Parshas Vayishlach 5786: Move 37

                                                              Torah Parallels 

Parshas Vayishlach

לעילוי נשמת האדא בת מרדכי 

Move 37

Parshas Vayishlach opens with Yaakov responding to the news that Eisav was marching towards him with 400 men. The last Yaakov had heard, Eisav wanted to kill him. So, the looming approach of an army meant it would be most prudent for Yaakov to prepare for battle. Rashi (32:9) describes that he readied himself in three ways: Diplomacy (by sending gifts), Davening, and Dividing his family to increase chance of survival. Yet even with all this hishtadlus, Yaakov was still scared. He said, “Katonti m’kol hachasidim” (I have been diminished by all the kindness...), worried that perhaps his merits had run thin and that he would not have the spiritual koach defeat Eisav. 

 

Then, something completely unexpected happens. The Torah (32:24) describes that Yaakov and his family crossed over the Yabok RIver with all their possessions, and the next passuk (32:25) states, “vayivaser Yaakov l’vado...” - Yaakov remained alone. Why? How did this happen? Rashi explains that Yaakov had forgotten a few small jars, “pachim ketanim”, and so he went back for them. As the Gemara in Chullin (91a) teaches: For tzadikim, even their possessions are precious to them because they value what they acquire honestly. It’s not that the tzaddik has an attachment to gashmiyus, but rather that the tzadik’s possessions have a connection to ruchniyus. The acquisitions of a tzadik b’emes are a part of the tzadik himself. This is why Yaakov found himself alone retrieving the pachim ketanim. 

 

While this might explain practically why Yaakov ended up alone, it is still puzzling. Yaakov was in the middle of preparing for war and executing a multi-pronged strategy. Was now really the appropriate time to go retrieve some small jars?  

 

To help frame the answer, let’s leap forward a few thousand years. In 2016, DeepMind, a London-based AI company acquired by Google two years earlier, challenged world champion Lee Sedol to a historic five-game match of Go. In Game Two, the AI (named AlphaGo) shocked the global “Go community” with its now famous “Move 37”. Top players and onlookers gasped as the random move looked like a clear mistake. It ignored standard strategy: it wasn’t defensive, it didn’t protect territory and didn’t seem to be reacting to any particular strategy that Lee was playing. But it wasn’t random. It turned out to be a calculated, visionary play which was attributed to being the turning point that ultimately carried AlphaGo to victory. The move was an atypical 1-in-1,000 move, but in essence it was a one-off offensive play to deliberately move forward with strategy beyond simply keeping up with tit-for-tat. 

 

Yaakov returning to retrieve his pachim ketanim, was not a blunder. It was his Move 37. On the surface, it might seem like an unconventional element to include amid executing a multi-pronged battle strategy, but the reality was that it was the move that allowed Yaakov to be victorious. Yaakov’s returning for the pachim ketanim was a continuation of his own personal growth and battle for emes and shelaimus. His fight for his emes and shelaimus defeated the malach of Eisav, and Yaakov not only emerged with the small jars he had gone back for, but with a new name: Yisroel. This changed the battlefield, and fast forwarding to after the encounter with Eisav, the Torah (33:13) testifies that Yaakov emerged “shaleim”. As Rashi explains: Yaakov emerged shaleim in his body, possessions, and Torah.  

 

Day to day life could certainly keep us quite busy and distracted playing a game of survival and tit-for-tat. But frankly, that’s not enough. We need to also always play offense in our areas of growth. In the midst of the busy-ness of life, even if it is just the shortest of detours to go back for our pachim ketanim, it demonstrates to Hashem and ourselves a sense of consistency, perseverance, and resilience.  

 

So, what will your Move 37 be? What is the smallest instance of a growth-oriented mindset that you will commit to include in your strategy even if it is a 1-in-1,000 move that doesn’t seem obvious at first how it could turn into something great.    

 

May Hashem help us continuously grow and emerge shaleim – physically, spiritually, and emotionally.