Thirty-five years have passed since Yaakov pledged to return to Eretz Yisrael. Now, after years of pining to return to the Holy Land, he and his family are about to make the long-anticipated entry. Yet, all of a sudden, Yaakov realizes that in order to enter Eretz Yisrael, he has to handle the threat of his brother Esav. Esav seeks to destroy Yaakov and reclaim the birthright - a threat that troubles Yaakov ("Vayetzer lo...").
Why was Yaakov not secure with Hashem's promise that He would guard him and return him to this land? After all, he did have a mitzvah to make aliya, and we might add, he was coming home.
Among the explanations given for Yaakov's concern is that Esav had one merit that Yaakov did not - the merit of living in the Land of Israel. This caused Yaakov to doubt that he could survive a confrontation with his brother. The Gaon of Vilna infers from the Talmud (Sotah 21) that only a mitzvah could afford Esav protection. Consequently, for Esav, to live in the Land must have been a mitzvah.
In other words, when Hashem commanded "lech lecha" this was a commandment for Avraham and all his descendants to leave their land, their birthplace and their parents' home to go to the land chosen by Hashem Himself, the Land of Israel. Since Yaakov was in the process of accomplishing this very same mitzvah, "Vayetzer lo" must mean that Yaakov was troubled, he had had doubts, he was insecure about his protection vis-a-vis Esav's merit because of the mitzvah.
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Rabbi Eliezer Langer is from Jerusalem.
[Aloh Naaleh is an organization dedicated to building Aliya motivation among North American Jewry. Torah Thoughts contributed by Aloh Naaleh members appear in the Orthodox Union's Torah Insights publication. Contact Aloh Naaleh at aloh-naaleh@aaci.org.il.]
Why was Yaakov not secure with Hashem's promise that He would guard him and return him to this land? After all, he did have a mitzvah to make aliya, and we might add, he was coming home.
Among the explanations given for Yaakov's concern is that Esav had one merit that Yaakov did not - the merit of living in the Land of Israel. This caused Yaakov to doubt that he could survive a confrontation with his brother. The Gaon of Vilna infers from the Talmud (Sotah 21) that only a mitzvah could afford Esav protection. Consequently, for Esav, to live in the Land must have been a mitzvah.
In other words, when Hashem commanded "lech lecha" this was a commandment for Avraham and all his descendants to leave their land, their birthplace and their parents' home to go to the land chosen by Hashem Himself, the Land of Israel. Since Yaakov was in the process of accomplishing this very same mitzvah, "Vayetzer lo" must mean that Yaakov was troubled, he had had doubts, he was insecure about his protection vis-a-vis Esav's merit because of the mitzvah.
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Rabbi Eliezer Langer is from Jerusalem.
[Aloh Naaleh is an organization dedicated to building Aliya motivation among North American Jewry. Torah Thoughts contributed by Aloh Naaleh members appear in the Orthodox Union's Torah Insights publication. Contact Aloh Naaleh at aloh-naaleh@aaci.org.il.