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Jacob's Struggle
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Special to The Jewish News

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46

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1991

n today's Torah reading,
Jacob leaves his uncle
Laban's house to meet his
twin brother, Esau, who had
previously vowed to kill him.
Along the way, "Jacob was
left alone and a man wrestl-
ed with him until the break
of dawn. When he saw that he
had not prevailed against
him, he wrenched Jacob's hip
at its socket . . . then he said,
`let me go, for dawn is break-
ing.' But he answered, 'I will
not let you go unless you bless
me!
"Said the other, 'what is
your name?' He replied,
`Jacob.' Said he, 'your name
shall no longer be Jacob, but
Israel, for you have striven
with beings divine and
human and have prevailed!
Jacob asked. 'Pray, tell me
your name.' But he said, 'you
must not ask my name!' And
he blessed him there."
(Genesis 32, 25-31)
The big mystery: who
fought Jacob?
The Midrash and the
leading commentator of the
Middle Ages, Rashi, say that
Jacob was battling the spirit
of Esau. Thus Jacob ex-
perienced the entire struggle
throughout Jewish history
between the Jew and his
enemies, with Jacob represen-
ting the Jewish people and
Esau representing the hostile
nations who vowed to destroy
us. Although they struggle
the whole long night of the
bitter exile, and Jacob is
maimed, ultimately with the
rise of daybreak, representing
redemption, he emerges
victorious.
Modern Jewish commen-
taries, however, emphasizing
"Jacob was left alone" believe
that the whole episode was an
internal struggle. Jacob was
fighting the spirit of Esau
within himself. Esau, who
gave up his birthright for a
mess of pottage was a
creature of impulse, who re-
quired immediate gratifica-
tion. His desires must be
satisfied now; his lust appeas-
ed immediately. But Jacob
understood that one must
sacrifice the present to
achieve the fulfillment of the
future.
Yet Jacob, like all men, was
the child of two worlds, of
earth and heaven. He could
be party to a cruel hoax

Irwin Groner is senior rabbi
of Congregation Shaarey
Zedek.

played on his father and
brother; he fought Laban's
treachery with crafty
schemes of his own; and, at
times, he became weary of
sacrifice, dedication and
delayed gratification.
On the other hand, Jacob
was capable of great moral
growth, of profound spiritual
achievement, for he had vi-
sions of a God whose word he
would preserve and whose
truths he would transmit.
There resides within every
Jacob a little bit of Esau.
Jacob knows that he is going
to meet his brother the follow-
ing day. He struggles all
night with the possiblity of
joining forces with Esau, of
giving up the struggle of
establishing a separate iden-
tity and forming an indepen-
dent theology and lifestyle.

Shabbat
Vayishlach
Genesis 32:4-36:43
Hosea 11:7-12:12

By naming us Israel (one who
struggles), the Torah teaches
us that we will always have to
struggle with our appetites
and desires.
Therefore, the moment of
victory is not in Jacob's sub-
duing of the mysterious
adversary. It is achieved in
the bestowing of the blessing
which constitutes the victory
over darkness and fear. What
is the blessing? A change of
name which is nothing less
than a change of essence, of
personality. Jacob emerges
transformed as a man, and
that transformation is the
essential lesson of the story.
This lesson bears renewed
emphasis in our day. Modern
man has conquered nature,
but cannot evade the
challenge of "how do I deal
with my selfhood? The lives of
many people can be described
as running away from self-
confrontation, the confronta-
tion that Jacob underwent on
that fateful night which
enabled him to achieve a new
awareness of his identity. A
great psychiatrist once said:
"Our problem is not primari-
ly to fit a man to face his en-
vironment, but to fit a man to
face himself."
Each of us needs to discover
in experiences of self-
encounter those truths that
will enable us — as they
enabled our forefather
Jacob/Israel — to move for-
ward on the journey of life vic-
torious, unafraid, and bearing
Divine blessings. ❑