Parshas Vayishlach 5786
- Torah Tavlin
- Dec 6
- 2 min read
ויבא יעקב שלם עיר שכם אשר בארץ כנען בבאו מפדן ארם ויחן את פני העיר ... (לג-יח)
After more than two decades at the hands of Lavan and Esav, Yaakov Avinu emerged not just unscathed, but "שלם" - complete; elevated both b’ruchniusu v’gashmius. (See Rashi) It is said in the name of the heilige Bnei Yissaschar that the word "שלם" is an acronym for שמם, לשונם, מלבושם. Their Yiddish names, language, and mode of dress remained unchanged. The three areas in which Klal Yisroel remained steadfast and didn’t alter themselves to mimic the ways of the goyim. Presumably, the religious fortitude and conviction that the Jewish people displayed in Mitzrayim many years later was enabled and empowered by the mesiras nefesh and dedication that Yaakov Avinu demonstrated here.
Hence, for twenty-plus years, Yaakov remained in the home of Lavan and yet he was able to proudly say, "תרי"ג מצות שמרתי". I didn’t learn from the rasha’s ways.
This is a lesson we all know. The devotion and adherence to the mesorah with which our forebears lived is what gives us the ability and motivation to perpetuate their legacies. I heard a question on this Maamar Chazal. How does the mere external fact of "לא שינו את שמם..." show their true colors? Maybe outwardly they lived as Jews, unaffected by their surroundings, but privately the Mitzriyim’s influence had a detrimental effect on them?
My Uncle Mendy, when asked this question responded as follows. The first letters of שמם, לשונם, מלבושם as we said, spell שלם. Now note the second (inner) letter of these three words. If we take the second letter of שמם, לשונם, מלבושם, lo and behold; they too spell שלם! This tells us that Klal Yisroel was תוכם כברם. Their outside matched their inside, and was testimony to their essence as יראים ושלמים. May we too merit to always follow in the ways of Yisroel Saba ignoring the outside influences.