Parasha Thoughts
By Rabbi Shlomo Zargari
Shalom,
In the Parasha, Yaakov Avinu is told that Esav is coming to greet him with an army. He prepares himself for the confrontation with prayer, gifts, and battle. As he moved his family across the river, he realized he left some items behind and crossed the river to bring them back. At that point, he was alone and a “man†wrestled with him:
×•Ö·×™Ö·Ö¼Ö—×¨Ö°× ×›Ö´Ö¼Ö£×™ ×œÖ¹Ö¤× ×™Ö¸×›Ö¹×œÖ™ ל֔וֹ וַיִּגַּ֖ע בְּכַף־יְרֵכ֑וֹ וַתֵּ֙קַע֙
כַּף־יֶ֣רֶךְ יַעֲקֹ֔ב בְּהֵֽ×ָבְק֖וֹ עִמּֽוֹ׃
When “the man†saw that he had not prevailed against Yaakov, he wrenched Yaakov’s hip at its socket, so that the socket of his hip was strained as he wrestled with him.(Bereshit 32,26)
The Midrash asks: what did he see? And they answer: he saw the presence of the Shechina and understood that he could not overcome Yaakov Avinu. An allegory illustrates this for us: a wrestler fights a prince. He lifts his eyes and sees the king watching…He becomes weak and is defeated. Same here: when the angel realized the Shechina was on top of Yaakov Avinu, he understood he could not defeat him.
We can learn from here each time we are confronted with the Yetzer Hara(evil inclination) and he wants to trick us into committing a sin – to look at something, or say something, or even to think a wrong thought. Even if we might be weak, remember that The Shechina is with us and helps us and the victory is ours!