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By Rabbi Tuvia Bolton, Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim, Kfar Chabad, Israel

This week the Torah tells us about the famous all-night battle between Yaakov and the angel. But strangely no reason is given here for the battle or explain what they were fighting about? Also, it’s not clear how can a human being fight an Angel? We saw how one angels of Abraham completely destroyed Sodom and Amora. So how could Yaakov fight, no less defeat one?

Also, this week’s Torah portion comes before the Chabad ‘Holiday’ of Yud Tes Kislev; (when the first Rebbe of Chabad, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, was miraculously released from Czarist prison) and a week after that is Chanuka. Is there a connection between all these?

Here is a story that might help explain.

Rabbi Shneur Zalman once sent one of his Chassidim on to deliver a large sum of money to a distant location.

The Rebbe blessed him with a safe trip but mysteriously added to be careful not to enter a house that has no windows on its north side.

Early the next morning, the Chassid set off happily on his journey. Although snow was falling heavily, the first hour of his trip went smoothly, but gradually ominous storm clouds darkened the sky, the wind grew stronger, the temperature dropped from minute to minute and the trip became a torture.

After another hour he was numb and freezing and the snow was falling so densely that he couldn’t really see where he was going. He prayed to G-d for some sort of miracle and urged the horses hoping to reach some sort of a place where he could take refuge.

Suddenly through the white ocean of swirling snow he saw the outline of something just off the road. With his last energy he forced the horses in the direction, and sure enough it was a house! It even had a Mezuza on the door! He thanked G-d for the good fortune as he jumped from his wagon onto the front porch and knocked on the door.

An elderly woman opened saying. “Come in you must be freezing. Come in. I’ll prepare a cup of tea, sit here by the stove. In just a minute my sons will return, they will put your horse in the barn, please sit down. Lucky you found our house.” As he sat and began warming up, he remembered that it was almost night and he hadn’t yet prayed Mincha (afternoon prayer). So he asked the woman which direction was Jerusalem (all prayers face Jerusalem) stood in the corner and prayed, thanking G-d for his good fortune.

As he finished, and was taking the three steps backward, he noticed that something was wrong; one wall had no windows! The north wall!

Without hesitation he took his overcoat and walked to the door saying apologetically, “I’ll be right back. Forgot something in the wagon.” but the door was locked. He went to a window but it too was locked. “I forgot something in the wagon,” he said to the old woman “Could you please open the door?”

‘Certainly” she replied. “Hmm, but I can’t find the key!” She began looking through her pockets, then on the floor when suddenly a key opened the door from the outside, and four healthy young men entered from the freezing storm and as soon as they saw the Chassid they immediately grabbed him.

“Let me go!” he exclaimed “I am a Chassid of Rebbe Shneur Zalman of Liadi”.

But his cries fell on deaf ears. They tied him up, emptied his pockets onto a table, laid him on the ground in a corner, and sat down to eat while their mother examined the booty they took from him.

“Ho HO! She exclaimed as she held up the pack of money the Rebbe had given him. “Looks like we caught a nice fish this time!! Your father will be proud of you! He should be here any moment now.”

One of the sons, went to a cupboard, took out a large bottle of vodka and put it on the table with a bang. “Brothers, lets celebrate!! G-d has been good to us! We have enough money here to be happy for a long, long time! But first, let’s take care of our guest!!” He pulled a large knife from under his coat while one of his brothers was pouring the drinks. He took his cup of vodka, raised it high with the others and said, “To long life, except for you!” as he looked at the bound Chassid.

One of the brothers, surprised by the joke, laughed so hard that the vodka came spraying out of his mouth and they all began to laugh, someone began a song and another toast, then another. Then the door opened and it was their father. “Ah HAA!” He shouted as he looked at the money on the table and the bound victim on the floor,

Let me go!” the Chassid begged “I am a Chassid of Rebbe Shneur Zalman of Liadi. Have mercy!”.

“Good work boys!” The father continued, “He’s tied up good! Excellent! We’ll have to kill him though … I’m glad you left him for me. You know what? He’s not going anywhere. In the morning I’ll take care of him. Now let’s drink to our good fortune!!” He pulled another bottle from somewhere and before long they were all totally drunk.

Late that night, when they were all sleeping soundly, the father got out of his bed, looked around to make sure that everyone was still asleep, tiptoed over to our Chassid, motioned him to be silent, cut his ropes and motioned for him to follow. Quietly he tiptoed to the door opened it and whispered in the Chassid’s ear as he gave him his coat, “Here is your money back” he pushed the wad of stolen money into the Chassid’s coat pocket. “And take this, it’s mine. Tell your Rebbe to pray for me.” He pressed a gold coin and a piece of paper with his name on it in the Chassid’s hand.

“See, I’m giving charity! Tell him to pray for me. Now go! Get out of here! As fast as you can … run for your life” he whispered aloud as the Chassid was leaving the house. The dawn was beginning to light the horizon, the storm had stopped, and our grateful hero was in his carriage racing back home.

When he finally arrived and entered the Rebbe’s room, before he could say anything, the Rebbe looked up and said, “I know what happened, you don’t have to tell me. You should know that the entire night I had to stay awake because of you.”

The Chassid repeated what the father requested and when he gave him the golden coin, the Rebbe took it, wedged it in a crack in the wooden wall behind him and said no more.

Fifteen years passed and the Chassid, who was now married with a family, became one of the assistants of the Rebbe. One day he answered the door to a beggar asking for charity and told him to wait. When he entered the Rebbe’s room and informed him that there was a beggar at the door the Rebbe pulled the gold coin from the crack where it had been for the last fifteen years and told the Chassid to give it to the beggar; he as the ‘father’ that had and miraculously released him years ago.

It seems that when his wife and sons awoke back then and realized that he had returned the money and released the Chassid, they beat him severely and he barely escaped with his life running as far away as he could. But then, just hours later, the police raided their house, arrested them for previous crimes and took them all; mother and sons, off to jail.

From that moment on the father, who also had been a murderer and thief all his life, began a life of wandering and repentance and now the Rebbe, in addition to saving him and helping him to repent, was repaying him for the favor of saving his Chassid.

This answers the questions we asked earlier about Yaakov, the angel and its relevance to us.

Yaakov was not an ordinary person; he was the embodiment of all the Jewish souls for all generations. That is why his name was changed to Yisroel, which means the Jewish people and also means: ‘direct to G-d’.

That is why the Talmud tells us “Yaakov did not die.” (Taanit 5a and Rashi on Gen. 49:33) because just as G-d is eternal so is Yaakov and the Jewish people.

But the Angel of Aisav was the embodiment of nature; finite and apparently distant from G-d’.

Therefore Yaakov was able to wrestle with the angel because angels are mere creations while Yaakov was connected to the Creator! And the goal of the Creator is that the entire world, even the angels, will ‘see’ and ‘feel’ that there is nothing but G-d. (see Rashi on Deut.6:4)

So the battle between Yaakov and the angel of Aisav was the eternal battle to reveal the Creator in every aspect of creation.

In other words, to bring Moshiach, who will fill the world with the awareness of G-d like water fills the ocean (Isiah 11:9) .

Therefore later in our parsha Yaakov tells Aisav he will catch up with him in ‘Seir’(33:14) which Rash’i explains means thousands of years later with Moshiach!

So just as the Rebbe in our story stayed up all night fighting spiritual battles to save his Chassid (and the criminal father), so too the Jews, have been fighting the 2000 year-long ‘night’ battle of exile to save all mankind.

And just as the Rebbe finally saw the ultimate fruits of his toil when he returned the golden coin, so will Yaakov Avinu rejoice when, as we say in Alenu three times a day,  “All the evil people will turn to HaShem”.

It is up to us to make it happen sooner, and not much is lacking.

We are standing on the merits of thousands of years of Jewish hopes, prayers and suffering. Now it could be that just one more good deed, word or even thought will bring ……  

Moshiach NOW!!

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