Being Israel
D’var Torah for Parshat Vayishlach
By Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman
Dec. 15, 2016
Dedicated to the memory of my
father, Ze’ev ben Aryeh v’Yona on the 100th anniversary of his birth
One of the
Torah’s most valuable lessons that it is vitally important to become a link in
the golden chain of tradition, to receive tradition and then, in turn, to pass
it on.
In last week’s
Torah portion, it was Isaac who learned this lesson. This week, it is
Jacob’s turn.
Despite the
Torah’s description of Jacob as a mild, simple man, he was anything but.
He was a wrestler, struggling from the womb on. First it was his twin brother,
Esau; then his father-in-law, Laban. In this week’s portion, Vayishlach
(Gen. 32:4-36:43), Jacob confronts his guilty conscience, and he wrestles with
a mysterious stranger who might represent his worst fears.
Twenty years
earlier, with little life experience and few possessions of his own, Jacob had
to flee from his brother’s vengeful wrath, leaving forever the comfortable tents
of his mother and father. Now an older, more mature and wealthy man, in charge
of a large family and even larger flocks, Jacob is coming home. But first
there’s the matter of Esau to settle. And Esau, Jacob learns, is coming
at him, armed and accompanied by four hundred horsemen.
Jacob prepares
for the confrontation the best way he can: he sends gifts to placate Esau; then
he prays; and finally—just in case the first two aren’t effective—he prepares
for war and for the tragic losses that are war’s inevitable consequence.
But the night
before his fateful meeting with Esau, alone on a mountaintop, Jacob has an
unexpected encounter: He meets a mysterious stranger who engages Jacob in
a wrestling match that lasts till dawn. Who this stranger might be is not made
clear in the story. Some say it was Esau’s protecting angel, while others
explain that it was the embodiment of Jacob’s own fears and doubts.
Jacob, in any case, believes this being to be an angel.
Jacob emerges
victorious from this contest, but he is not unscathed. At one point
during the match, his thigh is injured, and the dawn sees him limping as he
takes his first steps across the river and into the Promised Land.
It is only at
this point that Jacob understands what his role in life must be.
As a young boy,
Jacob had learned of God’s promise; he must have first heard about it from his
grandfather, Abraham, then in overheard conversations between Isaac and
Rebecca. At first, Jacob aspired to it. He saw it as a crown, a
pinnacle of fame and glory. Tempted, he allowed himself to reach for it,
to grasp it even at the price of deceiving his father and enraging his
brother. Now, however, he finally understands the full import of this
blessing. He realizes that being God’s chosen brings with it great
responsibility, as well some very real dangers and perhaps even sacrifice and
tragedy.
Now, humbled by
this knowledge, hobbling under its weight and facing an uncertain future, Jacob
is ready to take his rightful place in the line of tradition. He may be
limping, an army is gathering and marching against him, but Jacob is buoyed by
the blessing the angel had given him. Just as the sun was rising, with
his powers quickly fading, the angel changed Jacob’s name to Israel, saying, “You
have striven with angels and peoples, and you have prevailed.”
Taking his first
steps on the sacred soil of the Promised Land, Jacob senses something
new: He is no longer alone. The full strength of his father’s
blessing fortifies him.
Jacob, now and forever
more known as Israel, is finally ready to become a source of blessing himself.
He has crossed over the river of eternity and become a link in an unending,
golden chain of Tradition, bridging his and his family’s past into the future
and into all eternity.
He is now ready
to face his brother and whatever the new day will bring.
He is Israel.
© 2016 by Boaz D.
Heilman
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