02 Dec VAYISHLACH: KEEP ON GOING

The Divrei Yisrael
discusses how the
“Polish ganavim”
would steal:
They developed a
technique to get the store
owner out of the store
and leave it unattended.
The thief comes to
the store and takes an
item off the shelves.
He smiles at the store
owner, sticks out his
tongue at him, and then
runs off with the item

without paying.
The incensed store owner runs after him and
leaves his store unattended. Several ganavim
then enter and empty the store of its valuable
merchandise.
The Divrei Yisrael writes, “What does a wise
merchant do? He says, ‘Let the thief have what
he grabbed.’ He doesn’t run after him and,
therefore, doesn’t lose the rest of his money.
He guards the store, which is much wiser.”
The Divrei Yisrael explains that the yetzer
hara uses the technique of the Polish ganavim.
He causes a person to transgress a relatively
minor transgression. The person becomes very
upset and feels dejected, and now he is in the

yetzer hara’s hands.
As the Kotzker zt’l would say, “The yetzer
hara doesn’t want the aveirah. He wants the
depression that comes after the aveirah”
because then the person can fall to very low
levels.
The lesson is to keep on trying. Even if we lose
a battle, we have to continue fighting, or we
will lose so much more
We can compare this to an airplane caught in
turbulence. The plane is tossing up and down,
but it must keep on flying. What else can it do?
What is the alternative? To stand still? It will
spiral downwards.
We can also draw an analogy from the business
world: Someone’s business was enduring a
financial crisis. The expenses were greater
than the income, and there were unpaid debts
that needed to be paid up. The store owner
has two options: He can give up and close his
business, which will still leave him in debt and
make it impossible for the company to recover.
Another approach is to borrow more money
and to keep the business alive. The tide can
turn, and he can be successful again.
The Divrei Yisrael zt’l said that this lesson is
alluded to in this week’s parashah (32:9) “If
Eisav comes to one camp and strikes it down,
the remaining camp will escape.”
If Eisav, the yetzer hara, wins a battle, don’t

allow yourselves to fall into his hands. Salvage
whatever you can.
Another hint from this week’s parashah is in
the following words (32:26, 32) “When [the
malach] saw that he could not prevail against
[Yaakov], he touched the socket of his hip, and
the socket of Yaakov’s hip became dislocated
as he wrestled with him. And the sun rose for
him when he passed Penuel, and he limped on
his thigh.”
The Avodas Yisachar zt’l explains that
although Yaakov was hurt, he kept on walking.
And then Hashem healed him. He writes, “A
primary aspect of avodas Hashem is to keep
on moving without stopping. The holy sefarim
explain that one must do his obligations, and
not pay attention to his wounds (aveiros) r’l…
Sometimes, there is darkness, and he almost
can’t speak a word of Torah and tefillah.
Nevertheless, he should not give up. He must
do whatever he can to be strong.”
Another hint is from the pasuk (33:3) “[Yaakov]
went ahead of them and bowed himself to the
ground seven times, until he came close to his
brother.” The Midrash (Bereishis Rabba 78:8)
asks: Why did Yaakov bow specifically seven
times? It is to correspond to (Mishlei 24:16)
“Even if a tzaddik falls seven times, he will
get up again.”
By bowing down seven times, Yaakov was

teaching us that even if one bowed to Eisav
seven times (which means he obeyed the yetzer
hara and bowed his head to its influence), he
could lift himself again and begin again as if
nothing ever happened.
It states (32:29) “[The malach] said, ‘Your
name shall no longer be called Yaakov, but
Yisrael, because you have commanding power
with [an angel of] Hashem and with men, and
you have prevailed.”
Rashi writes that “men,” refer to Eisav and
Lavan. But we wonder, is this called prevailing
and winning the battle? He was lamed by
Eisav, and Lavan tricked him a hundred times.
Is that called winning a fight? The answer is
that he continued even after being lamed and
tricked, and with that attitude, one prevails.