Rashi quotes the Midrash ויבא יעקב שלם עיר שכם. So Rashi quotes: שלם בגופו שנתרפא מצלעתו, שלם בממונו שלא חסר כלום מכל אותו דורון, שלם בתורתו שלא שכח מלימודו בבית לבן,
or mitalmudo b'veit Lavan. So Yaakov Avinu's shleimus was b'gufo, b'mamono, b'toraso. But that the Torah should call attention to the fact that Yaakov Avinu was shalem b'toraso is understood, understood. Perhaps even the fact that he was shalem b'gufo, perhaps that should be understood as again focusing our attention on the fact that the Ribbono Shel Olam made a miracle to cure him. ויזרח לו השמש כאשר עבר את פנואל והוא צולע על ירכו.
What's the, what does the Torah have to tell us about Yaakov Avinu's 1040 here, that he was shalem b'mamono? And if he would have been, why are we interested in what financial bracket Yaakov Avinu is? Yaakov Avinu of course had been injured. ויותר יעקב לבדו ויאבק איש עמו עד עלות השחר. Rashi quotes from the Gemara in Chullin: שכח פחים קטנים וחזר עליהן. He forgot little containers and went back for them. So here too, apparently there was a concern on Yaakov Avinu's part for his material possessions and for his finances, and rather very, very great concern. I mean again Yaakov was quite wealthy l'chora, and yet he was interested in the pachim ktanim. So l'chora what emerges from these two mareh mekomos is as follows: obviously our neshamos come down into Olam Hazeh l'avodas Hashem. That's the only reason that our neshamos come down into Olam Hazeh, because this is the Olam Ha'asiyah. This is why a person is oved Hashem. And obviously our neshamos do not come down into Olam Hazeh to accumulate wealth or to be infused into a body just so we can be concerned with our physical well-being per se. Clearly that's the case. Nevertheless, that clear focus which we should always, always maintain notwithstanding, that should not lead to a sense of disdain or bitul for mamono or gufo. The fact that a person correctly realizes that one's tachlis in life is avodas Hashem. everything that that involves and implies, but that is not supposed to create a sense of bitul for mammono or for gufo. And that's why the Torah tells us, it's important to know that not only was he shalem b'talmudo, but he was also shalem b'gufo, he was also shalem b'mammono. Why is it? Very simple. Tuesday night we had occasion to read the Rambam in perek tes of hilchos teshuvah, so we focused on a different part of that halacha, but the Rambam says there in that same halacha that the reason the Torah emphasizes so much in Bechukosai and all the brachos of how successful and prosperous we'll be in olam hazeh, אם בחוקותי תלכו ואת מצוותי תשמרו ועשיתם אותם, is not because this is the schar hamitzvah, but because this is crucial in terms of providing the support system wherein there will be no impediments to our avodas Hashem. And that's what the Rambam says amazingly. The Rambam says the reason, you want to know, again this has to do with the Rambam's shittah that quoting Shmuel's meimra that אין בין עולם הזה לימות המשיח אלא שיעבוד מלכויות בלבד.
But the Rambam says if you want to know, it's an amazing statement. Why do we long so much for mashiach? Why do we long so much for mashiach? Because when mashiach comes, olam keminhago noheg, according to the Rambam's understanding here and in Hilchos Melachim, olam keminhago noheg, it doesn't usher in olam haba the way others hold. The Rambam didn't have that understanding. So miphnei ma nithavu for, and miphnei ze nithavu, ומפני זה נתאוו כל ישראל נביאיהם וחכמיהם לימות המשיח כדי שינוחו ממלכויות שאינם מניחות להם לעסוק בתורה ובמצוות כהוגן וימצאו להם מרגוע וירבו בחכמה.
But the whole ideal of yimos hamashiach is just because we'll be, parnassah won't be a problem and anti-Semitism won't be a problem and there won't be problems and we'll be able to be oved Hashem without distractions, without impediments. That's what the ideal of yimos hamashiach is, the Rambam says. That's why everyone longs for yimos hamashiach, because the Torah recognizes, according to the Rambam, kol yisrael, nevi'eihem, chachameihem recognize that even though of course the tachlis of life is avodas Hashem, but if a person isn't healthy, if he's not shalem b'gufo, so he's not going to learn as well as if he were shalem b'gufo. And if a person is constantly challenged by the nisayon of oni, so then again he will not, if he's not shalem b'mammono, he again will be distracted and rachmana litzlan possibly derailed and diverted from his avodas Hashem. And that's what the Torah is hinting at when the Torah says you should know it's relevant to know that not only was Yaakov Avinu shalem b'talmudo, but the reason he was shalem b'talmudo, perhaps it's not over-interpreting in terms of the sequence of the shleimusen as listed in the Midrash, he was able to be shalem b'talmudo because he was also shalem b'gufo, he was also shalem b'mammono. So the correct emphasis and preoccupation with avodas Hashem is not supposed to create a sense of bitul for being shalem b'gufo or b'mammono. One is for purposes of avodas Hashem, one is supposed to ensure one's health, and one is also supposed to ensure, again it doesn't mean that one should aspire to being wealthy, but it means that one should make a hishtadlus that כל מזונותיו של אדם קצובים, but we're obligated to make a hishtadlus that a person should have adequate shleimus b'mammono, that he has a me'ein of what the Rambam describes as the ideal of yimos hamashiach in terms of removing impediments and obstacles from his avodas Hashem. You find this theme expressed by Chazal in other contexts as well, whether it's the Gemara at the end of Kiddushin that כל מי שאינו מלמד את בנו אומנות כאילו מלמדו ליסטות.
The same point, the same point. And it’s very important to remember. I don’t think we can be smarter than Chazal. I don’t know that there’s anyone who is smarter than Chazal. I don’t think we’re greater baalei bitachon than Chazal were, nor do I think that we are greater chachamim than Chazal were. And Chazal say that if a person doesn’t have a source of support, it’s ke-ilu melamdo listus. And רחמנא ליצלן פוק חזי. When a person doesn’t have a source of support, so then people begin to try to be more heter on things for which one should not be more heter. The same theme is expressed in the Gemara, I think it’s later in Sukkah, how some things are מרחיב דעתו של אדם. The Gemara says amongst them that a dirah na-ah is מרחיב דעתו של אדם. So again, it doesn’t mean that a person is supposed to that his life’s dream is supposed to be a house in the suburb with a two car garage. That’s not what the Gemara means, but the Gemara says is that the way Olam Ha-zeh was created is that a person needs a support system. He needs to facilitate his Avodas Hashem. And they’re not ends in of themselves, but however one cannot just ignore the need for this kind of support system. And that’s why the Torah bothers to tell us that Yaakov Avinu was not only shalem be-talmudo, but was also shalem be-gufo u-be-mamono.