02 Dec VAYISHLACH: THE SUN ALSO RISES

The Torah tells us that
after Yaakov fought
with the Angel of
Eisav, “The sun rose
and was shining upon
him” (Yaakov)
[Bereishis 32:32]. The
Talmud in Chulin
[91b] relates a story involving Rabban
Gamliel, Rabbi Yishmael, and Rabbi Akiva.
They were shopping to buy meat for the
wedding of Rabban Gamliel’s son. Rabbi
Akiva inquired about the meaning of the above
verse: “Did the sun just shine for Yaakov? —
It shone for everyone.” To which R. Yitzchak
responded “The sun that set for him, rose for
him.”
What is the meaning of the Talmud’s question
and answer, and why was it necessary for the
Gemara [Talmud] to tell us the details
regarding when this discussion took place?
The Menachem Zion provides a beautiful
interpretation. We know from other places in
the Talmud about the relationship between
Rabbi Akiva and his companions. One such
famous incident is located at the end of
Tractate Makkos (24b) — and such stories are
repeated many times in the Gemara.
Rabbi Akiva lived at the time of the destruction

of the Second Temple and he lived into the
period of Exile after the Destruction. It was a
time of terrible depression. It was one of the
worst periods in Jewish history. Jews were
downtrodden, desperate, and at times,
hopeless.
It was always Rabbi Akiva’s practice to cheer
up his companions and to tell them not to give
up hope. In Makkos, we learn of the incident
where the Sages saw a fox emerge from the
area that formerly housed the Holy of Holies.
The Rabbis broke down and cried until Rabbi
Akiva comforted them, explaining that what
they saw was a positive omen. [If the prophecy
that predicted that foxes would walk in that
place was fulfilled, so too the prophecies of
redemption will be fulfilled.]
The Talmud tells us regarding this period that
from the time that the Government (Romans)
started oppressing them, they should have
made a decree that people should not marry
and have children, because it is better perhaps
to let the Children of Avrohom die out on their
own rather than to suffer this persecution.
Nonetheless, the Gemara concluded that such
practice would not be acceptable. However, it
is clear that the spirit of the times did border
on hopelessness.
Rabbi Akiva was walking with his friends to

buy meat for the wedding of Rabban
Gamiliel’s son. Rabban Gamiliel was thinking,
“What am I doing — I am marrying off my
son so that I should see grandchildren who
will be killed by the Romans?”
Rabbi Akiva saw that Rabban Gamliel was in
a state of despair. He was not rejoicing over
his son’s wedding. Rabbi Akiva wanted to
breathe life and spirit into his friends. So he
invoked the principle that what happened to
the fathers, foreshadows what will happen to
the children (Ma’aseh avos siman l’banim).
Look at what happened to Yaakov in Parshas
VaYetzei. He reached the nadir of his career
— the lowest of the low. Yaakov had to run
away from home. His brother was trying to kill
him. He did not have anything to call his own.
There he is and the sun sets — both figuratively
and literally — for Yaakov Avinu. It gets dark.
Yaakov moves into a period of night and goes
into an exile with a Lavan who tries to rob and
cheat him. The sun had set for Yaakov.
But what happened? Yaakov persevered. He
did not give up. Yaakov remained steadfast
and honest. He returned after that long exile
— whole in body, whole in money, whole in
his religion. Yaakov made it through the night
and the sun now rose for him.
Rabbi Akiva was telling his colleagues: “Do

not give up. What happened to the fathers will
happen to the children. The sun that set for
Yaakov, eventually also rose for him. There
was an end to the exile and to the night.”
And that has been the history of the Jewish
people. We go through the night. We went
through the Roman oppression, we went
through the Inquisition, we went through
pogroms, through T”ach, vT”at [1648 – 1649];
we even went through a Holocaust. But we
will come out of it all.
Netzach Yisroel Lo Yishaker [The Eternal One
of Israel does not lie – Samuel I 15:29]. There
will be an end. The sun that set for us during
the time of destruction will eventually rise for
us again. And we — as a nation — will come
back again physically whole, materially whole
and spiritually whole.