In G-d We Trust

בס"ד

Yaakov Avinu prepares for his meeting with his murderous brother, Esav, by taking a three pronged approach. He sends a gift of appeasement, he splits his camp into a more defensible formation and he davens to Hashem for help (see Rashi Bereshis 32:9).
It would seem that Yaakov has certainly thought this all out – and is doing all that G-d would require of a Jew in times of distress. He performs hishtadlus and then relies on Siyaata Dishmaaya.
If this is the blueprint for us for generations – if this is what we are meant to learn from – why does Yaakov seem to be doing twice as much hishtadlus as bitachon ? Out of the three items of preparation he performs – only one of them is directed at the spiritual source of all – while two are dealing with the physical and mundane. How does this add up ?
Yaakov Avinu is not working twice as hard in the natural world – he is just teaching us a valuable lesson about our efforts at success.
The two actions of mundane preparation – the splitting of the camps and the gifts of bribery – are two distinct courses of action. There is no unifying principle in the different forms of hishtadlus that we must do.
In Avodas Hashem, the opposite is true.
There are many avenues by which we endeavor to find favor in the eyes of our creator. We pray, dedicate ourselves to greater mitzvos or even pledge to avoid any semblance of prohibition. We may approach our commitments to G-d in many ways. But in the end, there is only one goal – being a closer, better servant of the One Above.
So while Yaakov Avinu may have seemed like he was pursuing twice as many earthly avenues for salvation as heavenly ones – it was really just an act of recognition that anything he did in hopes of being a better Jew would be one, unified act of avodah.
May we see all of our spiritual efforts blessed with the recognition that we are one people dedicating all of our disparate energies towards the common goal of service of the divine. May this dedication rebuild His house that we may serve Him all the better – speedily, in our days, amen.
Hatzlacha !!