How can the Parasha help us grow this week?
In his week’s Parsha of Vayishlach, we read about the dramatic encounter between Yaakov and Eisav. More than thirty years earlier, Yaakov had fled for his life to escape from the murderous Eisav. Eisav was angry about Yaakov stealing the Brachot from their father Yitzchak. And now, Yaakov was finally returning to the Land of Canaan and was about to meet with his brother.
Yaakov sent messengers ahead of him to meet with Eisav and to report back to him. The report was not promising. Eisav was marching toward Yaakov with a force of 400 men. It seems that his intentions were not peaceful. Yaakov prepared for the confrontation on a number of levels – by sending gifts, military preparations and prayer. As one of his tactics, Yaakov sends the following message to Eisav:
Yaakov sent angels ahead of him, to his brother Eisav, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom. And he commanded them, saying: “So shall you say, ‘To my lord, to Eisav, so said your servant Yaakov: I have sojourned (גרתי) with Lavan and I have lingered until now.’ ”
In his commentary, Rashi explains Yaakov’s meaning behind this message. The word ‘garti’ (גרתי) is related to the word ‘ger’ or stranger. Yaakov was informing Eisav that he did not become a great prince or achieve status while living with Lavan, but rather he remained like a stranger. In this sense, he was reassuring Eisav that Yitzchak’s Bracha (which Yaakov ‘stole’ from Eisav) which included “you shall be a master over your brothers” was not fulfilled. Thus, there was no reason for Eisav to hate him anymore.[2]
Rashi then provides us with an alternative interpretation. The word גרתי has the numerical value of 613 which is the number of mitzvot that Hashem commanded us. In fact, the letters of גרתי can be re-arranged to form תרי”ג which is the traditional way of referring to the 613 mitzvot (i.e. “Taryag Mitzvot”). Yaakov was thus informing Eisav that while living with the wicked Lavan, he managed to observe the 613 mitzvot and he did not learn from his evil ways. He was implying that he would be protected by the merit of this achievement and Eisav should thus think twice before seeking revenge.
One obvious question is how could Yaakov possibly keep all 613 mitzvot? Many of the mitzvot only apply to certain classes of people and it is impossible for one person to keep them all by himself. For example, there are some mitzvot that only apply to men and some that only apply to women. Some mitzvot only to Kohanim and some only apply to the king of Jewish people. And some mitzvot only apply to people with Tzora’at. There is also a mitzva that obligates a thief to return a stolen item. Surely Yaakov did not fit into that category. There was one particular mitzvah that we know for sure that Yaakov did not keep, specifically while he was living with Lavan – and that is the mitzva of honouring his parents. Yaakov was actually punished for that failure measure for measure. His son Yosef would go missing for exactly the same number of years that Yaakov did not fulfil this mitzvah. So how can Yaakov claim to have kept all 613 mitzvot?
One answer to this question is that Yaakov studied the laws of each of the mitzvot. There is an idea that an individual Jew can learn about all of the 613 mitzvot and thus be credited with keeping all of the mitzvot, even those mitzvot which do not apply specifically to them. However, in his commentary on the Torah, Rabbi Moshe Shternbuch[3] writes that he does not like this explanation. He points out that Yaakov doesn’t say that he ‘fulfilled’ the mitzvot, but rather that he was “shomer” all of them.[4] What does the word “shomer” mean? It literally translates as “guard”. But in Parashat Vayeshev, which we will read in two weeks’ time, Rashi provides us with a deeper explanation of this term. The context is the famous dreams that Yosef had about his brothers. In his dreams, Yosef foresaw that his brothers were destined to bow down to him. When he related these dreams to his father and his brothers, the pasuk tells us:
“His brothers were jealous of him but his father [Yaakov] guarded the matter (שמר את הדבר)”
(Breishit 37:11)
Rashi explains this term as meaning that Yaakov kept the matter in mind and he was waiting and looking forward in expectation to when the dream would be fulfilled. Rashi then provides additional examples of where the word “shomer” is used to mean that someone is ‘looking forward’ to something.
So how does this apply to Yaakov’s comment to Eisav in our Parasha? Rabbi Shternbuch explains that Yaakov was guarding the mitzvot in that he was looking forward to when he would have the opportunity to fulfil them. In this sense, Yaakov was credited with actually having performed the mitzvot, even though he couldn’t yet do so.
This teaches us the correct approach that we should have towards Hashem’s holy mitzvot. We should not see mitzvot as a burden; something which we need to ‘get out of the way’. Rather, mitzvot are a privilege. It is an indescribable honour that the Creator of the Universe has provided us with personal instructions as to how to best live our lives. And by performing the mitzvot, we should know that we are benefiting our neshama, meriting reward that cannot be measured and connecting ourselves closer to Hashem. How fortunate we are to be able to perform the mitzvot!
Rabbi Shternbuch adds that there is a very large category of mitzvot that none of us can perform these days. These are the mitzvot that relate to the Bet HaMikdash. These mitzvot will have to wait until Moshiach comes and the third Bet HaMikdash is built. However, if we genuinely look forward to the day that we can perform these mitzvot, then we can receive the credit as if we have in fact kept those mitzvot already!
Let’s try something this week:
- Remember it is such a privilege to have the mitzvot. Try to focus on this truth before performing those mitzvot that are a bit harder to do (such as waking up early for minyan on mornings that we are tired).
- Contemplate what our life will be like when we are able to perform the mitzvot relating to the Bet HaMikdash. And try to genuinely look forward to that day.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Ledder
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[1] This week’s Darchai Noam is inspired by Parsha Potpourri by Rabbi Ozer Alport for Parashat Vayishlach (https://www.aish.com/tp/i/pp/134988428.html)
[2] This is based on the Midrash Tanchuma Yashan 5.
[3] Ta’am VeDaas Al HaTorah.
[4] Rashi writes that it was as if Yaakov said to Eisav “תרי”ג מצות שמרתי” which literally means that I ‘guarded’ all of the 613 mitzvot.