Digital Maggid
Jacob took off his garments and immersed himself in the river, and Elifaz took his clothes and all the silver and gold that his uncle had, saying: “Your words have softened my heart, and therefore I will do you no harm, and I will return to my father.” Elifaz and his men bade him farewell and returned to Esav and they said to him: “Your brother Jacob begged us not to murder him, we had compassion on him, we took his silver and gold and left him alone.” Esav was angry with them, but the spoils they had taken from Jacob he took and kept with his treasures.
Jacob was left without clothing in the water, so he lifted his hands to Gd and cried: “Master of the Universe, I am naked before all.” Hashem sent him a rider who had fallen from his horse at the river bank and drowned. Jacob quickly removed the rider’s garments, washed them and put them on. When Esav became aware that Jacob was naked and had nothing, he decided to catch up with him on the road and to murder him there, but the Ruach haKodesh (Holy Spirit) revealed to Jacob the evil machinations of Esav.
When he reached the Jordan, he lifted his eyes to Hashem, saying: “My Lord, you know, obviously, that I have nothing with me, only the staff I hold in my hand.” Hashem said to him: “Beat the Jordan and cross over it!” And when he did so, Hashem said to him: “Let this very thing be a sign for you that just as the Jordan was interrupted for you, so also will it be interrupted for your children when they cross over it.”
Meanwhile, Esav was rapidly persuing Jacob and found him in a cave in which there was a bath house of warm water. Jacob thought to himself: “I clearly have nothing, not even any bread or food. I’ll go warm up in these Tiberian hotsprings, and may this be a healing for my body.” When Jacob was in the bath house, Esav immediately arrived and locked all the doors so Jacob couldn’t get out, so he would die there. Jacob was frightened. But Hashem performed a miracle and made an excavation for him in another place and so was able to escape.
