Shabbat Vayishlach 5784
By Rabbi Daniel Reich
LA JOLLA, California — Yaakov had been preparing for the meeting between him and his brother Eisav. He had heard that his brother was coming with 400 men to kill him, so Yaakov acted very strategically in anticipation of the meeting.
Then the moment of truth came. Yaakov saw Eisav approaching with his 400 men. He organized his family and readied himself for any eventuality.
Then the Torah records that Yaakov did something quite unusual:
“And Yaakov stood in front of his family, to protect them, And he bowed low to the ground seven times until he was near his brother.” (Bereshit 33:3)
Yaakov bowed before Eisav? How could that be? Why would Yaakov give such respect and act in such an awe-inspiring manner to the Evil Eisav? Why did Yaakov bow before Eisav?
The Zohar comments on this episode, noting that Yaakov wasn’t bowing to Eisav, but rather at that moment, Yaakov experienced a giluy shechina (divine revelation). God’s presence was revealed to Yaakov at the exact moment he saw Eisav. Yaakov was really bowing before God, not Eisav the rasha (wicked person).
Rav Eliyahu Dessler (1892-1953), the Spiritual guide to the Ponovitch Yeshiva in the 1940s, expounds on this episode, as it is presented by the Zohar. He writes that it wasn’t a coincidence that God’s presence was revealed to Yaakov at the moment he saw Eisav. It wasn’t a random moment of inspiration. But rather, Yaakov had the ability to find God and connect to the creator, no matter where he found himself, even when he was standing before the biggest rasha.
Often, we find ourselves waiting for the perfect opportunity to connect with God. We are waiting for the stars to align. The Torah is teaching us that we must look for opportunities to connect with Hashem even at moments that, at prima facie, present themselves as missed opportunities for connection. Yaakov shows us the importance of connecting in unlikely places and times.
Spencer Silver, a chemist doing research for an office supply company in 1964, was attempting to develop a better adhesive.
“It was part of my job as a researcher to develop new adhesives, and at that time we wanted to develop bigger, stronger, tougher adhesives.”
What he came up with was nothing like that, he said. He developed microspheres, which retained their stickiness and had a “removability characteristic,” allowing attached surfaces to be peeled apart easily.
For years he struggled to find a use for his invention, preaching the merits of his creation to unreceptive colleagues. He essentially failed.
“I got to be known as ‘Mr. Persistent’ because I wouldn’t give up,” he said.
But it never found a practical application until in 1974, he was approached by a colleague, Art Fry, who had heard him talk about his microspheres at a company seminar.
Fry had been in church for choir practice, grappling with a regularly occurring problem with his prayer book, when he had his “eureka moment” — “the one where you get the adrenaline rush,” he says — regarding the way Silver’s microspheres could potentially help.
During his Wednesday night choir practice, Fry would bookmark his prayer book with pieces of paper — but by Sunday morning, they would have fallen out.
“I thought what I need is a bookmark that would stick to the paper without falling off and but not damage the sheets,” he said.
When the team started writing messages on the notes to communicate around the office, they realized the full potential of the idea.
“I thought what we have here isn’t just a bookmark,” said Fry. “It’s a whole new way to communicate.”
Not everyone saw the value in the idea, says Fry, but the team continued to lobby for their idea and eventually in 1980, after extensive market testing, 3M released the product onto the market. From that point, the Post-it was unstoppable.
More powerfully, of course, than sticky notes, are all of the examples of our brothers and sisters in Israel who are finding opportunities for learning, chesed, and tefilah while looking evil in the face just as Yaakov did. All too often in life, we are presented with times for us to take those dark moments and find the opportunity within.
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Rabbi Daniel Reich is the rabbi of Congregation Adat Yeshurun of La Jolla.