In war, only one side wins. Of course, it is possible that both sides lose, but it is not possible that both sides win. Then why do the two sides go into battle? For the possibility that they will win, but the question is, would a healthy person enter into battle that he has no chance of being victorious? Seemingly not, but historically we see this, so we have to understand what caused this.
Yaakov Avinu, on his way back to the Promised Land, on the night that all his wives and children crossed over the stream, ‘And Yaakov was left alone and a man wrestled with him’ (32:25). Chazal tell us that this was the guardian of Eisav – that is, an angel. Let us stop and think for a moment about what we would do if an angel came against us to fight us, would it not be appropriate right from the start to lift our hands and give up? Chalilah, Yaakov Avinu teaches us that this is not the proper way, rather wrestle – fight. But he is stronger than me, he is an angel and I am just a human?!
This is the main teaching from this battle, Yaakov Avinu knew one important thing: HaKadosh Baruch Hu does not test me with a challenge that I cannot withstand – it is a sign that I am able to fight him, and he fought ‘until the break of dawn’, until Heaven showed him that HaKadosh Baruch Hu knew that from this point on his strength would no longer help him, and therefore, the angel did not receive permission to continue wrestling with him.
We know what happened in the end: the angel asked Yaakov for permission to leave, but he did not give it to him. ‘I will not let you go until you have blessed me’ (32:27). The angel blessed and praised Yaakov for two things. The first: ‘for you have striven with the Divine and with men’ and the second: ‘and you have overcome (32:29). For the courage to fight with an angel, he praised him, with no connection to the outcome, afterwards he also praised him for the second thing – that he was victorious. Like in every battle, so too here, we praise the victor, but the main praise is that he walked away with a new name: ‘Yisrael’, this is for the battle and not for the victory!
- Tiv HaTorah - Vayishlach
