Vayishlach - 2nd Portion

Join me as we learn together learning for Monday the second Torah reading of paras chapter 32 verse14. Yesterday we discussed we are Yakov sent angels to see where his brother asat in his relationship with him. They came back telling him that he is coming with 400 men. And Yakov devises a plan, a three-point strategy, sending him gifts, preparing for war, and praying to Hashem. He spent the night there. He now implementing the next morning the following strategy of taking what he selected from what he had to send a present a gift to as of his brother. [snorts] It doesn't literally mean what he had in his hand but it means in his domain what he owned. We find this in other places as well where the terminology that he took all his land from his hand. It doesn't mean that he was holding it in his hand from his property as we find in the med says why does he use the terminology specifically from his hand that he sent him precious stones and diamonds that a person wraps them in a handkerchief and keeps them with him and carries them with him at all times. That means besides sending all the other things that we find that are mentioned in the actual Torah, it tells us as well he sent him some diamonds. Another explanation the Medish can give. What does it mean that he had with his hand? The means that after he already tithed, the remainder was there that he was able to send the gift from. Omar as it says as he said before in verse 28 in verse 22 in chapter 28 that everything you give to me I will then tithe and only after he tithe did he take a gift and send it off to his brother. What did he send us the gift? The Torah now tells us in verse 15, [snorts] 200 she goats and 20 he goats, male goats and 20 rams. I'm sorry and 20 sheep esim and 20 rams. [snorts] The Torah Rashi explains what's this number? Why do you see that? And if you notice there are much more females than males that he sent. And Rashi is going to explain because every male becomes pregnant makes pregnant impregnates more females as follows. Why 200 female goats? They need 20 male goat male goats to make them pregnant. And so but you'll see by the older one you need fewer males but for much more females and each one according to its nature and according to its kind [snorts] explains and learns from here the laws of the Torah tells us that when a woman and a man marry there's a contractual agreement of what the man has to give the woman of times of being intimate with his wife a certain amount of times and thereby the Talmud and the Medish explains and expounds based on this verse when they are needed and says as follows the people who don't have hard work they are just tourists and or they enjoy eating and drinking every single day they have that responsibility the peoples that work in the city is twice a week the people who are peddlers or they're couriers. They carry things from place to place. Once a week, the people that take heavier loads and go for a longer distance of time and they use camels for that. Once every 30 days, those that go on the ship, that means they're going for a further distance, they're only obligated once every six months. However, Rashi notes here, I don't see exactly how the medish was able to surmise from this interpretation about the obligations that one must have ina but it seems to me that they did not learn it from here. But this is only a general idea that every person is not equal when it comes to that obligation of and with for his wife because it depends on the person's individual of what his responsibilities are to sustain his family. We see this because we see that uh Jacob gave for every male goat he gave them 10 goats and for every male ram he gave them 10 10 sheep. So you see according why did he split it up this way? Because they have no work to do because they're not busy working in the field. Because of that they have time. When they have time in their hands they're able to impregnate even 10 females. And there's a rule that once a uh animal becomes impregnated. It no longer is able to connect to another male because of that he had to give so many. You don't find any cows here. In the next verse when he talks about cows, you'll see that he only gives four cows per per male cow. And that is because they are working. So therefore, they have less time to impregnate the females. And for the dunkey that goes a very far distance, two females for every male. But like and for the camels that go even further, just one female per male. So we see Rashi wants to elude that this is where the menders got its a deduction or that it came with its opinion that each person is different is based that we see that the different animals got different amounts of dunkey different amounts of females per male. Further in the humish verse 16 30 nursing camels and with their young [snorts] I'm sorry and their young 30 male camels that came along with them arim 40 cows masara and 10 bulls [snorts] the 20 she dunkeys assur and then there were 10 male dunkeys. The Torah now Rashi explains what is he telling us over here about the camels? Why [snorts] by the camels does he not mention the the male and the female explicitly. [snorts] So Ranchi explains as follows when it comes to the camels he says their children with them and the uh and the med explains meaning the male camels the ones that built the ones that build a family male for a female because a camel the way it behaves during intimacy it is very modest. Therefore, the Torah does not explicitly say, and it only calls it their children or those that build them because the Torah is alluding to the modesty and the proper appropriate talk for the camel. What are Rashi tells us male dunkeys? Verse 17. And he put all these in charge of his servants drove by drove, heard by heard on their own. And he said to his servants, "Go on ahead of me and keep a distance between one drove and the next." Rashi uh I'm sorry, 17. Rashi 17. Why did he not bunch them all together? He made every kind of animal a separate pile, a separate herd that would go to on its own. Go before me a day or two, at least a day or or so and I will then come after you. Leave a space. Why did he want that? There should be a space and it should be noticeable a space between the two herds. He want he wanted that each herd to be separate at least from the distance of seeing. So when you see one you shouldn't see the next one. What was this for? And why did he do this? To be able to satisfy the eyes of the evil wonder and he should say wow that means he sees one he doesn't even see the other one coming. And as soon as he gets one, then he starts seeing the other one coming like this. He's getting excited and he's wondering how much more are going to come. If he would see all of them at once, the surprise effect will be less. The wow factor wouldn't be as great. Verse 18 and he commanded the first one, he instructed the first one as follows. Lamer saying when you will meet my brother and he's going to ask you saying who are you? Whose man are you? And where are you headed? And who are these droves, these gifts that you're sending in front of you? Who's sending them? Who do you belong to? Who is the one that sent you? Like the says the who do you belong to? These that are here before you. Who do they belong to? Who was this gift intended? In this case, the you're wondering why there's how do I get to that translation? Rashi says because the lid is telling you to whatever you see belongs to me belongs to me to God the world and everything exists. It belongs to Hashem. Verse 19 and you will say this is from your servant. This is a gift sent to my master. Not only that he is also himself is right behind us you will command as saying you'll answer the first question first and last question last is going to ask you who do these belong to. You'll say and I belong to your servant like the like the Aramaic translation is your servant. And when he asks who do these gifts belong to you'll answer this is a gift coming along. [snorts] This is not this is uh this is talking about the now the messenger that's coming with the future herd. He says it's not talking about more herds coming who who is that is coming behind us and he will be there and he told us also to the second one also to the third any of them that were following behind the droves the droves [snorts] like this with such words you should speak to when you meet him verse 21 say, "Behold also your servant is right behind us." Because he said of I will appease him with all the gifts that go before me that I sent ahead. But only afterwards will I face him. Maybe he will show favor to him to me. of what does it mean? My face I will be able to remove is anger. The same thing you also find the word means to remove that God will take away the covenant [snorts] of death will not be able to remove the sin the evil. It seems to me that anytime you find a terminology even by the pun and also by face they all mean to cleanse the and to remove. So the wordap which means to remove or to cleanse whether it's by a sin or in this case as well that he's trying to remove the anger that he may have against him. We see this this is based in the Aramaic language and he wanted to clean his hands with that individual. You also find this in the words of the verse where the word means to cleanse that the different instruments that were used that for the blood we're called cleansing gold cleansing items. And that was because on these uh these type of vessels that they used to use to take off the blood, the cohen would wipe his hand, cleaning his hand from the blood that was on it on these on the side on the rim of the vessel. [snorts] Verse 22 and so the gifts passed ahead of him and he spent the night on that night. He le he rested that night. in the camp verse 22 like before that there will be thievery he quotes a verse of Jeremiah about things being there constant that could anger me constantly the the explains comes from the word of anger even was upset was angered by the fact that as caused him to do all this meaning that he had to use so much effort to be able to appease as verse 23 that night he got up and he took his two wives and the two bonds women and his 11 children his 11 sons and he crossed over the ford of Yabok this. Why does he only mention about his 11 sons? Didn't he mention that he had a daughter as well? Where was Dina? So, the Torah tells us he locked her up in a box that shouldn't see her and desire her. Because of that, Jacob was punished that he held her back from her father. Maybe she could have influenced as to do some to correct himself to be be better and therefore to do chashes enough because he didn't use that opportunity. She then was raped and captured by the people of interesting thing that why was it that he was only concerned about Dina? Why didn't then Leia marry Asaf? If she was able to bring him back to Tushua, why wasn't Leia concerned? And why was Leia concerned that she was going to marry Asaf? The same idea. She would have been able to cause Asaf to repent. And some commentaries want to explain because Leia came from a home of an evil person feeling that she did not have maybe that opportunity or that appropriate merit to be able to transform Asaf. However, Dina that she grew up in the house of Yakov. She was taught about how to change and transform and even live amongst evil people. She would then have the ability to transform Asaf. The Torah then continues with verse 24. The last rash was the name of the river. Verse 24 and he took them and he carried them across the stream and then carried all his possession across across the stream as well. What does that mean? Rashi tells us the animals and all his other uh items that belong to him. He made itself like a bridge that he would take some things from one hand and then he and bring it to the other side. Verse 25. After Yakov kept on moving things to the other side, Yakov remained on his own on the north shore of the Yabok River. And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. Verse 25. [snorts] Why was Jacob there? If he already crossed everybody over and everybody moved to the other side of the river, why was Jacob there himself? So Rashi tells us because he forgot a few small jugs and he went back to get them. Showing us the importance and the value of even something small, he still went back to make sure everything was taken with him. And a person wrestled. What is the word? Because when a person wrestles because they wrestling back and forth the dust and the earth on the bottom of their feet gets thrown all over the place to seem it seems the word when we're talking about wrestling means that they're connecting which comes from the idea that when you're wrestling with a person you're each grabbing around the other person and it's more from the Aramaic after he held on to him, connected to him, like making a knot. Because when you have two people wrestling with one another, each one's trying to overpower the next to throw the other guy down. He grabs him. He hugs him and he tries to put him like in an in a headlock or whatever it may be with his arms to be able to throw him down to the ground. Who was the individual that he was wrestling with? The rabbis explained that this was the angel of Asov that tried to kill Yakov and he saw that he was not able to wrestle him. The angel saw that he was not able to overcome Jacob. So he touched Yakov's hip joint and he dislocated his joint because he was wrestling with it. What does this mean? The joint of the hip which is inserted. That means with the way you have the hips, the way the bones are that there's like an opening. It's like a spoon is like and in it sits each joint one into the other interlocks one another. That's why he calls it like a spoon because the flesh that covers over the bone in the place where it connects it goes up over the bone like a spoon that covers a spoon that you eat how the how it goes up. What is the word? He dislocated it from the place that it's connected. We have a place similar to that in the verse in Jeremiah. Maybe my soul will be removed, dislocated from younish as well to uproot the roots that nothing should be ready, nothing should be remaining. [snorts] And the angel says to Jacob, send me because the dawn for the dawn has breaking. And he said, "I will not send you unless you bless me. What does it make a difference just because the dawn is breaking?" The angel said, "I have to go up to God and say my special song that the angels that they would say song every single morning and sing before God." And he says, "I got to be there as the morning breaks." love. So the angel said to Yakov, "What is your name?" And he said, "Yakov, Jacob is my name." What does it mean by verse 27? The what was Yakov telling him? He said, "You have to agree. You have to acknowledge that the blessings that my father gave me belongs to me because you're the angel of and he's complaining that the blessings not really mine and not legitimately mine. I want you to acknowledge that these blessings are legitimately mine. So what does the angel tell him? Verse 29. Your name shall no longer be called but because you have striven with God and with men and you have prevailed. Verse 29 meaning it should not be said. It should not say that you got the blessings in a trickery way and therefore your name was but only you got it in glory and kind and in honor of him and in in the open without embarrassment [snorts] and ultimately is he asked what's going to be he says even though I'm only changing I'm not really changing your name right now all I'm doing is acknowledging that the blessings really belong to you will see eventually that God will come to you in the city of B. He's going to change your name over there. He's going to bless you. I will be there as well and I will acknowledge that the blessings and I would admit and agree that is yours. That's why it says in the that Jacob was over overcame the the angel and was victorious and the and the angel cried and he begged him. What did he beg him? He asked the angel asked send me now but when it comes to I'll come there and give you the blessings wait until God will speak to me over there in Bale and over there I'll bless you said no no no no we're not going to delay we're not going to push off this blessing you're going to bless me right now and right here that's why the verse ends that he blessed him the angel was praying Please wait. Wait until we get the B and then I'll do it for you. Did not. And he forced him to give him the blessings while he was there by the Yabok River. Verse 30. Who are the people that you were able to overcome? Asov and you prevailed that you were also able to convince them and and get and be uh successful over them. Verse 30. And Jacob asked and he said, "Now that I gave you my name, tell me your name," he asks the angel. And the angel replied, "Why do you ask for my name?" And he blessed him there. Verse 30, what's going on over here? What's this conversation? What's the purpose of Jacob knowing his name? And he tells him, actually, he tells the Jacob, the angel says, There's no purpose of you knowing my name because my name constantly changes but depending on what our errand is that that we are being sent for that's what my name is and therefore for me to tell you my name there's no purpose we see over here that Jacob's name was changed from Yakov to Israel as explains and tells us that the Jewish people that are called by the name of Yakov and Israel Yakov is Abdi Yakov my servant Yakov is my son Israel. Each one of them symbolize a two a two-dimensional two dimensions in how we serve God. Serving God as a servant because we have to with lack of joy. And then they're serving God as Israel as a leader out of joy. Both of them are necessary. That's why we find in contrast where his name was changed. Never again do we find his original name. However, Yakov we find the original name used again and that is because in our service to God the first step is yes we serve God because we need to out of subservience as Yakov and eventually we make it to the level of Israel serving God out of joy but one cannot immediately jump to the level of Israel at times or in any time at level we may be and we also need the idea of Yakov and for that Yakov's name is mentioned again because that level of Yakov is always necessary out of subservience which ultimately will lead to joy. This concludes the Torah reading for the second day.