Yisrael strengthened himself, and sat up on the bed.[2]
Open any edition of Mikra’os Gedolos, and you’ll find marginal annotations known as the Mesorah . This work comes to us from the early Middle Ages, and among other things, flags words and expressions that are uncommon and unusual. In our pasuk, the Mesorah comes up with only one similar instance of the bed motif in all of Tanach: “And Haman fell upon the bed.”[3] What connection is the Mesorah suggesting to us?
Let’s begin with a passage in the gemara.[4] R Yishmael, noting that a student looked anxious, called him a sinner, citing the verse[5] “Sinners were afraid in Tziyon.” The student asked, doesn’t a different verse,[6] however, praise those who are fearful? It is written, “Praiseworthy is the man who is always fearful.” R. Yishmael disagreed. That verse speaks specifically about spiritual matters, like the fear of forgetting one’s Torah learning.
R. Yishmael stops short of explaining the words in that pasuk that follow: “He who hardens his heart will fall into misfortune.” In fact, those words follow directly from the ones that precede them – and help explain the intention of the Mesorah .
Why did R. Yishmael react negatively to his student’s apprehensiveness? He sensed that the student worried about some immediate cause for unhappiness that threatened, rather than the source of that cause. The student had reason to worry, but should have focused on Hashem, the Cause of all causes. He should have focused his mental energies on his relationship with HKBH. It is Him that the student should have feared, rather than any proximal concern. Indeed, the person who “hardens his heart,” failing to translate his worry into strengthening his connection to Hashem, “will fall into misfortune.”
Yaakov Avinu had genuine yir’as Shomayim. This fear generated constant strengthening.[7] Interestingly, the pasuk refers to him as Yisrael, although both before and after, he is referred to as Yaakov. The name Yisrael denotes strength. The Mesorah conveys to us that Yaakov’s strengthening inexorably led to the downfall of Haman. When Klal Yisrael grows stronger in its yir’as Shomayim, Esav and his descendants grow weaker and fall. As the gemara[8] relates, the two are inversely related. When Yisrael rises, Esav falls. They will never both be ascendant or defeated at the same time.
With genuine, full yir’ah, harsh dinim are quashed.
- Adapted from Be’er Moshe, by the Ozharover Rebbe zt”l ↑
- Bereishis 48:2 ↑
- Esther 10:8 ↑
- Berachos 60a ↑
- Yeshayahu 33:14 ↑
- Mishlei 28:14 ↑
- The Rebbe does not explain how or why Yaakov strengthened himself at this point. Perhaps he means that Yaakov also had worries about where he would be buried, and addressed them by extracting an oath from Yosef that he would take his body back to Israel. He attributed his success solely to Diving help – and thus strengthened his connection to Hashem ↑
- Megillah 6a ↑