Vessels and Viewpoints – The Struggle with Esav’s Angel
וַיִּוָּתֵר יַעֲקֹב לְבַדּוֹ וַיֵּאָבֵק אִישׁ עִמּוֹ עַד עֲלוֹת הַשָּׁחַר
Yaakov was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn (32:25)
The Midrash identifies the man who wrestled with Yaakov throughout the night as the spiritual overseer of Esav.[1] Needless to say, this entire epsiode is somewhat enigmatic: What exactly were they fighting about? Furthermore, how did Yaakov come to be left alone in the first place? The Gemara famously explains that he went back for some small jugs,[2] yet this itself requires some explanation.
Additionally, regarding this episode, the midrash says that the jug of oil which the Chashmona’im used during the Chanukah story was found in the merit of the jugs that Yaakov went back for.[3]
What is the meaning of this comment?
Let us ask: What was so important about those small jugs that caused Yaakov to go back for them? They seem almost by definition to be worthless! Moreover, the Torah provides no background as to the nature or cause of the struggle between Yaakov and the angel; all we are told is that “he was left alone,” having returned for these small jugs. Apparently, somehow, that is the background to the struggle. But how is this the case?
The Arizal explains that Yaakov went back for items that others might have left behind out of conviction that no item is worthless. Seeing as Hashem arranged for him to own these jugs, it must be that he had them for a reason, and therefore it was out of a sense of mission that he went back for them.
Now, we can appreciate that another type of person would also go back for these items, yet for a very different reason, namely someone who is thoroughly materialistic and cannot afford to let any of his possessions go. This approach, represented by Esav’s angel, is the exact opposite to that of Yaakov, yet it expresses itself in the very same trip back to get the jugs.
This, then, is the struggle between Yaakov and Esav’s angel. It is about those jugs and all that they represent, with the angel looking to wear down Yaakov’s sense of idealism in dealing with his physical possessions. A defining question for the Jew in this world is not only “What things do I value?”, but also “Why do I value them? As an end in themselves, or as tools to be utilized in the attainment of higher goals and Godly living?”
The word used to describe the struggle is ויאבק. The Ramban explains that the word ליאבק, to struggle, is related to the word לחבק, to embrace, referring to the clinch of wrestlers as they try to defeat one another.[4] In terms of the spiritual struggle, the surest way for the angel to defeat Yaakov is by “embracing him,” i.e., by removing the barriers between their ideologies and by getting Yaakov to relinquish any higher aspirations for his physical possessions.
Yaakov stands his ground throughout the night and maintains his sense of perspective regarding his physical assets as nothing more than a means toward more elevated pursuits. In so doing, he is sending a message to his descendants to do likewise. Thus, the midrash states that the jug of oil found in the Temple during the Chanukah story was rooted in the jugs that Yaakov went back for. The story of Chanukah is essentially the same struggle — trying to avoid the embrace of Greece that seeks to close the gulf between two very different perspectives on the nature of man, the value of all that he owns, and all that he does. Ultimately, so much of what distinguishes us from Greece lies not only in the objectionable things that we reject, but also in keeping our head in areas where we ostensibly have much in common.
Truly an idea worthy of contemplation, and a vision worth protecting, as the ideological war between Greece and Israel continues until the dawn of redemption breaks, may it happen speedily in our days.
[1] Bereishis Rabbah 77:3.
[2] Chullin 91a.
[3] Midrash Tzeidah Laderech, Vayishlach.
[4] Bereishis 32:25.