Vayishlach – Your Money or Your Life

In our parsha, Jacob was stranded alone and partook in a fight to the death with the angel of Esau for an entire night. Quoting the Talmud, Rashi reveals that the reason why Jacob was alone was that he went to retrieve a few small jugs. The Talmud continues that from this episode we see that the righteous value their money more than their bodies because they don’t steal. In this podcast we address the three obvious questions about this Talmud:

  1. What does it mean that they love their money? Is not money a material thing that distracts from the spiritual goals in life?
  2. Also, is it possible that he loved it more than his body?
  3. And what does it mean that they do so because they don’t steal?

חולין צא א – ויותר יעקב לבדו אמר רבי אלעזר שנשתייר על פכין קטנים מכאן לצדיקים שחביב עליהם ממונם יותר מגופם וכל כך למה לפי שאין פושטין ידיהן בגזל

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