), “כי מלאכיו יצוה לך לשמרך בכל דרכך/He will command His angels concerning you, to protect you in all your ways.”  The Zohar says that the angels in the pasuk are referring to a person’s positive and negative inclination.  We generally think of our inclinations as a part of us – our desire to do good and our lusts to gratify ourselves.  We don’t personify them in the form of angels.  Why does the Zohar view our inclinations as angels?

To answer this question we need to understand what an angel is.  The Sfas Emes explains that our desires do not begin as a part of us and our makeup.  Rather, God sends them into us for a specific purpose.  They have a life of their own, as it were.  These desires are called angels.  In Hebrew the word for angel is, מלאך/mal’ach.  Mal’ach means messenger.  The desires that God implants in us are His messengers.  When we act because of a desire we have, God’s messenger is the spiritual force that underpins the action.

Sometimes the spiritual force underlying our actions is clear to us and to others.  At other times it is not clear at all.  Sometimes God is more revealed and sometimes less revealed.  Chazal use a metaphor of angels of chutz la’aretz/outside of Israel and angels of Israel to describe this clarity or the lack of it.  Angels of chutz la’aretz represent God’s influence in a concealed way whereas the angels of Israel represent His revelation.

A person sends a messenger when the mission that needs to be accomplished is far from him.  Likewise God sends us messengers/angels because we are far from Him.  He sends us messengers in the form of the mitzvos that we do and their spiritual underpinnings.  He sends us messengers in the form of desires to do good and bad.  The messengers/desires that He sends us help us to accomplish His will.

This is the meaning of the pasuk we brought earlier according to the Zohar.  The angels are His messengers.  They are the inclinations that He sends us and we have the ability to clarify and reveal those messengers, the spiritual and motive force within our actions.  When we accomplish this the messenger has fulfilled its purpose and returns to the One who sent it.  

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[1] For a detailed discussion of this concept see Nefesh HaChaim 1:3,4

VaYishlach 5633 Third Ma'amar

"ויבא יעקב שלם עיר שכם .../Ya'akov safely arrived (lit. arrived complete) in the city of Shechem …" (Breishis 33:18)  Chazal and the commentaries discuss the significance of this statement.  What is the pasuk teaching us when it tells us that Ya'akov arrived "complete"?  The Sfas Emes as well discusses this. 

Ya'akov experienced many hardships in his lifetime.  In fact, from the time he fled to Lavan until he came to Egypt, a period of fifty three years, he knew many hardships.  Fleeing from the wrath of his brother Esav, he arrived penniless at the house of his uncle Lavan.  Lavan allowed him no peace.  For twenty years he slaved for Lavan.  If not for the grace of God he would have left Lavan as penniless as he arrived.

Not in spite of his suffering but rather as a direct result of it, he arrived "complete".  Shlomo HaMelech teaches us, "כי שבע יפול צדיק וקם .../For the righteous may fall seven times and then arise …" (Mishlei 24:16)  Conventionally, we understand this to mean that if the righteous fall even seven times, he will still arise.  However, the Sfas Emes understands that arising is a direct result of falling.  The righteous rise specifically because they suffer.

We find this concept in a Zohar[1] explaining the pasuk, "רבות רעות צדיק ומכולם יצילנו ה'/The afflictions of the righteous are many, but God rescues him from them all." (Tehillim 34:20)  Literally, the pasuk says, "There are many afflictions – the righteous."  The Zohar asks that it would be more proper for the pasuk to say, "רבות רעות לצדיק/There are many afflictions for the righteous."  The Zohar answers, according the Sfas Emes, that pasuk is teaching us that afflictions are not the lot of the righteous.  Rather, the hardships and evils that the righteous experience actualize their righteousness. 

Evils and hardships are a powerful test.  How can we cope with suffering that we experience?  The natural tendency is to be angry with God.  Why has this evil been wrought upon me?  The Sfas Emes explains that God uses affliction in order to bring out our righteousness.  He helps us to become complete through our experience.  

This is the meaning of the end of the pasuk, "... ומכולם יצילנו ה'/… and God rescues him from them all."  The Sfas Emes explains the word, יצילנו/He rescues them, as He separates them.  We find this understanding in the following pasuk, "ויצל ה' מקנה אביכם ויתן לי/God took away your father's livestock and gave it to me." (Breishis 31:9)  Here the word, ויצל certainly does not mean to save.  Rather it means to separate.  God separated the livestock from their father Lavan and gave it to Ya'akov.  Here too, the Sfas Emes understands the word יצילנו to mean that God separates the righteous from incompleteness through the affliction.  The result is and addition of shleimus/completeness that did not exist before.

May we merit understanding our suffering experiencing its positive benefits.      

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[1] Zohar 1:179b

VaYishlach 5631 First Ma'amar

“וַיִּשְׁלַח יַעֲקֹב מַלְאָכִים לְפָנָיו אֶל-עֵשָׂו אָחִיו .../Ya’akov sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Eisav …” (Breishis 32:4) The word מַלְאָכִים/messengers also means angels.  The Midrash tells us that the messengers Ya’akov Avinu sent to Eisav were actual angels.[1]  Why did Ya’akov send angels to meet Eisav?

To answer this question we must understand what angels signify.  Chazal teach us that we create an angel each time we do a mitzvah.[2]  The angels that Ya’akov sent to Eisav represented Ya’akov’s mitzvos.  Why did Ya’akov feel compelled to send his “mitzvah angels” to Eisav?  Angels are the vehicle through which God directs nature.[3]  Our mitzvos affect nature.  The means by which our mitzvos affect nature is through the angels that our mitzvos create.

Meeting Eisav and, for that matter, traveling to Lavan represent Ya’akov entering and interacting with the physical world.  Ya’akov himself was on a level above nature.  He connected to God without the need for mitzvos and their effects (i.e. the angels).  However, when he lowered himself into the physical world he needed the mitzvos and their power to affect the physical world around him and to bring him close to God even from within the natural world.  This idea is clear in a pasuk in Tehillim (91:11), “כִּי מַלְאָכָיו יְצַוֶּה-לָּךְ לִשְׁמָרְךָ בְּכָל-דְּרָכֶיךָ/For He will command His angels on your behalf to guard you in all your ways.”  The angels/mitzvos will protect you as you move through the material world.

We see this concept clearly in the relationship between Shabbos and the days of the week.  On Shabbos the physical world automatically becomes closer to its spiritual roots.  In fact, Shabbos as a concept represents this connectedness to the spiritual.  This is why Ya’akov who was on a level above nature in his connectedness to God, represents an aspect of Shabbos.  We have the ability to reach this spiritual level during the week as well but it requires work.  It requires a high level of mitzvah observance.  In fact, the Sfas Emes explains that the pasuk “שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תַּעֲבֹד וְעָשִׂיתָ כָּל-מְלַאכְתֶּךָ/Six days shall you labor and accomplish all your work” (Shmos 20:9,10) refers specifically to the mitzvos.  Significantly the word מַלְאָךְ/angel has the same root as the word מְלָאכָה/work.  We spend the days of the week doing מְלָאכָה/work (i.e. mitzvos) to create מַלְאָכִים/angels.   

In order to interact with Eisav representing the physical world, Ya’akov Avinu had to send his מַלְאָכִים/messengers, his mitzvos, which affect the physical world, to afford him protection.  We learn from Ya’akov Avinu that each of us has the ability to immerse and act in the physical world, really to use the physical world, to come close to God.  We are intimately connected with the way the world works both spiritually and physically.  The Zohar says that our 613 limbs and tendons – 248 limbs and 365 tendons – parallel 613 specific spiritual forces in the world.[4]  There are also 613 mitzvos in the Torah – 248 positive mitzvos and 365 negative mitzvos.  Each time we do a mitzvah we rectify that part of the Creation associated with the specific limb and activate that spiritual force that conforms to that mitzvah.  We create an “angel.”  In this way we remove God’s concealment and come close to Him from within the physical world.

Spiritually, Ya’akov Avinu’s successful return from Lavan and Eisav represents an ascent from a level of weekday work to a level of Shabbos.  This is why the Midrash in this week’s parsha explains that Ya’akov Avinu entered the land of Israel and came to Shechem on Erev Shabbos.[5]  He prepared for Shabbos and kept it before it was given.  This is also the reason the pasuk says, “וַיָּבֹא יַעֲקֹב שָׁלֵם עִיר שְׁכֶם .../Ya’akov came safely to the city of Shechem …” (Breishis 33:18)  שָׁלֵם/Safely also means “whole.”  His successful return from Eisav and Lavan represents a spiritual completeness.  It also suggests Shabbos as the Zohar says that Shabbos is שָׁלוֹם/peace[6] which has the same root as שָׁלֵם/complete.  As Ya’akov, may we merit connecting to God through the mitzvos even as we live and work within the physical world.

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[1] Breishis R. 75:4

[2] Zohar Chadash 57a and 92a; also see Avos 4:13

[3] See Breishis R. 10:6 - There is no blade of grass that does not have a spiritual force causing it to grow. 

[4] Zohar 1:134b

[5] Breishis R. 79:6

[6] Zohar 3:176b

VaYishlach 5632

The first place Ya’akov Avinu came to upon his return to the land of Israel was Shechem, “וַיָּבֹא יַעֲקֹב שָׁלֵם עִיר שְׁכֶם ... וַיִּחַן אֶת־פְּנֵי הָעִיר/Ya’akov arrived safely in the city of Shechem … he camped opposite the city.”  According to an enigmatic Midrash, Ya’akov arrived on Erev Shabbos and established eiruvei techumin.  He kept Shabbos before it was given.  What compelled the Midrash to give this interpretation to Ya’akov Avinu’s arrival in the land of Israel? 

Although the Divine Presence is concealed in the physical world, indeed the very purpose of the physical world is to conceal God’s Presence, still in certain places the Divine Presence is more revealed than in others.  God, to be sure, does not change.  From His perspective, as it were, there is no difference between one place and the next.  From our perspective, though,  it is easier for us to experience God in some places than in others. 

The place in the world where it is easiest to experience God, the place were the Divine Presence is most revealed, is in the land of Israel.  Outside the land of Israel, the Divine Presence is more hidden and it is more difficult to experience It.

This concept is paralleled by the relationship between Shabbos and the days of the week.  On Shabbos, God’s Presence is more easily experienced since it is more revealed.  The entire world is more spiritually elevated on Shabbos.  During the days of the week, on the other hand, it is difficult to experience God’s Presence.  It is a struggle that requires a strong faith that regardless of appearances, God is here with us. 

Working on strengthening our belief that God is with us during the week as well, helps us to experience God during the week.  This is why the weekdays are called, “days of work.”  Experiencing Divine revelation during the week requires work.  Through the struggle, we can experience an aspect of Shabbos during the weekdays.  In fact, Shabbos can be defined as a state of God’s revelation.

Ya’akov Avinu’s sojourn outside of the land of Israel was a descent from a place in which God’s Presence is most revealed to a place where it is most hidden.  It parallels the decent from Shabbos to the days of the week.  Ya’akov Avinu’s return to the land of Israel after spending twenty-two years abroad represents an elevation from the spiritual level of the days of the week, from struggle to experience God, to that of Shabbos during which God is more revealed.

Significantly, the Midrash says that Ya’akov Avinu arrived on Erev Shabbos.  The word erev/evening, also means “mixed together”.  Erev Shabbos alludes to the idea that we can mix aspects of Shabbos into the weekdays.  Ya’akov Avinu’s return to the land of Israel on Erev Shabbos represents his struggle to elevate his weekdays to a level of Shabbos in order to experience revelation during the week as well. 

We learn from Ya’akov Avinu that regardless of outward appearances, we, too, through hard work, can experience an aspect of Shabbos – Divine revelation – during the weekdays.  May we merit it!

Vayishlach 5631 First Ma'amar

“וַיִּשְׁלַח יַעֲקֹב מַלְאָכִים לְפָנָיו אֶל-עֵשָׂו אָחִיו .../Ya’akov sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esav …” (Breishis 32:4) The word מַלְאָכִים/messengers also means angels. The Midrash tells us that the messengers Ya’akov Avinu sent to Esav were actual angels.[1] Why did Ya’akov send angels to meet Esav?

To answer this question we must understand what angels signify. Chazal teach us that we create an angel each time we do a mitzvah.[2] The angels that Ya’akov sent to Esav represented Ya’akov’s mitzvos. Why did Ya’akov feel compelled to send his “mitzvah angels” to Esav? Angels are the vehicle through which God directs nature.[3] Our mitzvos affect nature. The means by which our mitzvos affect nature is through the angels that our mitzvos create.

Meeting Esav and, for that matter, traveling to Lavan represent Ya’akov entering and interacting with the physical world. Ya’akov himself was on a level above nature. He connected to God without the need for mitzvos and their effects (i.e. the angels). However, when he lowered himself into the physical world he needed the mitzvos and their power to affect the physical world around him and to bring him close to God even from within the natural world. This idea is clear in a pasuk in Tehillim (91:11), “כִּי מַלְאָכָיו יְצַוֶּה-לָּךְ לִשְׁמָרְךָ בְּכָל-דְּרָכֶיךָ/For He will command His angels on your behalf to guard you in all your ways.” The angels/mitzvos will protect you as you move through the material world.

We see this concept clearly in the relationship between Shabbos and the days of the week. On Shabbos the physical world automatically becomes closer to its spiritual roots. In fact, Shabbos as a concept represents this connectedness to the spiritual. This is why Ya’akov who was on a level above nature in his connectedness to God, represents an aspect of Shabbos. We have the ability to reach this spiritual level during the week as well but it requires work. It requires a high level of mitzvah observance. In fact, the Sfas Emes explains that the pasuk “שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תַּעֲבֹד וְעָשִׂיתָ כָּל-מְלַאכְתֶּךָ/Six days shall you labor and accomplish all your work” (Shmos 20:9,10) refers specifically to the mitzvos. Significantly the word מַלְאָךְ/angel has the same root as the word מְלָאכָה/work. We spend the days of the week doing מְלָאכָה/work (i.e. mitzvos) to create מַלְאָכִים/angels.

In order to interact with Esav representing the physical world, Ya’akov Avinu had to send his מַלְאָכִים/messengers, his mitzvos, which affect the physical world, to afford him protection. We learn from Ya’akov Avinu that each of us has the ability to immerse and act in the physical world, really to use the physical world, to come close to God. We are intimately connected with the way the world works both spiritually and physically. The Zohar says that our 613 limbs and tendons – 248 limbs and 365 tendons – parallel 613 specific spiritual forces in the world.[4] There are also 613 mitzvos in the Torah – 248 positive mitzvos and 365 negative mitzvos. Each time we do a mitzvah, we rectify that part of the Creation associated with the specific limb and activate that spiritual force that conforms to that mitzvah. We create an “angel.” In this way we remove God’s concealment and come close to Him from within the physical world.

Spiritually, Ya’akov Avinu’s successful return from Lavan and Esav represents an ascent from a level of weekday work to a level of Shabbos. This is why the Midrash in this week’s parsha explains that Ya’akov Avinu entered the land of Israel and came to Shechem on Erev Shabbos.[5] He prepared for Shabbos and kept it before it was given. This is also the reason the pasuk says, “וַיָּבֹא יַעֲקֹב שָׁלֵם עִיר שְׁכֶם .../Ya’akov came safely to the city of Shechem …” (Breishis 33:18) שָׁלֵם/Safely also means “whole.” His successful return from Esav and Lavan represents a spiritual completeness. It also suggests Shabbos as the Zohar says that Shabbos is שָׁלוֹם/peace[6] which has the same root as שָׁלֵם/complete. As Ya’akov, may we merit connecting to God through the mitzvos even as we live and work within the physical world.



[1] Breishis R. 75:4
[2] Zohar Chadash 57a and 92a; also see Avos 4:13
[3] See Breishis R. 10:6 - There is no blade of grass that does not have a spiritual force telling it to grow.
[4] Zohar 1:134b
[5] Breishis R. 79:6
[6] Zohar 3:176b