לעילוי נשמת של החייל אילן משה כהן ז"ל En recuerdo de Ilan Moshe Cohen z"l
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The Death of Devora, Rivka's Nursemaid

     Parashat Vayishlach tells of Yaakov’s return to Beit-El, the site where he had beheld the famous prophetic vision of the ladder as he escaped from Eretz Yisrael.  Now, upon Yaakov’s return to the land, he goes to Beit-El with his family and constructs an altar to God, whereupon he receives a prophecy in which God blesses him and reiterates his name’s change to “Yisrael” (chapter 35).

            Curiously, the Torah interrupts this narrative to report the death of a figure to whom we had not previously been introduced: “Devora, Rivka’s nursemaid, died, and was buried below Beit-El, underneath the oak, and he [Yaakov] called its name, ‘Oak of Weeping’” (35:8).  Why did the Torah find it necessary to relate the death of Rivka’s nurse?

Shadal comments, “The purpose of this story is to teach us proper etiquette [mida tova] to honor the nursemaid who exerts effort in raising the suckling infant – even after he has been raised, especially this one, who left her land and father’s home to go with Rivka.”  According to Shadal, the Torah seeks to teach a basic lesson in respect and gratitude, to show appreciation for all those who give quality, devoted service.  Yaakov took the time to bury and give respect to Devora because he felt grateful for the care she gave his mother many years earlier.  Teaching this basic measure of decency and manners, which unfortunately is so often neglected, warranted adding this verse in the Torah to report Devora’s death and burial.

It is also worth emphasizing that this incident transpired at Beit-El, immediately after Yaakov’s building of an altar at the site, and just prior to the prophecy he received.  Rav Shimshon Refael Hirsch briefly notes a number of parallels between Yaakov’s pilgrimage to Beit-El and the Revelation at Sinai, and concludes that the events in Beit-El in fact served for Yaakov and his family as a kind of Ma’amad Har Sinai.  Significantly, it is during this event that Yaakov must take the time to give honor and respect to Devora.  This verse might underscore the importance of not losing sight of one’s basic moral duties amidst his involvement in lofty, spiritual pursuits.  Even during his personal “Ma’amad Har Sinai,” Yaakov did not neglect his mother’s loyal nurse, and he afforded her the respect she deserved.  He understood that spiritual experiences such as the events at Beit-El must enhance a person’s commitment to proper ethical conduct, not lead him to neglect it. 

 Even – and perhaps especially – while serving God at Beit-El, Yaakov ensured to fulfill his basic moral obligation of gratitude to Devora, and for this very reason, perhaps, the Torah found this episode worthy of mention.

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The Symbolism of the Gid HaNashe - Sciatic Nerve

 

            The Torah in Parashat Vayishlach introduces the prohibition of gid ha-nasheh, which forbids partaking of an animal’s sciatic nerve.  As the Torah explains (32:33), this prohibition serves to commemorate the famous incident of Yaakov’s encounter with an angel as he made his way back to Canaan.  A mysterious attacker – who is later discovered to be an angel – wrestled with Yaakov through the night, and although Yaakov eventually triumphed, the angel managed to dislodge Yaakov’s thighbone.  We commemorate Yaakov’s injury by discarding the gid ha-nasheh, which is located in the area of the thighbone.

            Different theories have been offered to explain why this incident is worthy of commemoration.  The Rashbam presents what is probably the most intuitive explanation, namely, that this prohibition commemorates “Yaakov’s strength and the miracle that the Almighty performed for him, in that he did not die.”  Still, we might wonder why specifically this event is memorialized in the form of a Torah prohibition, and not the other events Yaakov experienced during his tumultuous sojourn away from his father’s home.

 

            Seforno suggests the following insightful explanation: “So that the injury resulting from the blow to the thigh socket will be an injury in something that is of no significance to us.”  According to Seforno, we refrain from, and thus discard, the gid ha-nasheh to demonstrate that we afford no significance to Yaakov’s injured leg.  By disposing of this part of the animal, we announce that we have no interest in this part of the body which the angel succeeded in injuring, that we can do without it.  The gid ha-nasheh prohibition is intended not to draw our attention to Yaakov’s injured thigh, but to the contrary, to draw our attention away from his injured thigh.  This halakha urges us not to be preoccupied with our patriarch’s injury, but rather with everything else.  We focus our minds not on Yaakov’s injury, but rather on his triumph.  When assessing this incident, we should think primarily of Yaakov’s victory over his assailant, and view his injury as simply a footnote, rather than directing the spotlight onto his dislodged thigh.

 

            Many situations in life require us to struggle and overcome difficult hurdles.  Often, these experiences leave us “injured” or scarred.  The message of the gid ha-nasheh is that we must try to focus our attention on our successes rather than our failures, to gain encouragement from our achievements rather than fall into despair due to the occasional setbacks that we all inevitably endure.

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Yaakov's Amazement at the Divine Encounter

      We read in Parashat Vayishlach of Yaakov’s encounter with a mysterious man who wrestled with him throughout the night during his trip back to Canaan.  The assailant turned out to be an angel, prompting Yaakov to exclaim after his triumph over his attacker, “I have seen God face-to-face, and my life was saved!” (32:30).  Yaakov thus named the site “Peniel,” or “Face of God.”

            Yaakov’s response to this incident seems to suggest is that he was amazed or startled by his “face-to-face” encounter with an angel of God, that this was something extraordinary.  Yet, as we know, this was not Yaakov’s first encounter with angels.  Besides the prophecies of angels which he beheld in Bet El when he left Canaan, and later in Lavan’s home, the Torah writes that Yaakov encountered angels in Machanayim, after his truce with Lavan (32:1).  Why did he now marvel over the fact that he has “seen God face-to-face,” if this was not the first such encounter?

            The Or Ha-chayim explains that Yaakov marveled not over having seen an angel, but rather over having been compelled to fight against an angel.  The phrase, “I have seen God face-to-face,” according to the Or Ha-chayim, refers specifically to confrontation.  The Or Ha-chayim cites in this context a verse from Sefer Melakhim II (14:8) which relates that the Judean king Amatzya challenged the Israelite king Yehoash to a battle, and said, “Lekha nitra’eh panim” (literally, “Let us see each other’s faces”).  The expression “see a face” in this verse clearly refers to warfare, and thus here in Parashat Vayishlach, too, Yaakov speaks of a confrontation with an angel, rather than simply seeing an angel.

            In Yaakov’s previous encounters with angels, the angels were sent to assist and protect Yaakov (see, for example, Rashi to 28:12).  Now, for the first time, an angel was sent to struggle and fight against Yaakov, and this was the new, unusual phenomenon that Yaakov experienced for the first time at Peniel.  Yaakov already experienced the special divine protection that his unique relationship with God afforded him.  Now, he saw that his special bond with the Almighty also entailed formidable challenges that he and his descendants would have to confront.  People who are granted the ability to “see angels,” who live with a sense of spiritual mission and responsibility, will inevitably come upon both kinds of “angels.”  Am Yisrael’s relationship to God brings them unique protection, but also unique challenges.  If we want to enjoy the ongoing accompaniment and assistance of protective angels, then we must also be prepared to confront the hostile angels, the many obstacles that often stand in the way of the fulfillment of our mission and threaten to stop us from achieving our goals.

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Yalkut Yehuda on Struggling with the Angel: Slowing Down

   Among the incidents told in Parashat Vayishlach is the injury that Yaakov sustained as a result of his nightlong wrestle with a mysterious assailant, who attacked him as he made his way back to Canaan after leaving the home of Lavan.  Although Yaakov prevailed over the assailant, who turned out to be an angel, the angel managed to deal Yaakov a debilitating blow and dislodging his thighbone.  Commentators and darshanim throughout the ages have advanced different theories to explain the significance of this particular injury and how it foretells the future history of Yaakov’s descendants.

            Rav Yehuda Leib Ginsburg, in his Yalkut Yehuda (Denver, 1936), suggests that the significance of Yaakov’s injury lies in the fact that it caused him to limp and take small, slow steps as he walked (“ve-hu tzolei’a al yereikho” – 32:31).  Symbolically, the blow dealt by the angel to Yaakov’s leg serves to emphasize the importance of taking small steps in all areas of life.  Ambition is vital for success in any endeavor, but it can also be a person’s worst enemy, if it is not accompanied by patience.  The angel made Yaakov limp to teach us, his descendants, that although we must walk persistently, we must walk slowly.  We cannot expect to accomplish our goals in an instant, by taking large steps.  Our aspirations – both individual and collective – are best realized by “limping,” by taking small steps, each moving us closer to our ultimate destination.

            Yaakov had good reason to want to “rush” back to Canaan.  After spending twenty years in the hostile environment of Lavan’s home, geographically and spiritually distant from the land of his father and grandfather, he was understandably eager to return to Chevron and begin the next stage of building the foundations of Am Yisrael.  The angel, perhaps, was sent to deliver the message of “slow down,” to progress at a more relaxed, gradual pace.  “He saw that he could not overcome him, and so he dealt a blow to his thigh socket” (32:25).  The angel saw that he could no longer detain Yaakov, so he injured his leg, causing him to limp.  His intent, it appears, was to force Yaakov to slow his pace, to progress more gradually to the next stage of his life and of Jewish history.  At first he tried to simply obstruct his path, but when Yaakov proved too forceful to be detained, the angel resorted to injuring his leg.  We, like Yaakov, must be vigorous enough to overcome all obstacles that we confront, but patient enough to move forward slowly.  We may not let anybody or anything to get in the way of the realization of our goals, but, at the same time, we must ensure to pursue them one step at a time, at a gradual pace, rather than recklessly lunging forward to the finish line.

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Yalkut Yehuda on Struggling with the Angel: Slowing Down

   Among the incidents told in Parashat Vayishlach is the injury that Yaakov sustained as a result of his nightlong wrestle with a mysterious assailant, who attacked him as he made his way back to Canaan after leaving the home of Lavan.  Although Yaakov prevailed over the assailant, who turned out to be an angel, the angel managed to deal Yaakov a debilitating blow and dislodging his thighbone.  Commentators and darshanim throughout the ages have advanced different theories to explain the significance of this particular injury and how it foretells the future history of Yaakov’s descendants.

            Rav Yehuda Leib Ginsburg, in his Yalkut Yehuda (Denver, 1936), suggests that the significance of Yaakov’s injury lies in the fact that it caused him to limp and take small, slow steps as he walked (“ve-hu tzolei’a al yereikho” – 32:31).  Symbolically, the blow dealt by the angel to Yaakov’s leg serves to emphasize the importance of taking small steps in all areas of life.  Ambition is vital for success in any endeavor, but it can also be a person’s worst enemy, if it is not accompanied by patience.  The angel made Yaakov limp to teach us, his descendants, that although we must walk persistently, we must walk slowly.  We cannot expect to accomplish our goals in an instant, by taking large steps.  Our aspirations – both individual and collective – are best realized by “limping,” by taking small steps, each moving us closer to our ultimate destination.

            Yaakov had good reason to want to “rush” back to Canaan.  After spending twenty years in the hostile environment of Lavan’s home, geographically and spiritually distant from the land of his father and grandfather, he was understandably eager to return to Chevron and begin the next stage of building the foundations of Am Yisrael.  The angel, perhaps, was sent to deliver the message of “slow down,” to progress at a more relaxed, gradual pace.  “He saw that he could not overcome him, and so he dealt a blow to his thigh socket” (32:25).  The angel saw that he could no longer detain Yaakov, so he injured his leg, causing him to limp.  His intent, it appears, was to force Yaakov to slow his pace, to progress more gradually to the next stage of his life and of Jewish history.  At first he tried to simply obstruct his path, but when Yaakov proved too forceful to be detained, the angel resorted to injuring his leg.  We, like Yaakov, must be vigorous enough to overcome all obstacles that we confront, but patient enough to move forward slowly.  We may not let anybody or anything to get in the way of the realization of our goals, but, at the same time, we must ensure to pursue them one step at a time, at a gradual pace, rather than recklessly lunging forward to the finish line.

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Yaakov's Amazement at the Divine Encounter

      We read in Parashat Vayishlach of Yaakov’s encounter with a mysterious man who wrestled with him throughout the night during his trip back to Canaan.  The assailant turned out to be an angel, prompting Yaakov to exclaim after his triumph over his attacker, “I have seen God face-to-face, and my life was saved!” (32:30).  Yaakov thus named the site “Peniel,” or “Face of God.”

            Yaakov’s response to this incident seems to suggest is that he was amazed or startled by his “face-to-face” encounter with an angel of God, that this was something extraordinary.  Yet, as we know, this was not Yaakov’s first encounter with angels.  Besides the prophecies of angels which he beheld in Bet El when he left Canaan, and later in Lavan’s home, the Torah writes that Yaakov encountered angels in Machanayim, after his truce with Lavan (32:1).  Why did he now marvel over the fact that he has “seen God face-to-face,” if this was not the first such encounter?

            The Or Ha-chayim explains that Yaakov marveled not over having seen an angel, but rather over having been compelled to fight against an angel.  The phrase, “I have seen God face-to-face,” according to the Or Ha-chayim, refers specifically to confrontation.  The Or Ha-chayim cites in this context a verse from Sefer Melakhim II (14:8) which relates that the Judean king Amatzya challenged the Israelite king Yehoash to a battle, and said, “Lekha nitra’eh panim” (literally, “Let us see each other’s faces”).  The expression “see a face” in this verse clearly refers to warfare, and thus here in Parashat Vayishlach, too, Yaakov speaks of a confrontation with an angel, rather than simply seeing an angel.

            In Yaakov’s previous encounters with angels, the angels were sent to assist and protect Yaakov (see, for example, Rashi to 28:12).  Now, for the first time, an angel was sent to struggle and fight against Yaakov, and this was the new, unusual phenomenon that Yaakov experienced for the first time at Peniel.  Yaakov already experienced the special divine protection that his unique relationship with God afforded him.  Now, he saw that his special bond with the Almighty also entailed formidable challenges that he and his descendants would have to confront.  People who are granted the ability to “see angels,” who live with a sense of spiritual mission and responsibility, will inevitably come upon both kinds of “angels.”  Am Yisrael’s relationship to God brings them unique protection, but also unique challenges.  If we want to enjoy the ongoing accompaniment and assistance of protective angels, then we must also be prepared to confront the hostile angels, the many obstacles that often stand in the way of the fulfillment of our mission and threaten to stop us from achieving our goals.

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Yaakov Struggles Against His Other Self

      Parashat Vayishlach tells of Yaakov’s mysterious encounter with an unnamed “ish” (“man”), who wrestled with him through the night as he made his way back to Canaan from Charan (32:25).  Rashi cites the famous Midrashic tradition identifying the assailant as “saro shel Esav,” the heavenly angel of Yaakov’s older twin.  This view is cited in Bereishit Rabba(77) in the name of Rabbi Chama bar Chanina, and is the commonly accepted understanding of this episode.  According to this approach, Yaakov’s victorious struggle symbolizes his ultimate triumph over his brother, and his descendants’ triumph over his brother’s descendants.  Though we are often challenged and confronted by “Esav,” and, like Yaakov, we will suffer injuries and bruises as a result of these encounters, we will ultimately emerge triumphant.

 

            Earlier in Bereishit Rabba, however, the Midrash cites a description of this confrontation in the name of Rav Huna which appears to point us in a different direction:

 

He [the assailant] appeared to him [Yaakov] in the form of a shepherd.  He had sheep, and he [Yaakov] had sheep; he had camels, and he [Yaakov] had camels.  He said to him, “Bring yours through, and then I will bring mine through.”  Our patriarch Yaakov brought his through, and he then turned around to see if perhaps he forgot something.  Immediately, “A man wrestled with him.”

 

While this account is not entirely clear, it seems that the attacking angel appeared to Yaakov as a shepherd who, like Yaakov himself, was traveling with large herds of cattle.  Apparently, the angel traveled in the opposite direction, and there was not enough room on the road for both to pass.  The angel allowed Yaakov to bring his belongings across the road first, and when Yaakov finished bringing his possessions, he turned around to ensure that he had not forgotten anything.  This aroused the angel’s suspicion, who thought that Yaakov may be trying to steal his possessions, and promptly attacked the patriarch.

            What might be the underlying symbolism of this account?  According to the conventional understanding of this incident, as mentioned earlier, Yaakov’s confrontation with the angel symbolizes Am Yisrael’s long but successful struggle against the “Esav’s” who wage war against them.  But how might we understand the meaning of the account presented by Rav Huna, whereby the attacking angel appeared to Yaakov as a cattle-laden shepherd?

 

            It seems clear that according to Rav Huna’s account, the assailant was not the angel of Esav, but rather than angel of Yaakov.  Rav Huna emphasizes the fact that the mysterious assailant, like Yaakov, was a shepherd traveling with camels and sheep.  In his view, Yaakov did not wrestle against an external enemy, but rather struggled with the enemy within, with himself.

 

            What kind of struggle took place between Yaakov and his “other self,” and why did that “other self” grow suspicious of Yaakov?

 

            Several different interpretations can be considered.  One explanation, perhaps, is that the other shepherd represents Yaakov’s unfulfilled dreams and aspirations.  We all live two different lives: the life that actually unfolds, and the life we long for and aspire to.  Generally speaking, these identities remain separate throughout our lives.  As Chazal famously reminded us, “A person does not die with half of his aspirations realized.”  Even those who are fortunate to enjoy happy, successful and meaningful lives have in their minds a different person whom they wanted to be, but were unable to become.  As in the case with Yaakov and his assailant, there is not enough room for both people to pass through.  The natural limitations of life force us to pass through it with only ourselves, and to leave behind the person whom we ideally want to be.

 

            For the most part, that other person graciously allows our real self to pass through peacefully.  At one point or another, we all accept our limitations and live with a general sense of ease, recognizing that we cannot achieve all our ambitions.  On some occasions, however, our “other self” feels envious, and launches an assault.  It feels threatened by our real, pragmatic self, and struggles to overtake us.  These are the times in life when we feel beset by disappointment and a lack of fulfillment, when we cannot live peacefully in the face of frustrated aspirations and unfulfilled dreams.

 

            According to Rav Huna, then, Yaakov’s struggle against the mysterious attacker represents the struggle that occurs within each and every one of us, between the person we are and the person we aspire to be.  Ultimately, of course, the harsh realities of life force us to defeat the frustration and disappointment of unrealized ambition.  But the confrontation nevertheless leave us “limping,” with an ongoing feeling of uneasiness as we resume our lives, ever cognizant of the goals and aspirations that we still wish to fulfill.  We will, by necessity, always defeat that mysterious assailant within us, though not without a “limp,” the lingering feelings of disappointment that hopefully motivate us at every stage in our lives to work harder toward achieving our goals.

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זכירת העבר ותיקון ההווה

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שיתוף פעולה

 

יהושע הוא הכהן הגדול ואילו זרובבל הוא המנהיג המדיני ("פחת יהודה"). זכריה מעביר לזרובבל מסר, שההנהגה המדינית אמורה להיות כפופה להנהגה הרוחנית, ושלא הכוח והחיל אלא הרוח היא העיקר. זהו מסר יסודי ביהדות ותמצית הנבואה.

המראה שזכריה רואה בהקשר זה הוא מראה המנורה עם שבעת הנרות ושני הזיתים. שני הזיתים הם כלי קיבול של שמן המוצבים מעל המנורה ומטפטפים לתוכה שמן. כפי שפירשו המפרשים לאור הפסוקים בהמשך, שני בני היצהר דהיינו הזיתים מכוונים כלפי המלכות והכהונה דהיינו יהושע וזרובבל. הן המנהיג המדיני והן הכהן הגדול נמשחים בשמן ועל כן המשל הולם אותם. משמעות המראה היא שהם אמורים לפעול יחדיו למען מטרה משותפת. כמו ששני הזיתים נמצאים בשני צידיה של אותה מנורה ומזינים אליה את השמן יחדיו, כך אמורים הכהונה והמלוכה לפעול בהרמוניה וללא מתחים. לא כמוקדי מתח שונים אלא מתוך שיתוף פעולה בין שני המנהיגים. אף חגי בנבואתו (חגי ב') רואה אותם כפועלים במשותף ומנבא על שתי הדמויות באותה נבואה.

והנה, אם נבדוק למען איזו מטרה הם פועלים, הן בנבואת חגי והן בנבואת זכריה, התשובה תהיה שבנין המקדש היא המטרה שלמענה יהושע וזרובבל פועלים. משמעות העניין היא שאף למנהיג המדיני תפקיד מרכזי בבנין המקדש. ואכן, כבר לימדונו חז"ל שמינוי מלך הוא מצווה מקדימה לבנין בית הבחירה והסיקו מדוד על מעורבותו של המלך בעניין.

כמו כן, נשים לב שרק המטרה הזאת מופיעה בהקשר מפעלם. ואכן, בנין בית שני שונה מהותית מבנין בית ראשון בכך שעיקר הגאולה מתמקדת במקדש. בבית ראשון, הוקמה ישות מדינית עצמאית, ישראל נכנסו לארץ יישבו אותה וכוננו בה בית לאומי. רק כעבור ארבע מאות שנה ויותר הוקם המקדש. בבית שני, לעומת זאת, אין עצמאות מדינית אלא אוטונומיה חלקית בחסות מלכים זרים, אין מלכות בית דוד, ואפילו לא קיבוץ גלויות, וכל מה שיש זה בנין המקדש.


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מיהו השטן?

"וַיַּרְאֵנִי אֶת יְהוֹשֻׁעַ הַכֹּהֵן הַגָּדוֹל עֹמֵד לִפְנֵי מַלְאַךְ ה' וְהַשָּׂטָן עֹמֵד עַל יְמִינוֹ לְשִׂטְנוֹ" (זכריה ג', א) 


האם השטן הוא דמות אנושית כעין האויבים המציקים לישראל? או שאולי הוא יצור עליון, קטגור בבית דין של מעלה? אם נתבונן במפרשים נראה כי קיימות דעות שונות.


רד"ק:

השטן משל לסנבלט וחבריו שהיו שוטנים אותם ומשביתים ממלאכתם. 


מלבי"ם:

ראה בנבואה איך יהושע עומד לפני מלאך ה' שדן אותו על מעשיו, והשטן שהוא המקטרג עומד על ימינו לשטנו כי המלמד חובה נצב לשמאל המלאך השופט שהוא ימין יהושע העומד כנגדו, ומבואר פה שהיה על יהושע שני מיני דינים: 
דין אחד על עצמו שהיה עליו איזה קטרוג, וכבר היה הקטרוג הזה בעת שהשליכוהו לכבשן האש (שזה היה בזמן קדום) שאז עמד לדין אם הוא ראוי שיעשה לו נס על ידי המלאך ואז קטרג עליו השטן... 
עוד ראה שהיה עליו דין שני אם ישמש בכהונה גדולה. ופירשו חז"ל: שזה היה מפני שבניו נשאו נשים נכריות. 

 

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