Rabbi Mansour 2010

Shabbat Morning class

פרשת וישלח

This week’s Parasha begins with Yaakov Avinu sending messengers to his

brother Eisav, to inform him that he was approaching. Yaakov Avinu prepared himself

for his meeting with Eisav by: A) sending gifts to Eisav (as a bribe) to appease him.

B) Praying to Hashem to be saved from Eisav. C) Preparing to go to war with Eisav.

"מחזיק באזני כלב עבר, מתעבר על ריב לא לו"

"He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own, is like one who takes a dog

by the ears"

The Midrash wonders - based on this Pasuk in Mishlei- why Yaakov would alert

Eisav to his approach? Why even approach Eisav at all? This is like "grabbing a dog by

its ears"! Why didn’t Yaakov just leave the "sleeping dog" (Eisav) alone?! It seems as if

Yaakov wanted to confront Eisav in order to subjugate himself before him. Why was

this necessary??

This Parasha is a classic example of " מעשה אבות סימן לבנים "- "The actions of our

forefathers are a sign for the children". Everything that happened to the Avot, are

meant as a lesson for us. Yaakov Avinu in this Parasha, was giving guidance and

advice to all the future generations on how to deal with the Goyim in Galut (exile).

Yaakov surely was not physically afraid of Eisav. This was the same Yaakov that

pulled a gigantic rock off a well, and emerged victorious from a fight with an angel!

Yaakov specifically wanted to teach us how to interact with the Goyim in Exile.

This Parasha is known as "Parashat Galut". The Ramban advised, to study this

Parasha before any dealings with the Goyim because this is the Parasha in which

Yaakov Avinu teaches us exactly how to deal with them. The great Rabbis would study

this Parasha very closely before they had meetings and interaction with the Goyim.

Even today, when dealing with the Goyim we must emulate Yaakov by A) sending gifts

(bribes) to them. B) Praying to Hashem to be saves from them. C) Prepare for political

war by lobbying and being active to try and secure our needs with the government.

Rebbi Yehudah Hanasi was once dictating a letter to his student Rav Afes. This

letter was going to be sent to the Caesar Antoninus (Marcus Aurelius). When Rebbi

was proof reading the letter, he realized that his student had started the letter with the

words; "from Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi (the prince) - to the Emperor Antoninus". When

Rebbi read this, he immediately ripped up the letter. He wrote instead; from your

servant Yehudah to the Emperor Antoninus. "Why do you treat your honor so lightly?"

asked Rav Afes. "Am I better than my ancestor Yaakov?!" answered Rebbi. By Yaakov

it says " כה אמר עבדך יעקב "-"so says your servant Yaakov". I too will refer to myself as a

servant when addressing the emperor.

This explains an apparent redundancy in the Pesukim. The Pasuk in which

Yaakov is instructing his messengers says; " ויצו אתם לאמר כה תאמרון לאדני לעשו "-"and he

commanded them saying so shall you say to my master Eisav". Why does it say

"saying" and then again "say"? Seemingly, the Pasuk should be written; "he

commanded them; so shall you say to my master Eisav". Why the "Extra" word לאמר

(saying)??

Whenever the Torah uses the word לאמר , it is in order for it to be repeated and

said over. For example; " ויאמר ה' אל משה לאמר "-"Hashem said to Moshe saying"

Hashem said something in order for him to tell it over to the people. Here too the

Pasuk says לאמר , to show us that this is something that Yaakov was conveying to his

descendents. He was instructing us on how to handle our dealings with the Goyim, and

to be successful in securing our needs.

In addition to the basic instructions on how to survive in Galut, Yaakov Avinu was

also "planting the seeds" of a major salvation for the Jewish people. He was securing

the Torah Shel Baal Peh (oral Torah), and thereby insuring that both the written and

oral Torah will never be forgotten.

In order to understand how Yaakov Avinu accomplished this through his meeting

with Eisav, we must refer back to a concept that we introduced two weeks ago in

Parashat Toldot. This is the connection that we’ve learnt about, between Rabeinu

Hakadosh and Yaakov Avinu.

Rabeinu Hakadosh was deeply connected to Yaakov Avinu. The Ben Ish Chai

explains that Rabbi was actually the Gilgul (reincarnation) of Yaakov. This is hinted to

in his name ר' יהודה הנשיא , the word נשיא stands for " הוא נצוץ של יעקב אבינו " (he is the

spark of Yaakov Avinu).

We find this connection hinted to in several places. For example; Rebbi stated

the Mishnayot with the laws of Shema of Arbit ( מאמתי קורין את שמע בערבין ), and Arbit

was the Tefilah established by Yaakov Avinu. In addition, we see that the first three

Berachot of the Amidah correspond to the three Avot. The first Berachah corresponds

to Avraham Avinu, as it ends "Magen Avraham". The second corresponds to Yishak

Avinu, it ends with " מחיה המתים " because Yishak was "revived" from the dead upon

being taken down from the alter at the time of Akeidat Yishak. The third Berachah

corresponds to Yaakov Avinu, it ends with האל הקדוש . Rebbi was also called רבינו

.הקדוש

Rabeinu Hakadosh was the one who insured the perpetuation of the oral Torah.

He was the first rabbi to write down the oral Torah. Until his time the laws of the Torah

were strictly oral from father to son. It was not allowed to be written. Rebbi realized that

if he did not compile and write down the oral Torah in his time, the Torah would be

forgotten forever! The Pasuk says " עת לעשות לה' הפרו תורתך "-"there are times that one

must transgress for the sake of Hashem". Rebbi realized that he had to be the one to

permit the writing of the oral torah in order to preserve it for the future generations.

Without Rebbi, the Torah would have been forgotten ' ! חו

Antonenus on the other hand, was connected to Eisav Harasha. Eisav was

almost entirely evil. He did however have a little bit of good in him. The good in Eisav

finally materialized in his descendant Antoninus. Antoninus was the Gilgul of Eisav,

and in him the good of Eisav came out!

Rabeinu Hakadosh wrote the Mishnayot while Antoninus was the emperor of

Rome. Antoninus gave Rebbi full permission and authorization to write and release the

six orders of the Mishnayot (this was essential in Rebbi’s producing the Mishnayot. In

those days - and even in recent times -any religious publication, needed to be

approved and in many cases censored and edited by the government. Antoninus gave

Rebbi the ability to produce the Mishnayot unimpeded). It was therefore slightly to

Antoninus’s credit that the Mishnayot and subsequently the Gemarah came to be.

Moshe Rabeinu, with his Ruach Hakodesh realized that a time would come when

the Torah would have to be written down. The Megaleh Amukot explained 250 different

ways to understand Moshe Rabeinu’s prayer, when he prayed; "ואתחנן אל ה' בעת ההיא

לאמר" . One explanation of Moshe Rabeinu’s prayer was that at the right time,

someone would have the courage to write down the oral Torah. The first step of which

was to compile the 6 orders of the Mishnah.

ו-אתחנן ; for the six ( ו) orders of the Mishnah- אתחנן (he beseeched).

בעת ההיא - for that עת - which refers to the Pasuk ' עת לעשות לה - there comes a time

when the Torah must be transgressed in order to strengthen it. (This was the Pasuk

Rebbe used in order to justify his writing of the Mishnah.)

לימות אנטונינוס מלך רומי -לאמר –"in the days of Antoninus king of Rome". It was with his

permission, that Rebbi wrote the Mishnayot.

This is also what is meant by the next word of Moshe’s prayer ; " אעברה "-"may I

pass". The word " אעברה " stands for: " אנטונינוס עשה ברית רבינו הקדוש "- "Antoninus made

a covenant with Rabeinu Hakadosh". This enabled him to produce the Mishnayot.

Moshe was praying that Rebbi be successful in his writing of the Mishnah, and

be successful in securing permission from Antoninus to release it to the people. This

was a crucial step in preserving the oral Torah forever.

This was one of the intentions of Yaakov Avinu in his desire to meet up with

Eisav. He was setting in motion this subjugation to Eisav in order to gain permission

from his grandson Antoninus (who, as mentioned, was Eisav’s Gilgul) to produce the

Mishnayot. This answers the question asked above concerning the "extra" word .לאמר

He was sending messengers to Eisav; לימות אנטונינוס מלך רומי"=לאמר ", to gain

appeasement and permission in the times of Antoninus to preserve the oral Torah, by

writing the Mishnayot.

Yaakov was subjugating himself, and directing this request to the small bit of

good that was contained in Eisav. This good was found in Eisav’s mouth. The -פה

mouth represents the oral Torah " תורה שבעל פה " that Eisav’s descendants permitted to

be released. This is why it was the head of Eisav- which contains the mouth- that

merited burial in the Mearat Hamachpela. This also explains how Yishak was "fooled"

by Eisav into attempting to give him the blessings. Yishak realized that Eisav

possessed some goodness, as the Pasuk says " כי ציד בפיו ", Yishak understood Eisav’s

goodness in his mouth and therefore desired to bless him. This is why the Pasuk says;

פניו ) .וישלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו lit; face) Yaakov sent the angels to connect to the good in

Eisav’s mouth to obtain this authorization to write the Torah Shel Baal Peh.

At the end of the previous Parasha (Vayetzeh) the Torah describes Yaakov’s

reaction upon seeing angels coming down towards him. "ויאמר יעקב כאשר ראם מחנה

אלקים זה ויקרא שם המקום ההוא מחנים" -"And when Yaakov saw them, he said; this is

Hashem’s camp, and he called the place Mahanaim (camps)". The word ראם (saw) is a

unique word not found anywhere else in the Torah (it normally says ראה as opposed to

ראם ). The Zohar explains that the word ראם stands for the angels that Yaakov saw:

רפאל אוריאל מיכאל , and the word זה in the Pasuk represents .גבריאל

Yaakov Avinu saw these four angels come down to him, and he named the place

מחנים (camps). Why did he name it camps (which are plural)? Why not name it camp

(in the singular)? The explanation is that every time a Jew performs a Misvah, he

creates a good angel that will accompany him. Yaakov Avinu - through his many

Misvot and good deeds - had multitudes of angels that had already been with him. The

angels that came down from heaven however, were angels that were created from

ששת ימי בראשית and were always in existence. This is why Yaakov called the place

Mahanaim (camps). He now had two camps, the ones he created through his Misvot

and also the angels מיכאל גבריאל אוריאל רפאל that came down from Shamayim to be

with him.

This is why Rashi in this week’s Parasha describes the messengers that Yaakov

sent as " מלאכים ממש "-"literal angels". Literal angels means, that these angels that

Yaakov sent were angels that have always been angels from the beginning of time.

They were not the kind of angels that are created through Misvot- they were literal

angels that were always around. This is another way of understanding the Pasuk;

וישלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו , the word לפניו can also mean "before". Yaakov was sending the

angels that were angels even before Yaakov was around!

These "literal angels" מיכאל גבריאל רפאל אוריאל were the angels that Yaakov sent

to Eisav. Why did Yaakov choose these angels specifically?? It is because these

angels represent the Gemarah and the Torah Shebeal Peh. Rebbi wrote the

Mishnayot. Ravina and Rav Ashi expanded the Mishnayot and produced the Gemarah.

In the Gemarah is found the reasoning and the logic of the Mishnah, and it thereby

explains the written Torah as well. Yaakov Avinu, as mentioned, was trying to insure

the existence of the oral Torah, and it was for this reason that he sent angels to Eisav.

The word גמרא stands for גבריאל מיכאל רפאל אוריאל . Yaakov was insuring the

Gemarah’s coming into existence- the Gemarah being the primary source of Torah

Shebeal Peh today. He therefore sent these four angels that stood for Gemarah.

The בני יששכר adds that these four angels surround the throne ( כסה ה כבוד ) of

Hashem, מיכאל in the front, גבריאל in the back, אוריאל to the right, and רפאל to the left.

When a person studies the Gemarah these four angels come down to him - since they

are the four angels that stand for גבריאל מיכאל רפאל אוריאל) גמרא ). When a person prays

to Hashem after studying Gemarah, these angels bring his prayer back up all the way

to the throne of Hashem with them! We see the amazing affect of studying Gemarah

before we pray!!

There is a קליפה that exists which causes forgetfulness. The name of this קליפה is

.ריב

This קליפה is hinted to in a story in the Gemarah about Rebbi Elazar Ben Arach.

Rebbi Elazar Ben Arach was one of the primary students of Rav Yochanan Ben Zakai

and was a tremendous scholar. At one point, he had moved to an island for a "retreat"

from the Yeshiva. One Shabbat, the Shul on the island invited the rabbi to read from

the Sefer Torah. The portion he was to read was; " החדש הזה לכם " ("this month is to

you"). Rebbi Elazar mistakenly read it; " החרש היה לבם " (Lit; "their heart is mute")! This

was a mistake that even a child would not make! It was a sign from Shamayim that

Rebbi Elazar needed to get back to the Yeshiva.

It is no coincidence that the letters that Rebbi Elazar erroneously switched were

the letters; ר- י- ב (from חדש to חרש , from הזה to היה , and from לכם to לבם ). His error

was in the very letters of the קליפה of ריב that caused him to forget them!!

It is due to this קליפה that Rabeinu Hakadosh was forced to write down the

Mishnah since he realized that the students were starting to forget the laws. The name

of this קליפה is " ריב ". Rabeinu Hakadosh reversed the effects of this קליפה ; he was

therefore called " רבי ", which is the same letters as .ריב

This is why the Midrash brings the Pasuk in Mishlei, when it wonders why

Yaakov started the confrontation with Eisav. " מתעבר על ריב לא לו "-"meddling in a quarrel

not his own". It was precisely because of ריב (the קליפה ) that Yaakov was compelled

to approach Eisav, and appease him. Since קליפת ריב would cause forgetfulness of

Torah in the future generations, and that would necessitate Rebbi to write the Mishnah

in order to preserve the oral Torah, and this had to be done under the auspices of

Antoninus, therefore Yaakov needed to "lay the groundwork" in order to help and teach

Rebbi how to gain the permission of Antoninus to write the Mishnah. This would

culminate into Gemarah, and thereby insure the continued existence of the Torah

forever.

Yaakov Avinu had all this in mind when sending the angels that represented

Gemarah. He was subjugating himself to his evil brother in order to save the Torah and

thereby always be supreme over him!

We see from here how awesome, and far reaching the consequence of every

single action of our forefathers. Everything that we have today is to their credit. We

also see the powerful effect of learning the Gemarah. It solidifies the oral Torah, and

causes our Tefilot to be brought all the way up to the כסא הכבוד to be accepted!!