From: Yeshivat Har Etzion Office <office@etzion.org.il>
To: yhe-parsha@etzion.org.il
Subject: PARSHA62 -08: Parashat Vayishlach
YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH (VBM)
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"And Yaakov was Left Alone"
By Rav Chanoch Waxman
I
The night before meeting his brother Esav, while
alone in the dark, Yaakov grapples with a strange and
mysterious visitor.
And Yaakov was left alone; and a man wrestled
with him until daybreak. And when he saw that
he was not able, he touched the hollow of his
thigh; and the hollow of Yaakov's thigh was put
out of joint. (32:25-26)
Injured but not defeated, Yaakov refuses to release
his adversary until the latter blesses him (32:27). In
response, his assailant names him Yisrael, "for you have
contended (sarita) with God and man and have prevailed"
(32:28-29). Based upon his antagonist's statement that
he had contended with "God," and his unsuccessful attempt
to learn the identity of the man (32:30), Yaakov
concludes that this was no mere man. He names the place
Peniel, meaning the "face of God," "for I have seen God
face to face and my life has been spared" (32:31).
This short story abounds with difficulty. Who was
the mysterious assailant? On the assumption that the man
is in fact an angel, a divine emissary, why did God send
him? What is the meaning of the injury, the blessing and
the re-naming of Yaakov as Yisrael? In sum, reading the
story places us metaphorically in the position of Yaakov.
We too wrestle with a mysterious yet clearly significant
unknown.
II
In grappling with the story, I have become convinced
that a key to interpreting the story can be found in
Rashbam's comments. Rashbam notes a parallel between the
textual context of Yaakov's wrestling match and the story
of David's river-crossing (II Shemuel 17:21-24).
Immediately preceding the story of the struggle, the
Torah informs us that Yaakov got up in the middle of the
night, took his wives, children and possessions and
crossed at Yabok. This closely parallels the later story
of David. Just as Yaakov "got up," so too David "got up"
(17:22). Just as the verb stem for crossing (ayin-vet-
reish) appears three times in the Yaakov story to
describe a middle-of-the-night event, so too the verb
stem appears three times in the David story and likewise
describes a middle-of-the-night water traversal (17:21-
22). Finally, as Rashbam notes, the two crossings happen
in geographic proximity one to the other. Immediately
after the river crossing, David arrives at Machanaim
(17:24). This, of course, is the place Yaakov has last
been located (32:3), the approximate geographic locale of
his crossing.
Rashbam concludes that just as David crosses to flee
Avshalom, so too Yaakov crosses to flee. The two are
both stories of avoidance and flight. Yaakov's nocturnal
crossing constitutes an attempt to run away, to avoid
meeting his brother the next morning.
A careful reading of the larger context of the
struggle story (the beginning of parashat Vayishlach)
provides further support for Rashbam's revolutionary
claim. The beginning of parashat Vayishlach is all about
Yaakov's preparations for meeting Esav. After receiving
word from his emissaries that Esav, accompanied by four
hundred men, already marches to greet him, Yaakov is
gripped by fear and anxiety (32:7-8). He divides his
camp into two and prays for divine help (32:9-13).
Nevertheless, despite his fear, he apparently remains
steadfast in his intention to meet with Esav. At this
point, Yaakov has but one more preparation to make. As
night begins, either just before or just after going to
sleep (32:14), Yaakov engages in a final activity. He
gathers together an offering for his brother sends it off
in the hands of his servants (32:14-22). His threefold
preparation complete, Yaakov goes to sleep, as ready as
he can be (32:22).
Surprisingly, immediately after being informed of
Yaakov's lying down for the night, and right before the
story of the struggle, we find Yaakov up and about,
crossing the Yabok.
And he got up that night, and took his two wives and
two maidservants, and his eleven sons, and crossed
over the ford of Yabok. And he took them, and sent
them over the wadi and sent over that which he had.
(32:23-24)
Is this some new preparation for meeting Esav? I
think not. Yaakov has already arranged his camp in
preparation for the upcoming confrontation (31:8-9). In
pointed contrast to the previous splitting of his camp,
he gathers together all of his people and possessions.
He is breaking camp and initiating a journey. The sense
of reversal of Yaakov's previous preparations is further
emphasized by the image of "getting up that night"
(32:23), the precise opposite of the "sleeping there that
night" (32:22) that closes out Yaakov's preparations.
Yaakov seems to have undergone a last-minute change of
plans.
To put all of this together, something has changed
during the night. Whether out of fear, despair, habit,
shame or a sense of not deserving divine protection,
Yaakov has decided to slip away into the dark.
From this reading of the context of the struggle,
Rashbam reaches the obvious conclusion, and so should we,
that God sends the angel to prevent Yaakov from fleeing.
The angel grasps Yaakov at the last minute, after all
have crossed over, and Yaakov alone remains. They
wrestle and thrash about in the dirt (Rashi, Ibn Ezra
32:25), thus physically preventing Yaakov from running
away. When the angel realizes that he cannot prevail and
Yaakov seems on the verge of breaking away, he "touches"
Yaakov on his thigh, apparently dislocating his leg and
thereby preventing Yaakov from slipping away.
If so, we may conclude that the story of the
struggle really constitutes a story of frustrated flight.
At the last minute, Yaakov wavers. God sends the angel,
seizes Yaakov and forces him to meet Esav. Yaakov is
injured, preventing his flight and symbolizing his
disobedience. Nevertheless, numerous issues remain
unresolved. What about the blessing and the name change?
For that matter, why does God insist on Yaakov's meeting
Esav? Why not let Yaakov slip away into the night?
III
In trying to puzzle out God's insistence on Yaakov's
meeting Esav, it seems reasonable to posit that God does
no more than help Yaakov accomplish his own original
intentions. After all, it was Yaakov himself who
initiated the original contact with Esav, without
explicit divine prodding. He sent the messengers (32:4-
7). While, as Rashbam maintains, God may in fact desire
the meeting, God's role in the story seems primarily
supportive, a dovetailing of divine will with Yaakov's
initiative. This returns us to the central problem of
the story: What motivates Yaakov to meet Esav?
Yaakov's third preparation, his sending of an
offering (mincha) to Esav (32:14-22) may provide the key.
In instructing his emissaries as to what they should tell
Esav, explaining the stream of gifts, Yaakov tells them:
And say, "Behold, your servant Yaakov is behind us,
for he said: I will cleanse his anger\face (akhapera
panav) with the offering (mincha) that goes before
me, and afterwards I will see his face (panav);
perhaps he will accept me (yisa panai)." (32:21)
The combination of a mincha (offering) and the verb stem
khaf-peh-reish, meaning "cleanse" (Rashi 32:21),
possesses overtones of atonement. It would appear that
Yaakov seeks forgiveness. How else would Esav's anger be
p
The remainder of Yaakov's statement further
strengthens this point. Yaakov states his desire that
perhaps "yisa panai," literally, that Esav will lift his
face. The verb for lifting or raising (nun-sin-aleph) is
often associated with forgiveness and relationship. For
example, after Kayin's mincha is rejected and his "face
falls," God informs him that if he is good, he will be
"lifted up," an apparent reference to his "fallen face"
(4:6), and the possibility of divine forgiveness,
acceptance and relationship (4:5-7). In sending his
mincha, Yaakov wishes for exactly what Kayin failed to
achieve with his mincha, namely, an elevation of his face
by his master, a renewed relationship and reconciliation.
Finally, let us turn to one last image utilized by
Yaakov. Yaakov's refers to "seeing his face" (er'eh
panav), the face of Esav. This of course is the classic
image used for pilgrimage to the sanctuary of God.
Throughout Shemot, numerous references are made to "not
seeing the face of God empty-handed" (Shemot 23:17,
34:20). Just as the children of Israel must journey to
God bearing gifts in order to express loyalty, achieve
reconciliation and maintain their relationship, so too
Yaakov sends gifts for the purposes of service, loyalty
and relationship.
In sum, in sending his mincha, Yaakov wishes to
telegraph to Esav his position as a supplicant, a servant
who desires to express fealty to his master. He desires
to appease Esav's anger and to establish a relationship
with him. He seeks atonement and reconciliation.
If so, we may infer that this complex of desires
constitutes Yaakov's motivation not only for sending the
mincha, but also for originally contacting Esav. The
text easily can be interpreted along these lines. From
the very start, in his original sending of emissaries to
his brother Esav, Yaakov places himself in the "servant"
position and his brother Esav in the "master" position.
He refers to "my master Esav," and "your servant Yaakov"
(32:5). He wishes to "find favor in his master's eyes"
and implies that whatever he owns, exists for the sole
purpose of serving his master (32:6, Abarbanel). By no
accident, the terms "brother," "master" and "servant"
appear repeatedly throughout the entire narrative (32:4-
33:17), each one appearing at least eight times (32:4-7,
11,12,14,17-19,21; 33:3,5,8,9,13-15). These terms
capture what the story is all about.
To complete the picture, let us take a look at a
final proof. The morning after the struggle with the
angel, Yaakov finally confronts Esav (33:1-11). Needless
to say, he defines himself as the servant (33:5), Esav as
the master (33:8) and talks about finding favor in his
master's eyes (33:8,10). More importantly, he bows down
- not just once, but seven times (33:3). Even after Esav
has embraced Yaakov, kissed him and cried, the bowing
continues. Group by group, Yaakov's wives and children
approach and bow to Esav (33:6-7).
This scene should sound familiar. Recall one of the
blessings Yaakov had stolen from Esav:
Let peoples serve you and nations bow down to you:
be a master (gevir) over your brother and let your
mother's sons bow down to you. (27:29)
The meeting of Yaakov and Esav constitutes the antithesis
of the theft of the blessings. In place of Esav serving
and bowing, it is Yaakov who serves and bows. In place
of Yaakov acting the master, and receiving the tribute
and obeisance of the descendants of Esav, it is Esav who
plays the master, symbolically receiving the fealty of
the future tribes of Israel. Everything plays out
exactly as Yitzchak had intended. But this is also
precisely what Yaakov intends. Yaakov contacts Esav in
order to arrange this scene. He seeks his brother, in
order to symbolically return to him the blessings he has
stolen, a crucial step for achieving atonement and
reconciliation.
IV
Much of the argument above is not new. Particular
segments of the argument, its general thrust, and even
additional proofs, have already been noted by Rashi,
Ramban and Abarbanel. Nevertheless, most commentaries
have hesitated to draw the necessary conclusions. For
example, Ramban, in commenting upon the "servant"-
"master" language discussed above, implies that Yaakov
acts "as if" the sale of the birthright were irrelevant,
"as if" he seeks to make up for the theft of the
blessings. Yaakov deliberately presents a false front to
Esav. He acts out of fear alone and seeks no more than
to save his neck. On this account, Yaakov's behavior in
parashat Vayishlach constitutes the third time Yaakov has
pulled the wool over Esav's eyes. We may add insincere
reconciliation and fake fronts to the previous pair of
purchasing the birthright and stealing the blessings.
In general, it is almost impossible to disprove this
kind of claim, a claim that posits a true interior
motivation disguised by an external false front. In the
technical language of philosophy of explanation: it is
not falsifiable. Almost any evidence can be countered by
the claim that we face just more of the false front.
Nevertheless, I believe that the text tilts strongly
against the "false front" interpretation and in favor of
the "sincere apology and reconciliation" approach.
As pointed out above, the bowing of Yaakov's family
to Esav occurs after Esav and Yaakov have embraced,
kissed and cried (33:4). Offhand, there seems no reason
to doubt the apparent mutual sincerity. At the very
least, Yaakov must already realize that Esav has no
intention of killing him. If Esav intended to kill him,
he already would have done the deed. Yaakov's crying
signals his relief. But it is at this point that the
"reversal" of the stolen blessings takes place. If it is
a false front, a mask worn over the fear, why keep it up?
Moreover, at this point, after the threat has
evaporated, a crucial conversation occurs between Yaakov
and Esav (33:8-11). Yaakov continues to employ the
"servant-master" language and insists that Esav accept
his offering. Esav declines and replies, "I have much
(rav), my brother" (33:9). While Esav only means to tell
his brother Yaakov that he has enough possessions, he
manages to conjoin the word "rav," also meaning "older,"
with the word "brother". This linkage creates an
unmistakable echo of "ve-rav ya'avod tza'ir," "and the
older shall serve the younger," the phrase appearing in
the oracle of Rivka and the genesis of the entire Yaakov-
Esav conflict (25:23). While Yaakov, the younger, now
proclaims himself Esav's servant, Esav defines himself as
"rav" (possessing much \ older) versus Yaakov. On the
level of subtext, Esav's refusal of Yaakov's offering
subversively contains the acknowledgement that it is the
younger brother who serves the older, and not the
reverse. Once again, we see another reversal of the
supposed superiority and lordship of Yaakov over Esav.
But once again, if it is all a false front and Esav no
longer threatens Yaakov, why are they talking about
something that happened before they were born?
Let us go on. Yaakov refuses to accept no for an
answer. Twice using the word for "please," he
practically begs Esav to accept the offering (33:10).
Moreover, he compares the experience of having his face
seen and accepted by Esav with that of being seen and
accepted by God (33:10). As if this were not enough,
Yaakov describes Esav's actions until this point as "va-
tirtzeini," a term normally referring to divine
acceptance of sacrifices (Vayikra 1:3). Is this all a
bluff? I doubt it. Rather, Yaakov insists upon concrete
acceptance of his offering because it is about far more
than augmenting Esav's wealth. For Yaakov, it is about a
very real and concrete act of atonement, a way to
physically correct his previous treatment of Esav.
If any doubts remain, let us take a look at the very
next verse. Yaakov beseeches Esav:
Please take (kach) my blessing that has been brought
to you, for God has been merciful to me. (33:11)
If we choose merely to scratch the surface of Yaakov's
statement, the term "blessing" here means only the
offering being proffered to Esav. But this would be
naive. The language of "taking" and "blessi is the exact
language found in the aftermath of the theft in parashat
Toldot. Yitzchak informs Esav that Yaakov has "come in
trickery and taken (ve-lakach) your blessing" (27:35).
Esav responds that he now finally understands the true
meaning of the name Yaakov: "He has supplanted me (va-
ya'akveini) twice; he took (lakach) my birthright and now
he has taken (lakach) my blessing!" (27:36). Flash ahead
twenty years to the meeting of parashat Vayishlach, the
first conversation between Esav and Yaakov since that
fateful day. On the level of subtext, at the very least,
Yaakov symbolically offers to give back the blessing he
has taken.
V
Let us return to the story of the struggle with the
angel and try to close the circle. As argued above, the
first part of Vayishlach constitutes the story of the
reconciliation of Yaakov and Esav, the story of Yaakov's
efforts to achieve atonement and make it right. Yaakov
leaves the house of Lavan determined to reconcile with
his brother and correct his earlier actions. But things
turn out not to be simple. Yaakov receives word that
Esav is already on the march with four hundred men.
Yaakov assumes that Esav approaches with murderous
intent.
Yaakov must now contend not only with the flesh-and-
blood Esav, but also with the mythic Esav of his
imagination. He must not only wrest atonement from the
real Esav but must also grapple with his fear. Yaakov
gives ground to neither his fear nor the mythic Esav of
his imagination. He remains determined and focused. He
prepares his camp, prays, and devises a strategy to
achieve reconciliation (32:7-22). But then he goes to
sleep. In the dark of the night, Yaakov wavers. The
struggle proves overwhelming. Out of fear, habit, guilt,
a sense of a lack of deserving divine protection, or a
mix of them all, Yaakov rises and attempts to run away.
This brings us back to the story of the struggle
with the angel. God sends the angel to prevent Yaakov
from fleeing and to compel the confrontation between
Yaakov and Esav. Why is this important to God? For the
very same reason it has been important to Yaakov. God
also knows that Yaakov needs to make up for his behavior
of twenty years past, that he requires atonement and
reconciliation. Yaakov is now injured; he cannot run.
He has no choice but to face Esav. But there is more to
God's action than mere support of Yaakov's original
intentions. When God forces Yaakov to struggle with an
angel, he thereby proves to him that he can meet almost
any challenge. He teaches Yaakov that he can complete
the struggle and face his brother (Ibn Ezra, Abarbanel).
Even when causing Yaakov's temporary physical collapse,
God in fact helps and bolsters Yaakov. He challenges him
to find new existential resources, to complete the task
and atone for his past.
This leaves us with the blessing and the name
change, the final and most difficult piece of the puzzle.
Yaakov's angelic adversary blesses him by renaming him
Yisrael. More precisely, he tells him that, "They will
no longer say your name is Yaakov, but Yisrael, for you
have contended (sarita) with God (E-lokim) and with men
and proven able" (32:29). On the simplest level, the
name stems from the conflict with the angel that night.
The "God" that Yaakov has struggled with is the divine
emissary he has spent the night entangled with. He has
not succumbed and has proven able.
But there is much more to it than this. Let us
consider for a moment who the "men" are that Yaakov has
struggled with. Is this a reference to Lavan, Yaakov's
previous adversary? But this places the renaming slightly
out of context. Is this a reference to Esav? But Yaakov
has not yet met up with Esav. Perhaps the verb
"contended" (sarita) should not be read as referring
solely to the past. Perhaps the angel's statement is
more prophecy and prediction than history. Yaakov will
successfully contend with Esav that very morning.
Alternatively, the angel's statement does indeed
refer to the past and to the men that Yaakov has just
been struggling with. But who are these "men"? I think
we already know the answer. They are the mythic and
murderous Esav of Yaakov's imagination, and Yaakov
himself, his fears, his prior character and his past
actions. These are the struggles in which Yaakov has
been engaged. As argued previously, Yaakov already
contends with Esav even before meeting with him. He
already struggles with the problem of how to achieve
reconciliation and atonement. He already contends with
his fear, sometimes successfully and sometimes
unsuccessfully. Furthermore, the entire story of the
meeting of Yaakov and Esav consists of Yaakov's struggle
with his past self. It is about his struggle with the
Yaakov of misdirection, tricks and wiles, the Yaakov who
could never confront his self, the brother he has tricked
or the moral-divine imperative of repentance.
To pull all of this together, God sends the angel to
struggle with Yaakov and thereby force Yaakov to confront
and make up with Esav. That very struggle with the angel
constitutes a physical manifestation and metaphor of the
numerous external and internal struggles that animate the
character of Yaakov both before and after the nighttime
wrestle. In the course of his attempt to be more than
the Yaakov of tricks and wiles, he contends with the
angel, with his clan-brother Lavan, with his flesh-and-
blood brother Esav, with his fear, with the divine
imperative of seeking atonement, and with his very own
self and character. His renaming by the angel captures
this past, present and future theme precisely. He will
no longer be Yaakov, bent like the heel he once grasped,
the one who garnered blessings by latching on to others,
by the means of deals and tricks. He will no longer be
known as the one Esav justly accused. Rather he will be
Yisrael, he who has struggled in so many ways and proven
able. He will be known as Yisrael, a man whose
blessedness stems from his struggles.
VI
To conclude, I would like to pick up on the theme of
journeys developed in our discussions of Avraham,
Yitzchak and Rivka. At the end of parashat Vayishlach,
Yaakov finally returns home to his father (35:27), ending
the journey that commenced at the beginning of parashat
Vayeitze. Like all of Avraham's journeys, Yaakov's
journey begins with a command and involves the stem heh-
lamed-khaf (28:2,10). Like Avraham's first journey,
Yaakov's journey involves "going out" of a particular
place, and "going to" a different place, those places
being Charan and Canaan (12:4-5, 28:10). But what is
Yaakov's journey about? Is it Avraham's first journey,
the journey for nationhood and future? Is it the second,
the journey for religion and ethics? Or is it the third,
the journey of the Akeida, of self-negation?
In fact, each of these themes can be picked out in
the journey of Yaakov. Nevertheless, the dominant motif,
and the one that unites all the others, is the theme of
struggle. Yaakov's journey constitutes a fourth journey
paradigm, the journey of struggle. Yaakov indeed
struggles against his adversaries, against Lavan, Esav
and an angel, but even more so, he struggles to become
Yisrael, he struggles against his very self. His journey
is also the journey of repentance. He is the father of
not just the nation of Israel, but of struggle, change,
self-making and repentance.
YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH
ALON SHEVUT, GUSH ETZION 90433
Copyright (c) 2001 Yeshivat Har Etzion.
All rights reserved.
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