SEDRAH SELECTIONS PARSHAS VA'YISHLACH 5769 BS"D

Ch. 32, v. 7: "V'gam holeich likros'cho" - And he is also going towards you - Not only are you walking towards him, but he is ALSO walking towards you. Therefore you will meet quite shortly. (Ramban)

Not only is he walking towards you, but ALSO his ministering angel is accompanying him. Indeed, we find later that Yaakov had an encounter with the angel before he met Eisov. This also explains the double expression of "va'yeero Yaakov m'ode va'yeitzar lo." "Yiroh" was his fear of Eisov and "va'yeitzar" was his discomfort of meeting Eisov's angel. (Rabbeinu Bachyei)

Ch. 32, v. 8: "Va'yeitzar lo" - And he was anguished - Rashi explains that this was Yaakov's fear of killing his opponent. Given the gemara Sanhedrin's (72a) ruling that "Habo l'hor'g'cho hashkeim l'horgo," - if one comes to kill you, hasten to kill him - why was he so bothered? Baalei Tosfos answer that he feared he might kill when he could have only injured and thus disarmed his opponent. Mahara"l of Prague answers that if he would kill Eisov his father Yitzchok would curse him.

Ch. 32, v. 11: "V'makli ovarti es haYardein" - With my walking stick I have passed through the Jordan - Rashi explains that Yaakov was praising Hashem on account of his having passed through the Jordan River as a destitute person, having only his walking stick, and now he had two large encampments. Perhaps we have an allusion to Yaakov's expressing his earlier impoverishment through the word "v'makli," whose numerical value is the same as Yaakov, indicating that it was only Yaakov, sans any possessions. (n.l.)

Ch. 32, v. 12: "Ki yo'rei onochi oso" - Because I fear him - Baalei Tosfos write that when Eisov was born he had a deep red skin colouring and Yitzchok waited to perform his circumcision until he would become bar-mitzvoh. At that point Eisov refused to have it done, so he remained an "oreil." Perhaps there is an allusion to eisov's not being circumcised in these words of our verse, based on the text of the Holy Zohar on Bmidbar 21:34, where he says that Hashem's telling Moshe to not fear Og, king of Boshon, "al tiro oso," has the word "oso" spelled with a letter Vov after the Alef (and he adds that this is one of only two places in the Torah where this appears). We don't have this extra Vov in our Torah Scrolls, but according to the Holy Zohar it appears in that verse because the translation of "oso" is not "him," but rather, "his SIGN," hence the extra letter Vov. Our "Ki yo'rei onochi oso" has no extra letter Vov in "oso" even according to the Holy Zohar. If Eisov would have been circumcised it is quite logical to assume that Yaakov would have feared Eisov's overpowering him at least partly in the merit of his being circumcised. Since there is no Vov in "oso," and it has the common meaning of "him," we see that Eisov was not circumcised. (n.l.)

Ch. 34, v. 25: "Ish charbo" - A man his sword - Rashi in his commentary on the gemara Nozir says that we see from here that a male reaches the age of majority when he is thirteen years old, because if you calculate when this incident with Sh'chem took place you will see that Lev was just thirteen years old. Mahar"i Chalavoh says that when one is still a minor he is called a "koton." This is because the numerical value of "koton" is 159. If we calculate the months a person lives while he is a minor we find 159 months. Thirteen times twelve months yields 156. There are for full years in thirteen years, so when the boy reaches his thirteenth year he has lived 160 months. One month before this he is still a minor and has experienced his 159th month.

Ch. 35, v. 16: "Al tiri ki gam zeh loch bein" - Fear not because this will also be for you a son - Even though you are suffering severe labour pains, which usually indicate that the fetus is a girl, this is a son. (Sforno)

"Gam" refers to a second girl born along with Binyomin. Each son of Yaakov had a twin girl born with him and Binyomin had two. (Medrash)

Ch. 36, v. 1: "Eisov hu Edom" - Eisov is Edom - We find the exact same words in verse 8. The repetition deserves clarification. Perhaps here we state this to clarify that the children Eisov had in Eretz Yisroel were part of the nation known as Edom, and in verse 8, where it says that he settled in Har Se'ir the verse needs to tell us that all descendants of his from the time he lived there were also part of the nation of Edom (a rather weak explanation). Any help would be appreciated.

Ch. 36, v. 4: "U'Vosmas yoldoh es R'u'eil" - And Bosmas gave birth to R'u'eil - When the women are mentioned Oholivomoh precedes Bosmas, so why are the children of Bosmas mentioned ahead of Oholivomoh's? When we mention the women we go in the order of their marriages, and Oholivomoh married earlier than did Bosmas. When we mention their children we mention the woman who gave birth earlier, and Bosmas gave birth earlier. (Rabbi Avrohom ben hoRambam)

Ch. 36, v. 6: "Va'yikach Eisov es noshov v'es bonov …… va'yeilech el eretz" - And Eisov took his wives and his sons …… and he went to a land - Pirkei d'Rebbi Eliezer chapter #38 relates that when Yitzchok died and left over his possessions for Yaakov and Eisov. This is why Eisov was willing to be involved in Yitzchok's funeral. When they were to split the inheritance Eisov told Yaakov that they should take all the possessions and create two parcels, and Eisov would chose his portion as is appropriate for a firstborn. Yaakov said that he at least deserves to divide the inheritance and Eisov agreed. Yaakov took all the possessions and made them one parcel and said that the second parcel is the right to own Eretz Yisroel.

Eisov went to Yishmo'el to seek counsel. (Sefer Ha'yoshor says that Yishmo'el died before Yitzchok did and the intention is that Eisov went to N'voyos, Yishmo'el's son.) He advised Eisov to forego the rights to the land as the Emorites and Canaanites were ruling the land at the time. Eisov returned and took all the cattle, etc. He also wrote a document to the effect of his relinquishing all rights to the land, including the M'oras Hamachpeiloh. Yaakov then told Eisov take all the possessions and leave Eretz Yisroel and he complied. In the merit of his leaving Eretz Yisroel, as stipulated, he received control over 100 countries, from Se'ir to Magdi'el.

Ch. 36, v. 15: "Aluf K'naz" - The chieftain K'naz - K'naz is mentioned ahead of Gatom as a chieftain even though when their births are mentioned, Gatom came first. This is because Gatom was born before K'naz. However, K'naz became a chieftain before Gatom did, so here K'naz is mention first. (Ramban, Rabbi Avrohom ben hoRambam)

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See also Oroh V'Simchoh - Meshech Chochmoh on the Weekly Parsha, Chasidic Insights and Chamisha Mi Yodei'a