There are many famous questions posed by scholars of all
generations about the midnight wrestling match of Yaakov and the malach.
It is amazing that even with the surprising amount of details provided, there
is a myriad more details still needed to fully understand what occurred and why
it is significant.
One fascinating question not among the more frequently
discussed commentaries might be concerning pasuk 32:28” “Said he to him, ‘What
is your name?’ and he said ‘Yaakov.’” The next verse is the famous pasuk in
which Yaakov is given the new name of Yisrael, which perhaps overshadows an
interesting oddity. Didn’t the malach know with whom he was wrestling?
After all, he was the one who attacked Yaakov!
Let us take a step back to the beginning of the parsha and
the one overriding emotion we learn from Yaakov in the beginning of Vayishlach
- he was afraid. He plans and strategizes about dividing his camp. He calls out
to God with almost desperate fervor, reminding God rather directly of His
promise for Yaakov’s future. He sends gifts, lots of gifts, to temper his
brother’s feelings.
Let us remember that he is a malach, and therefore,
ultimately, an agent of Hashem. Perhaps when the malach asked for his
name, what he was really doing was reminding Yaakov to be himself. The name
given to him at birth is more than just a reminder that Yaakov grabbed hold of
Esau’s heel as they were being born, it tells of an ongoing character trait.
From the very beginning, Yaakov knew that he needed to be the one to carry on
the work of Avraham, and since birth, nothing stopped him from working to
attain the rights of the bachur. He used his brains (buying the
birthright), he used his brawn (working hard to marry the women who were
destined to create klal Yisrael), and he even challenged Hashem in how
he spoke to Him after his dream. At no
point in any of these actions, not even when his mother told him that Esau wanted to kill him or when he was facing off with Lavan as he removed his family
from Haran, is Yaakov described as being fearful or scared.
Now, however, with his wives and his children and the people
in his care, Yaakov is afraid. The malach saw that weakness and came to
challenge him. When the dawn begins to break, the malach knows that despite
all the anxiety that Yaakov has expressed, he is still just as strong in his
drive to carry on Avraham’s heritage. When the malach asks his name, he
is relaying a message: know yourself. This moment of self-knowledge moves
Yaakov to the next level of spirituality. One might even then see significance that
the term the Torah uses to describe the actions of their struggle is avek
(Aleph Veis Kuf אבק), which is oddly similar to akev (Ayin Kuf
Veis עקב), the root of Yaakov’s name. After the wrestling is over, Yaakov’s
new level is expressed in his new name, Yisrael, when the term ya’yayavek
(יאבק) is exchanged for saaris (שׂרית), a very different type of word for
struggle. Then, when Yaakov asks the malach for his name, he is subtly reproved
with no answer, because the malach never needed to be reminded of his
essence.
When the morning comes and Yaakov is faced with meeting
Esau, he is no longer afraid. Perhaps this might explain why, when he meets
Esau, his wives and children appear to be divided only into family groups, fairly
close together in a non-defensive structure. Now that Yaakov is once again
confident of who he is and what he needs to do, he is able to face Esau and to
keep him at bay with easy excuses to each of Esau’s seemingly friendly
overtures.
Yaakov’s actual encounter with Esau can be, and has often
been, understood as an excellent reflection of the recurring cycles of the
feints of peace during the exile of Edom. This is significant today. We appear
to be entering an era in which the false face of Esau is crumbling once again
and the underlying ferment of hate is bubbling to the surface. The wrestling
match of Yaakov and the malach of Esau is once again beginning, and we
must be prepared to declare ourselves ready to stand with the strength of
Yaakov as proud members of Bnei Yisrael, the descendants of he who has “striven
with beings divine and human, and prevailed” (Bereishis 32:29).
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