Minutiae

The Torah portion Vayishlach provides not only the law, but also the reason why eating the gid hanasheh (the displaced sinew) is prohibited: "Therefore the children of Israel shall not eat the gid hanasheh that is upon the hip-socket to this day, because he [Esav's angel] struck Yaakov's hip-socket on the gid hanasheh."[103]

In further explaining the reason for this prohibition, the commentaries note[104] that it "commemorates Yaakov's might and the miracle G-d wrought for him." In other words, the prohibition of gid hanasheh not only serves as a reminder of Esav's angel battling Yaakov and injuring his gid hanasheh, it also commemorates the entire event of Yaakov's striving with the angel and being saved from the angel's hand.

Though many miracles transpired with the Patriarchs, this miracle in particular has been enshrined, as it is connected with a message that is of major and profound import in the life of the Jewish people: "Though we will undergo much travail in the course of our exiles among the nations and at the hands of the descendants of Esav, we can rest assured that we will never be destroyed, but exist forever."[105]

Accordingly, the following must be understood. An event is commemorated by reenacting it in as alike a manner as possible to the actual event. For example, our resting on Shabbos from creative labor commemorates G-d's resting on Shabbos from creation.

Why then is so great and fundamental an event as Yaakov's salvation from the angel -- an event alluding to the salvation of the Jewish people from the hands of Esav's descendants -- commemorated in so narrow and singular a way as the prohibition of eating the gid hanasheh? After all, this aspect is only a particular detail in the overall narrative of Yaakov's wrestling with Esav's angel. What is more, the incident of gid hanasheh is an element that does not glory in Yaakov's victory?

One of the novel teachings of the Baal Shem Tov[106] is that G-d's individual Divine Providence extends not only to man, but also to every created being. This means, says the Baal Shem Tov, that "not only are the particular actions and movements of all of creation individually directed by Providence," but "moreover, the particular movement of an individual creature relates to the overall intent of creation ... even the movement of a single blade of grass fulfills the Divine intent of Creation."

Understandably, even according to the Baal Shem Tov, there is a fundamental difference between how Providence extends over the rest of creation, to how it extends over the Jewish people.

Therefore the Baal Shem Tov also states that the degree of individual Divine Providence that G-d extends to the Jewish people is so great that "it is impossible to envision and impossible to understand."[107] This applies both to the extent each particular detail is overseen by G-d, as well as the particular detail's significance in fulfilling its individual role in the overall Divine purpose of creation.

That is to say, although individual Divine Providence extends to all of creation, G-d's paramount desire and choice is the Jewish people. Thus the saying of our Sages that the world was created "for the sake of Torah and the Jewish people"[108] -- they are the Divine intent and choice of creation, while all other matters are means whereby the intent is fulfilled through Torah and the Jewish people.

The nature of desire and choice is such that one may desire all aspects that comprise the individual desire with equal intensity, notwithstanding the differences in the importance of the individual details in the overall scheme of things. For example, a person is only whole and complete when he has all his bodily organs and parts, including his hair and nails. Still, one can in no way compare the importance of one's hair and nails to the importance of one's mind and heart.

The superior quality of individual Divine Providence as it relates to the Jewish people over the rest of creation will be understood accordingly.

In creation as a whole as well, each detail is important to the overall Divine plan and purpose of creation. Nevertheless, since the importance of the individual creation depends on its inherent quality, therefore the individual Divine Providence over each particular aspect is in accordance to its particular merits -- the extent it serves Torah and the Jewish people.[109]

With regard to Jews, however, since Providence over them results from G-d's having chosen them, Providence is not only in accord to the importance of each individual detail, but extends equally to all; in G-d's desiring and choosing the Jewish people, each and every individual detail and aspect is of equal importance.

In light of the above we understand why we commemorate Yaakov's salvation through a specific detail, as this emphasizes the manner of G-d's individual Divine Providence over Yaakov, and by extension, over the entire Jewish people, Yaakov's children:

G-d's Providence over the Jewish people is such that not only is every detail overseen by G-d (moreover, each detail is crucial to the completion of G-d's general intent of creation), but also that in fulfilling His intent, those details that seem most vital and those particulars that seem subsidiary and of lesser import, are all overseen by G-d in an entirely similar manner.

This is emphasized by gid hanasheh, where the overall event of Yaakov's salvation is commemorated specifically through a seemingly minor detail; even the most minor detail, etc., was vital to Yaakov's overall salvation.

Based on Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XXX, pp. 148-153.

   

Notes:

103. (Back to text) Bereishis 32:33.

104. (Back to text) Rashbam, et al.

105. (Back to text) Chinuch, Mitzvah 3; Ramban, Bereishis 32:26; Abarbenel, ibid.

106. (Back to text) See Addendum to Keser Shem Tov (Kehot Edition), section 119ff. and sources cited there; see also Likkutei Sichos, Vol. VIII, p. 277ff.

107. (Back to text) Quoted in Keser Shem Tov, ibid.

108. (Back to text) Rashi, Bereishis 1:1.

109. (Back to text) See Sefer HaMaamarim Kuntreisim, Vol. II, p. 279a; Keser Shem Tov, ibid.