Tuesday, December 4, 2012

שעירה

At the beginning of Parshas Vayishlach it says וישלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו ארצה שעיר שדה אדום - And Yaakov sent angels before him to the land of Seir the field of Edom. It says ארצה שעיר - to the land of Seir. Explains Rashi, the letter ה at the end of the word Artza means "to" in place of a ל. What a ל does at the beginning of a word, the ה does at the end of the word.

During the middle of the Parsha it says that Yaakov told Esav that eventually they would meet in שעיר. The pasuk says עד אשר אבוא אל אדוני שעירה - until I come to my master to Seir. It says שעירה - to Seir.

The question is why at the beginning of the Parsha does it say ארצה שעיר putting the ה after the word ארץ while later on the ה goes after the word שעיר?

The Maharal explained that the ה means "inside" so one couldn't say אמרתי שמעונה - I said to Shimon. One may say הלכתי ירשלימה - I went to Yerushalayim, if he actually goes into Yerushalayim.

Based on this, Maran illuminates [אגרת לז]:

When Yaakov first sends angels to Esav he doesn't want them to go into and be absorbed by the impure air of Sier which is Esav's land. Hence, he refrains from saying שעירה and instead puts the ה after the word ארץ. Later on, Yaakov tells Esav that they will meet at the end of days in Seir where Esav will be judged [as Rashi explains]. Therefore, he is not afraid to say שעירה. He will actually be absorbed by Seir but at the end of days when it says ועלו מושיעים בהר ציון לשפוט את הר עשו - the saviors will ascend the mountain of tziyon and judge the mountain of Esav, there is no concern that he will lose his purity.

Is that SOMETHING???:-)