Whole in His Wealth: Hashem's Honor in Everything

1“And Yaakov came whole (shalem) to the city of Shechem.”¹ Chazal said: “Whole in his body, whole in his money, whole in his Torah.”² At first glance this is hard to understand. Why mention “whole in his money” about Yaakov Avinu, the chosen one of the Avos? Do complete tzaddikim like him attach any importance at all to money, so that they are pleased to see their wealth grow?

2A second teaching of Chazal also needs explaining: “All those gifts that Yaakov Avinu gave to Esav, the nations of the world are destined to return to King Moshiach in the Time to Come.”³ This is puzzling. In the days of Moshiach “the earth will be filled with knowledge,”⁴ and physical things will count for nothing. For then the verse will be fulfilled: “Not a hunger for bread nor a thirst for water, but to hear the word of Hashem.”⁵ If so, what is so significant about the gifts being returned then?

3To understand this, we may say the following. We know that “everything the Holy One, blessed be He, created in His world, He created only for His honor,”⁶ for in everything in the world one must see only the honor of Heaven. Complete tzaddikim, on their great level, see only the honor of Heaven in everything before them. It follows that for them, physical things such as money are as important as spiritual things such as Torah and mitzvos, for in money, too, there is the honor of Heaven.

4This is indeed a great level, and not everyone is privileged to reach it. Yaakov Avinu, the chosen one of the Avos, certainly reached it: he saw only the honor of Heaven in everything in the world. That is what Chazal meant by “whole in his money.” Because he stood on this level, his physical possessions naturally counted for him exactly as Torah and mitzvos did. So for him, “whole in his money” was the same kind of wholeness as “whole in his Torah.” Now we can see that Chazal were right to mention it: they are teaching us the greatness of Yaakov Avinu, who reached this wondrous level. This answers our first question.

5But, as is well known, “the deeds of the fathers are a sign for the children,”⁷ and whatever the holy Avos did, they accomplished also for the generations to come, until the coming of Moshiach. In the later generations, these lowly generations of ours, it is very hard to reach this level of seeing the honor of Heaven in everything. Then, with money left unrectified, the chitzonim, the outside forces of impurity, draw nourishment from it. That is why Yaakov Avinu gave the gift to Esav: [as a sign for his children,] it alludes to the nourishment the outside forces draw from money.

6We may find a hint of this in Chazal's words: “The coin of Avraham Avinu: a young man and a maiden on one side, and an old man and an old woman on the other.”⁸ Chazal were hinting that for Avraham Avinu the days of youth and the days of old age were made equally good, and they meant to teach us a path in the service of Hashem. Just as in old age, when there is no longer strength or desire for physical things, money is rectified as a matter of course, so in our youth we must toil and work to make physical matters as rectified as they are in old age. All our deeds should then be only for the honor of Heaven. That is the meaning of “the coin of Avraham Avinu”: his money was whole and rectified in the way we have described, and through his service he accomplished this for the generations to come.

7This is why Chazal said that in the days of Moshiach the nations will return the gift Yaakov gave Esav. As is well known, the Rambam writes that in the days of Moshiach knowledge will increase among Israel, and they will all reach high levels and lofty knowledge.⁹ As a result, the world will reach the level of seeing only the honor of Heaven in everything, even in physical things, and the outside forces will no longer draw nourishment from money. Then it will be possible to take back from Esav all those gifts from which the outside forces drew nourishment back then, and to rectify them, so that holiness rests upon them and they become pleasing to Hashem. That is why the nations of the world are destined to return the gifts. This answers our second question.

8May Hashem grant that we be privileged to serve Him in truth and wholeheartedness, and to rectify our deeds. Amen, may it be His will.