Yaakov's Fear, Humility and Trust for Later Generations

1a“Behold, I am with you, and I will guard you wherever you go” [Bereishis 28:15]. “Yaakov was very afraid, and he was distressed” [Bereishis 32:8]. My father and teacher, R' Yechiel of Alexander, zt"l, explained these holy verses together with the words of Chazal (Shabbos 32a)¹ that Rashi cites here [on Bereishis 32:11]: “Perhaps since He made me the promise I have become soiled with sin, and it will cause me to be handed over to Esav.” Yaakov Avinu thought that Hashem's promise was conditional: if “I,” anochi, my very self, remain attached and bound to “the cord of His inheritance” [Devarim 32:9], then “I will guard you wherever you go.” As the verse says, “Hashem is with you while you are with Him” (Divrei HaYamim II 15:2). So when Yaakov saw that dread and fear of Esav had suddenly fallen upon him, he concluded that sin had caused it. The reason for this dread, he thought, is that I am not cleaving to the Creator. For one who truly perfects his soul in wondrous attachment to the Creator does not fear or dread anything in this world. As Chazal say (Berachos 33a)², “Woe to the snake that met R' Chanina ben Dosa.” And as the Chassid wrote in the Chovos HaLevavos (Sha'ar Ahavas Hashem, ch. 6), it would be a disgrace for him to fear anything frightening in this world other than Hashem.

1b“And he was distressed”: Yaakov Avinu was pained and anguished by this very fear. He understood from it that he was not truly cleaving to the Creator, that his sins had caused all this, and that he had been distanced from “the light of the King's face” [cf. Mishlei 16:15]. For such a state Hashem had given him no promise. So he prayed, “Rescue me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esav” [Bereishis 32:12], “and You said, I will surely do good with you” [Bereishis 32:13]. The heart of his prayer was for the honor of Heaven's Name: “Master of the world, act, please, for the sake of Your Name, so that no lessening of Your honor, Heaven forbid, should come of this. True, ‘I have become small through all the kindnesses’ [Bereishis 32:11]. I am soiled with sin, and You are no longer bound to guard me, for Your promise was only on the condition of ‘Behold, I am with you, and I will guard you.’ But only ‘before You is all my desire’ [Tehillim 38:10], and before You alone all hidden things are revealed. The whole world regards me as one who walks before Hashem, and they know that You said, ‘I will surely do good with you.’ Now, if they see my family destroyed, Heaven forbid, Your Name will be desecrated. They will say it was ‘because Hashem was unable’ [cf. Bamidbar 14:16] to guard me and rescue me, and it will be, Heaven forbid, a dishonor before You.”

1cBut “the deeds of the fathers are a sign for the children.” In truth Yaakov Avinu, the choicest of the Avos, was cleaving to the Creator in wondrous attachment, and the only fear he had was the fear of Hashem, “the pure fear of Hashem” [Tehillim 19:10]. It was only that the Creator, the Cause of all causes, hid all this from him and cast on him dread and fear of Esav, so that he would pray such a prayer. That prayer would help his children's children at the end of days, in a time of darkness, when they will not be fit or worthy of Hashem's salvation, soiled as they will be with sins and transgressions. They will pray and cry out to Hashem, and He will answer them, so that no lessening of His honor, Heaven forbid, should come of it.

2aThe explanation follows the Zohar (cf. III:85a): “Whoever toils in it, the Torah, is purified.” The holy light of the Torah purifies a person completely and perfects his soul, so that he cleaves to the light of the face of the living King. As the Zohar says, “The Torah, the Holy One, blessed be He, and Israel are one” [cf. Zohar III:73a], for the Torah binds the Jewish soul to “the cord of Hashem's inheritance.” Through his Torah, Yaakov Avinu cleaved to Hashem in wondrous attachment and feared Him with a pure fear. His fear was that Esav might, Heaven forbid, dominate his children. This is “If Esav comes to the one camp” [Bereishis 32:9]: to the men of knowledge and high spiritual levels, who perform mystical unifications for the One and Unique. “And strikes it”: Yaakov feared that Esav might be able to dominate them. Because they know their own precious worth, it is hard for them to humble themselves. At any rate, “the remaining camp will be a refuge” [ibid.]: those of lesser worth, the ones left over, who know their own low worth. They at least will have survival and a remnant in this exile.

2bThis is what the Midrash says [Bereishis Rabbah 76:3]: “‘If Esav comes to the one camp and strikes it’: these are our brethren in the South,” the sages of the generation, as Chazal say, “One who wishes to become wise should face south” (Bava Basra 25b). “‘The remaining camp will be a refuge’: these are our brethren in exile,” those who are far from the holy light of the face of the living King. “R' H.³ said: Even though they remained as a refuge, they would fast for us on Mondays and Thursdays.” With humble hearts, knowing their low state, they are able to pray for us and fast for us on Mondays and Thursdays. For “a broken and crushed heart, O God, You will not despise” [Tehillim 51:19].

3aThis makes Rashi's words clear: “The word machaneh, camp, is used both in the masculine and in the feminine” [Rashi on Bereishis 32:9]. It can be understood through what the Rav⁴ wrote in his Siddur on Chazal's saying, “At first, when a person acts, he acts for his own sake” (Pesachim 49). Sometimes Chazal call the Torah the betrothed bride and those who study it the groom [cf. Pesachim 49b], and sometimes they say the opposite. Both are true. When a person studies to repair his soul, so that through the Torah “spirit draws spirit” and binds his soul to the light of the Infinite One, the Torah is the groom, the one who gives, and the soul is the bride, who receives. This is “at first, when a person acts, he acts for his own sake”: to repair his soul, raise it and bind it to the light of the Infinite One. Such study is not yet called Torah lishmah, for its own sake, since he learns only to repair his own soul. If only we would merit at least this!

3bBut once his soul has been repaired and is “bound up in the bond of life” [Shmuel I 25:29], he studies lishmah, for the sake of the Torah itself, to bring Hashem gratification and to bring holy affection to the Torah. Then it is the reverse: the Jew is the groom, the one who gives, drawing the light of the Infinite One into the Torah, and the Torah receives and is called the betrothed. So one who cleaves in wondrous attachment to the Creator and studies to bring Him gratification and holy affection gives to the Torah, in the masculine mode. This is what Rashi means: machaneh is used in the masculine, and sometimes in the feminine. When a person studies for himself, to repair his own soul, he is in the feminine mode, the one who receives. Now, “the remaining camp will be a refuge” would seem, by our words and by the Midrash, to mean our brethren in exile, the survivors of the people, who are in the receiving, feminine mode. If so, the verse should have used the feminine form, hamachaneh hanish'eres.

3cIt seems, then, that one who is truly nothing at all in his own eyes, “the one left over,” hanish'ar in the masculine, is precisely the masculine mode: he gives constantly, without pause. He draws the light of the Infinite One into the Torah and brings Hashem gratification and holy affection. For it was through humility that Israel merited to receive the light of the Torah, as we learn from “vayichan,” “Israel encamped there” [Shemos 19:2], as is known and as we have written at length many times elsewhere. All this comes to him in the merit of his joy, the joy of a complete soul that rejoices and is glad to have merited the light of the Torah and to do its Maker's will. This is “vehayah hamachaneh,” “and the camp will be,” for “vehayah always denotes joy” (Megillah 10b)⁵. As in the verse “and Hashem will be [vehayah] his trust” (Yirmiyahu 17:7): through his strong trust in Hashem. As was written on the verse “Trust in Hashem and do good” (Tehillim 37:3), even those of precious worth who study Torah need the trait of trust in order to learn.

3dYaakov Avinu humbled himself and was nothing in his own eyes. Even so, he trusted in Hashem's exaltedness and His abundant kindness, and relied on the King's kindness to rescue him from all evil. As the Midrash says (Shocher Tov 25): It once happened⁶ that the guards of a province were passing by, found a stranger and seized him. He said to them, “Don't strike me; I am a member of the king's household.” When they heard this, they let him be and brought him to the king. The king said, “My son, do you know me?” “No,” he said. “Then how are you a member of my household?” He said, “I beg of you, I am not a member of your household. But I trusted in you, for had I not said so, they would have beaten me.” The king said, “Since he trusted in me, release him.” So David HaMelech said, “In You I have trusted; let me not be shamed” [Tehillim 25:2]. All this was by the providence of the Creator, who looks to the end of all generations. For “the deeds of the fathers are a sign for the children”: so too will they do when they are, Heaven forbid, soiled with sins and transgressions. They will trust in Hashem, pray and cry out to Him, and He will answer them. And their prayer will be like Yaakov Avinu's plea.

4This is the meaning of “until he approached ad his brother” [Bereishis 33:3]. Correct Hebrew would say “el his brother,” as my grandfather, the gaon and tzaddik, zt"l, asked. The word hints that he approached his brother with the trait of bitachon, trust in Hashem. The holy Name of trust is made of the letters that come just before those of the Name Elokim: אכדט"ם, whose numerical value equals ad, seventy-four. This is “For therefore I have seen your face, like seeing the face of Elokim” [Bereishis 33:10]: with this I have seen your face, “like seeing pnei Elokim,” what comes before Elokim, the letters that precede it. See above (maamar 1, at some length). “In You, Hashem, I have taken refuge; let me never be shamed” [Tehillim 31:2]. With this Yaakov sweetened the harsh judgments that came from Esav's accusation. For “one who trusts in Hashem, kindness surrounds him” [Tehillim 32:10]. And his prayer was for the later generations.

5This is the Midrash [Bereishis Rabbah 78:8] on “He bowed to the ground seven times” [Bereishis 33:3]: “Why seven? He said to Him: Picture Yourself seated behind seven screens, judging, while I am judged before You, and You are filled with mercy toward me.” The seven screens are the seven middos, the seven Divine attributes through which Hashem runs the world. Yaakov Avinu was pleading and praying for the later generations, in the darkness of the times, when harsh judgments would prevail and by their evil deeds there would be no path to salvation, Heaven forbid. “Master of the world, picture Yourself as seated behind the seven screens”: above the middos, at the Source of mercy, which is above the world. Of this it is said, “What is too wondrous for you, do not expound” [Chagigah 13a]. Even an angel, even a seraph, cannot grasp it, for “One higher than the high watches over them” [Koheles 5:7]. This is “and I am judged before You”: milfanecha, “from before You,” beyond the grasp of any created mind. As David HaMelech said, “From before You let my judgment go forth” (Tehillim 17:2): have mercy on me, please, from the Source of mercy that is only “before You,” where “evil does not abide with You” [Tehillim 5:5]. And this is “and You are filled with mercy toward me.”

6aTo explain the matter: when a person reflects on how low he has fallen, how greatly he has sinned against his Maker and Creator, his main counsel is emunah. He should believe in Hashem, in His Oneness and His exaltedness, in the sense of “and Your faithfulness in the nights” [Tehillim 92:3]. Wherever the darkness grows stronger, it is all the more urgent to root the power of faith in one's heart. Through emunah a person attains trust, bitachon, which is a branch of emunah. Emunah is the root and trust is the branch. As the Ramban wrote (Sefer HaEmunah VehaBitachon): “Everyone who trusts is called a believer. It is impossible to have trust before having faith, or to hold on to it, for a person trusts only in someone he believes is able to fulfill his request.” The heart of trust is in the time of trouble, as the Zohar explains (Va'eira), and the Ohr HaChamah on this parshah. Even if, by human reason, there is no longer any cure or remedy for the sickness of his soul, he should still believe and trust in the kindness of the Most High and in the Creator's greatness, which has no end or limit. “In proportion to His great exaltedness and His abundant compassion, He will help even me, the lowest of the low.” For He can do anything, even what is above the order of nature and above the middos.

6bAs Chazal say in the Midrash Rabbah (Devarim Rabbah 5:2) on “Go to the ant, you sluggard” [Mishlei 6:6]: “The ant lives only six months, and all it eats in its life is a grain and a half of wheat. Yet it gathers great stores. Why? Because it says: Perhaps the Holy One, blessed be He, will decree life for me, and I will have food ready to eat.” Even though it knows it lives only six months, it believes with complete faith in the Creator that He may “decree a word and it will be fulfilled” [cf. Iyov 22:28]. By nature this cannot be, but perhaps He will decree life for me, for nothing is too wondrous for Hashem [cf. Bereishis 18:14]. He commands the sun and it shines [cf. Iyov 9:7]. “Hashem preserves the faithful” [Tehillim 31:24], and those who trust in Hashem and His salvation will not be shamed in their hope. So David HaMelech said, “In You I have trusted; let me not be shamed” [Tehillim 25:2]. With emunah and trust a person sweetens everything and turns it into abundant mercy. This is “the children whom Elokim has graciously given [chanan] your servant” [Bereishis 33:5], as the holy Rav of Mezhibuzh wrote in Ohev Yisrael: I sweeten the harsh judgments, the Name Elokim, and make it gracious.

6cWith strong emunah a person can draw life from Above, in the sense of “the tzaddik lives by his faith” [Chavakuk 2:4], to every darkened place and heart, so that they come alive. This is especially true in our times, when emunah is easy to attain. The light of faith shines from the holy Avos, who radiated the light of faith for the time of darkness. All that is needed is for one's deeds to “reach” the deeds of the Avos, even just to touch them⁷. As Chazal say (Tanna d'Vei Eliyahu Rabbah 25), “Every single person is obligated to say: When will my deeds reach the deeds of my fathers, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov?”