Parshas Vayeitzei
1. In this week's parsha there is a comment of Rashi that at first glance seems copied (almost letter for letter) from the Gemara; but on reflection (and especially from the precise wording of Rashi) one sees that Rashi has an entirely different intent.
On the verse[1], "The land on which you lie, to you I will give it and to your offspring," our Sages say (in the Gemara): "'The land on which you lie…' — what is the novelty? (Did He promise to give his children the four cubits where he lay? — Rashi.) Rabbi Yitzchak said: This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, folded up all of Eretz Yisrael and placed it beneath Yaakov Avinu, (so) that it would be easy for his children to conquer (like the four cubits where he lay — Rashi)."
Rashi in his commentary on the Torah comments on the words "on which you lie" and explains: "The Holy One, blessed be He, folded up all of Eretz Yisrael beneath him — He hinted to him that it would be easy for his children to conquer."
The commentators understand that Rashi is addressing the same question as the Gemara — "what is the novelty?" — and answers (as in the Gemara) that "the Holy One, blessed be He, folded up all of Eretz Yisrael beneath him," and the novelty of the promise is "that it would be easy for his children to conquer" (just as it is easy to conquer "the four cubits where he lay").
We need to understand, however:
a) Since even in his commentary on the Talmud Rashi must add the explanation (on the Gemara's words "that it would be easy for his children to conquer") "like the four cubits where he lay," all the more should he have added these words (and explanation) in his commentary on the Torah (which was written, as discussed many times, (also) for a five-year-old beginning Scripture)[7]?
b) If the difficulty in the verse is "what is the novelty?" (how can it be said that G‑d promised him only "four cubits" of the land), it does not fit: Rashi should have quoted from the verse also the words "the land on which you (lie)," for the difficulty is not in the words "on which you lie" on their own, but in the fact that the area of "the land on which you lie" is very small (four cubits)?
From this it is understood that (according to the plain meaning of Scripture — and consequently) for Rashi the Gemara's question "what is the novelty?" is not difficult; he is only resolving (a difficulty in) the words "on which you lie" alone. And similarly, "that it would be easy for his children to conquer" is known (not from the size of the area of "the land on which you lie," but) from the words "on which you lie" themselves.
2. In the explanation itself, "He hinted to him that it would be easy for his children to conquer," we need to understand:
In the Gemara the wording is "The Holy One, blessed be He, folded it… (so) that it would be easy for his children to conquer," but Rashi (changes and) adds: "He hinted to him that it would be easy…" The plain difference between them: "(so) that it would be easy for his children to conquer" means that "the Holy One, blessed be He, folded it…" brought about that it would be "easy to conquer…"; whereas "He hinted to him that it would be…" means only that G‑d hinted and revealed to Yaakov something that would happen later — that the conquest of the land would be "easy."
We must understand: why does Rashi depart from the Gemara? On the contrary: granted, according to the Gemara — that "the Holy One, blessed be He, folded it…" brought about "that it would be easy…" — the need for the miracle of folding is understood; but if it was to give Yaakov a hint about the future, this (foretelling the future) is done, as told earlier with Avraham, through speech and the like. Is a miracle needed — and such a great miracle (which has no hold in nature) — to "fold together" all of Eretz Yisrael beneath (the four cubits of) Yaakov?!
3. Seemingly one could answer: according to the plain meaning it is difficult to say that "the Holy One, blessed be He, folded… beneath him" (beneath Yaakov) would bring about "easy for his children to conquer" (many generations later)[12] — therefore Rashi learns that this was only a hint. The question remains, however: foretelling the future is done through speech, and "the Holy One, blessed be He, does not perform a miracle for nothing"[*12].
It is also not understood: the content of the explanation "the Holy One, blessed be He, folded…" is found also in the Midrash[13], but there the conclusion is (not "that it would be easy for his children to conquer," but) "as a man says, 'It is from under your head'" — by this G‑d gave Yaakov ownership of Eretz Yisrael[14].
So why does Rashi learn that "the Holy One, blessed be He, folded…" was a hint "that it would be easy for his children to conquer" — which is difficult, as explained — and not (like the Midrash) that it was to show Yaakov's own ownership of Eretz Yisrael ("it is from under your head")?
4. The wonder in this is even stronger: regarding Avraham too the Gemara says[15] that the reason for the command[16], "Arise, walk through the land, its length and its breadth, for to you I will give it," is "so that it would be easy to conquer before his children" — but there Rashi does not cite it. This implies that "easy for his children to conquer" through the father's action is difficult to say in the plain meaning[17].
— And the intent of "Arise, walk through the land" is plain (so that Rashi need not explain it at all): Avraham should do an action — walk around wherever and however he wishes with no one hindering him, the act of an owner — that shows his ownership of Eretz Yisrael (as will be explained below, section 7) —
so why does Rashi learn that "the Holy One, blessed be He, folded…" with Yaakov was (not to show his ownership of Eretz Yisrael, as the Midrash explains, but) "He hinted to him that it would be easy for his children to conquer"[18]?
5. The explanation:
In the plain meaning of Scripture there is from the outset no room for the Gemara's question "what is the novelty?" — because the words "on which you lie" (do not mean the limited area on which Yaakov lay, but the land — they) define the word "the land," with the definite article: which land is meant — the land on which you are lying — "to you I will give it and to your offspring."
That is why Rashi does not comment (either) on what is said (earlier[20]) of Avraham, "for all the land that you see, to you I will give it…" — which seemingly is puzzling, in the same way[21]: a person can see only a limited area[22] (of Eretz Yisrael[23]), especially since it is a land of mountains and valleys[24] — so what is the intent of the promise that "the land that you see, to you I will give it"[25]?
And even if one were to say that Avraham then stood on a high mountain[26] and could see a very large area ("northward and southward and eastward and westward"[27]), it is still a great stretch to say that from there he could see all of Eretz Yisrael to its borders —
but according to the plain meaning there is from the outset no question. For "the land that you see" does not mean to limit the area of the land that "I will give," that only as much as he sees will be given; it is only a sign of which land (country) will be given him — the land that you see (in general) before you.
6. The question in the verse that Rashi comes to resolve here is: why did G‑d need to add at all (the words "on which you lie" as) a sign for Eretz Yisrael — it would have been enough had He said (as it says in many places[28]), "This land, to you I will give it…"[29]?
Granted, with Avraham it is plain why the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "Lift up your eyes and see… the land that you see…," as is usual when giving a gift, to show it to the one receiving it;
therefore Rashi learns: "The Holy One, blessed be He, folded up all of Eretz Yisrael" — in order to say "the land on which you lie," the Holy One, blessed be He, needed to give him a sign (not on the land — as with Avraham, "that you see" — but) on Yaakov, of his ownership of the land[30] — similar to Avraham's "Arise, walk through the land" (as explained above, section 4).
7. But this is still not enough, because the reason (according to the plain meaning) why the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Avraham, "Arise, walk through the land," is not that through this His promise ("to you I will give it and to your offspring") is strengthened —
— according to the homiletic interpretation there is a difference between a promise of the Holy One, blessed be He, when it is only potential and when it is connected with "actuality"[31]; but according to the plain meaning, when the Holy One, blessed be He, promises, nothing is lacking that would need to be connected with "actuality"[32] —
rather, it is for Avraham's sake: so that G‑d's promise, "for to you I will give it," would be felt by him in such a way that he would already conduct himself as an owner in the land, as though it had already become his land[33] — he walks around in it "its length and its breadth" freely, as in his own land.
In our case (with Yaakov), however, G‑d folded "all of Eretz Yisrael beneath him," and Yaakov did nothing at all to show his ownership; no one saw it (knew of it);
[and more: this itself was not in a manner that G‑d said "lie on it" — rather "and he lay down" (Yaakov lay down of his own accord), and after it was already "beneath him," "the Holy One, blessed be He, folded…," and afterwards "and he dreamed…," and He said to him, "the land on which you lie, to you I will give it…"].
So what was accomplished here (regarding Yaakov) by "the Holy One, blessed be He, folded up all of Eretz Yisrael beneath him"[34]?
8. To this Rashi continues, "He hinted to him that it would be easy for his children to conquer": the fact that G‑d gave Yaakov ownership of Eretz Yisrael merely through his "lying on it" — unlike Avraham, where there was "Arise, walk through the land" — is the novelty of the promise to Yaakov compared with the promise to Avraham[34]:
In the promise to Yaakov it was brought about that the conquest of the land by his children would come easily, with no effort: the sign of his ownership of Eretz Yisrael is in a manner in which he need do nothing at all — he lies on the ground ("on which you lie") and receives the land from G‑d ("the Holy One, blessed be He, folded up all of Eretz Yisrael beneath him").
Note: here one sees how specifically the study of the plain meaning brings out a wondrous novelty compared with the exposition of our Sages in the Gemara:
According to the Gemara it emerges that "easy for his children to conquer" is connected with an action (and effort) of "his children," at least like the effort needed to conquer four cubits;
Rashi in his commentary on the Torah brings out that the Jews will not need to use even a little effort in the conquest — for them it will be in the manner of "on which you lie," and from before, and G‑d will do everything, as King Chizkiyahu said, "I am asleep in my bed and You do it"[35].
In simple words: it is enough that Jews are "lying on it" — and all the nations of the world (who would need to be conquered) acknowledge that all of Eretz Yisrael — the whole land to its borders — is the eternal inheritance of the Jewish people; Jews have all of Eretz Yisrael without any war, etc.[36]
9. The explanation of this in the inner dimension of things, one may say:
It is known what the Mitteler Rebbe — the one whose redemption and joy is celebrated on Yud Kislev[37] — explains in his well-known maamar "Atah Echad"[38], that in a person's daled amos (four cubits) the yechidah of the soul shines. For it is such a lofty makif that it cannot rest upon the body even as a makif, and therefore it spreads into the daled amos of a person, which are his place.
And this is "the Holy One, blessed be He, folded up all of Eretz Yisrael beneath him" — the daled amos of Yaakov — through which He connected the ownership of Eretz Yisrael with the yechidah of Yaakov, and consequently with the yechidah of each and every Jew (for all souls are "his children," included in (and drawn from) the soul of Yaakov[39]).
And this is also why this brought about "that it would be easy for his children to conquer," to the point that for Jews it will be in the manner of "on which you lie," and everything will be done from Above, as explained above — because at the level of yechidah there is no possibility of an opponent[40], and therefore from there the refinement is brought about naturally and by itself, without war, in a manner of peace[41].
10. Another wondrous matter that Rashi's commentary on the Torah adds compared with the exposition of our Sages in the Gemara:
In the Gemara it says that "the Holy One, blessed be He, folded it…" was the reason "(so) that it would be easy for his children to conquer" — that through this G‑d put a power into Eretz Yisrael, so that later, if Jews would go to take it, the conquest would then come easily, and "to you I will give it and to your offspring" — G‑d will give it. But that Jews will go to take it (in the manner of "easy…") was not said.
— Nowadays one sees, unfortunately, that there are Jews, Heaven forbid, with whom one must argue that all of Eretz Yisrael to its borders belongs to the Jewish people as an eternal inheritance.
Rashi begins his commentary on the Torah[42] with the point that (only) the nations of the world will come and claim, "You are robbers…"; and more: since the Torah of truth says what to answer them ("The whole earth belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He… by His will He took it from them and gave it to us"), it is understood that if only one tells this answer to the nations as one should — conveying G‑d's words and mission with the proper strength (so that they feel that these are words that come from the heart) — it will completely nullify the challenge of the nations of the world.
Then come Jews, Heaven forbid, and argue the opposite, etc. —
Rashi explains, details and adds in his commentary on the Torah (on the Gemara's wording), "He hinted to him that it would be easy for his children to conquer": G‑d hinted to Yaakov (and through him also "to his children"), and this itself is an arousal, a granting of strength, and a demand to conquer — for the entire creation is founded on "of all that the Holy One, blessed be He, created in His world, He did not create a single thing for nothing"[43]; all the more so when G‑d hints that He did not do merely "a single thing," but a great miracle, etc.
One may further say that according to Rashi the meaning of "that it would…" is that it will be: G‑d hinted to Yaakov a reality, that "your children" will take Eretz Yisrael with ease,
for "the Torah has promised that Israel will in the end do teshuvah at the end of their exile"[44], including that all Jews, while still "in their exile," will stand with true strength to hold on to all of Eretz Yisrael to its borders[45], and "immediately they are redeemed," through Moshiach Tzidkeinu, speedily in our days, truly.
(From the talk of Motzaei Shabbos Parshas Vayeitzei 5739)