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Thoughts on the Parsha ~
Parshas Vayishlach
Angels in the Outfield
By: Daniel Listhaus
וַיִּשְׁלַח יַעֲקֹב מַלְאָכִים
לְפָנָיו אֶל עֵשָׂו אָחִיו אַרְצָה שֵׂעִיר שְׂדֵה אֱדוֹם: וַיְצַו אֹתָם לֵאמֹר כֹּה תֹאמְרוּן לַאדֹנִי לְעֵשָׂו כֹּה אָמַר
עַבְדְּךָ יַעֲקֹב עִם לָבָן גַּרְתִּי וָאֵחַר עַד עָתָּה: וַיְהִי לִי שׁוֹר וַחֲמוֹר צֹאן וְעֶבֶד וְשִׁפְחָה וָאֶשְׁלְחָה
לְהַגִּיד לַאדֹנִי לִמְצֹא חֵן בְּעֵינֶיךָ
“And Yaakov sent malachim
before him to Eisav his brother to the land of Seir, the field of Edom. He charged
them saying, “Thus shall you say, 'To My lord, to Eisav, so said your servant
Yaakov: I have sojourned with Lavan and have lingered until now. I have
acquired ox and donkey, flock, and servant, and maidservant and I am sending to
tell my lord to find favor in your eyes.'”
-Vayishlach 32:4-6
The Torah[1]
describes that after Yaakov left Lavan's house, he sent malachim ahead
of him to try to determine what Eisav's feelings were toward him. Although the
word malachim could mean either messengers or angels, Rashi[2]
explains the passuk (verse) to mean that Yaakov sent actual angels for
the task.
How could
we begin to understand the fact that Yaakov felt comfortable sending angels to
take care of his personal errands when he could have just as easily sent a
person to do the job? Malachim are creatures of one-hundred percent ruchniyus
(spirituality). How could Yaakov give commandments to such lofty beings?
A few passukim
later, the Torah[3]
relates that after going back and forth over the Yabok River to ferry his
entire family across, Yaakov realized he left a few small worthless jugs
behind. When he went back to retrieve them, the Torah[4]
relates the fight that took place between Yaakov and the ministering angel of
Eisav. After a night of fighting, Yaakov pinned the malach down and
would not let go. The malach hurt Yaakov by striking and dislocating his
thighbone, but to no avail – the malach was still unable to escape. The malach
told Yaakov to let him go, but Yaakov refused until the malach of
Eisav would admit that Yaakov was the rightful receiver of the brachos from
Yitzchak.
The S'forno[5]
is bothered by the obvious question on this story. How is it possible that
Yaakov had the upper hand in a fight against a malach of Hashem? A malach
is a purely spiritual being and Yaakov, as great as he was, was only a man.
The S'forno, based on a Gemara[6],
writes one line: Tzadikkim are greater than malachim.
This S'forno and Gemara are truly
unbelievable. With this approach that tzadikkim are greater than malachim,
we could understand why Yaakov had the authority to send the malachim as
well as explain how he was able to defeat the malach of Eisav. However,
why is this true that tzadikkim are greater than malachim? In no
way could we downplay the level of a malach. After all, malachim represent
single, direct commandments of Hashem. This is something that is clear
throughout chumash[7]
as well as from the conversation that took place between Yaakov and the malach
of Eisav in this week's parsha. Yaakov asked the malach,
“Tell me please, what is your name?” The malach responded, “Why is it
that you ask my name?” Rashi[8]
explains that the malach was telling Yaakov, “We have no fixed name.
Our names change according to the task of the mission upon which we are sent
[from Hashem].” Malachim are pure expressions of Hashem's will. So
still, how could we understand that tzadikkim are greater than malachim?
The mishna[9]
states, “He [Rabban Gamliel] used to say: Treat His [Hashem's] will as if
it were your own will. So that he should treat your will as if it were His
will.” What does this mean? Is it a one-for-one game of 'I scratch your back
and you scratch mine'? Are we simply supposed to do something Hashem wants in
order to be rewarded in turn by Him doing something that we desire?
Rabbeinu
Yonah[10]
explains that our job is to literally adopt Hashem's ratzon (will) as
our own. We must strive to achieve a level where everything we do, say, think,
and want is precisely what Hashem's will is. The mishna is not teaching
us how to negotiate deals with Hashem to get what we want, rather is giving a
directive to synchronize our ratzon with Hashem's.
Later on
in the parsha, the Torah[11]
testifies. “He [Yaakov] set up a mizbe’ach (alter) there and he called
to it “G-d is the G-d of Yisroel”. The Gemara[12]
says that based on the grammatical construction of the passuk, it seems
that the passuk is actually trying to convey the following message:
Yaakov set up a mizbe’ach there. And He – the G-d of Yisroel - called to
him [Yaakov] 'G-d'. This too is astounding. How could it be that man be called
G-d? There is only one G-d and He alone is the creator and controller of the
world. However, even with knowing this as a basic principle of our emunah
(faith), we must also consider the fact that man was created
b'tzelem Elokim and therefore indeed, contained within man is the
potential to maximize his one's koach ha'bechirah (power of free-will)
to the extent that one has the ability to achieve extremely high levels of
G-dliness.
Many
people underestimate chashivus ha'adom. Even those who actually
appreciate that man is an incredible being with tremendous potential, still
mistakenly rank mankind as somewhere between animal and malach. However,
the truth is exactly the opposite. Man is not situated between animal and malach.
Rather, man is located on the bookends of the spectrum. On the one hand, man
has the ability to choose to do evil and exist on a level lower than the lowest
creatures. On the other hand, man has the ability to choose to do good
and follow the derech HaTorah and ultimately become even greater than malachim.
This is because even though malachim are pure expressions of Hashem's
will, they are strictly defined and remain at a status that is in the outfield.
People however, have the ability to become so close to Hashem through using one's bechirah to align
one's ratzon to Hashem's. Such an individual is even fitting to have his
own malachim do certain tasks for him.[13]
After all, carrying out the will of a person who is completely engrossed in avodas
Hashem is comparable to carrying out the will of Hashem Himself.
May Hashem
help us discover our ability to be in the infield, close to Hashem, and guide
us in using our koach ha'bechirah correctly to achieve this goal.
[1] Beraishis 32:4
[2] Ibid. Rashi obviously did not
arbitrarily choose this meaning over the other, rather he saw an implication
from the passuk to learn this way. (See Sifsei Chachomim there)
[3] Beraishis 32:24 and see Rashi there
[4] Beraishis 32:25
[5] Beraishis 32:27
[6] Sanhedrin 93a. See Maharsha there
who writes that in Tanach we see that man is referred to as an “Elokim”
(G-d) whereas malachim are only referred to “bar Elokim”
(offspring/an extension of G-d).
[7] For example see Beraishis 18:2 and Rashi
there.
[8] Beraishis 32:30
[9] Avos 2:4
[10] Ibid.
[11] Beraishis 33:20
[12] Megillah 18a. Rashi (33:20) brings
this in his second explanation but the Gemara explains it with more
detail.
[13] See Pirkei Avos 4:13 which states that
every time a person does a mitzva, he is koneh (acquires/gains) a
single malach advocate.
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