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This week’s parsha,
Vayechi, deals with the last years of Yaakov’s life. “And Yaakov lived in
the land of Mitzrayim {Egypt} for seventeen years. And the days of
Yaakov’s life were one hundred and forty seven years. [47:28]”
Yosef, told that
his father Yaakov was ill, brought his two sons to see him. Yaakov
blessed Yosef’s sons and then turned to Yosef. “And behold I have given
you (the city of) Shchem as one (portion) over your brothers, that which
I took from the Emori with my sword and my bow. [48:22]”
What does the Torah
mean that Yaakov took it with his sword and bow?
Rashi explains
that, when Shimon and Levi killed out the inhabitants of Shchem for
violating Dina, all of the neighboring villages came to fight against
them. Yaakov, girded with his weaponry, stood up against them.
The Ramban explains
that this is actually referring to a time much later in our history. When
Bnei Yisroel {the Children of Israel} entered Eretz Yisroel {the Land of
Israel} they fought against the Emori for control of the land. Why then
does it say that Yaakov took it with his sword and bow? The Ramban
explains that it was the merit of Yaakov’s mitzvos {observance of the
commandments} and good deeds that powered the later battles to victory.
The true sword and bow of Bnei Yisroel is the merit of our service to
Hashem. (The Medrash Rabbah in fact defines sword and bow to mean mitzvos
and good deeds.) The passuk is teaching us that it was Yaakov’s ‘sword
and bow’ that brought us the victory generations later. He actually
conquered.
The Oznayim l’Torah
shows that the order of the passuk clearly indicates that the battle
described here is of a spiritual, not physical, nature. He writes that in
a physical battle, one first uses the bow when the enemy is at a
distance. As the enemy draws closer, one draws the sword to fight a close
proximity battle. As such, were it a physical battle, the order of the
passuk should have been that Yaakov took it first with his bow and then
his sword. However, in the struggle against sin and temptation, one must
first push the enemy away from the immediate area in order to create an
environment conducive to mitzvos and good deeds. Such a battle is
represented by the sword. Once that has been done, the challenge is to
prevent any incursions from the enemy into that purified territory. That
is represented by the bow. Yaakov who first used the sword and then the
bow was clearly involved in a spiritual battle. Once that had been won,
the outcome of the physical battle was a foregone conclusion.
The Torah is called
Toras Chayim–instructions for life. We must remember what the true weaponry
of Bnei Yisroel is. It is our service to Hashem that powers our military
hardware. In the difficult times we are presently living through, we must
keep our focus.
Arab riots are not
a new phenomenon. When Arab riots broke out in 1919-20, Jews who ventured
out of their doorways were putting their lives in danger. The book
Guardian of Jerusalem relates that on the day before the outbreak, Rav
Yosef Chaim Sonnenefeld, the venerable Rav of Jerusalem, had agreed to
perform a bris {circumcision} in the new city. (At that time, majority of
the Jews lived in the Old City while a few lived in the new neighborhoods
outside the Old City walls.) The pleadings of his family that he remain
at home fell on deaf ears. Wrapped in his tallis {prayer shawl} and
tfillin {phylacteries} Rav Chaim walked alone through the most dangerous
areas to the Damascus Gate and from there to the bris.
When asked why he
had chosen to go through the most dangerous gate, he replied, “Shall we
relinquish our claim on the quarter near the Damascus Gate? If we refrain
from traveling that street out of fear, they will think that they have
indeed succeeded in driving us out of that quarter. No! It is forbidden
to relinquish any quarter or corner of Yerushalayim {Jerusalem} out of
fear!”
A similar incident
took place nine years later. On the bitter Friday of the seventeenth of
Av, 1929, the fury of Arab rioters burst on the land. The murder and
destruction reached its climax with the cruel massacre of fifty-nine Jews
in Hebron.
With the conclusion
of the Friday prayers at the Dome of the Rock, thousands of Arabs,
incited by the Mufti, y’mach shmo, descended on Yerushalayim yielding
swords and clubs. Considering the ferocity of the rioters, Jewish
casualties were miraculously low with seventeen Jews killed and
thirty-eight wounded.
The following day
was Shabbos and, with tensions still at their peak, Rav Chaim had once
again agreed to perform a bris in the new city neighborhood of Meah
Shearim. He made Kiddush {sanctification of the Shabbos over a cup of
wine} and ate a short meal. He then donned his caftan and, to his
family’s utter amazement, announced that he was going to perform the
bris. As Rav Chaim was nearly eighty years old, several people offered to
accompany him. Upon reaching the end of the Jewish Quarter, Rav Chaim saw
that they were terribly frightened and ordered them to return home. He
then turned to proceed out of the Damascus Gate, through an extremely
hostile Arab neighborhood that was dangerous even in normal times. On the
same road that thousands of bloodthirsty rioters had surged just one day
before, the awe-inspiring, tallis-clad figure of Rav Chaim now walked
with confident steps to enlist another Jewish child in the covenant of
Abraham.
After the bris, Rav
Chaim visited his son who lived in that neighborhood and then began to
return home. Against the protests of his family, Rav Chaim calmly
explained that no harm befalls those who are doing a mitzvah, not on the
way there and not on the way back.
Later Rav Chaim was
asked why he went through the Damascus gate when the Jaffa Gate was much
safer. “I chose to specifically use the Damascus Gate to inform the Arabs
that they have not succeeded in frightening Jews out of even one section
of the Holy City,” was his emphatic reply.
As Rav Chaim’s
weaponry was his mitzvos and good deeds he had nothing to fear. Though
imitating his actions without having his merits would be foolhardy, we
must focus on our true weaponry in the face of a similar situation eighty
years later.
Good Shabbos,
Yisroel Ciner
Warmest wishes
of mazel tov to Yossi Samet and Tzina Grinfeld on their marriage. May the
two of you have much simcha and bracha together.
Copyright © 2000 by
Rabbi Yisroel Ciner and Project
Genesis, Inc.
The author teaches
at Neveh Tzion in Telzstone (near
Yerushalayim).
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