Im Lavan Garti – Parshas Vayishlach 5769
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Loading ...I once commented to my Rebbe Rav Nochum Lansky Shlit”a that this parshah was very enjoyable, he responded “They all are”. That being the obvious truth, though sometimes some parshiyos speak to you more than others. All of sefer Brayshis is like that in regards to the foundations of our Emunah and the very essence of what it is all about. To choose one things to talk about it is more difficult than the actual sugyah at hand. In the past I have been writing longer articles all going through one idea. That has kept me from posting some weeks because I only had several smaller ideas. No longer will I hold back, even one word of Torah is worth while. I will separate different ideas with a line and a sub-heading division. I hope to keep up the writing, as long as you keep up the reading!
Im Lavan Garti – With Lavan I Lived
There is a very well known Rashi on this pasuk, let’s explore it. Says Rashi[1].
“ד”א גרתי בגמטריא תרי”ג כלומר עם לבן הרשע גרתי ותרי”ג מצות שמרתי ולא למדתי ממעשיו הרעים” – The word “Garti” is the same gematriah as the word Taryag (613, there are 613 Mitzvos in the Torah). Taryag mitzvos I guarded and I did not learn from his wicked ways
This is a very nice idea, we learn that Yaakov kept all of the Mitzvos even in such circumstances. Why is this the place to tell us that? At this time the Torah is telling us the events that took place when Yaakov learns of his brother Esav’s camp approaching after years of separation. The pasuk says to tell his brother his servant that he Yaakov his slave lived with Lavan was detained until now. The first question is why would you call Esav your master as he was a wicked individual. The Ramban suggests that this was a way of showing respect that should be given to the oldest born. This gesture reveals to us the true spirit of Yaakov that he didn’t care about the respect of the birthright. With this understanding, we can attempt to analyze our first question. Why is this the place to discuss the observance of the Mitzvos in Yaakov’s dwelling with Lavan. The Baal HaTurim points out that the word at the end of the pasuk עתה (now) is a remez to the time that the people of Yisroel are in exile. As the ע is the seventy years in between the first Temple and the Second temple. The ת is the four-hundred years of the exile in Egypt. The ה is the five thousand years of exile under Edom who is Esav.[2] With this understanding we can understand the first question. The explanation given by the Ramban was to attempt to appease Esav for the birthright. In doing so Yaakov tells Esav that he was able to keep the mitzvos under the influence of Lavan. The Midrash Lekach Tov explains that up until Yaakov lived with Lavan he was unable to completely keep the Torah. Through living with Lavan he was now fulfilling all of the Taryag Mitzvos including reproduction and respecting your parents. Up until Yaakov arrived by Lavan he had not wed therefore not fulfilling the commandment of his Father to get married. Through Lavan Yaakov was able to complete the will of the Torah. Yaakov comes from the word עקב or heel. This is because he grabbed on to his older brother’s heel when leaving his mother’s womb. Chazal tell us that this is the relationship that Yaakov has with the world. Yaakov represents all spirituality, and Esav represents physicality. The way that the people of Yisroel live is through the heel of the physical realm. Meaning by using the physical to carry out the spiritual. Perhaps this idea is well expressed in this pasuk we have been working through. Yaakov wants his brother to realize that it is the physical world that we must harness and utilize to succeed in this world. We will be casted against our will, through exile and punishment. Ultimately however, through the observance of the Torah we will prevail. If we ‘live’ in this world and make the physical our ambition we will just be a slave to Esav. If we embrace the spiritual world, we will be privileged by being an Eved Hashem. There is also an aspect of appreciation to Esav. Even with all the difficulties that he causes, he is a stepping stone for Yaakov. Therefore Yaakov should express his appreciation to his brother. Perhaps that is another lesson we learn from this pasuk where Yaakov shows respect to his brother and adds that he had been enduring a great deal of tests through Lavan. Just like he prevailed with those tests, so too with the three exiles that the people of Yisroel will have to endure we will succeed. With this message we see that even in the most difficult scenarios there is always that ray of hope that carries us through. That ray of hope is the realization that I am going through this stage of life not by chance, rather through the great chessed that the Almighty constantly bestow upon us. With this realization we should all be zocheh to realize the gravity of all the events that we encounter and through our faith, and our actions that follow them, we will achieve greatness!
