Welcome to the Parsha of my son’s bris and naming ceremony. He had his bris during this Parsha Vayshalch. After which I told my wife please lets pick a name for our next child that is found in Week 39 of pregnancy and not week 42! But his name appears in this Parsha and is also a good deal of what i want to talk about today.
I will however begin with something from the Siddur that is relevant to this Parsha- as you will see much later on. In Kabbalas Shabbos we daven during the caguna also Zohar Terumah 163-6 “Just as they all six sefiros or emanations unite above in Oneness without the attachment of evil so she the sefira of kingship unites below in the secret of oneness so that it may join those above paralleling the Oneness above. The Holy One blessed is he who is one above, does not sit on his Royal Throne of glory until Kingship below in the secret of oneness like his that they may be a Oneness parallel to a Oneness. Thus we have set forth the secret of Hashem above is one and his name the manifestation of his kingdom below is one.” We daven this every Erev Shabbos and hopefully this parsha will help in understanding the deepness of this part of our davening.
Rashi on 33:14 states that “Until I come to my lord at Seir he broadened the journey for him, Jacob referred to a journey longer than he intended to make for he intended only to go as far as Succos, Jacob did this for the following reason. He said to himself If Esau intends to do me harm let him wait until I come to him. But he did not go and when will he go. In the days of Messiah as it says And saviors will arise upon mount zion to mete out justice to Mount Esau.”
The Baal HaTurim’s Remez on this same Passuk reveals something quite remarkable as well on I come to my lord at Seir “The final letters of these four words spell out the אליהa variant spelling of אליהו. The word אבא I come has a gematria of four. This is an allusion to after Four exiles Elijah will come before the coming of the great and awesome day of Hashem. And then deliverers shall ascend on Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau. (Obadiah 1:21)
Ramban also alludes to the Messianic Era for this time as well when he quotes Midrash Rabbah “R’ Abahu said We have reviewed the whole of scripture and we have not found any mention that Jacob ever went to meet Esau at Mount Seir. Can it be that Jacob who was truthful nevertheless would have deceived Esau? Rather, when is it that Jacob comes to Esau at Mount Seir? In the Messianic future yet to come. “
We see of course that there is a meeting between Esav and Ya’akov at a future time in the messianic era, this Passuk is clearly addressing the ideas of the Messianic era, and it the places where it continues it talks about Yaakov specifically continuing his journey into Eretz Israel. The next thing we note in Ya’akov’s journey is that he arrives at Shechem. This promise to Ya’akov can be seen as an important first part of the Guelah.
Rashi on 33:18 states there that Yaakov arrived intact for he did not lose anything as a result of that gift which he gave to Esau intact in his Torah, and physically and financially as well” .
Baal Haturim’s Remez on 33:18 emphasizes the fact of the blessing that belongs to him, he has this blessing which was passed down from him through Avraham and Yitzhok. See my previous post on Chaya Sarah for the nature of that blessing. The Bakol mentioned in Chaya Sarah has to do with Moshiach, the divine name, and the attributes of mercy. But here is first the Baal HaTurim’s Remez “The masoritic note ג means this word applies three times in the Tanach” in Chaya Sarah 27:36 referring to the gift of Bakol in Bereshis 24:1 once in this Parsha at 33:18 and finally in Leviticus 25:21. “but G-d ordained his blessing to Yaakov and caused Yaakov not to lack anything despite the despite the size of the gift he sent to Esav as it is written ויבא יעקב שלם עיר. This is very interesting as it comes very close after the revelation of the name of Eliyahu HaNovi and the indications that this passage is clearly talking about the Messianic age. My son is named after this passuk, and it contains a secret to guelah, this gift of the attributes of Mercy, this gift which allows Yaakov to arrive complete, this gift which is a key part of the guelah, that is ushered in by Eliyahu as we see in the passuk above is seen in the Rosh Tevios of the passuk “V’yavo Yaakov Shulem eir” if you take all the first letters of this Passuk you get the name of the gift and it’s none other that the attribute of Mercy contained in Moshiach ben Yosef- ישוע the Moshiach ben Yosef is contained in this Passuk, it mirrors the last letters of the Passuk in 33:14 but here shows it’s prominence for when Yaakov will arrive in Seir it will be with Moshiach according to our Midrash, Ramban, and Rashi. This passuk conceals Moshiach’s name of ישוע.
This passuk isn’t done regarding amazing things to be seen here. Following this concealed revelation of Eliyahu, then Moshiach’s name it continues. further. This is where the davening from the Zohar on Kabbalos Shabbos comes in reposted here- “Just as they all six sefiros or emanations unite above in Oneness without the attachment of evil so she the sefira of kingship unites below in the secret of oneness so that it may join those above paralleling the Oneness above. The Holy One blessed is he who is one above, does not sit on his Royal Throne of glory until Kingship below in the secret of oneness like his that they may be a Oneness parallel to a Oneness. Thus we have set forth the secret of Hashem above is one and his name the manifestation of his kingdom below is one.” Rashi states on 33:20- This alarming P’shat- “And he called it G-d is the G-d of Israel, not that the altar is called G-d of Israel but rather but rather because the HKB’H was with him and rescued him. he called the name of the altar after the miracle so that the praise of the Omnipresent shall be mentioned through proclamation of the name of the altar. As if to say he who is G-d the is the HKB”H he is a G-d for me, whose name is Israel. And so we find regarding Moses and he called it’s name Hashem is my Miracle to mention the praise of the HKB”H- Hashem is my Miracle. But our Rabbi’s expounded it as saying the the HKB”H called Yaakov G-d! and the words of the Torah are as a hammer shatters a Rock dividing into many lines of reasoning.” Megillah 18a states “G-d called Yaakov G-d in the sense that he made him master over the earthly realm.” Ramban quotes the Midrash Rabbah 79:8 in his interpretation of this verse and as containing a secret of Cabala- the midrash states “Reish Lakish said the verse means he called himself a power (after calling himself a power Yaakov explained G-d of Israel, in order to clearly acknowledge that G-d is the one true ruler of everything. including himself) Yaakov was saying you are G-d in the upper realms and I am a power in the lower realms. (That is while G-d is the supreme power and authority over the cosmos Yaakov himself was a power in the lower realms. Yaakov meant by this that G-d had granted the righteous the ability to override Divine decrees through their prayers.) This is an incredible revelation- for if we take the Remez found by Baal Haturim indicating a future Messianic meaning to these verses.
The Chasam Sofer also brings this down on Passuk 33:20 "The Talmud Megillah 18A renders it quite differently suggesting that Hashem called Yaakov אל. Or perhaps even more astonishingly, in the Midrash's version Yaakov calls himself the G-d of Israel. How can one comprehend this difficult midrash? Perhaps in the aftermath of Yaakov's triumph over Esav's angel the Patriarch emerged a changed person. By defeating the angel Yaakov vanquished all that he represented (evil inclination.) Henceforth the Patriarch was immune from the lures of the evil inclination. He attained a level similar to that achieved by Adam before sinning, the G-d like characteristic of being virtually free from temptation. Likewise Yaakov's descendants the Jewish people, attained this status at the time of the giving of the Torah, only to forfeit all they achieved with the sin of the Golden Calf. At their loftiest levels Adam and the Jewish people were actually compared to Hashem for their ability to renounce and conquer evil." As Rashi states at Bereshis 3:22"See now that he is unique in the lower realms as I am unique in the higher realms. And what is his uniqueness? to know good and evil which is not true of animals and beasts. and now lest he put forth his hand and once he were to live forever see now that he would be close that it would be easy for him to lead people astray after him by their saying that he too is a god" The Chassam Sofer continues "so too Yaakov having totally mastered the forces of evil as personified by Esav's angel deserves the title אל one who possesses the G-dlike ability to conquer the evil inclination." Furthermore in Talmud Bavli in Sukkah 52a-55a we see that Moshiach has this very same power- in fact they are at both the levannah of the evil Inclination and Moshiach ben Yosef. Furthermore in Succah 52b they quote Zechariah 12:10 as an identifying verse of Moshiach ben Yosef " we will look on him whom we have pierced and mourn for him as an only son, the women alone together, the men alone together, and the families alone together" Succah in fact gives the reason for a Mechitzah in Shul and to deny this Passuk in Succah or to nullify the death of Moshiach ben Yosef as some there try to do- would nullify the Halacha of a Mechitzah Chas V'Sholem. The Remez which I have found in the Passuk ויבא יעקב שלם עיר and Ramban’s interpretation showing a secret Cabala meaning which we daven every Erev Shabbos in Kabbalos Shabbos- bringing to mind the whole meaning of the Passuk we have great light on what Yeshua means when he says “I and the Father are one” it is the same as Yaakov Avinu’s statement here. Yeshua can not be condemned any more than Yaakov Avinu. This is not heresy but in fact is an understanding that those learned in Cabala understand, that we in fact daven every Erev Shabbos and should give us something to ponder as we look at the power of the Righteous Tzaddik, the Moshiach our teacher Yeshua HaNoztroti.