In this week’s parsha, Vayishlach, Yaakov Avinu - along with his large family, flocks, servants, maidservants, and vast wealth - is returning to Canaan, after twenty years of working for his father-in-law, Lavan.  Additionally, before those twenty years, he spent fourteen years in Yeshivas Shem v’Ever.  Hence, when he returns to Canaan, he has not been home, nor seen his brother Eisav, for thirty-four years.  The last he knew of Eisav was of the hatred that Eisav harbored in his heart towards Yaakov, over their father’s blessings, and Eisav’s vow to kill Yaakov (27:41).  Hence, Yaakov is very afraid for this confrontation, and prepares to meet Eisav, who he believes will attack him and his family.  

To prepare for this historic meeting, Yaakov (1) divides his family into two camps, so if one is stricken, the other will survive (32:8-9), (2) he davens to Hashem to save him from Eisav’s wrath and might (ibid., v.10-13), and (3) he sends the gift of hundreds of animals to appease Eisav (ibid., v.14-21).

In his tefila for Divine salvation and protection, Yaakov asks Hashem: הַצִּילֵנִי נָא מִיַּד אָחִי, מִיַּד עֵשָׂו, save me please from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Eisav (v.12).  Since Yaakov only had one brother, Eisav, it would have been sufficient for him to say, “Save me from the hand of my brother,” or “Save me from the hand of Eisav.”  Why does he specify BOTH ‘the hand of my brother,’ AND ‘the hand of Eisav,’ as his brother and Eisav are one and the same?

The Beis Ha’Levi, Reb Yoshe Ber Ha’levi Soloveitchik of Brisk (1820–1892), zt’l, explains that ‘Eisav’ represents one kind of enemy of Am Yisrael, and ‘my brother,’ represents an entirely different enemy (Beis ha’Levi al ha’Torah, Vayishlach).  Eisav is the enemy in every generation who rises to destroy us physically, who comes after our nation to annihilate us and wipe us off the face of the earth.  In a word, Eisav is the enemy who wants to kill Am Yisrael.  This is the enemy of Pharaoh (Shemos 1:22), Haman (Esther 3:13), Hitler yemach shemo, and Hamas y’s today, and their ilk.  They do not want to befriend us, nor do they attempt to do so.  

However, there is another kind of enemy, often more sly and deceitful in their tactics and approach.  This is the enemy of ‘save me from the hand of my brother,’ i.e.: from the enemy who treats me like a brother.  This is the enemy we often do not recognize, until perhaps, and G-d forbid, it is too late.  It is the enemy of friendship, shared cultures, camaraderie, and adopted norms of the Umos Ha’olam.  This is the enemy that does not come after our bodily selves, but rather, comes after our spiritual selves - the heart and soul of our nation.  

Yaakov and his family confront this same enemy, ‘the hand of my brother’, later in the parsha (Bereishis 34) when Dina is abducted and violated by Shechem ben Chamor.  No one in the town wants to kill Dina, or her family.  All they want is to dwell together, to share hands in marriage and property, to do business together, to be friends with the Bnei Yisrael.  The family of Yaakov recognizes that to assimilate into the desires of Shechem ben Chamor and his townspeople, would signal the absolute end of Yaakov and his family.  

Like the “Eisav” enemy, the “Hand of my brother” enemy is one that our people have seen all too often.  

Rabbi Shmuel Goldin writes, “There are no coincidences in Jewish experience.  How appropriate, therefore, that the yearly reading of Parshat Vayishlach always takes place against the back-drop of the ‘Hanukkah-Christmas season’ in the diaspora.  For at this time of the year, a sad irony becomes acutely apparent.

“Hanukkah, the holiday that most clearly celebrates the Jewish nation’s ongoing historical victory against forces of assimilation, has become, in our day, the most assimilated Jewish festival.

“Hanukkah-Christmas clubs, seasonal parties, public religious displays and more all conspire to create, in the minds of many, an equality between two vastly different religious events.  In many households, Hanukkah becomes a ‘Jewish Christmas’ as, throughout the community, the spirit of the ‘Judeo-Christian ethic’ fills the air.  Theological harmony is assumed where no such harmony exists.

“Monumental chasms separate Jewish philosophy from Christian philosophy.  We disagree upon such basic issues as the concept of sanctity and its relationship to the physical world, the ability of man to interface with G-d directly, the notion of original sin, and more.  If we fail to recognize and be sensitive to these differences, if we fail to teach our children about these differences, then we run the real risk of assimilating, G-d forbid, into a culture not our own.

“The image of our forefather Yaakov struggling through the darkness of the night with the ‘angel of Eisav’ is presented to us each year at the time of the year when that image is most necessary.  If we are to survive as a people, we cannot allow artificial harmony to blind us.  We must certainly strive for respectful, harmonious coexistence and cooperation with our non-Jewish neighbors, we should certainly acknowledge and appreciate the specific values and goals that we [may] share, but not at the expense of losing our uniqueness.  Ours is a philosophical struggle that is destined to last ‘until the break of dawn.’” (Unlocking the Torah Text, Bereishit, p.189-190).

The dual enemy is alive and well today: the enemy who wants to physically kill us, and the enemy who desires our friendship and assimilation.  Of both enemies, Yaakov was very afraid, and he understood well that both would cause the destruction of his family, and our nation.  It is certainly true that “in each generation, they arise to destroy and HKB”H saves us from their hands.” 

Yet, while we rely on Hashem to do His part; we too must do our part.  We must remain proud Jews, distinct in our lifestyle, embracing our own mesorah, transmitting the truth of our Torah to the next generation, and ensuring that we remain separate and apart from the nations of the world.  In this way, we will be safe both from “Eisav”, as well as from “the hands of my brother,” until the coming of Moshiach, may it be speedily and in our days, amen v’amen.

בברכת שורות טובות ושבת שלום