Feature Tidbit We've Said it Before, But... It bears repeating; it really does. It is frustrating in the extreme to see the country take dangerous steps, seemingly ignoring the lessons of the Torah and the lessons of Jewish History. When they last saw each other, Eisav was planning to kill Yaakov. Rivka and Yitzchak sent Yaakov away, to Rivka's family, so that he would find a suitable wife (wives) and that he would be safe from Eisav. It is now more than 20 years later, and Yaakov and family are en route back to Eretz Yisrael. Eisav is nearby with a force of 400 men. Yaakov prepares for the encounter and then it happens. The brothers meet and embrace. Eisav kisses Yaakov. It is well known that the word VAYISHAKEIHU, and he kissed him, is written in the Torah with dots above the word. This is equivalent to an asterisk and it is calling our attention to the word. Rashi tells us that there are two opinions as to what Tradition is trying to tell us. One opinion is that the kiss was not sincere.That Eisav still hates Yaakov. He was only going through the motions. The other opinion is that "at this moment", Eisav was overcome by sincere brotherly emotions and kissed Yaakov with all his heart. This, notwithstanding the well-known truism, that "Eisav hates Yaakov". This second opinion does NOT suggest that Eisav abandoned his hatred for Yaakov and now loved him.It might sound pessimistic to say that the same truism has existed throughout Jewish History and thrives today. Pessimistic? I don't know. But it definitely is realistic. Was Sadat's visit and intentions to Israel sincere. I'd like to think they were. Certainly, those that murdered him were sincere in their hatred of Israel. I don't think anyone believes that Arafat would love to live in peace with Israel. He'll keep taking and keep asking for more. While Israel is asked to make very significant concession of land and security (and other things), Arafat is asked to stop saying that he wants to destroy Israel. That's a fair deal? He not onlytells his own people his true feelings and intentions, he's now telling CNN and the whole world. We might not be able to change the non-Jew's attitude against us, but we should at least be aware of his true feelings, and not do stupid, self-destructive things. Yaakov Avinu was not fooled. He wanted to live at peace with Eisav, but he remained weary of Eisav and his potential influence. There are definitely Arabs who would like to live at peace with us, but there are plenty who still passionately hate us. We must be careful. [The Vayishlach Homepage] |
