This week’s parsha relates the encounter of Yaakov with his dangerous and murderous brother Eisav, and Yaakov’s admitting that he was fearful of Eisav. These events connect directly to our contemporary multiplicity of antisemitic incidents and horrors all over the globe. Whether it is distribution of hundreds of leaflets in the peaceful Jewish London suburb of Hendon which proclaim, “Jews: leave or be slaughtered,” the brazen arson of a popular and much used synagogue in Australia, the pogrom-like behavior in Amsterdam, or the swastika graffiti that keeps on cropping up in America, the proliferation of antisemitism is chilling to all of us. This is especially true for children of Holocaust survivors who feel a frightening foreboding of nightmarish deja vu.
At the recent national convention of the Agudas Israel of America, the Ner Yisroel Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Feldman, shlit”a, said that after the events of October 7, 2023, we would have expected a massive reaction of sympathy. How surprised we were to see the opposite: the absurd accusations of genocide and even the condemnation of the prime minister of Israel as a war criminal. While this leaves us scratching our heads, Rav Feldman said we should not be surprised because this is a rule of nature. “Halacha b’yaduah she’Eisav sonei es Yaakov – It is a known fact that the descendants of Eisav hate the descendants of Yaakov.” Note that regarding the revelation at Mt. Sinai, the word sinai is similar to the word sinah, hatred, because from thence there would be hatred toward us from the world.
At the same convention, in a Question and Answer session, Rabbi Yisroel Reisman, shlit”a, reminisced how years ago some goyim broke into the yeshiva of Torah Vodaas in Brooklyn, took hold of a Sefer Torah and threw half of it out of the window. In the morning, the students woke up to the horrible sight of a Sefer Torah hanging exposed, halfway on the ground. The then Rosh Yeshiva, HaRav Pam, zt”l, zy”a, told them to take the Sefer Torah to be respectfully repaired but to have no other response, as not to retract any copycat behaviors. (Rabbi Reisman was quick to add that currently our institutions have to do whatever hishtadlus they see necessary.) On an individual level, we should understand that this is the way Hashem made the world, that Eisav harbors a hatred for Yaakov. Rabbi Reisman further said that since the Torah says, “V’haya k’asher tarid, uferachta ohl mei’al tzavorecha,” when Yaakov deteriorates in spirituality, Eisav will kick free,” our individual response must be to elevate our Yiddishkeit which will rein in any terror from Eisav.
While we are frightened over the sinister rise of global antisemitism, Yaakov warns us in this week’s parsha that we should be even more frightened about something else. Yaakov says, “Hatzileini na mi’yad achi, mi’yad Eisav – Save me (Hashem) from my brother, from Eisav.” The obvious question is, we know that Eisav was Yaakov’s brother, so what other Eisav was he talking about? The Rokeach says a remarkable pshat: Eisav had a son who he named “Achi,” meaning “my brother.” He did this so he should never forget what Yaakov did to him, and Eisav gave this son Achi the exclusive mission to kill his uncle. This was the danger that Yaakov meant when he added the words, “Hatzileini na mi’yad Achi,” save me from my murderous nephew, Achi.
The Beis Halevy however gives a famous answer to explain the superfluous word achi. He says that Yaakov was pleading with Hashem to be spared from two dangers that his toxic brother Eisav posed. Of course, save me from the murderous side of Eisav. But even if he acts like achi, like my brother, also protect me from learning and imitating his sinful ways. From the fact that Yaakov prefaced achi to Eisav, it is clear that Yaakov felt that the danger of assimilating his brother’s heinous ways was the more dangerous of the two possibilities.
This is oh so true in our contemporary times, especially since the internet and all kinds of social media bring the “values” of western civilization into our homes. We have to realize that they are much more dangerous than painted swastikas and racial slurs. They bring promiscuity and the vulgarity of pop music, the sense that the younger generation has more sophisticated knowledge through podcasts and environmental norms as to what “true” happiness really consists of, the breakdown of respect and a feeling of responsibility to one’s elders, the deterioration of a sense of shame and human dignity. These are but a few of the toxic poisons that are coming from our exposure to our brother Eisav.
When we say in Havdala that there is a difference between night and day, and between Yisrael and the nations, we need to educate our children that our way of adherence to the wisdom of the Torah and its moral compass is as different from today’s ways of looking at things as the difference between night and day. Just as we know that antisemitic incidents have put us on high alert, the need is also to be on high alert to protect our families from the styles and values of an increasingly decadent and amoral society.
In the merit of our spiritual cautions, may Hashem bless us with long life, good health, safety, and true Yiddishe nachas.
Transcribed and edited by Shelley Zeitlin.
