JHI Dvar Torah on Parshat Vayishlach

PARSHAT VAYISHLACH – MULTIPLE FOCUS


Parshat Vayishlach begins by describing Yaakov (Jacob) returning to Israel together with his family after a long absence. Yaakov was then quite wealthy and his camp contained flocks of animals as well as other forms of wealth. As he drew closer to the destination, Yaakov was informed that his brother Eisav (Essau) was approaching with four hundred armed men. It was evident that Eisav might attempt to murder them all. Yaakov countered with a three-pronged strategy of 1) presents (bribery) for Eisav, 2) prayer, and if all else failed, 3) war.

On the eve of his encounter with Eisav, Yaakov relocated his entire party and divided them into two groups. His thinking was that if Eisav would prevail and attack one of the camps, the other one might be able to escape.

Yaakov then returned to the old camp to retrieve several small items. The Talmud (Chullin 91b) explains that Yaakov’s return was in keeping with the practice of tzaddikim (very righteous people) who guard their money most dearly. The classic work of ethics, Orchot Tzaddikim (probably 13th Century, author unknown) explains that Yaakov’s behavior was rooted in the principle that all people, including the wealthy, should take care to avoid the unnecessary loss of even small amounts.

Yaakov had just divided his camp so that if one group was slaughtered, the other might be saved. He was clearly in the midst of a true life-and-death struggle for himself, his family, and by extension, the entire Jewish nation of the future. Avraham (Abraham) and Yitzchak’s (Isaac’s) sacred heritage of monotheism was thus also at stake. The climax of this encounter would occur on the following day. Yaakov’s focus upon his salvation was thus no doubt most intense and single-minded.

The Torah attaches supreme importance to the value of human life. If one must choose between saving a life and observing a mitzvah, it is generally forbidden to perform the mitzvah. The Torah must be violated so that the life will be saved. Certainly then, one should not distract himself from rescuing people in order to retrieve small items of little value.

How then can Yaakov’s actions be explained? He had two choices before him. One option was to continue his efforts to protect himself and his family. The alternative was to divert a measure of time and attention and return to the old camp for a few small items. He elected to recover the objects. Was this choice correct if it in any way lessened his concentration on the salvation of human life? Could any other “unimportant” activity (such as recovering small items) even remotely compare to the importance of the imminent struggle with Eisav?

It must be that Yaakov’s focus on saving lives was in no way diminished. Yaakov calculated that this detour would not minimize his chances of saving himself and the others. All possible preparations had already been completed, and Yaakov was certain that retrieving the items would not divert his attention from the main task before him. Otherwise, the Torah would have forbidden his actions.

Evidently, man has the ability to rivet his attention on a major and all-engrossing undertaking while not losing sight of even the smallest minutia of other far less critical matters. Somehow, one can focus on ‘big’ topic while keeping all of the small details of life in the ‘back burner’ of the mind. Furthermore, pausing to attend to the minor issue need not compromise one’s focus on the more important situation. Both undertakings can be pursued with vigor without imperiling each other. Therefore, recovering the lost items was not a conflict to the major challenge that faced Yaakov.

There are people who become totally engrossed in their careers. Most often, the greater a person’s success, the more all-encompassing the involvement will be with his or her work. (Lehavdil) This is true of Torah scholarship as well. It is normally the most outstanding of Torah scholars who possess the most intense drive to continuously study the Torah.

What of a person’s other obligations? At times, that intense pursuit of career or studies may cause one to disregard those other responsibilities. The duties neglected may include anything from the attention to one’s family and friends to concern for personal health.

One must learn from the response of Yaakov that a deep commitment to career or to a cause need not interfere with other “less critical” responsibilities. One can be totally absorbed in the world’s most important emergency while remaining in touch with the smallest nuances of his other responsibilities. If one’s major undertakings become the reason for neglect of spouse, family or other of life’s details, it is a violation of the Torah perspective on the proper way to balance one’s life. People are capable of maintaining focus upon even the smallest details of life while pursuing greater causes without compromising either.


Without quoting the source text of this Dvar, Rabbi Dovid Leibowitz z”l (1889-1941 – the Rebbe of the author’s Rebbe) once made an observation about Napoleon I, emperor of France that reflects this idea. Napoleon was surely one of the most remarkable personalities of world history. He was the undisputed political ruler of his country and a master of palace intrigue. He was also one of the greatest battlefield generals of all time. He was also a great thinker. His Napoleonic Code was a visionary masterpiece; it reorganized the government of France into a structure that is, to this day, largely intact. The code’s ideas of equality before the law and freedom of religion were revolutionary for those times. The code was largely responsible for dramatically transforming a thousand years of the political thinking of European civilization.

Individuals may attain greatness in one field. But how often do even the most brilliant and successful people change professions, and attain comparable distinction in a second and completely different career? Napoleon was not only sequentially preeminent in several very different endeavors, he pursued them simultaneously. How did he do it?

Rabbi Liebowitz remarked that Napoleon likely possessed a trait that all people should attempt to emulate. When, for example, he dealt with warfare, the entire universe of his intellect was focused on that subject alone, and his many different careers did not in any way interfere with his concentration. Yet, despite riveting his mind on combat, he simultaneously maintained a focus all of the details of his many other involvements in the back of his mind. This was necessary to avoid having his activities conflict with each other and to be aware of when his attentions had to be diverted to another area.

Similarly, Yaakov (lehavdil) was focused on both the mortal threat facing him and on other issues as well. Furthermore, Yaakov didn’t only keep two or more highly important endeavors in mind. Though involved with a most crucial matter of life and death, Yaakov still did not lose sight of even the smallest details of his other responsibilities.


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(This Dvar Torah was adapted from Rabbi Ganz’s volume on Sefer Bereishit, “Defining Humanity.”)

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