Sending a Double Message

And he commanded them, saying, thus shall you say unto my lord Esau: thus  says your servant  Jacob  I  have  sojourned (garti)  with  Laban,  and have delayed there until now.                   Genesis 32:4

            This is the message which Jacob sent to Esau in his attempt to appease him.

            Rashi offers two explanations of Jacob’s message. The first is that what Jacob is saying is that he has been merely a sojourner, he has become neither a prince nor a person of importance, therefore Esau need not be concerned, since Isaac’s blessing “be master over your brethren” [Genesis 27:29] had not been fulfilled. Rashi’s second explanation, based upon the fact that the word garti is an anagram for taryag. The numerical value (gematriya) is 613, the number of mitzvot in the Torah.  Rashi suggests that Jacob was telling his brother “though I have sojourned with Laban the wicked, I have observed the 613 mitzvot and have not learned of his evil ways”.

            The first explanation seems the more reasonable because Jacob suggests that there is no reason for Esau to be angry at him. But the second explanation seems irrelevant. Why should Esau be concerned by Jacob’s commitment to fulfilling mitzvot even in Laban’s evil precincts?

            My father suggested that Jacob was sending Esau a message on two levels. If the struggle between Esau and Jacob is on the material level, Jacob’s message is: you, Esau have no reason for concern. On this level, Jacob addresses his twin brother as “my master” and is willing to send great gifts. However, if the struggle is on an ideological and moral level, Jacob’s message is: just as I remained faithful to observance of mitzvot in the face of Laban, who “wished to uproot all” (Hagaddah), so too I will succeed against you.

            Thus Jacob tells his brother: “though I may call you ‘my master’ and be servile, that is only in tangible matters, however, in anything impinging upon observance of mitzvot, I will fight against you.” 

            My father offered a second insight: Isaac told Esau “… and you shall serve your brother, and it shall come to pass when you shall break loose, that you shall shake his yoke off your neck.” [Genesis 27:40] As Rashi explains, the traditional understanding is that Jacob’s ascendancy over Esau is dependent upon his fulfilling mitzvot.      

            Thus, Jacob’s message to Esau is “since I have maintained my commitment to observing all mitzvot, I indeed continue to merit our father’s blessing “be lord over your brothers” [Genesis 27:29] According to this elucidation, the thrust of Jacob’s message is to put Esau in his place and to reassert Jacob’s superiority over his older brother.