Words of Wisdom for Shabbat - Va-Yishlach

This week's Torah Portion, Va-Yishlach continues the drama of Jacob's life, twenty years after his bitter parting with his brother, Esau. Jacob is now anxiously planning for what he hopes will be a chance to reconcile with Esau. On his journey to meet Esau, Jacob wrestles one whom the Torah calls "ish" (man), but whom some Torah commentators have identified as an angel or "man-angel." My students also expressed various ideas about who the stranger might be and sought clues in the illustrations which accompanied the information sheets that I gave them about Va-Yishlach. "This picture is definitely an angel." "No, here, the stranger looks human." "Maybe it was God." My students, in struggling to understand this mysterious event, are joining in the time honored tradition of Rabbis and scholars and truly engaging in the study of Torah.

Harvey J. Fields, author of A Torah Commentary for Our Times, offers this observation:
"So who was this 'man-angel' with whom Jacob wrestled? Perhaps a figment of his imagination. Perhaps it was Esau or Esau's angel in a dream. Perhaps it was meant to represent all the enemies who would arise to destroy the people of Jacob-Israel. Perhaps, the man-angel was Jacob, and the battle was between two sides of Jacob's character.

At times, the intent of the Torah is unclear. Great literature and art allow for many differing opinions and interpretations. Each person, and often each generation, uncovers new meanings. That, now, is our challenge with Jacob's mysterious night battle."

Shabbat Shalom Rest and Re-new