פרשת וישלח
This week’s Parsha opens with Yaakov sending a gift to his brother Eisav in order to appease his brother so that he should not kill him. Yaakov sends angels before him to relay the message to Eisav and to bring him the generous gift that he had prepared for him. One of the things Yaakov tells the angels to convey to Eisav is that he had been living with Lavan for the past 20 years, and although Lavan was tremendously wicked, Yaakov had been careful in all of his Mitzvah observance and had not compromised his religiosity in spite of his surroundings. One can’t help but wonder exactly what Yaakov was hoping to communicate to his wicked brother Eisav by telling him how particular he had been with his Mitzvah observance. How did he believe this argument would dissuade Eisav from attacking him?
I once heard a nice explanation to solve this difficulty. Generally speaking, the way to make peace is to have the two opposing forces speak out their differences, and to have each of them compromise their positions a little bit. Through this method, they can each come a littler closer to each other until they find a common enough ground that they can both exist on. However, in this case, Yaakov was telling Eisav that although he was willing to do whatever it took to establish a peaceful relationship, he was completely unwilling to compromise any facet of his religious observance to achieve that goal. Yaakov was willing to send gifts, speak respectfully, and even subjugate his honor and respect to his brother. But the one thing that was absolutely non-negotiable was his religious observance. Yaakov was telling Eisav that although he desired peace, it this was the element which was demanded to offer up on the alter of peace, Yaakov would rather have war with his brother.
Yaakov lived with Lavan for no less then 20 years, and yet he testified about himself that he didn’t forfeit one iota of his Mitzvah observance. We know that it is that way of the world to be influenced by the forces around us. The people who lived with Lavan, and Lavan himself at their head, were the absolute worst kind of people that we could possibly imagine. Just being near these wicked, unrefined retches would probably make us nauseous, yet Yaakov was able to retain every ounce of his purity and holiness despite his being in their company on a consistent basis for 20 years. Where did Yaakov draw the incredible strength and stamina that this feat must have required?
There is no question about it that Yaakov’s primary strength came from the Torah that he learned. We know that Yaakov stopped in the Yeshiva of Shem and Aver and studied there for no less then 14 years during which he hardly slept. In addition, we know that Yaakov was known as a “tent dweller” and this is referring to the tent of the Torah. Certainly the most effective weapon against the urge to abandon one’s Torah observance is his mastery of the Torah itself. However, one must be aware that the study of Torah alone is not enough to prevent one from veering from the beaten path. It is essential that one adheres closely to one’s “Mesorah” as well in order to ensure one’s faithfulness to the ways of the Torah in the face of adversity.
We find that when Yaakov makes his vow to always keep the Torah if Hashem guards over him, Yaakov adds, “And you (God) will ensure that I return to my father’s house safely”. We see from this statement that it was always on Yaakov’s mind to return to his father’s house – meaning – in all that he did, Yaakov never strayed from his father’s teachings and continued to follow them, despite his own greatness in Torah. Yaakov was setting the precedent for all of us and demonstrating that although we all are responsible to learn the Torah, and try to explain it the best we can, we also must foster a loyalty to the teachings of our ancestors and not deviate from the path they have paved for us. This important lesson must always remain with us and will always tie us directly to Sinai.
The Gemorah in Gittin (88a) strengthens this lesson by pointing out that Hashem purposely destroyed the Beis Hamikdash 11 years earlier then planned allowing the exile of Tzidkiyahu to occur when the Rosh Yeshiva, Yechonia, was still alive. The reason Hashem did this is because He wanted to ensure that by the time they were in exile, they had access to a Rosh Yeshiva and the other great leaders of the previous generation in order to ask them all their questions and regenerate all of the Torah that had been passed down in earlier generations. Such is the power of preserving one’s Mesorah that Hashem deemed it necessary to destroy His own home 11 years early to ensure that the Jews would have it.
There is a Gemorah in Chagigah (5b) which tells that R’ Idi used to spend three months traveling to see his Rebbe, and the return trip would also take him three months. This arduous journey only left him one day to spend with his Rebbe! Yet nevertheless, it was obviously worth it for him because he would do it every year. This Gemorah again is teaching us the value of retaining a connection with the previous generations’ teachings and the importance of attaching ourselves to those teachings and never making the mistake of thinking that we can “make it on our own”.
I would just like to conclude with the words of R’ Shach, the leader of our generation who passed away a few years ago. R’ Shach was well known as a tremendously diligent studier of Torah who wasted very little time and had achieved a great mastery of the entire breadth of the Torah. Yet he writes about himself that all of his achievements are due solely to his own Torah masters, and that every interaction that he has during the course of the day, and every Halachic ruling that he made, were all done with the vivid picture of his Rebbeim in front of him and with their approval. Although his Rebbeim had obviously been long dead, he never moved, right or left, without consulting them directly to ascertain his next action. Such was the level of “Mesorah” R’ Shach felt was necessary for a Jew to establish in order to properly proceed.
May Hashem bless us to merit learning the Torah properly and to never forsake the teachings of our ancestors!