Yaakov's Minchah: Judgment, Angels and Rest

40“And he took from what had come into his hand a minchah, a gift.” We may find a hint here. Minchah is the time when the dinim, the harsh judgments, grow strong, Heaven save us. When a tzaddik must save himself from some wicked man who has risen against him, he brings down on that man the judgments that go out at the time of Minchah, the afternoon prayer. That is why Eliyahu, too, took vengeance on the prophets of Baal at that hour.¹ And this was also Yaakov's intent in his minchah: to bring the judgments down on Esav, so that he could not do him harm. That was not his only intent. Minchah (מנחה) also has the letters of menuchah (מנוחה), “rest,” and of machaneh (מחנה), “camp”: he meant that camps and bands of angels would help him and save him from the hand of Esav his brother, and that he would have rest from him. That is “And he took from what had come into his hand a minchah”: everything in his hand, that is, in his power and authority, he hinted at in the minchah. He intended all of it in the gift, and so he succeeded against Esav. This is easy to understand.