Israel: The Blessing of Freedom

Israel: The Blessing of Freedom
D’var Torah for Parashat Vayishlach
By Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman


In this week’s Torah portion, Vayishlach (Genesis 32:4-36:43), Jacob sends gifts to his brother Esau in an effort to appease Esau’s murderous rage (vayishlach means “he sent”). Jacob further separates his vast camp into several groups: The flocks of animals go first, followed by his wives’ handmaidens and their children, then Leah and her children, and finally Rachel and Joseph. It is a desperate move Jacob makes, an attempt to protect at least some of his family if not all.

Jacob then remains alone on the far shore of the Jordan River for a long night’s vigil. One can only imagine his thoughts: the fear, the loneliness, perhaps even his yearning for a long-gone past that preceded all those troubles.

Yet, looking across the river and imagining his beloved family waiting for him there, his heart is also filled with an aching and overarching love. He knows the dangers they all face: Esau is headed towards them at the head of full contingent of armed men, bound for revenge.

And so, for the first time in his life, Jacob prays.

Up until now, God had appeared to him first, in dreams and visions. Now Jacob himself humbly comes to call on God, to remind God of the promise He had made so long ago to protect Jacob and to bring him home safely. If nothing else, along his many years in exile Jacob had learned the meaning of humility.

As the dark and gloom deepen both inside and around Jacob, he now faces yet another stumbling block: An unidentified stranger engages him in a wrestling match.

Who is this “man” as the Torah calls him, who wrestles with Jacob until the break of dawn?

There are many possible explanations. In folk tales, demons and trolls often dwell on the banks of rivers, extracting payment from anyone who would cross to the other shore (remember the wonderful children’s book Three Billy Goats Gruff?). The boatman must be appeased, the toll must be paid. So perhaps this mysterious stranger that Jacob meets is just such a demon.

It could, of course, be Jacob’s guilty conscience. Knowing that he has to face his past mistakes before he can move on, his struggle takes place within him, deep inside his psyche.

Some commentators propose that the mysterious “man” was none other than Esau himself, come to seek personal revenge.

In any case, whoever and whatever this apparition is, it has enough power to injure Jacob. Yet it is ultimately Jacob who has the upper hand. Jacob exacts a blessing from this spiritual essence (or angel, as most of us have come to understand his nature) just before first light, when it must disappear.

So what is the blessing that the angel gives Jacob? He changes Jacob’s name, telling him that from now on Jacob will be known as “Israel,” identifying him as one who has struggled with God and humans and triumphed over both.

But is that a blessing? That we continually struggle with God and with other people? Most people would rather have peace as a blessing, or perhaps just a small treasure. Why davka (particularly) a struggle? Where’s the blessing in an ongoing fight? We might come out victorious in the end, but wouldn’t we, just like Jacob, come out of this fight limping? In short, who needs it?

Yet I do see this as a blessing, one unmatched by almost any other form of grace. For what this striving with God means is that we don’t have to merely accept things as God’s will. We can challenge what seems to be God’s will just as we can challenge any person who claims to articulate what God wants of us. Because of the blessing Jacob receives from the angel—a blessing reiterated by God in chapter 35, verse 10—we can determine our own course and follow our own understanding of what “God’s will” means for us.

At about the same time that the Torah was being written, around the year 850 BCE, the great Greek playwright Euripides warned the people that to disobey the gods’ will was the surest way to bring about disaster and tragedy. Not so for us b’nai Yisrael, Children of Israel. The blessing of Jacob in this week’s portion negates this passive outlook and promises freedom instead. Even the Torah, the very embodiment of God’s will and word, may be interpreted and tailored to fit the needs of time and place.

The angel’s blessing assures Israel of freedom from tyranny—be it divine or human. The right to struggle with what some would call fate is a freedom we Jews cherish. It is indeed a special gift, a blessing. We may come out of the fight limping, but the gift cannot, will not, be taken away from us. It is the blessing of freedom.



© 2011 by Boaz D. Heilman