Vayishlach
Deliver me, I pray,
from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esav; else, I fear, he may come
and strike me down, mothers and children alike.
Yet You have said, ‘I will deal bountifully
with you and make your offspring as the sands of the sea, which are too
numerous to count.’
32:12 - 13
The path toward the blessing for Jacob is not a
straight one. Although endorsed by
heaven, Jacob must move from being given the blessing ,
to taking it by deception, to earning it by wrestling with his demons – and his
angels. Similarly, Jewish identity today
can not merely be assumed as given – for example, as resulting from an accident
of birth. Nor can it be taken by deception
or deceit. It must be earned through
study, reflection, action and involvement.
Like Jacob, each Jew has the potential to become “Israel” and, like
Jacob, each Jew must wrestle with the challenge of living up to that
responsibility and accepting as a blessing that opportunity.
Richard Hirsch (Contemporary)
If Jacob has any illusions about the triumph of
brotherly love over Esav’s seething rage, they are
quickly dispelled by the messengers he sends ahead. Esav, they inform Jacob, is on his way,
accompanied by 400 men…Jacob prays. Reminding God of the promise to make things go well with him if he
returned to
Marsha Cohen (Contemporary)
“Fear” denotes according to some commentaries, panic
which is caused by something without, while “distress” is caused by inner angst
which overcomes a person. Jacob was
“afraid” that he might be killed in the showdown with Esav; simultaneously he
was “distressed” that he may kill his antagonist…Something of Jacob’s feelings
at this point were reflected thousands of years later in the words of Golda Meir who said that “we are angry with our enemies not only
for killing our sons, but also for making our sons kill.”…Being promised by God
that He will watch over him and being told explicitly by God “do not fear,”
Jacob nevertheless could not help being afraid.
At this point he realized that there is nothing to fear more than fear
itself…
Pinchas Peli (20th Century)
On the eve of his confrontation with his brother Esav,
Jacob does not bemoan his fate; instead, he acknowledges his unworthiness of
all God’s blessings. What a wonderful
approach to life. We too, should give
voice to our gratitude for the many blessings that have come into our
lives. No matter how few they may seem,
can we truly say that we are worthy of them?
What the world needs is not more information, but more
appreciation. Let us look upon each day
as our first and last on earth: our
first, during which we must view every new wonder with awe and appreciation;
our last, during which we must act as if we shall never again enjoy these
blessings.
Hillel
Silverman (20th Century)
From beginning to end, the stories about Jacob can be
read as the narrator’s imaginative effort to maintain Jacob’s innocence – to be
consistent with his opening characterization of Jacob as an “Ish Tam”. To this
end, the storyteller puts Jacob, time and again, into situations of strife and
conflict that test the patriarch’s character.
When Jacob is not yet aware of his divinely appointed destiny as the supplanter of Esav; he strives innocently to obtain Esav’s birthright…so it goes, Despite
his difficulties, and despite repeated assaults on his character, Jacob remains
an “innocent man,” an “ish tam.” The narrator deliberately withholds his
explicit judgment of Jacob – except to describe him as an “ish
Tam.” And the description is
delightfully ambiguous! While Jacob is
kept in the dark about his appointed destiny, the narrator allows his
characters, who likewise are unaware of the divine plan, to condemn the
patriarch time and again. Thus the
question of Jacob’s moral innocence hovers disturbingly over each successive
episode. In the end however, the
narrator’s verdict…is announced in the words of the mysterious one with who
Jacob struggled at the Jabbok…”Your name shall no
more be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men
and have prevailed!
Carl Evans (Contemporary)