05/12/2025
Dvar Torah on Parashat Vayishlach
Shabbat Shalom!
Parashat Vayishlach is one of the most dramatic in the Torah. Yaakov is about to face his brother Esav after years of separation and fear. The night before, Yaakov is left alone and wrestles with a mysterious “man” until dawn. In the end, Yaakov prevails and receives a new name: Yisrael.
The Torah says:
Vayivater Yaakov levado, vaye’avek ish imo ad alot hashachar”
“Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.” (Bereish*t 32:25)
A story: This story always reminds me of something that one of my friends told me while in Israel few Years ago, “he had a rooster named Shimon. Shimon was famous for two things: waking everyone up at 3 AM, and chasing anyone who dared to cross his path. One night, Reb Moshe, their baker, decided to sneak into the bakery early to prepare extra challot for Shabbat. But who was guarding the door? Shimon the rooster! The next morning, they found Reb Moshe tangled with the rooster, flour everywhere, muttering, “ I didn’t know the angel of Esav had feathers and a beak!”
Just like Yaakov, Reb Moshe spent the night wrestling with an unexpected opponent, and in the morning, he had a limp—and a good story”.
The Midrash (Bereish*t Rabbah 77:3) says that the “man” who wrestled with Yaakov was not just any man, but the guardian angel of Esav. But the sages have a debate: was he a bandit, a scholar, or maybe even a shepherd? One can imagine Yaakov thinking, “If I’d known I’d be wrestling all night, I would have brought a snack!”
The Talmud (Chullin 91a) adds a funny detail. After wrestling all night, the angel begs Yaakov to let him go because, “the dawn has come.” Why? Rashi explains, “Because it is my turn to sing praises to God in Heaven!” Even angels have appointments to keep! Can you imagine Yaakov saying, “You’re late for minyan? After all this?”
And the Talmud even says that the angel tried to hurt Yaakov’s tongue, so he couldn’t pray. But Yaakov was too stubborn—he held on for the blessing. That’s what it means to be a Jew: even if you’re limping, you don’t let go until you get your blessing (and maybe a good bagel).
We all have moments when we’re “levado”—alone, facing our own challenges. Sometimes our “angels” look like worries, sometimes like roosters, sometimes like things we never expected. But if we hold on, if we persist, we come out stronger, maybe with a limp, but always with a blessing—and a story to tell.
May we all have the strength of Yaakov, the perseverance of Reb Moshe, and the humor to laugh at our struggles, even when we’re covered in flour.
Shabbat Shalom!
