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By Rabbi Avraham
Fischer. A publication of the Orthodox Union in cooperation with the Seymour
J. Abrams Orthodox Union Jerusalem World Center |
Parshat Vayishlach
December 12, 2003
The Torah completes the “scroll of Yitzchak” by first
delineating the descendants of his older son Esav:
And these are the generations of Esav, who is Edom. Esav had taken his wives
from the daughters of Canaan: Adah, the daughter of Eilon the Hittite, and
Oholivama, daughter of Anah, daughter of Tziv’on the Chivvite and Basmot,
daughter of Yishmael, sister of Nevayot (Bereishit 36:1-3).
Rashi comments on 37:1 that the Torah dispenses summarily with Esav and his
descendants so it can focus at length on its more important topic: the family
of Yaakov.
Esav has transgressed Avraham’s forcefully pronounced edict (24:2-9), that his
offspring are not to marry women from the local idolaters. His marriage to
Machlot, a daughter of Yishmael, without divorcing his other wives, was mere
whitewashing (Rashi on 28:9). Therefore, Esav lost his entitlement to the
firstborn’s birthright.
The first of Esav’s children were born in Canaan. Then:
And Esav took his wives and his sons and his daughters, and all the souls of
his house, and his livestock, and all his animals, and all his acquisitions
which he had gained in the land of Canaan, and he went into land from before
Yaakov his brother. Because their possessions were too great for them to dwell
together, and the land of their sojourning was not able to bear them, due to
their livestock. And Esav settled in Mount Se’ir; Esav, he is Edom (36:6-8).
Esav’s departure from Canaan — aside from economic
considerations — may have been prompted by Yitzchak’s blessing that Esav will
release himself from Yaakov’s domination by leaving:
And it will be, when you depart, then you will break his yoke from upon your
neck (27:40; according to R. Yehudah HeChasid’s interpretation).
Ramban (on 36:6) further explains the words and he went into land:
“Esav went to Se’ir in the days of the chieftains of the Chorites, the
inhabitants of the land (36:20), and became a lord with a following of four
hundred men, while his children and family remained in the land of Canaan…And
after his brother returned to the land of Canaan he vacated before his coming
for he knew that the land of Canaan was the inheritance of his brother which his
father had given him in his blessing. So he took his sons . . . and all the
souls of his house — a multitude of people — and went to Se’ir to settle there.“
In his comments to Devarim 2:10, Ramban states that Chivvi is
identical with Chori, who is a son of Canaan (based on Bereishit 10:17). And the
original person named Se’ir is a Chorite (36:20),
The Chorites originated in an area familiar to the Patriarchs, corresponding to
the region of modern-day Kurdistan, Turkey and Armenia, from the Van Sea to the
Euphrates, as far west as the Nur Draglari mountains, and southward to the
Transjordan. Even Pharaoh Merneptah (13th cent. BCE) refers to Canaan as “the
land of Churu.”
Se’ir also refers to the area east of the Arava, south of the Dead Sea until
Eilat (see Devarim 2:4-8; Yehoshua 24:4):
and the Chorite upon their mountain Se’ir, as far as the Plain of Paran next to
the wilderness (Bereishit 14:6).
Se’ir means “goat,” as well as “woodlands” (see Rashi on Shoftim 3:26). After
Yaakov returned this was where the children of Esav, the nation of Edom,
settled.
In addition to Edom being a sobriquet for Esav (based on the incident of the
“red, red” lentil stew in Bereishit 25:29-34), and the name of the nation he
founds, it is also the name of his land, which is reddish rock (see Melachim II
3:22). His land suits him: “Esav is ruddy . . . his land is ruddy” (Bereishit
Rabba 63:30).
Through Esav’s marriage to Oholivama, daughter of Anah, daughter of Tziv’on the
Chivvite, and his son Eliphaz’s taking of Timna as concubine (36:11-12, 20, 22),
Edom unites with Se’ir/Chorite/Chivvite. The merger is so complete that the
descendants of Se’ir are always listed together with the descendants of Esav
(36:20-30; Divrei HaYamim I 1:38-42)!
Later, while the children of Israel would be in Egypt, the children of Esav
would annihilate the original inhabitants of Se’ir, as Moshe tells his people:
And in Se’ir the Chorites dwelled previously, and the children of Esav drove
them away from before themselves and dwelled in their place, as Israel did to
the Land of its inheritance, which Hashem gave them (Devarim 2:12).
This land was intended for Avraham, as one of the ten nations (Bereishit
15:19-21). Thus, Ramban explains:
“The children of Esav who are of the seed of Avraham succeeded them and dwelled
in their stead by a miraculous event. The Chorites were a populous nation in
their land and the children of Esav came to dwell there and overpowered them
just as Israel did to the remaining nations [in the land that was] promised to
Avraham, that G-d gave them in His great power. Thus G-d divided [the lands of]
all these [ten] nations among the seed of Abraham ― one to Esav, and the balance
to Israel who was the firstborn son . . . “
The settlement of Esav — and he went into land . . . and the land of their
sojourning . . . And Esav settled in Mount Se’ir — thus stands in stark contrast
to Yaakov’s settlement:
And Yaakov settled in the land of the sojourning of his fathers, in the land of
Canaan (37:1).
Both of them take their rightful place in their land, thus fulfilling Hashem’s
design, and both of them eventually supplant the original inhabitants. But Esav
adopts Se’ir’s tribal organization, and absorbs their incestuous value-system,
becoming indistinguishable from them.
But woe to Yaakov if he would follow a similar path! [Imagine what would have
happened if Yaakov and his sons had acquiesced to Shechem’s plan to become one
nation (34:22)!]
In fulfilling his Divine destiny, Yaakov must beware not to imitate the very
people he will conquer.
| "Ain
Torah K'Torat Eretz Yisrael!"- Torah from Aloh Na'aleh* |
| Vayishlach
In 1933, when Hitler (yimach
shemo) rose to power in Germany, one of the heads of the Radin Yeshiva
asked the Chafetz Chayim about the fate of the Jews. After all, the wicked
one announced his goal to annihilate the Jewish people (God forbid). The
Chafetz Chayim answered: “He shall not succeed! No one has ever succeeded
in destroying our nation in the lands of our dispersion. The verse says
explicitly: ‘If Eisav comes to one camp and smites it, then the remaining
camp will escape (Bereishit 32:9).’”
The questioner
understood that the danger was imminent, and he continued to ask
innocently: “If the oppressor succeeds in destroying a portion of the
Jewish people (God forbid), who will be the remaining camp that will
escape?” “This, too,” replied the Chafetz Chayim, “is stated explicitly in
Scripture [in this week’s haftorah]: “On Mount Zion there will be a
remnant, and it will be holy (Ovadyah 1:17).”
The questioner left the
Chafetz Chayim’s presence completely shaken and agitated over the imminent
destruction of European Jewry. Yet he felt confident that our Holy Land
would be saved. (Chafetz Chayim Al HaTorah)
This may, perhaps, explain why the first thing Yaakov did after escaping
unscathed from Eisav’s clutches was to buy a piece of land in Eretz
Israel: “Yaakov arrived whole in the city of Shechem… and he encamped
before the city. [Then] he bought the portion of land upon which he
pitched his tent, from the sons of Chamor, the father of Shechem, for one
hundred kesitahs (Bereishit 33:18-19).” Yaakov understood that the best
way to ensure Jewish survival is to build up the only true safe-haven the
Jewish people have: Eretz Israel.
But there is another
reason why Yaakov bought the field in Shechem: Ibn Ezra comments on the
above-cited verses: “The Torah mentions this to demonstrate that Eretz
Yisrael has great virtues, and he who has a portion in it is considered as
[if he has] a portion in the World-to-Come.” Yaakov was not only running
away from oppression; he was also running towards a higher spiritual
plane.
So, whether you wish to
return to the Jewish homeland to escape present or future persecution or
to attain a portion in the World-to-Come, follow Yaakov Avinu’s example
and buy a portion in the Land before it is too late.
Rabbi Moshe D. Lichtman
Mevaseret Tzion / Beit Shemesh
*D’var Torah from Aloh Na'aleh:
an initiative of former North American Rabbis and laymen who successfully
made Aliyah, aimed at highlighting the centrality of Israel and promoting
Aliyah. They send emissaries – Rabbis, academicians, and others – on
speaking-tours throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Contact information:
Tel: 972-2-566-1181 ext. 320
Fax: 972-2-566-1186
Email: aloh-naaleh@aaci.org.il |
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