Parshas Bechukosai - the extra letter in Yaakov's name

The passuk says in this week’s sedrah (26:42)

וְזָכַרְתִּי אֶת בְּרִיתִי יַעֲקוֹב וְאַף אֶת בְּרִיתִי יִצְחָק וְאַף אֶת בְּרִיתִי אַבְרָהָם אֶזְכֹּר וְהָאָרֶץ אֶזְכֹּר.

And I will remember My covenant with Yaakov and also My covenant with Yitzchak and also my covenant with Avraham I will remember, and I will remember the land.

Rashi comments on this passuk

וזכרתי את בריתי יעקוב - בחמשה מקומות נכתב מלא ואליהו חסר בחמשה מקומות יעקב נטל אות משמו של אליהו ערבון שיבוא ויבשר גאולת בניו

In five places the name Yaakov is written with a vav and the name Eliyahu is written without a vav. This is because in five places Yaakov took a letter from the name of Eliyahu as a surety that would force Eliyahu to come and announce the redemption of Yaakov’s descendants.

• Why did Yaakov take the letter vav from Eliyahu in order to force him to come and reclaim the vav when he will announce the arrival of mashiach?

The passuk says in Bereishis (32:32)

וַיִּזְרַח לוֹ הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ כַּאֲשֶׁר עָבַר אֶת פְּנוּאֵל וְהוּא צֹלֵעַ עַל יְרֵכוֹ

And the sun shone for him when he passed Penuel, and he was limping on this thigh.

Rashi comments on this passuk

ויזרח לו השמש - ...ומדרש אגדה ויזרח לו לצרכו לרפאות את צלעתו כמה דתימא (מלאכי ג') [וְזָרְחָה לָכֶם יִרְאֵי שְׁמִי] שֶׁמֶשׁ צְדָקָה וּמַרְפֵּא בִּכְנָפֶיהָ [וִיצָאתֶם וּפִשְׁתֶּם כְּעֶגְלֵי מַרְבֵּק] ואותן שעות שמיהרה לשקוע בשבילו כשיצא מבאר שבע מיהרה לזרוח בשבילו

An Aggadic medrash says that the sun rose specifically for Yaakov to cure him of his limp as the passuk says, “[And there will shine for you that fear My Name] a sun of charity with healing in its wings, [and you shall go and run like well-fed calves].” Those hours which the sun set early for him when he went out of Be’er Sheva, it hurried to shine for him now.

• Why was Yaakov cured from his limp by the sunshine that he had missed out on when he was on his way to Lavan’s house?

The Sefas Emes explains as follows:

The passuk says in Vayeshev (43:9-10)

וַיַּחֲלֹם עוֹד חֲלוֹם אַחֵר וַיְסַפֵּר אֹתוֹ לְאֶחָיו וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּה חָלַמְתִּי חֲלוֹם עוֹד וְהִנֵּה הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ וְהַיָּרֵחַ וְאַחַד עָשָׂר כּוֹכָבִים מִשְׁתַּחֲוִים לִי. וַיְסַפֵּר אֶל אָבִיו וְאֶל אֶחָיו וַיִּגְעַר בּוֹ אָבִיו וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ מָה הַחֲלוֹם הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר חָלָמְתָּ הֲבוֹא נָבוֹא אֲנִי וְאִמְּךָ וְאַחֶיךָ לְהִשְׁתַּחֲו‍ֹת לְךָ אָרְצָה.

And he dreamt another dream and he related it to his brothers, and he said, “Behold I dreamt another dream, and behold the sun and the moon and 11 stars were bowing to me.” And he told it to his father and to his brothers and his father became angry at him and he said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamt, shall I and your mother and your brothers come to bow down to the ground to you?”

The Ramban comments on this passuk that the avos are represented by the sun and the imahos are represented by the moon. (Therefore here, Yaakov thought that the moon represented Rachel, which was impossible, because she was no longer alive, and he did not know that the moon referred to Bilhah, who had raised Yosef (Rashi)).

Based on this understanding, the Sefas Emes explains that the reason that the sun set early for Yaakov when he was going to חוץ לארץ was to signify that the zechus avos of Yitzchak would not protect him entirely while he was in חוץ לארץ.

This is because had Yaakov Avinu been able to feel close to the madregah of Yitzchak while he was in galus, then the galus would not have been a nisayon for him at all. Yaakov would easily have been able to rise above any challenge that Lavan placed in his way, and it would not have been hard for him to work for Lavan while raising the shevatim. The purpose of Yaakov being in galus when he went to the house of Lavan was so that he would be able to bring the potential for kedushah which existed in Lavan’s house into the reshus of the shechina, by marrying Leah and Rachel and by bringing up the shevatim. This could only happen if Yaakov would be מצטער in winning Rachel and Leah and the shevatim from Lavan, because through his צער he would be able to adhere the greatness (צורה) of theקדושת האבות to Rachel and Leah and the shevatim.

Because Yaakov was thus weakened when he went into galus, the שרו של עשו was able to damage his thigh, which represents Yaakov’s ability to continue existing in עולם הזה. However, the sun compensated for the hours that it had set early for Yaakov when he went into galus, by rising early for him when he came back from galus. This indicates that Yaakov’s דביקות to the madregah of the avos was returned to him when he came back to Eretz Yisrael. This automatically healed the limp which he had contracted from the שר של עשו, because it was now revealed that the weakness which the שר של עשו had used to overcome him was artificially imposed and had no place in the full stature of Yaakov Avinu as was revealed in Eretz Yisrael.

Since we know that מעשה אבות סימן לבנים, we can understand that when the benei yisrael too go into galus, they too are in an artificially reduced state, in order that they can experience galus and it should not be easy for them to overcome the difficulties that they experience keeping the Torah in galus. Through these difficulties they will come to complete כפרה and תשובה, which is the expected benefit of sending them into galus.

Regarding the pikadon which Yaakov took from Eliyahu, we find that the letter vav represents the middah of אמת, as the Zohar says in Parshas Vayechi (241b) that that which Rachav requested an אות אמת from the meraglim (Yehoshua 2:12) referred to the letter vav.

On this basis we can understand that Eliyahu may claim that על פי שורת הדין ולפי האמת, the benei yisrael do not merit that he should announce the coming of mashiach. However, Yaakov Avinu will point out to Eliyahu that just as when he, Yaakov, went into galus, his full madregah was taken from him as a pikadon and only returned to him when he came back to Eretz Yisrael, so too the benei yisrael are in a reduced state in galus and that Eliyahu will only be able to appreciate their true madregah and the true accomplishment of their overcoming the nisayon of galus after they will come back into Eretz Yisrael.

In this way, Yaakov takes the letter vav, which represents truth, as a pikadon, to indicate that to the contrary, the truth of the greatness of the benei yisrael and their worthiness to be redeemed, will be revealed exactly through Eliyahu announcing their redemption.