At his parents’ behest, Yaakov flees from his home in Canaan and goes to the ancestral family home, birthplace of Rivka and hometown of her father, Besuel, and brother, Lavan. On the way, he is shown a prophetic vision that fortifies his resolve to spiritually survive the exile he is about to begin.(Torah Treasury)
According to the Baalei Hamesora, this parsha contains no "paragraph" breaks in the text. Sfas Emes understands this to mean that although Yaakov left the land of Israel physically, he never severed emotional ties with it from the time he left until the time he came back. His mind and heart were riveted on the land.
Another reason, says the Baalei Tosafot, for the parsha to be "closed" stems from Yaakov running away from Eisav secretly. Reb Chaim Shmulevitz asks, normally the reason why we have breaks in the parsha is to be able to stop and think about what we just learned. What does Yaakov running away secretly have to do with understanding the parsha?
Later, when the brothers told their father that the king of Egypt wouldn't see them again to give them food unless they brought down Benyamin, Yaakov says למה הרעתם לי, why did you do bad for me? The midrash says that this is the only time Yaakov said something meaningless, for Hashem says "I am working to make his son a king and he says I'm doing bad to him"? From here we see that the ways of Hashem are hidden. Yaakov was looking at what was happening right now, at the singular item that was taking effect right now which seemed very bad; however, a person has to know that in the overall scheme of things he will see even that which seemed bad, in a different light.
As the Vilna Goan wrote to his family,” tomorrow you may cry over what you laughed about today and tomorrow you may laugh over what you cried about today.”
While Yaakov was dreaming, Hashem came to him and addressed all his fears. One thing, the midrash says, it seems that Hashem didn't answer him was his fear of not having food and clothing. רב איסי says that he did answer him, for at the end of the posuk it says כי לא אעזבך ,I will not forsake you , that referring to sustenance.
The Dubne Maggid explains, there was a child who had to go on a long journey. His mother packed him up all kinds of food and clothes and whatever else he might need along the way. His father prepared a nice sum of money for him to take along for all his expenses along the way. Then, as they were preparing everything, the father feels that the trip would be a dangerous one for the boy to travel alone so he decides to go along with him so that he can protect him from the dangers of the trip.
As they are on the way, the boy realizes that he doesn't have any money with him. He looks up at his father all worried that he has no money on him. The father looks at him and says, “my son, I am here with you; I'm taking the trip with you; anything you need is on me; why would you need money?
What chazal are telling us is that when Hashem says כי לא אעזבך, I will not abandon you, it means that He will take care of all our needs. We have nothing to worry about because He is always with us. This is why the parsha had to be closed to teach us that just like Yaakov, who thought everything was going wrong when in reality we see that it was all being orchestrated by Hashem, we, too, have to realize that what we’re going through is being orchestrated by Hashem.
This is a personal message to all of us throughout the generations. Just as at the start of the exile of our nation Hashem sent us this message that He will be there guiding us, we have to know that every person, regardless of where we are and what we are going through, Hashem is with us on the trip and there is nothing to worry about!
According to the Baalei Hamesora, this parsha contains no "paragraph" breaks in the text. Sfas Emes understands this to mean that although Yaakov left the land of Israel physically, he never severed emotional ties with it from the time he left until the time he came back. His mind and heart were riveted on the land.
Another reason, says the Baalei Tosafot, for the parsha to be "closed" stems from Yaakov running away from Eisav secretly. Reb Chaim Shmulevitz asks, normally the reason why we have breaks in the parsha is to be able to stop and think about what we just learned. What does Yaakov running away secretly have to do with understanding the parsha?
Later, when the brothers told their father that the king of Egypt wouldn't see them again to give them food unless they brought down Benyamin, Yaakov says למה הרעתם לי, why did you do bad for me? The midrash says that this is the only time Yaakov said something meaningless, for Hashem says "I am working to make his son a king and he says I'm doing bad to him"? From here we see that the ways of Hashem are hidden. Yaakov was looking at what was happening right now, at the singular item that was taking effect right now which seemed very bad; however, a person has to know that in the overall scheme of things he will see even that which seemed bad, in a different light.
As the Vilna Goan wrote to his family,” tomorrow you may cry over what you laughed about today and tomorrow you may laugh over what you cried about today.”
While Yaakov was dreaming, Hashem came to him and addressed all his fears. One thing, the midrash says, it seems that Hashem didn't answer him was his fear of not having food and clothing. רב איסי says that he did answer him, for at the end of the posuk it says כי לא אעזבך ,I will not forsake you , that referring to sustenance.
The Dubne Maggid explains, there was a child who had to go on a long journey. His mother packed him up all kinds of food and clothes and whatever else he might need along the way. His father prepared a nice sum of money for him to take along for all his expenses along the way. Then, as they were preparing everything, the father feels that the trip would be a dangerous one for the boy to travel alone so he decides to go along with him so that he can protect him from the dangers of the trip.
As they are on the way, the boy realizes that he doesn't have any money with him. He looks up at his father all worried that he has no money on him. The father looks at him and says, “my son, I am here with you; I'm taking the trip with you; anything you need is on me; why would you need money?
What chazal are telling us is that when Hashem says כי לא אעזבך, I will not abandon you, it means that He will take care of all our needs. We have nothing to worry about because He is always with us. This is why the parsha had to be closed to teach us that just like Yaakov, who thought everything was going wrong when in reality we see that it was all being orchestrated by Hashem, we, too, have to realize that what we’re going through is being orchestrated by Hashem.
This is a personal message to all of us throughout the generations. Just as at the start of the exile of our nation Hashem sent us this message that He will be there guiding us, we have to know that every person, regardless of where we are and what we are going through, Hashem is with us on the trip and there is nothing to worry about!
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