Rabbi Roodyn

As Yaakov and his family are poised to enter into the land of Israel, Yaakov finds himself alone in the stillness of the night. At this point he finds himself embroiled in a conflict with an unidentified man. Ultimately, as we know, Yaakov emerges victorious and subdues his attacker (although he sustains an injury himself). At sunrise he requests to be set free and Yaakov obliges after receiving a bracha from him, his new name of Yisrael.

This is a difficult passage to understand even in light of Chazal revealing to us that this anonymous man was no other than Esav’s guardian angel, but like all episodes in the Torah, it is there as a guide to life.

Esav’s angel or spiritual essence is ever present when Israel attempts returns to its land. He attacks Yaakov here and after the exodus from Egypt attacks us in the guise of Amalek. Amalek, the spiritual heir of Esav attacks us yet again in the Purim story as if to stop the return to Zion and the rebuilding of the second Beis Hamikdash. It is also far from coincidence that Amalek in his most recent guise reared his ugly head in the most horrific fashion before our contemporary return to Zion.

Esav / Amalek is the antithesis of everything that the Jewish people are meant to be. He is a selfish persona who lives for the moment with no regard for anyone else. His is a world of conquest and capture, of pushing others down for his own aggrandisement. His is the ‘hand on the throne of G-d’ that as it were prevents Hashem from being revealed into the world.

Eretz Yisrael is the arena for us to fulfil our national destiny of being a ‘Kingdom of priests and a holy nation’. It is a land located at the nexus of Europe, Africa and Asia where many people would pass through and learn from us. It is the place where we can build a model society of Torah, Avodah and Gemilus Chasadim. It is from Zion that the values that we stand for are brought into the world.This is a world where the material is not an end unto itself but is elevated to a higher level where is has value for all of eternity.  This is the antithesis of Esav’s approach to life which is essentially along the lines of ‘eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.’

Yaakov and Esav were fighting over the bracha of physical goodness, as represented by the bountiful land of Israel. It therefore makes sense that at the point where Yaakov or his descendants try and take hold of the land that Esav will try to prevent us. Yaakov emerges victorious from this battle, but not without sustaining an injury. Perhaps this teaches us that the path to our destiny will be a challenging and painful one and that we have to be prepared to make sacrifices for what we stand for. This exile has been a  2000 year long process of return with many casualties along the way, most of them at the hands of Esav’s descendants.

Last week when I visited Auschwitz I was struck by the suitcases on display that had belonged to the German Jews. As is well known, the Nazis insisted that every male Jew add the name Israel and every female, Sarah. I think that this is the only thing that they got right, that each and every one of us bear the name Yisrael, but rather than a mark of shame, this is an incredible badge of honour.

As dawn approaches after a 2000 long night and we have the benefit of the clarity of the first rays of daylight we can see that this struggle is the most noble one possible and that is the essence of our name Yisrael, one who struggles and prevails.

Shabbat Shalom