Parshat Vayishlach - Surmount the Struggle!

Looking for inspiration? The parsha, without fail, is a great place to start...

So here goes story time:

After leaving the house of his father-in-law Lavan, Ya'akov now heads back home to Israel and is preparing to reunite with his twin brother Eisav. But Ya'akov wasn't exactly anticipating a reunion filled with brotherly love. His last encounter with Eisav before Ya'akov's departure to the land of Charan was not exactly an agreeable one between the two of them. Ya'akov had just taken the valuable blessing of the first born from his father Yitzchak --- a blessing that his older brother Eisav was expecting to receive (despite the deal that was made between them over some red lentil soup, Breishit 25:32). Ya'akov left home in a hurry after the event. Eisav was not too happy about the scenario, and their mother Rivka was concerned that Ya'akov's life might actually be in danger if he stayed around for too long. 

So now, four wives and twelve children later, Ya'akov is facing his brother once again and is not sure how his brother will greet him. Ya'akov sends men to check out what Eisav's up to, and it turns out that he's approaching with 400 men! 

Afraid of what Eisav might be intending with such a large group, Ya'akov prepares for every possible scenario. In case Eisav is ready to go to war, Ya'akov splits his family into two camps -- hopefully even if one camp falls, the other will survive! He prays to G-d for protection, and he sends gifts of animals to his brother to appease him.

But perhaps even more interesting than the actual encounter that ensues between the two (don't worry, Ya'akov and the future of the Jewish people leave the reunion alive and well), is an encounter that Ya'akov has just beforehand with a mysterious someone. Ya'akov ends up in a struggle one-on-one with a nameless individual until dawn, and commentators have to bring in all kinds of explanations as to what's actually going on, because it's just so unclear! (The often quoted interpretation is that it was actually an angel of Eisav that Ya'akov was fighting with!) 

Rabbi Blau of Yeshiva University told me a powerful message that comes out of the line up of these two stories one after the other -- of Ya'akov and his preparations to meet Eisav followed by his personal struggle. 

The moral of the story was that we have to be like Ya'akov.

And here's why:

Ya'akov was someone who anticipated challenges that he might face in his future and did everything that was in his power to prepare for them to the best of his ability. And we should do the same! But it is also important to realize, that as much as you prepare, there is always those challenges that you can't predict -- that struggle with an unknown individual, be that someone else or yourself, that you never saw coming. Life is all about the struggle! A life without challenge is a life without accomplishments.They say that if a fish isn't swimming against the current, that means it's dead. In more positive terms, the surest sign of life is if you're up for the challenge.

There's an important ending to this story. Even though Ya'akov gets injured in the struggle, he ultimately comes out on top and leaves as an individual who is so much greater because of it -- he doesn't just survive the struggle, but he leaves with a new name: Yisrael. This is the name that is a source of pride to our people. It is attached to our nation, our homeland, and should inspire us daily to overcome every struggle we face.

Post by, Sarina Miller