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    28 Nov PARSHAS VAYISHLACH: A TALE OF TWO PHILOSOPHIES

    Posted at 20:11h in by
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    In this week’s
    parsha we read
    about the reunion
    of Eisav and
    Yaakov after many
    years of separation. Eisav, responded
    to the generous gifts that Yaakov sent
    to him, by saying “I have much. My
    brother, keep what is yours.”
    [Bereishis 33:9] Yaakov, on the other
    hand, answered Eisav, “Please take
    the gift I have given you, for G-d has
    been gracious with me and I have
    everything.” [33:11]
    The Chofetz Chaim (1838-1933)
    said that this short dialogue sums up
    the different approaches to the world
    of Eisav and Yaakov. A person who
    says “I have much” will be an
    unhappy person. There is so much
    out there in the world to acquire, and

    no one person will ever acquire it all.
    Our sages say “Every person passes
    from this world without achieving
    even half of his desires” [Medrash
    Rabbah Koheles]. Therefore,
    someone who is focused on what he
    does not have will never be happy.
    The only person who will be happy
    in life is the one who says that “I have
    everything that there is to need.”
    Physically, he realizes that he does
    not have everything in the world. But
    the key is knowing that he has all that
    he needs to have. If he believes he
    has all he needs to have, he truly has
    everything.
    In conjunction with this thought, Rav
    Eliyahu Lopian (1872-1970)
    explained the verse at the end of
    Birchas HaMazon [Grace After

    Meals or “bentching”]. The pasuk
    says, “Dorshei HaShem lo yachseru
    kol tov” [“Those who seek out
    Hashem, will not lack any good.”]
    The pasuk does not say that those
    who seek out Hashem, in fact, _have_
    everything, only that they will not be
    _lacking_. This is the greatest
    blessing that a person can receive. If
    a person feels that he has what he
    needs, he will be happy. If, however,
    he only feels that he has “a lot,” he
    will always want more than he has.
    Rav Lopian gave the following
    example. A person once took a visitor
    to his home into the bathroom, and
    opened up the medicine cabinet. The
    medicine cabinet was full with
    prescription drugs. He proudly
    boasted about the value of the
    contents of the medicine cabinet.

    “Look, I have thousands of dollars
    worth of valuables here.” The other
    person looked incredulously at his
    host and thought to himself, “Big
    deal. I have a medicine cabinet and
    all I have inside of it is aspirin.”
    Who is happier in this example – the
    person who has thousands of dollars
    worth of medicine, or the person who
    does not need the medicine? This is
    the difference between “I have much”
    and “I have all”.