Afraid Lest He Be Killed and Distressed Lest He Kill

"And Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed" (Genesis 32:8). The fear and the distress are not the same: he was afraid lest he be killed, and distressed lest he kill. If he overpowers me, he kills me; and if I overpower him, I kill him. He said: all these years he has been dwelling in the Land of Israel; can it be that he comes against me by the merit of dwelling in the Land of Israel? All these years he has been sitting and honoring his parents; can it be that he comes against me by the merit of honoring father and mother? For thus he said, "Let the days of mourning for my father draw near, and I will kill Jacob my brother" (Genesis 27:41); can it be that the old man has died? For thus the Holy One, blessed be He, said to me, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your birthplace, and I will be with you" (Genesis 31:3); can it be that the conditions held only up to here and no further? "And he divided the people who were with him" (Genesis 32:8): he armed them within and clothed them in garments without, and he prepared himself for three things: for a gift, "And the gift passed over before him" (Genesis 32:22); for war, "If Esau comes to the one camp" (Genesis 32:9); for prayer, "And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham" (Genesis 32:10). "And the remaining camp shall be a remnant" (Genesis 32:9): the Torah has taught you proper conduct, that a person should not place all his wealth in one corner. From whom do you learn it? From Jacob: "And he divided the people who were with him." And so it says, "And he hid them, fifty men in a cave" (I Kings 18:4). "If Esau comes to the one camp and strikes it," these are our brothers in the south; "and the remaining camp shall be a remnant," these are our brothers in the exile; even so they would fast for them on Monday and Thursday.