Jacob arrived safe (literally, “whole”) in the city of Shechem which is in the land of Canaan — having come thus from Paddan-aram — and he encamped before the city.
B’reysheet / Genesis 33:18
Our teacher, the S’fat Emet1, focuses on the more literal meaning of the Hebrew word “shalem” and explores the question of what the Torah is trying to teach us about Jacob. The S’fat Emet states that after all of the troubles he has confronted, obstacles he has overcome, and painful experiences he has endured, Jacob remains whole as a person. Even more, the S’fat Emet asserts, it is the fact of these difficult experiences that has made Jacob into a whole, well-rounded, and strong individual. Basing himself on a passage in the Zohar, the S’fat Emet suggests that each of of these life moments afforded Jacob the opportunity to demonstrate strength of character, good decision making, and ultimately discover the best version of himself. I believe that these were the transformative experiences which culminated in the changing of Jacob’s name to Israel, the one who has “striven with beings divine and human, and prevailed.”
As descendants of Jacob/Israel we have the capacity to be made whole as individuals as we recast stumbling blocks into building blocks in the edifice of our personhood. This is equally true of the collective Israel, as a nation, transmuting the traumas of history into a tradition demanding moral grandeur and expecting ethical imperatives. Emerging from historical hardships was a nation made whole by its collective commitment to rebuild itself and its national home guided by the principles of justice and righteousness.
Today, individually and collectively, we face remarkable and unprecedented challenges – Israel embroiled in military operations, hostages still being held in Gaza, increasingly damaging climate change, rising food insecurity, racial inequality, and political stalemate – along with normal, everyday life situations. In both last week’s and this week’s Torah portions we see how Jacob confronts his challenges boldly and creatively, confident in his ability to overcome them. Jacob, both literally and figuratively, wrestles with the problems before him and in the end, as the S’fat Emet teaches us, is made whole by these encounters. The S’fat Emet’s understanding of this passage offers us assurance that we can follow in the footsteps of our patriarch, finding a path to our own and our societal wholeness.
Shabbat Shalom –
Rabbi David M. Eligberg
1 Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter (April 1847 – 11 January 1905), was known as the S’fat Emet, the title of his collected works, including a commentary to the weekly Torah portion, discourses on the Talmud, ethical aspects of the midrash, and even elements of Jewish mysticism. Rabbi Alter was a Hasidic rabbi who succeeded his grandfather, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir, as the head of the rabbinical court and Rav of Gora Kalwaria, Poland, more well known in Jewish circles as the town of Ger. Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib would eventually ascend to be the Rebbe of the Gerrer Hasidim.
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