Vayishlach by The Rebbe*
14 Therefore, let my master please go on at his usual pace, ahead of his servant, while I move on at my own slow pace, at the pace of the herds that are ahead of me, and at the pace of the children—until I reach my master at Seir, whenever that might be." Jacob prophetically knew that Esau (and his descendants) would not be totally weaned of their hatred of him (and his descendants) until the messianic era, so he postponed their meeting until that time.
Thus, he had no intention of personally following Esau to Mount Seir; he intended his statement to apply to his descendant, the Messiah, who in the future will meet up with Esau's descendants and sit in judgment over them.
15 Esau then made another offer. He said, "Let me leave some of the people who are with me with you."
Wishing to excuse himself from accepting this second offer, as well, Jacob replied, "Why should you do this? I do not need an entourage to escort me. I would rather you not repay me for the gift I have given you so I can remain favorable in my master's eyes."
16 So, on that day, Esau returned on his way to Seir. As he traveled on, Esau's longstanding hatred of Jacob gradually resurfaced, and he began to plot how to attack him. But the four hundred men who accompanied him recalled quite vividly how they were assaulted by Jacob's angels when they were on their way to meet him, and therefore realized that such a plan was futile—even though they shared Esau's hatred of Jacob and would have also liked to attack him. Still, they were afraid that if they either tried to dissuade Esau from attacking Jacob or attempted to abandon him en masse, he would turn on them, so instead they deserted him stealthily, one by one. Thus, by the time Esau had finished formulating his plans, he no longer had an army with which to undertake an attack.
Even though these four hundred men abandoned Esau solely out of selfish concern for their own best interests, God nevertheless rewarded them for not having harmed Jacob by sparing four hundred of Esau's descendants, the Amalekites, when they were attacked by King David.
The Inner Dimension
13-14 Let my master please go on…while I move on at my own slow pace…until I reach my master at Seir… [Jacob] intended his statement to apply to…the Messiah, who in the future will meet up with Esau's descendants and sit in judgment over them: The Talmud speaks of two ways in which the messianic age can commence: (a) "in its time," and (b) in a described by the words "I will hasten it."
The advantage of the latter is obvious, since it shortens the length of the exile. However, there is also an advantage to the redemption coming "in its time." If the messianic age begins prematurely, those aspects of the world that have not been elevated and refined will be unable to assimilate the Divine revelation that will occur in the messianic age. These unrefined elements will be overwhelmed by Divinity and expire in ecstatic yearning.
Jacob thus felt that although he himself was at a level where he could experience the messianic age, the world at large was not ready. Those who had not attained his level were still like "frail children" or "nursing lambs" in their spiritual development. Therefore, he said:
If they are driven hard for even one day, all the flocks will die: If the messianic age—when Jacob and Esau will finally unite—is rushed to occur now, the "flocks will die," they will be overwhelmed by the Divine revelation and expire. Jacob therefore advised—
Let my master please go on…while I move on at my own slow pace, at the pace of the herds that are ahead of me, and at the pace of the children—until I reach my master at Seir: This slow pace alludes to the long and arduous exiles of his descendants, during which they would illuminate the crass world with the light of the Torah. Only after the lowly elements of creation were elevated over the course of history would the messianic age commence.
The above can be compared to the two ways transportation services are generally offered: express and local. The express train reaches the destination faster, but leaves many along the way behind. The local service takes a lot longer, but it enables passengers from various stations—and those who cannot handle high speeds—to join the ride.
Jacob's allusion to Esau's transformation in the messianic age—"until I reach my master at Seir"—teaches us how to neutralize the potential hostility of the "Esaus" we encounter during our exile:
If we fall prey to the external trappings of exile and feel subservient to the rulership of "Esau," our attitude becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy—"Esau" imagines that he truly rules over us and might behave accordingly.
To neutralize Esau's power, we must see past the facade of exile to its inner purpose, which is to enable us to condition the world for the messianic age, at which time Esau will be subdued and transformed. By viewing our exilic adventure as a long path towards Seir and focusing on the end game—a time when Esau is indeed harmless—Esau becomes harmless even during the exile.
Jacob thus felt that although he himself was at a level where he could experience the messianic age, the world at large was not ready. Those who had not attained his level were still like "frail children" or "nursing lambs" in their spiritual development. Therefore, he said:
If they are driven hard for even one day, all the flocks will die: If the messianic age—when Jacob and Esau will finally unite—is rushed to occur now, the "flocks will die," they will be overwhelmed by the Divine revelation and expire. Jacob therefore advised—
Let my master please go on…while I move on at my own slow pace, at the pace of the herds that are ahead of me, and at the pace of the children—until I reach my master at Seir: This slow pace alludes to the long and arduous exiles of his descendants, during which they would illuminate the crass world with the light of the Torah. Only after the lowly elements of creation were elevated over the course of history would the messianic age commence.
The above can be compared to the two ways transportation services are generally offered: express and local. The express train reaches the destination faster, but leaves many along the way behind. The local service takes a lot longer, but it enables passengers from various stations—and those who cannot handle high speeds—to join the ride.
Jacob's allusion to Esau's transformation in the messianic age—"until I reach my master at Seir"—teaches us how to neutralize the potential hostility of the "Esaus" we encounter during our exile:
If we fall prey to the external trappings of exile and feel subservient to the rulership of "Esau," our attitude becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy—"Esau" imagines that he truly rules over us and might behave accordingly.
To neutralize Esau's power, we must see past the facade of exile to its inner purpose, which is to enable us to condition the world for the messianic age, at which time Esau will be subdued and transformed. By viewing our exilic adventure as a long path towards Seir and focusing on the end game—a time when Esau is indeed harmless—Esau becomes harmless even during the exile.
The Rebbe's Parsha, an Iterpolated Translation can be found on the Chabad website, for each and every Parsha in our Holy Torah:
From the Kehot Chumash, produced by Chabad of California with an interpolated translation and commentary based on the works of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Copyright (c) 2008 by Chabad of California, Inc. All rights reserved. For personal use only. The full volume is available for purchase at Kehotonline
From the Kehot Chumash, produced by Chabad of California with an interpolated translation and commentary based on the works of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Copyright (c) 2008 by Chabad of California, Inc. All rights reserved. For personal use only. The full volume is available for purchase at Kehotonline
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