PARSHAT VAYISHLACH - IF ONLY WE WOULD SEE THE RETURNING LIGHT

[TorahZionist]

BS"D

YESHIVAT HARA'AYON HAYEHUDI
Jerusalem, Israel
HaRav Yehuda Kreuser SHLIT"A, Rosh Yeshiva

PARSHAT VAYISHLACH
14 Kislev 5768/23-24 November 2007


IF ONLY WE WOULD SEE THE RETURNING LIGHT

“And Jacob was left alone with a man, and he wrestled with him until the
break of dawn. When he perceived that he could not overcome him he struck
his thighbone and Jacobs’s thighbone became dislocated as he wrestled with
him. Then he said: Let me go, for dawn has broken, and he said: I will not
let you go unless you bless me. He said to him: What is your name? He said:
Jacob. He said: No longer will it be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven
with the Divine and with men, and you have overcome.”

Our parsha teaches us of the transformation of Jacob - from the
“Ish-Tam” a Torah scholar, one who never left the tents of the Yeshiva
world, into a “Scholar-Warrior. One who was able to fight and prevail
against the archangel of Esau. All throughout the long night, Jacob and the
angel struggled with the dust from the fight, reaching up to the very throne
of Heaven. Still, the angel remained unable to overcome Jacob.

As dawn broke over the battlefield, and the long night was finally over,
our forefather Jacob came out on top. Even though Jacob was injured in the
ensuing battle, he would not release Esau’s angel until he had received a
blessing, a blessing that would transform him from Jacob into Israel.

The battle that transpired between Jacob and Esau’s angel was not just a
one-time schoolyard fight, but a sign for all generations to come. That
night battle represents our long 2000 years in exile away from our home and
under the hand of the descendents of Esau: from the Greeks, Romans, Spanish,
French, Russians, English, Germans, and all the rest, right up to the last
of the descendents of Esau, a united European Union and the US, which all
have one goal in mind - to fulfill Esau’s dream of killing off Jacob and his
house once and for all. As our Rabbis of blessed memory teach us, Esau sank
his teeth into Jacob's neck to bite him, but Jacob's neck was miraculously
converted into solid marble. Esau’s teeth cracked, and both wept: Jacob,
because his neck hurt from the bite and Esau, for his broken teeth. Rabbi
Shimon bar Yochai said that it is a given fact that is known that Esau hates
Jacob. Hashem Himself answers Esau’s hatred though His holy prophets: “And
Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated”.

And now, finally, after this long 2000-year “night” is beginning to come
to an end, dawn is beginning to break over the horizon. The angel then
blessed Jacob: Know, then, that your main name shall no longer be Jacob -
someone who took the blessings by deceit - but rather Israel, for you have
fought against celestial beings and against mortals and have prevailed. You
are worthy of your father's blessing.

How very sad it is indeed that today, some 60 years after the beginning
of the return of the Jewish people back to their Homeland - after the 2000
year “night” is finally coming to an end and the light of dawn begins to
shine, changing our name to Israel as we enter into the Redemption period,
still, the great majority of the religious Jewish people do not understand
that dawn has begun to arrive. For them, night continues unabated, with
absolutely no meaning or understanding of this great period that Hashem has
brought us into. For them, we continue to live as “Jacob” in the night of
exile, as if nothing has changed. For them, it makes no difference if we
were to live in Minsk, Pinsk, or Monsey. Nothing has changed.

But still, Hashem has His plan, and the transformation - from Jacob to
Israel, from exile to Redemption - is upon us. If only they would see and
take part, it would make the process so much faster, easier and less
painful. Still, it seems it is always that small minority, those few in
number, the ones with understanding, who lead the way for all the Jewish
people. This has always been the way in our history, and it seems will
always be.

And as PM Olmert and Co. prepare to leave and to fall into the claws of
Esau and Ishmael, who are gathering in Annapolis and who have sent their
archangel to once again wrestle with Jacob over the blessing - it is time
for us to stand up like Israel, one who has struggled with the angel and was
able to overcome.

One can only stand in awe as one reads this week's parsha and sees Jacob
falling all over himself to appease his brother Esau, bowing down seven
times before him and called him "my master" eight times. Still, the
Haftorah, from the prophecy of Obadiah, tells us how the final chapter with
brother Esau will play itself out. “Among the nations an envoy has been sent
(Annapolis), arise, let us rise up against her to do battle… you ascend as
high as an eagle and place your nest among the stars - from there I will
bring you down. For the day of Hashem upon the Nations is near, as you did
so will be done to you, your recompense shall return upon your head. Then
saviors will ascend Mount Zion to judge Esau’s mountain, and the kingdom
will be Hashem’s”.

Amen!


With love of Israel,
Levi Chazen


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