Vayeitze - A Question of Faith

B"H

As always, full text here

 1) Midrash Tanchuma Vayeitze, Chapter 2

סימן ב

ויחלום והנה סולם מוצב ארצה וראשו מגיע השמימה והנה מלאכי אלהים עולים ויורדים בו, א"ר שמואל בר נחמן אלו שרי אומות העכו"ם דא"ר שמואל בר נחמן מלמד שהראה לו הקב"ה לאבינו יעקב שרה של בבל עולה שבעין עוקים ויורד, ושל מדי חמשים ושנים, ושל יון מאה ויורד, ושל אדום עלה ולא ידע כמה, באותה שעה נתירא יעקב אבינו ואמר שמא לזה אין לו ירידה, א"ל הקדוש ברוך הוא (ירמיה ל) ואתה אל תירא עבדי יעקב ואל תחת ישראל כביכול אפילו אתה רואהו עולה אצלי משם אני מורידו שנאמר (עובדיה א) אם תגביה כנשר ואם בין כוכבים שים קנך משם אורידך נאם ה'

2)  Midrash Tanchuma Vayeitze, Chapter 2 (continuation of the above)

 א"ר ברכיה בשם רבי חלבו ור"ש בן יוסינה מלמד שהראהו הקב"ה ליעקב אבינו שרה של בבל עולה ויורד, ושל מדי עולה ויורד, ושל יון עולה ויורד, ושל אדום עולה ויורד, א"ל הקדוש ברוך הוא ליעקב יעקב למה אין אתה עולה, באותה שעה נתירא אבינו יעקב ואמר כשם שיש לאלו ירידה, כך אני יש לי ירידה, א"ל הקב"ה אם אתה עולה אין לך ירידה, ולא האמין ולא עלה, ר"ש בן יוסינה היה דורש (תהלים עח) בכל זאת חטאו עוד ולא האמינו בנפלאותיו, א"ל הקדוש ברוך הוא אלו עלית והאמנת לא היתה לך ירידה לעולם, אלא הואיל ולא האמנת הרי בניך משתעבדין בהללו ד' מלכיות בעה"ז במסים ובארנוניות ובגולגליות, א"ל יעקב יכול לעולם א"ל אל תירא עבדי יעקב אל תחת ישראל כי הנני מושיעך מרחוק ואת זרעך מארץ שבים מארץ מגליא מאספניה ומחברותיה ושב יעקב מבבל ושקט ממדי ושאנן מיון ואין מחריד מאדום כי אעשה כלה בכל הגוים אשר הפיצותיך שם באומות העולם שהן מכלין את שדותיהן אבל ישראל שאין מכלין את שדותיהן ואותך לא אעשה כלה אלא מיסרך ביסורין בעולם הזה בשביל לנקותך מעונותיך לעתיד לבא, לכך נאמר ויחלום:

Most of you have probably heard of the midrash onYa'akov's dream from this week's parsha where each angel is the sar (usually translated as 'guardian angel') of the four empires under which the Jews suffer exile - the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans. Just as each angel climbs up and down the ladder, so too do these empires rise and fall - with their falling representing the end of a period of exile and/or persecution for the Jews.

Usually, when I have heard this midrash it is taught that Ya'akov becomes afraid at the sight of the sar of Edom (i.e. Rome, as noted in last week's footnote) ascending without seeming likely to come down. G-d comforts him by promising that this sar will eventually descend and the Roman exile end in its turn, even if this isn't obvious at the time.

As can be seen at source 1) above the Midrash Tanchuma includes this midrash. However, immediately afterwards it gives another version of the midrash with some intriguing differences (see source 2) above). This time, Edom's sar descends with the others - following which G-d asks Ya'akov why he does not also 'ascend'. Ya'akov, fearing that his descendants will ultimately also fall just as the other nations have done, refuses G-d's implied invitation even after G-d spells out that this would not happen. G-d then tells Ya'akov that his lack of faith has actually led to his descendants suffering exile under the four empires represented by the angels, only afterwards offering words of comfort and a promise that they will finally return from exile.

While this second midrash is more complex than the first, we need to read them together to understand fully what is going on. Both midrashim tell us of Ya'akov's fear with the phrase b'otah sha'ah nityare Ya'akov Avinu/avinu Ya'akov - at that moment, our father Ya'akov was afraid - while in both versions G-d comforts him with the words al tira avdi Ya'akov v'al techat Yisrael ('do not fear, my servant Ya'akov and do not be afraid Israel', Yirmeyahu 30:10).However, the point at which these phrases are used change between midrashim - while in source 1) we see Ya'akov being afraid at the moment that he saw the sar of Edom ascending and G-d's immediate reassurance, in source 2 Ya'akov watches all four angels rise and fall, but is only afraid at the point at which G-d invites him to ascend! While G-d does eventually promise Ya'akov that his descendants' exiles will not be permanent, this is only after Ya'akov's lack of faith and G-d's warning that this has itself led to these periods of exile.

Given that all this takes place as Ya'akov is himself about to go into exile to save his life, what do these midrashim mean? In the first version, Ya'akov is afraid that the power of the brother he is fleeing will never end - but this threat is only external to Ya'akov and, as promised by G-d, will eventually cease as Esav/Edom falls. By contrast, in the second version it is not the dominance of Esav/the four empires which Ya'akov fears but the possibility that his own descendants will follow exactly the same path as the others by rising and eventually falling in status. The crucial difference here is the role played by Ya'akov's emunah - although in the first version this is not even mentioned, in the second version Ya'akov's lack of emunah in the opportunity being offered to him by G-d is key to both his fear and his refusal to take up G-d's offer. Ironically, this lack of emunah turns out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy as it leads to the very downfall for Ya'akov's descendants that he feared!

But why should Ya'akov refuse to believe G-d? One explanation could be that the angels represent what we see as the 'natural' cycle of empires - they become powerful, reach a peak and then decline. In this context, when he is given the opportunity to 'rise' and become powerful like the other nations Ya'akov's worry that his descendants will also follow the usual pattern of 'falling' afterwards appears reasonable. Ya'akov's error, however, was in not overcoming this fear and fully trusting G-d when he was promised that his descendants would not be like the other nations and would instead always maintain their high status - provided he took that first 'leap of faith'.

We can learn from this that external threats such as that represented by Esav/Edom are not necessarily inescapable - but, if we don't maintain our emunah and our confidence in our own distinctive identity, we can end up succumbing to these threats. Ya'akov discovered this on the brink of exile from Eretz Yisrael; today, perhaps it can also be a lesson for the modern State of Israel as it tries to cope with the tension of facing various external threats while maintaining faith in the core values that - like it or not - sets it apart from other nations.

Shabbat shalom!

RPT