On the Weekly Torah Portion of Vayishlach

This week’s parashah (weekly Torah portion) of vayishlach (Genesis 32:4 – 36:43) deals with many topics, one of which is the reconciliation between the two brothers, Jacob and Esau.

וְהוּא עָבַר לִפְנֵיהֶם וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ אַרְצָה שֶׁבַע פְּעָמִים עַד גִּשְׁתּוֹ עַד אָחִיו: וַיָּרָץ עֵשָׂו לִקְרָאתוֹ וַיְחַבְּקֵהוּ וַיִּפֹּל עַל צַוָּארָו וַיִּשָּׁקֵהוּ וַיִּבְכּוּ:

He himself went on ahead of them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near his brother. But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. (Genesis 33:3-4)

It would be good to refresh our memory of how we got here. Two weeks ago, while discussing the Torah portion of toledot, Jacob and Esau were presented as two polarities within our psyche: one oriented towards corporeality and worldliness (Esau), the other towards spirituality and godliness (Jacob). We said that in Judaism, corporeality and worldliness are not considered bad in themselves, as long as they are subservient to spirituality. Matter and the world should be in the service of spirit and God, and not the other way around. Jacob, in other words, should have seniority.

In the Torah story, Esau comes out of the womb first, thereby gaining the seniority of the first born. This is symbolic of the fact that at birth, our corporeality and worldliness have the upper hand. But from the spiritual point of view, spirituality should find a way to take over. Jacob should gain seniority. In the story, Jacob does this through deception (one of the meanings of the name Yaa’kov, Hebrew for Jacob, is “the one who is not straight”). In order to avoid his brother’s wrath, Jacob has to flee.

Those of us who are committed to living the spiritual life in earnest know this all too well. When we awaken to spirit—when amounts to getting Esau out of the driver’s seat and handing control over to Jacob—we realize that it is quite an undertaking. There are deep seated habits, both individual and cultural, which stand in the way and are not easily changed.

As the Christian Gospel puts it:

The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
(Matthew 26:41)

And as King Duryodhana confesses in the Indian epic, the Mahabharata:

I know what is good
but I am not inclined to do it;
I know also what is bad,
but I do not refrain from doing it;
I just do as I am prompted to do
by some divine spirit
standing within my heart.

One way we may try to combat these deeply rooted habits is by becoming “a spiritual person”: we may devote our energies to study/prayer/meditation, we may subject ourselves to various practices and diets, and perhaps we even opt for a monastic life in the Far East. Anything to avoid the perceived danger of Esau.

Such intense focus on spirituality may be necessary and beneficial for a time, if it is applied with sincerity and good intention. Indeed, every spiritual tradition recommends it. But the Esau within us does not vanish just because we meditate intensely or go on retreats, nor should it. Spiritual practices strengthen the Jacob in us, but as long as we avoid Esau and think that he is the enemy—i.e., as long as our corporeality and worldliness are perceived by us as sinful and as a threat—we live in the shadow of a boogie man. Because of that, whatever peace and depth of spirit we find will lack stability. The moment of reconciliation between the two—the moment that the Jacob in us realizes that Esau is not an enemy out there but an aspect of himself, is the moment of true victory.

The reconciliation of the “two siblings”, the two aspects of our personality, happens when the Jacob within us decides to descend from his “spiritual heights” and accepts the fact that Esau is, indeed, his other half. Just as one inhales and exhales; just as there are two sides to each coin; just as there is day and night—corporeality and spirituality, worldliness and godliness, matter and spirit are, fundamentally, two aspects of one reality.

Jacob, by now, is not the young weakling escaping his parents’ tents with his walking stick as his only possession. He has achieved great wealth, has a large family, and has proven his physical as well as spiritual prowess on various occasions. One could understand all this wealth as symbolic of a great depth of spirit, representing the knowledge, the experience and the liberation one can potentially find when one’s life is focused on spiritual liberation alone.

In the Torah story, Jacob is understandably apprehensive before the meeting, since prior to their parting twenty years earlier, the deceived Esau was intent on killing him. In our allegorical interpretation of the story, this may mirror the spiritual seeker’s fear of being entangled “in the world”, of losing the inspiration that motivated him to embark on the spiritual path to begin with. But the meeting between the two is as loving as can be. And that, as we said, is the true spiritual victory.

* * *

The surprising outcome of the meeting between the brothers can be traced to an “event” that occurred a day earlier, within Jacob’s psyche:

וַיִּוָּתֵר יַעֲקֹב לְבַדּוֹ וַיֵּאָבֵק אִישׁ עִמּוֹ עַד עֲלוֹת הַשָּׁחַר: וַיַּרְא כִּי לֹא יָכֹל לוֹ וַיִּגַּע בְּכַף יְרֵכוֹ וַתֵּקַע כַּף יֶרֶךְ יַעֲקֹב בְּהֵאָבְקוֹ עִמּוֹ: וַיֹּאמֶר שַׁלְּחֵנִי כִּי עָלָה הַשָּׁחַר וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא אֲשַׁלֵּחֲךָ כִּי אִם בֵּרַכְתָּנִי: וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו מַה שְּׁמֶךָ וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב: וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא יַעֲקֹב יֵאָמֵר עוֹד שִׁמְךָ כִּי אִם יִשְׂרָאֵל כִּי שָׂרִיתָ עִם אֱלֹהִים וְעִם אֲנָשִׁים וַתּוּכָל: וַיִּשְׁאַל יַעֲקֹב וַיֹּאמֶר הַגִּידָה נָּא שְׁמֶךָ וַיֹּאמֶר לָמָּה זֶּה תִּשְׁאַל לִשְׁמִי וַיְבָרֶךְ אֹתוֹ שָׁם: וַיִּקְרָא יַעֲקֹב שֵׁם הַמָּקוֹם פְּנִיאֵל כִּי רָאִיתִי אֱלֹהִים פָּנִים אֶל פָּנִים וַתִּנָּצֵל נַפְשִׁי:

Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” (Genesis 33:25-31)

Who is this mysterious “man” that Jacob is wrestling with? In popular Jewish and Christian culture, he is often understood to be an angel. Not so, says Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk: he is, according to him, the sitra achra, the “other side”: another name for the devil. It is a being the represents corporeality and worldliness disconnected from spirit, from God. In Hassidic lore, this is how Esau is perceived, at least from Jacob’s point of view.

The night before the meeting with his brother, Jacob faces this aspect of himself. Up to now he has avoided confronting it, but the upcoming meeting forces it upon him. He is now strong enough not cave in, not to run away. The encounter cannot be decided, because both forces—spirituality and corporeality—are equally powerful. It is finally resolved when instead of fighting, Jacob asks for a blessing.

It is this blessing by the sitra achra, the other side—Jacob’s own other side which he has hitherto considered an enemy—that turns Jacob from “Ya’akov”, the non-straight follower, to “Yisrael”, the real hero. The meeting with Esau the next day could only express the reconciliation that has already occurred within Jacob’s psyche.

* * *

The Torah commands us to love God “with all your heart” (bekhol levavkha בכל לבבך). Rabbi Elimelech interprets this to mean that we should worship God not only with what Jacob represents in us, i.e., with our godliness and spirituality, but also with what Esau represents in us, i.e., with our worldliness and corporeality. This would be the only kind of worship suitable for the “People of Israel” (i.e., the descendants of Jacob).

Copyright © 2014 Igal Harmelin-Moria
(Copyright does not pertain to illustrations)