In 1988 after Yasser Arafat delivered his victory speech in the UN -- roundly applauded despite the murderous atrocities Fatah had perpetrated just a few weeks earlier -- I penned the following article for the Israeli daily Maariv subsequently included in my book Parshah Ufishrah. The show put on last week by Mahmoud Abbas at the UN demonstrates how exactly 24 years later nothing has changed.

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“And Yaakov was left alone” (Bereishis 32:24).

The Ramban tells us that Torah is not only a history of our forefathers but also contains a message for all subsequent generations. “For everything that happened to our patriarch [Yaakov] with Eisav will always happen to us with the descendants of Eisav” (Ramban beginning of Parshas Vayishlach).

The narrative of the parshah is only the tip of the iceberg. It is like a picture on microfilm; only after it is developed and enlarged can we see what it bodes for the future. Look closely at the parshah and you will have a sign of what is yet to come; this says the Ramban is the deeper meaning of the Midrashic statement “The deeds of the fathers are a sign for the children.”

Parshas Vayishlach -- which we read last week as delegated cast their votes for the PA -- is a classic example of this. The encounter between Yaakov and Eisav isn’t just a personal encounter; every subsequent encounter between Yaakov’s descendants and Eisav’s throughout history contains elements of that seminal meeting. And the climactic moment of that original encounter actually occurred the night before the meeting itself at the pivotal wrestling match between Yaakov and the “man” who suddenly appeared to him:

“And Yaakov was left alone and a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. And he saw that he could not overcome him and he touched the socket of Yaakov’s thigh and the socket of Yaakov’s thigh was sprained as he wrestled with him… And he [Yaakov] said I will not release you until you have blessed me… And he said ‘Your name shall no longer be called Yaakov but Yisrael for you have striven with G‑d and with men and you have prevailed” (Bereishis 32:25-29).

This ancient narrative of the clash between Yaakov and the angel of Eisav on that night rings with stunning familiarity playing a tune so real and relevant to the very situation in which the Jewish people finds itself now.

As we remember the applause in response to Arafat’s triumphant speech as we see the nations fawning over Abbas the pasuk -- in which more is hidden than revealed -- becomes as fresh as if it happened today.

“And Yaakov was left alone and a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.”

Thousands of years have passes since that night of cryptic events and its meaning has not been eroded — because nothing has changed. Yaakov still remains alone. He is still engaged in a wrestling match that has been forced upon him within the home front and outside of it against an enemy that seeks to eradicate him to blur his unique identity to remove him from the world while he desires a little peace and quiet a bit of rest.

The Torah is selective. Out of myriad events it might have recorded it focuses on those that have a bearing on future generations that will shed light on the situations they encounter.

The story told here would be of doubtful significance if not for its ongoing message. It is enveloped in mystery and its deeper import is concealed from us but its benefit for us lies in the fact that it illustrates a perennial situation. The outer shell of the story changes from generation to generation but the inner kernel remains the same.

A perusal of the text reveals just how alone Yaakov was. His family including the sons that made up the only military force he had were already on the other side of the Yabok crossing. On the most crucial night of his life Yaakov was left with no physical aid at all. When the approaching test came upon him — a fight that he didn’t start — he could rely only on his inner resources on the powers of his personal ethos on his spiritual strength — on his G‑d.

Such were his fighting forces the only ones he had at his disposal when that mysterious “man” — the angel embodying everything that Eisav and the civilization that stemmed from him stood for — fell upon him that night in a furious assault against Yaakov and all that he stood for. And the angel “saw that he could not overcome him.” He could not defeat Yaakov. That spiritual battle which presaged the actual meeting between the two rival brothers ended in a draw.  Despite the ferocious attack that went on all that night (that particular night and the long night of history that followed) Yaakov remained in the world.

Nevertheless the attack was not entirely ineffectual. It had long-lasting effects on Yaakov: “And he touched the socket of Yaakov’s thigh and the socket of Yaakov’s thigh was sprained as he wrestled with him.”

“The socket of the thigh” commonly referred to as the sciatic nerve refers to the strong muscle that controls the leg. The ability to stand firmly and walk with a steady step depends on this muscle. Yaakov was not brought down in the fight. His legs did not give way under him. He was not taken out of the historical picture. But the angel managed to injure a tendon in Yaakov’s thigh. This tendon or gid became the gid hanasheh. The Gemara explains in Maseches Chullin(91a) that nasheh means “rendered helpless” as in the pasuk “Nashtah gevurasam hayu l’nashim” — “Their might has failed; they have become like women” (Yirmiyahu 51:30). From then on Yaakov limped.

In historical terms Yaakov’s standing in the material world became unsteady.  He would always be in the shadow of danger. Lame but surviving. He would never have material and human assets to match those of his enemies. He would never be blessed with an endless supply of resources. The quantity in his treasury would not decide his fate.

His chances of survival in the jungle of nations that would try to tear him to pieces his power to remain part of human history against all reason would depend solely on his faithfulness to his spiritual legacy the resources of his soul his ethos and his goal — all the powers that he brought to bear on that pivotal night near the ford of Yabok.

“Until the break of dawn.” Until then the clashes will go on. As long as darkness holds sway over the earth as long as the dust of battle clouds human vision the enemy will think he has the upper hand. He will believe that his material advantage will bring him certain victory in the end.

But when dawn breaks and the truth of Yaakov’s spiritual destiny and the impregnability of his moral message come to light the angel must give up the fight. “Release me” says the “man” to Yaakov “for dawn is breaking.”

Now it is Yaakov who turns stubborn. Attacked battle-weary limping on his injured leg he will not allow the story to end this way.

Now he is the one to dictate the terms. “I will not release you until you have blessed me.” I won’t let you go my perennial assailant you who saw me as an obstacle to your way of life. I will hold onto you with the last of my strength until you admit that your attempts to vanquish me are spent and failed. Now that the light of day reveals which one of us is right you must bless me. Acknowledge assent and admit that I don’t deserve scorn hate and hostility for my unique path among the family of humanity. On the contrary I deserve your blessing because my way has brought blessing to all the nations of the world.

And this was and will be his blessing: “Your name shall no longer be called Yaakov but Yisrael for you have striven with G‑d and with men and you have prevailed.”

From the darkness Yaakov emerges and he is the marvel of human history. After thousands of years the peoples of the earth will gaze upon him astonished at the sight of this small tribe of poor means lacking the basic tools of survival for many generations yet nevertheless survived.  

They will acknowledge that he is living proof of the worthlessness of raw violent physical strength as the only gauge of survival power. The eternal Yaakov will be clear testimony to the permanence of the spirit the sign and wonder of the Omnipotent G‑d revealed in the miraculous endurance of the externally weaker side.

Out of Yaakov’s long night of pain and suffering emerges the name “Yisrael” — the name of G-d embedded in the crown for this nation’s head.  

Food for Thought

Worldly riches are like nuts. Many a tooth is broken cracking them but never is the stomach filled with eating them.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov