I was taught something beautiful regarding this weeks parasha, I wrote this in hope that the itll inspire you as it did me..if its unclear please let me know :) Preceding Yaakovs encounter with Esav in פרשת וישלח it is written - ויאבק איש עמו (בראשית לב :כה) And the man struggled with him (Yaakov) Who is this man? Where did he come from? Previously the Torah stated ויותר יעקב לבדו Yaakov was alone. (Sidetracking a little, note that our greatest moments are when were alone, theyre between us and Hashem. We constantly thirst for others to recognise our glory, our priotities are so skewed. We fear the opinions of others more than we fear Hashem). Its agreed among most commentators that this man is an angel. According to the kli Yakar איש refers to the סמאל, the name of the angel of Esav, the angel that aims to blind us, intellectually and mentally, obscuring the perimeters of our inherent sense of justice. The סמאל manifest himself through various forms; the satan, the angel of death and the yetzer harah. Often were told of Hashems desire for our closeness. If this is so, why does he bestow upon us something that pushes us away, from our truest self, hence from Him, surely He desires the opposite effect? The man says to Yaakov: ויאמר שלחני כי עלה השחר Let me go for the dawn has arrived The mans reason to go is seemingly rather arbitrary. According to Rashi this is the time when one sings perek shira. Every animal has a shira, a song revealing their specific purpose in the world, given to them by Hashem. Shira has the same Gematria as Teffilah. The verb used when we daven is להתפלל the reflexive tense of the word פלל - to judge, prayer is self reflection. Each creature analyses themselves and sings shira, theyre doing their job, theyre fulfilling their specific tafkid given to them by Hashem. Only man doesnt have a Shira, our fulfillment is not guaranteed. So Yaakov and the איש were fighting, and the איש, the angel that causes us to stray tells Yaakov to release him so he can sing to Hashem as he is now fulfilling his tafkid. This seems slightly obscured. When Yaakov was overpowering the איש, the איש was finally able to sing his song - He was fulfilled. This is crazy. Despite the irony the tafkid of the satan, the angel of death, the yetzer hara - is to be vanquished. Their tafkid is to challenge, not to overpower. To provide tension, this is the only way we strengthen, physically and spiritually. Energy is the consequence of friction. Through presenting us with the yetzer harah Hashem is in fact enabling us to actively choose truth. He is allowing the gap between our outward expression of self and our truest essence to be bridged, He is presenting to us the option to become closer to Him. Though we perceive it as the opposite, our inclination to sin is in fact a gift, why else would Hashem create such a thing? Were in this world in order to build a relationship with Hashem. To accomplish our tafkid, were given a tool and were given if for free! Hashem is handing a machine that can assist our building, fortifying the end result. However its vital that we know how to work the machine in order for its potential to be actualised. We commence headed with direction, we intend to run yet we see an obstacle and slow down. We become stagnant, worse than this, we justify it.Its okay there was an obstacle there, I wouldnt have been able to run anyway we say to ourselves, Ill run next time, when there is no obstacle. Obstacles are inevitable on every path, with this attitude wed never run, wed never get anywhere. To progress we must anticipate our obatacles, we must know what makes us stumble, where our yetser harah lies. Thus upon approaching danger well be prepared, ready to leap over the obstacle, ultimately empowering us to run faster. Life is a sprint not a marathon. For the sake of Hashem may He facilitate our sprint. May we all be blessed with clarity, the ability to see things for what they really are, to see the kind near to that Hashem bestows upon us, to see our obstacles as vehicles necessary for progression, in order that we hasten redemption, on a personal, national and universal level. Wishing you a shabbat that is the epitome of shalom.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 12:47:25 +0000
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