RAV KOOK ON Vayechi Part 3: Jacob's Sword and Bow

“וַאֲנִי נָתַתִּי לְךָ שְׁכֶם אַחַד עַל אַחֶיךָ, אֲשֶׁר לָקַחְתִּי מִיַּד הָאֱמֹרִי, בְּחַרְבִּי וּבְקַשְׁתִּי.” Before his death, Jacob gathered his sons together and blessed them. To his beloved Joseph, Jacob promised an additional portion — “which I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow” (Gen. 48:22). It is striking just how out of character this statement is for Jacob. Jacob was the “ish tam,” the scholarly man who dwelled in the ‘tents of Torah.’ Jacob was the one who greeted his angry brother with gifts, not with battle. Jacob was the one who cursed his sons for slaughtering the residents of Shechem after they kidnapped his daughter. So what is this talk of swords and bows? The Sages interpreted his statement as referring — not to weapons of war — but to weapons of prayer: “Does it not say, ‘I do not trust in my bow, and my sword will not save me’ (Psalms 44:7)? Rather, ‘my sword’ refers to prayer. And ‘my bow’ (be-kashti) refers to supplication (bakashah).” (Baba Batra 123a). Is this just a homiletical interpretation of Jacob’s curious pronouncement? What do swords and bows have to do with prayer?