- Yaakov and Tefillat Arvit
AND- the request that Yaakov makes is just like we recite in Hashkivenu- the natural request of a person facing hte uncertainty of nighttime, about to sleep: let me enjoy peace while I rest, and rise up in peace...
(ח) וַיִּירָ֧א יַעֲקֹ֛ב מְאֹ֖ד וַיֵּ֣צֶר ל֑וֹ וַיַּ֜חַץ אֶת־הָעָ֣ם אֲשֶׁר־אִתּ֗וֹ וְאֶת־הַצֹּ֧אן וְאֶת־הַבָּקָ֛ר וְהַגְּמַלִּ֖ים לִשְׁנֵ֥י מַחֲנֽוֹת׃ (ט) וַיֹּ֕אמֶר אִם־יָב֥וֹא עֵשָׂ֛ו אֶל־הַמַּחֲנֶ֥ה הָאַחַ֖ת וְהִכָּ֑הוּ וְהָיָ֛ה הַמַּחֲנֶ֥ה הַנִּשְׁאָ֖ר לִפְלֵיטָֽה׃ (י) וַיֹּ֘אמֶר֮ יַעֲקֹב֒ אֱלֹקֵי֙ אָבִ֣י אַבְרָהָ֔ם וֵאלֹקֵ֖י אָבִ֣י יִצְחָ֑ק ה' הָאֹמֵ֣ר אֵלַ֗י שׁ֧וּב לְאַרְצְךָ֛ וּלְמוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וְאֵיטִ֥יבָה עִמָּֽךְ׃ (יא) קָטֹ֜נְתִּי מִכֹּ֤ל הַחֲסָדִים֙ וּמִכׇּל־הָ֣אֱמֶ֔ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשִׂ֖יתָ אֶת־עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ כִּ֣י בְמַקְלִ֗י עָבַ֙רְתִּי֙ אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּ֣ן הַזֶּ֔ה וְעַתָּ֥ה הָיִ֖יתִי לִשְׁנֵ֥י מַחֲנֽוֹת׃ (יב) הַצִּילֵ֥נִי נָ֛א מִיַּ֥ד אָחִ֖י מִיַּ֣ד עֵשָׂ֑ו כִּֽי־יָרֵ֤א אָנֹכִי֙ אֹת֔וֹ פֶּן־יָב֣וֹא וְהִכַּ֔נִי אֵ֖ם עַל־בָּנִֽים׃ (יג) וְאַתָּ֣ה אָמַ֔רְתָּ הֵיטֵ֥ב אֵיטִ֖יב עִמָּ֑ךְ וְשַׂמְתִּ֤י אֶֽת־זַרְעֲךָ֙ כְּח֣וֹל הַיָּ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹא־יִסָּפֵ֖ר מֵרֹֽב׃
(א) אומר השכיבנו וחותם שומר את עמו ישראל לעד מפני שלילה צריכה שימור מן המזיקין. ואע"ג דקי"ל כרבי יוחנן דאמר שצריך לסמוך אף גאולה של ערבית לתפלת ערבית השכיבנו לא הוי הפסק דכיון דתקינו ליה רבנן כגאולה אריכתא (טור או"ח רלו)
(ב) הַשְׁכִּיבֵֽנוּ ה' אֱלֹקֵֽינוּ לְשָׁלוֹם וְהַעֲמִידֵֽנוּ מַלְכֵּֽנוּ לְחַיִּים וּפְרוֹשׂ עָלֵֽינוּ סֻכַּת שְׁלוֹמֶֽךָ וְתַקְּ֒נֵֽנוּ בְּעֵצָה טוֹבָה מִלְּ֒פָנֶֽיךָ וְהוֹשִׁיעֵֽנוּ לְמַֽעַן שְׁמֶֽךָ וְהָגֵן בַּעֲדֵֽנוּ וְהָסֵר מֵעָלֵֽינוּ אוֹיֵב דֶּֽבֶר וְחֶֽרֶב וְרָעָב וְיָגוֹן וְהָסֵר שָׂטָן מִלְּ֒פָנֵֽינוּ וּמֵאַחֲרֵֽינוּ וּבְצֵל כְּנָפֶֽיךָ תַּסְתִּירֵֽנוּ כִּי אֵל שׁוֹמְ֒רֵֽנוּ וּמַצִּילֵֽנוּ אָֽתָּה כִּי אֵל מֶֽלֶךְ חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם אָֽתָּה וּשְׁמוֹר צֵאתֵֽנוּ וּבוֹאֵֽנוּ לְחַיִּים וּלְשָׁלוֹם מֵעַתָּה וְעַד עוֹלָם: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' שׁוֹמֵר עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל לָעַד:
(1) This is the second of the benedictions that follow the Sh’ma.
(2) Hashem our God; make us lie down in peace, our King, raise us again to life Spread over us the shelter of Your peace, and direct us to better ourselves through Your good counsel; and deliver us for Your Name’s sake. Shield us, and remove from us enemies, pestilence, sword, famine and sorrow. Remove the adversary from before us and from behind us, and shelter us in the shadow of Your wings. For, Almighty, You are our Protector and Rescuer, For, Almighty You are a gracious and merciful King. Guard our going out and our coming in for life and peace for now forever. Blessed are You, Hashem, Who guards His people Israel forever.
- Yaakov Wrestling with the Angel
- With whom did Yaakov wrestle?
1 WE have already shown that the appearance or speech of an angel mentioned in Scripture took place in a vision or dream; it makes no difference whether this is expressly stated or not, as we have explained above. This is a point of considerable importance. In some cases the account begins by stating that the prophet saw an angel; in others, the account apparently introduces a human being, who ultimately is shown to be an angel; but it makes no difference, for if the fact that an angel has been heard is only mentioned at the end, you may rest satisfied that the whole account from the beginning describes a prophetic vision. In such visions, a prophet either sees God who speaks to him, as will be explained by us, or he sees an angel who speaks to him, or he hears someone speaking to him without seeing the speaker, or he sees a man who speaks to him, and learns afterwards that the speaker was an angel. In this latter kind of prophecies, the prophet relates that he saw a man who was doing or saying something, and that he learnt afterwards that it was an angel.
2 This important principle was adopted by one of our Sages, one of the most distinguished among them, R. Ḥiya the Great (Bereshit Rabba, xlviii.), in the exposition of the Scriptural passage commencing, "And the Lord appeared unto him in the plain of Mamre" (Gen. xviii.). The general statement that the Lord appeared to Abraham is followed by the description in what manner that appearance of the Lord took place; namely, Abraham saw first three men; he ran and spoke to them. R. Hiya, the author of the explanation, holds that the words of Abraham, "My Lord, if now I have found grace in thy sight, do not, I pray thee, pass from thy servant," were spoken by him in a prophetic vision to one of the men; for he says that Abraham addressed these words to the chief of these men. Note this well, for it is one of the great mysteries [of the Law]. The same, I hold, is the case when it is said in reference to Jacob, "And a man wrestled with him" (Gen. 32:25); this took place in a prophetic vision, since it is expressly stated in the end (ver. 31) that it was an angel.
(ג) ר' חמא בר' חנינא אמר: שרו של עשו היה, הוא דהוה אמר ליה: כי ע"כ ראיתי פניך כראות פני אלהים ותרצני. משל לאתליטוס, שהוא עומד ומתגושש עם בנו של מלך, תלה עיניו וראה את המלך עומד על גביו והרפיש עצמו לפניו. הה"ד: וירא כי לא יכול לו. אמר רבי לוי: וירא, בשכינה. כי לא יכול לו אמר ר' ברכיה: אין אנו יודעים מי נצח, אם מלאך, אם יעקב, ומן מה דכתיב: ויאבק איש עמו הוי, מי נתמלא אבק? האיש שעמו. אמר ר' חנינא בר יצחק: אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא: הוא בא אליך וחמישה קמיעין בידו: זכותו וזכות אביו זכות אמו וזכות זקינו וזכות זקינתו מְדד עצמך, אם אתה יכול לעמוד אפילו בזכותו! מיד, וירא כי לא יכול לו. משל למלך שהיה לו כלב אגריון, וארי נמירון. והיה המלך נוטל את בנו ומלבבו בארי, שאם יבא הכלב להזדווג לו, יאמר לו המלך: ארי לא היה יכול לעמוד בו, ואתה מבקש להזדווג לו? כך, שאם יבואו אומות העולם להזדווג לישראל, יאמר להם הקב"ה: שרכם לא היה יכול לעמוד בו, ואתם מבקשים להזדווג לבניו? ויגע בכף ירכו נגע בצדיקים ובצדיקות, בנביאים ובנביאות, שהן עתידין לעמוד ממנו. ואיזה זה? זה דורו של שמד. ותקע כף ירך יעקב ר' ברכיה ור' אליעזר, ר' אליעזר אמר: שעייא. ר' ברכיה בשם רבי אסי אמר: סידקה כדג. רב נחמן בר יעקב אמר: פירשה ממקומה, כדכתיב (יחזקאל כג): ותקע נפשי וגו', כאשר נקעה נפשי. אמר רבי חנינא בר יצחק: כל אותו הלילה היו שניהן פוגעין זה בזה, מגיניה דדין לקבל מגיניה דדין, כיון, שעלה עמוד השחר, ויאמר שלחני כי עלה השחר.
(3) Rabbi Chama bar Chanina said, "He was the ministering angel of Esav. And that is [what he meant] when he said to him, 'For this have I seen your face as I saw the face of God and you have accepted me' (Genesis 33:10). There is a parable about an athlete that got up and wrestled with the son of the king. He lifted his eyes and he saw that the king was standing behind him and [so] he fell to the ground in front of [the son]. This is what [is meant by that which] is written, 'and he saw that he could not overcome him.'" Rabbi Levi said, "'And he saw' the Divine Presence 'and he could not overcome him.'" Said Rabbi Berachia, "We do not know who won, whether it was the angel or whether it was Yakov. And from that which it is written, 'and a man wrestled (vayitabek, the root of which contains the letters that spell dust) with him,' prove who was covered in dust - the man that was with him.' Said Rabbi Chananya bar Yitschak, "The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, 'He is coming against you and he has five charms in his hand: his merit, the merit of his father, the merit of his mother, the merit of his grandfather, and the merit of his grandmother - measure yourself [and see] if you can stand even against his merit.' Immediately, 'And he saw and he could not overcome him.' There is a parable of a king that had a wild dog and a tamed lion. And the king took his son and endeared him to the lion, [such that] if the dog would take him on, the king would say to him, 'The lion was not able to stand in front of him and you want to take him on?' So [too], if the nations of the world will come to take on Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, will say to them, 'Your ministering angel was not able to stand in front of him and you want to take on his children?'" "And he touched the hollow of his thigh" - he touched the righteous men and women, the prophets and prophetesses, which were to arise from him in the future. And which is this? The generation of persecution (shemad). "And he touched the hollow of Yakov's thigh" - Rabbi Berachia and Rabbi Eliezer [disagreed about this]: Rabbi Eliezer said, "He pressed it down." Rabbi Berachia said in the name of Rabbi Assi, "He split it like a fish." Rabbi Nachman bar Yakov said, "He separated it from its place, as it is written (Ezekiel 23:18), 'and my soul was separated etc... like my soul was separated' [in which the context shows that the verb for touching also means separating]." Said Rabbi Chanina bar Yitschak, "That whole night both of them were striking each other, the shield of this one across from the shield of that one. Once the sun rose, 'And he said, send me away from here as the sun has risen.'
אמר לו יעקב: "כיוון שאתה שרו של עשו, לא אניחך עד שתמחול לי מן הברכה שבירכני אבא!" אמר לו: "ומי מתרעם עליך?" אמר לו: "שאמר לי עשו: 'הכי קרא שמו יעקב ויעקבני זה פעמים?!'" (כ"ז ל"ה). "ויברך אותו שם" – וזאת הברכה שבירכו, שמחל לו על הברכות.
- Modern Psychological Interpretations
-Fields, Harvey J. A Torah Commentary for Our Times: Volume One: Genesis. URJ Press, New York, New York. 1990. p. 86
- "And Yaakov was left alone..."
"The Benei Yissachar now turns his attention to Ya'akov Avinu. Ya'akov's aloneness isolates his own personal value from all the contexts in which he lives. First, he is severed from his wife and children, but in the continuation of the passage, it becomes clear that Ya'akov is cut off even from Avraham and Yitzchak. Ya'akov is all alone, without a past or future, without a tradition or a destiny. His sons – the future people of Israel – take no part in the struggle, just as his forefathers are out of the game. This isolation forces Ya'akov to look inwards. He can rely neither on his fathers nor on his sons. What is now being tested is what he has inside, and the question is whether that is enough.
The words of the Benei Yissachar pose the philosophical and existential question regarding the tension between the individual and society. Does man find his essence in his belonging to society or in his alienation from it? This is the way Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik formulates the issue:
The question is not only socio-economic, but also existential. Was the image of God, the human charisma, bestowed upon man as an individual or as a society? In withdrawal from society or in its company – where does man find his true essence? (Ha-Kehila, p. 225)
It is precisely Ya'akov's withdrawal from his social context that brings him to the struggle with the angel, where he is forced to expose his essential self, for this is all he has now. From the moment that this essence is exposed, it struggles with the angel, and it is what prevails against him. Just as Israel's falling to the point that they lose all their merits exposes the most fundamental truth standing at the base of their existence – what the Benei Yissachar calls "merit" [zekhut] – so too Ya'akov's remaining alone and being forced to stand by himself against the angel, totally cut off from his surroundings, expose his fundamental truth that is revealed in his new identity: "Your name shall be called no more Ya'akov, but Yisrael."
Most of our lives we stand in a historical context and in a situation of belonging to family, social, and national groups. This belonging has great value, but sometimes it interferes with our ability to stand up against the inner truth that is concealed by the cover of social belonging.
The words of R. Tzvi Elimelekh Shapira invite us to follow in Ya'akov Avinu's footsteps and remain alone, with all the circles to which we belong standing on one side of the Yabok ford and we on the other side. We should not fear aloneness, even if this isolation leads to a difficult struggle. We must believe that we will prevail and that we will emerge from the struggle with a new name that will accompany us upon our return to all that belongs to us and to all that we belong to.
"ALONE - AN UNMEDIATED ENCOUNTER
The Benei Yissachar views "aloneness" as a situation in which a person is cut off from his historical context and from his historical "merit," in order to bring him to stand up against his inner truth. Others, however, relate to this position as one of man standing up against his God. Thus, we find that R. Shemuel of Sochaczew writes in his Shem mi-Shemuel:
According to what has been said, we can understand that "And Ya'akov remained alone" is in the style of "And the Lord alone shall be exalted." The verse "And Ya'akov remained alone" teaches that he was alone without the mediation of the angles of song that were created on the fifth day [of Creation]. And [the verse] "And the Lord alone shall be exalted" teaches [that He will] be alone without the mediation of the angels who bring down the bounty that were created on the second day [of Creation]. For it is regarding this that the term "nisgav" (exalted), which denotes leading and bestowing bounty upon the world, is appropriate. It may be suggested that it is from here that Israel merits on Shabbat nachalat Ya'akov, the legacy of Ya'akov, mentioned in the holy Zohar. For on weekdays, the unity is through the mediation of an angel, whereas on Shabbat, it is unmediated, but rather with the Righteous One, life of the universe (Shem mi-Shemuel[3], Vayishlach, 1878)."