Vayishlach - The Wrestle
On his journey home, after 20 years of absence, a mysterious man confronts Yaakov. The two men wrestle throughout the night until dawn. Unable to prevail, the unidentified assailant strikes Yaakov on the hip socket, leaving him with a limp. As a result of this strange incident the descendants of Yaakov are prohibited to eat from the sciatic nerve found on an animals thigh socket. The Torah doesn't just record random incidents. Every event has deep spiritual significance with a message that bares truth and relevance in every generation. So there must be more that we can take from this story than not eating rump steaks.
The secret to unraveling the mystery of this episode is to unveil the identity of Yaakov's attacker. The mystics explain that every nation has an overseeing angel that protects and intercedes on behalf of its nation and acts as an intermediary to draw down divine blessings. Yaakov is the father of the Jewish nation, and his brother Eisav is the father of the Edomites, the perpetual enemy of the Jewish people. The classic commentaries identify Yaakov's attacker as the ministering angel of Eisav. The Medrash goes even further, teaching that the angel of Eisav was none other than the prosecuting angel, Satan himself. On the personal level, the Satan also functions as the Yetzer Hora (the evil inclination), which is the source of our selfish and unholy impulses. Our patriarch Yaakov represents the Jewish soul, which craves spiritual existence and connection to G-d.
Yaakov's nightlong battle with the angel is the cosmic archetype of the daily struggle that we all face, to overcome the desires and temptations of our animalistic persona that distract us from our true spiritual purpose of serving G-d and making the world a place of goodliness and G-dliness. From the Torah's account of this battle, we can understand the working of our inner attacker and thereby gain valuable insights as to how we can prevail.
The angel attacks Yaakov at night when he is alone. Darkness represents the absence of spiritual light. The source of spiritual light is the study of Torah. When we study the divine wisdom of the Torah we connect to G-d in a very profound way and our spiritual sensitivities and resolve are illuminated. Living in the dark in this sense we make ourselves vulnerable to attack. Similarly, when a person is alone he places himself in spiritual danger. Our sages teach: Make for yourself a teacher and acquire a friend. A mentor who can teach and inspire us, and friends who we can share our challenges with, give us incredible inner strength to be able to face our battles.
The Torah uses a strange word to describe the attack - VaYeAvek. The commentators are divided as to the meaning of this word. Some relate it to the word Avak, meaning dust, suggesting that in their scuffle they kicked up dust until it reached the heavens. Others relate it to the word VaYechabeik meaning an embrace. Sometimes the Yetzer Hora confronts us as an obvious enemy in open warfare with feelings and thoughts that are clearly incompatible with our spiritual aspirations. These are the easier challenges to deal with. More dangerously the Yetzer Hora can embrace us in friendship and with the subtle coercion of good intentions. Or to paraphrase a great Rabbi, the Yetzer Hora may appear dressed in Chassidic garb! Being aware of the numerous disguises and manifestations of our Yetzer Hora, we can better identify and deal with its challenges as they arise.
What is the significance of the sciatic nerve (Gid Hanashe in Hebrew)? Why of all places did the angel consider this to be most vulnerable? The thigh socket represents the fusing of the physical aspects of the body to the more lofty spiritual functions such as intellect and emotion. The Yetzer Hora seeks to disconnect us at this fusion point. Judaism's uniqueness is the view that true spirituality comes from physical interactions with the world. Someone who has an intellectual appreciation or emotional sensitivity for Yiddishkeit (the Jew at heart syndrome), but fails to translate this into the physical performance of Torah and Mitzvos, suffers from spiritual dislocation. The same is true of someone who becomes submerged in materialism but lacks a spiritual focus.
The Gid Hanashe is not kosher, although it differs from other Treif foods. Normally when Treif food falls into kosher food, the food will only be kosher if it contains 60 times the volume of the offending substance. This ratio of 1:60 nullifies or dilutes any taste of the Treif food that remains in the pot. The sciatic nerve is different. As long as the nerve has been removed, one does not need a nullification ratio. The reason for this is the Talmud's conclusion that sinews (nerves) have no taste. With this in mind we have another explanation why the Yetzer Hora strikes here. Taste represents passion and enjoyment in our service of G-d, described in Yiddish as Geshmak. We are most vulnerable when we lack a Geshmak in our spiritual quest. Apathy, lack of enthusiasm, and doing things by force of habit are inviting holes in our spiritual armour. We can bolster our defenses by maintaining our inspiration and constantly searching for deeper meaning in our prayer, study and observance.
With these points in mind we can face our inner Eisav and emerge more spiritually developed and accomplished. The Torah concludes the narrative with the rising of the sun. Yaakov is cured of his limp and he arrives to his destination ‘complete'. By exposure to the radiant light and warmth of Torah and Yiddishkeit we can conquer our shortcomings and attain completeness in our souls.