בראשית

ויירא יעקב מאד ויצר לו. דרשו רבותינו ז"ל ויירא שמא יהרג, ויצר לו אם יהרוג הוא את אחרים. וכיון שהבטיחו הקב"ה (בראשית כ״ח:ט״ו) והנה אנכי עמך ושמרתיך בכל אשר תלך, למה נתירא, אלא שמא יגרום החטא, כך דרשו רבותינו ז"ל בפ' ראשון דברכות. ודרשו עוד כיוצא בדבר אתה אומר למה נקוד על לולא כך אמר דוד (תהילים כ״ז:י״ג) לולא האמנתי לראות בטוב ה', רבש"ע מובטח אני בך שאתה עתיד לשלם שכר טוב לצדיקים לעתיד לבא אבל איני יודע אם יש לי חלק ביניהם אם לאו. וכיון שהיה קורא עצמו חסיד איך היה מסופק בזה אלא שמא יגרום החטא.

ויירא יעקב מאד ויצר לו , “Yaakov was very fearful as well as distressed.” Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 76,2 comment on this that the word ויירא refers to Yaakov’s fear of being killed, whereas the word ויצר refers to his discomfort at the thought of having to kill Esau in self-defense. Seeing that twenty years earlier G’d had assured him in the dream of the ladder that He would be with him and would protect him, why did he have any reason to be afraid at all? Our sages answer that Yaakov never considered G’d’s promise as ironclad but as subject to his conducting himself as worthy of it. Yaakov worried that he might have committed sins during the last twenty years which had invalidated G’d’s promise to him. This, at any rate is the approach of the Talmud to this problem in Berachot 4. The sages of the Talmud there comment further: “why is there a dot in Psalms 27,13, on the word לולא? David said: לולא האמנתי לראות בטוב ה', “If I had not had the assurance that I would enjoy the goodness of the Lord, etc.” He meant “O Lord, I am certain that You will repay the righteous in the hereafter for the good deeds they have performed on earth. However, I am not at all sure that I will have a share in the hereafter as I may have forfeited my share through sin.” Seeing that David referred to himself as חסיד, “pious,” (compare Psalms 86,20), how could he doubt that he would have a share in the hereafter? Again the sages answer that he was afraid that some sin he had committed would result in his forfeiting his claim to the hereafter. [The dot on the second letter ל in the word לולא is considered as restrictive, as if to say “if nothing contrary to the present condition will occur.” Ed.]

ויש שפירש כי מה שנתירא יעקב לא על עצמו כי הוא כבר הובטח, אבל נתירא על בניו ועל אנשי ביתו, וזהו שכתוב ויחץ את הילדים. ואמר עוד פן יבא והכני אם על בנים. לא אמר והכני בלבד שלא היה מפחד על עצמו אלא על הכאת אם על בנים.

Another approach: Yaakov was altogether not concerned about anything happening to himself, personally. After all, he was a recipient of G’d’s promise and he considered this as perfectly adequate. He was concerned about his children, his wives, and the members of his household who had not received such an assurance from G’d. This is the meaning of (verse 8) “he divided up the children (between two camps).” As proof for this interpretation look at the words פן יבא והכני אם על בנים, “lest he come and smite me by killing children with their mother.” He did not say the word והכני, “and strike me,” as an independent statement referring to him personally, as something that he was afraid of for himself. After all, Esau’s quarrel was with Yaakov, not with his wives or children. He was not concerned about himself per se. His only fear was of what might happen to his children and to his wives.

ודע כי יש בפרשת הזאת באור למה שאירע ליעקב עם עשו אחיו, ורמז ג"כ לדורות למה שעתיד שיארע לנו תמיד עם בני עשו, וראוי לנו לאחוז דרכיו של יעקב שהתקין עצמו לשלשה דברים, למלחמה לתפלה לדורון. למלחמה הוא שכתוב ויחץ את העם אשר אתו וכתיב ויאמר אם יבא עשו וגו', לתפלה הוא שאמר אלהי אבי אברהם וגו' הצילני נא, לדורון הוא שכתוב עזים מאתים וגו'. וממנו ראה חזקיה המלך וכן עשה שהתקין עצמו לג' דברים אלו כלפי סנחריב מלך אשור, דכתיב (מלכים ב י״ח:ט״ו) ויתן חזקיהו את כל הכסף. וכתיב (דברי הימים ב ל״ב:ו׳) ויתן שרי מלחמות על העם, וכתיב (מלכים ב י״ט:ט״ו) ויתפלל חזקיהו לפני ה'. וכן אנחנו צריכים ללכת בדרכי האבות להתקין עצמנו להקביל פניהם במנחה ובלשון רכה ובתפלה לפני ה' יתעלה, אבל במלחמה אי אפשר שנאמר (שיר השירים ב׳:ז׳) השבעתי אתכם בנות ירושלים וגו'. השביעם שלא להתגרות מלחמה עם האומות.

You ought to appreciate that this paragraph contains an explanation of what exactly did happen to Yaakov as a result of his encounter with Esau. There is also a hint of what would be a correct form of relationship between the respective descendants of Esau and Yaakov during the long course of Jewish history. It is worth our while to consider Yaakov’s preparations for his fateful encounter with Esau as something to use as a model for ourselves in our dealings with the descendants of Esau. Basically, Yaakov used a three-pronged approach. 1) He prepared to wage war if it were forced upon him. 2) He prayed to G’d for deliverance. 3) He prepared gifts to soften the mood of his adversary. The first stage of his preparation, mobilising for war, is described in our paragraph in verse eight when the Torah writes that he divided the camp in two to give himself the maximum chance for at least one camp to escape unharmed. He then engaged in prayer when he appealed to G’d, saying (verse 12) “please save me from my brother, from Esau.” The third part of his preparation, i.e.. sending gifts (or bribes if you will), is found in verses 14-21. A great Jewish King, the King Chiskiyah learned from Yaakov when Jerusalem was under siege when he faced Sancheriv, [who during his time was the foremost conqueror of the world who had already liquidated the Northern Kingdom and exiled the Ten Tribes, Ed.]. We read in Kings II 18,15 that Chiskiyah gave all the silver that was in the treasury of the Temple and in his own vaults to Sancheriv in accordance with that King’s demands. He also readied what few forces remained at his disposal for war (Chronicles II 32,6). Finally, he prayed (Kings II 19,15) asking G’d to demonstrate His power to the world at large by saving the Kingdom of Yehudah. We have to act similarly whenever we find ourselves threatened by hostile Gentile forces. However, nowadays when G’d’s displeasure with us has become manifest seeing we are still in exile, we must not provoke war against our enemies as is evident from Song of Songs 2,7 השבעתי אתכם בנות ירושלים וגו', “I have made you take an oath o daughters of Jerusalem, etc.” One opinion in the Talmud Ketuvot 111 understands the oath as an undertaking by Jews in exile not to rebel against the local rulers and try and recapture the land of Israel by force of arms.