Yaakov remained alone and a man struggled with him until dawn. (Bereishis 32:25)
Chazal say that the “man” who struggled with Yaakov that night was the ruling angel of Eisav.
We see that Eisav’s angel picked the time when Yaakov was all alone in order to fight with him. This is when Eisav’s angel does everything he can to battle Yaakov and make him falter.
Why does being alone so arouse the fury of Eisav’s ruling angel? What is the special, virtuous quality of being all alone?
With yud and heh, Hashem created worlds.
Chazal comment on this verse as follows:
These are two worlds that Hakadosh Baruch Hu created, one with the letter heh [of His Name], and the other with the letter yud [of His Name].... This world was created with heh and the next world was created with yud.
Why was this world created with heh? Because the heh [is completely open on the bottom and thus] resembles an open porch. Whoever wants to leave, may leave. And why is the leg of the heh hanging, [thus leaving an opening between it and the top of the letter]? Because if a person does teshuvah, he is brought back in....
Why was the next world created with yud, [the smallest of letters]? Because there are few tzaddikim in it.
Out of all the tzaddikim who fill this world, how many of them will get to Olam Haba? Very few. This is what Chazal are telling us here. Olam Haba was created with a yud, the smallest of letters, “Because there are few tzaddikim in it.”
This calls for explanation. How could such a thing be? We know that Chazal said:
All Jews have a portion in the World to Come.
This seems to say that all the tzaddikim here in this world, within the heh, should get to Olam Haba. Yet, Chazal tell us that of all the tzaddikim in the heh, only a few of them get to Olam Haba. Very puzzling!
The answer is that in Olam Haba there are many levels, one beyond another. There is being inside, and there is further inside, and there is even further inside. To appreciate this point, let us consider the following.
On our verse, “Yaakov remained alone,” the Midrash says:
Everything that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is destined to do in the future, He already did, by means of the tzaddikim in this world.... Just as it says about Hakadosh Baruch Hu, ונשגב ה’ לבדו – “Hashem will be exalted alone” (Yeshayahu 2:12), so it was with Yaakov: “Yaakov remained alone.”
One of the Thirteen Principles of Emunah is, “I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be He, is the first and the last.” In other words, before there was anything at all, He alone existed. And He created the world for a certain purpose. Until this purpose is achieved, there is a lot of accounting to be made, a lot of reward and punishment, a lot of worlds, and a lot of Olam Haba, in which each and every Jew has his portion.
But a day will come about which is written, “Hashem will be exalted alone.” Because “the Creator, Blessed be He, is the first and the last.” Hakadosh Baruch Hu will once again be alone, so to speak. This is the day about which Chazal said, “The next world was created with a yud.” On that day, ההוא ביום, there will be very few tzaddikim left. That day is the ultimate goal of it all. On that day of ונשגב ה’ לבדו, only the few who possess this quality of being alone, of “Yaakov remained alone,” will be there.
