Parshah Vayishlach Shabbat, 16 Kislev, 577628 November, 2015

Genesis Chapter 32

4 "Jacob sent angels ahead of him to his brother Esau, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom."

Genesis Chapter 36

31 "And these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel:"

(Rashi - And these are the kings, etc.: They were eight, and, corresponding to them, Jacob set up [eight kings] and nullified the kingdom of Esau during their time. They are the following (kings): Saul, Ish-bosheth, David, Solomon, Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, and Jehoshaphat. During the days of his (Jehoshaphat’s) son Joram, however, it is written: “In his days, Edom revolted from under the power of Judah, and they appointed a king over themselves” (II Kings 8:20), [whereas] during Saul’s days it is written: “There was no king in Edom; a governor was king” (I Kings 22:48). [from Gen. Rabbah 83:2])

43 "Chief Magdiel, Chief Iram. These are the chieftains of Edom according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession. That is Esau, progenitor of the Edomites." How can we relate the first passuk to the last passuk of our Parshah to glean a kernal or measure of truth therefrom?Why did Jacob send messengers ahead of his camp?Because of the Chieftain of Edom/Esau, Magdiel. Magdiel: This is Rome. — [From Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, ch. 38] Jacob foresaw (through fear he prophesied) that Rome would become powerful like a god - Magdiel, steeped in avodah zarah (the meaning of Magdi-el) (as his mother, Rivkah knew from Divine Inspiration Genesis 25.23 - when she was told twins were in her womb and that the elder would serve the younger) come to enslave and destroy and he sought to dissuade the Edomite Kings who might have accompanied Esau. He feared Esau would be overly harsh with his children so he sought to appease Esau's anger lest he slay others and the blessing be removed from him and his children. (Rashi: Jacob became…frightened, and…distressed: He was frightened lest he be killed (Gen. Rabbah 75:2, Tanchuma, Vayishlach 4), and he was distressed that he might kill others.) In parshah Tolodotwe read why Rivkah sent him away, lest she be deprived of both Jacob and Esau in one day. Genesis 27.45 (Rashi: of both of you: If he rises up against you and you kill him, his sons will rise up and kill you. And the Divine Spirit poured itself upon her and she prophesied that they would die on the same

day, as is delineated in the chapter entitled ו תאששתתתו ואא ל תקננ This accords with what is (.(Sotah 13a) הנמוstated in Berakhot 4a: (This conforms to the following saying of R. Jacob b. Iddi. For R. Jacob b. Iddi pointed to a contradiction. One verse reads: And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest,23 and the other verse reads: Then Jacob was greatly afraid!24 [The answer is that] he thought that some sin might cause [God's promise not to be fulfilled]. )Why did he need messengers? If they were angels it shows Jacob's degree of spirituality. He could summon Angels to do his bidding. He needed advocates lest the King's of Esau/Edom dissuade Esau from NOT killing Jacob!