Wrestling

27 October 2012

25. And Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.

• Art inspired by this event
• Chagall, Rembrandt – their work represents a type of Midrash.

In Chagall, angel is menacing.	Rembrandt depicts the angel as loving.

• Story retold in Hosea 12:4ff in a different way – another example of biblical midrash, which adds that the angel wept (12:5; Rashi citing Talmud Chullin 92a).   Richard Friedman (Commentary on the Torah  writes that angels are material emanations of God – God taking human form, crystalized, and resembling a human, like they did for visiting Abraham in 18:3. 
• Translations of Hosea 12:4-5:
• In the womb, he seized his brother's heel, and with his strength he strove with an angel [אֱלֹהִים].  He strove with an angel [אֶלמַלְאָךְ] and prevailed; he wept and beseeched him [www.chabad.org].
• In the womb he tried to supplant his brother; grown to manhood, he strove with a divine being.  He strove with an angel and prevailed – the other had to weep and [to] implore him.  [JPS].
• In 32:25, a “man” (אִישׁ) wrestled with Jacob.
• 32:25 - who was this “angel?” (אִישׁ)  - Etz Hayim summarizes many of the commentaries (*)
• Midrash Tanchuma – angel of evil (sama-el)
• Others say that it’s a benevolent essence – Micha-el; sent to give him courage to face Esau, like an anxious athlete and a coach to give him constant encouragement.
• Bachiya – medieval Spain – righteous people fighting forces of evil (Esau?)
• Sforno- angel sent by god for Jacob’s ultimate salvation – for all Jews; despite his injury, Jacob emerges stronger and will prevail
• *Rashbam – angel sent to keep him from running away, so Jacob could demonstrate his courage to face Esau.  He gets lamed as a punishment for running after God said, “I will be with you.”  If you run away contrary to God’s wish, trouble and punishment ensue; examples are Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jonah.  Natural tendency to run away from responsibility will be harmful in the longer run.
• Word for angel = word for messenger: could be angel or human?
• *Image of wrestling with God, faith, and/or doubt.  Jews have traditions of a clash between ideals and reality; challenges to God over what He did or did not do (such as Nazi era).
• *Rashi, citing Midrash Rabbah 77:3, 78:3 – it’s Esau’s guardian angel
• *Leibowitz – manifestation of Jacob’s anxiety; justify avoidance?  Wrestling with strength and weakness.  Jacob wins by defeating his conscience.  He becomes at peace, weakened physically but emotionally whole.
• Rosenblatt on symbol of river crossing – Jacob passes from youth/adolescence to adulthood.  Who was this being with whom he wrestled?
• Isaac?
• Esau?
• Jacob’s dark side?
• Angel of death?  Esau’s revenge?
• Spiritual vs physical destiny?
• All of the above?
• Everyone struggles, but only in fiction does a struggle come to closure [not always].
• Karen Armstrong on bible – it’s not journalism but elegant prose or poetry; we need to wrestle with the text [dance with it?] to glean some meaning.  
• Glitsner – Jacob wanted to avoid enlightenment; he was a resistant patient.
• Rashi on word for “wrestling” (32:25) – comes from word for dust.  Kick up dust while struggling.  Also related to Aramaic word for tying in a knot.  Menachem was Rashi’s teacher.
• and a man wrestled: Hebrew וַיֵאָבֵק. Menachem (p. 14) explains: And a man became covered with dust, derived from אָבָק, dust, for they were raising dust with their feet through their movements.
  I believe, however, that it is a term meaning that he attached himself, and it is an Aramaic expression [found in the Talmud] (Sanhedrin 63b):“After they became attached (דָּאִבִיקוּ) to it,” “and he would tie it (וְאָבִיק לֵיהּ מֵיבַק),” for so is the habit of two people who make strong efforts to throw each other down, that one embraces the other and attaches himself to him with his arms. Our Rabbis explained (Genesis Rabbah 77:3, 78:3) that this was the prince (guardian angel) of Esau.
  26. When he saw that he could not prevail against him, he touched the socket of his hip, and the socket of Jacob's hip became dislocated as he wrestled with him.
  27. And he (the angel) said, "Let me go, for dawn is breaking," but he (Jacob) said, "I will not let you go unless you have blessed me."
• 32:26, according to Sarna (JPS Torah Commentary) – assailant wants to disengage and attempts to strike a significant [but not crippling] blow to the thigh socket.  An archetypical struggle…
• 32:27, dawn is breaking
• Rashi, citing Genesis Rabbah 78:1 and Talmud Chullin 91a – the angel must do morning prayers!
• Radak – angel has fulfilled his mission.
• Don’t be afraid of dark, light is coming.
• Jacob had such a strong grip that angel believed he was Jacob’s prisoner.  
• Was the angel a vampire?  Or some being that lost power in daylight? According to Robert Alter (The Five Books of Moses) – this verse illustrates the folkloric nature of this episode.  There is a dark being lurking below, like a troll under a bridge.  As dawn breaks, Jacob realizes that this “man” is supernatural, a demon whose powers apply only at night and cannot function in daylight.  As such, it should be no surprise that he tried to cripple Jacob so he could escape.  But Jacob prevailed. [Sarna, Understanding Genesis, page 204]. 27 October 2012
  25. And Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.
• Art inspired by this event
• Chagall, Rembrandt – their work represents a type of Midrash.

In Chagall, angel is menacing.	Rembrandt depicts the angel as loving.

• Story retold in Hosea 12:4ff in a different way – another example of biblical midrash, which adds that the angel wept (12:5; Rashi citing Talmud Chullin 92a).   Richard Friedman (Commentary on the Torah  writes that angels are material emanations of God – God taking human form, crystalized, and resembling a human, like they did for visiting Abraham in 18:3. 
• Translations of Hosea 12:4-5:
• In the womb, he seized his brother's heel, and with his strength he strove with an angel [אֱלֹהִים].  He strove with an angel [אֶלמַלְאָךְ] and prevailed; he wept and beseeched him [www.chabad.org].
• In the womb he tried to supplant his brother; grown to manhood, he strove with a divine being.  He strove with an angel and prevailed – the other had to weep and [to] implore him.  [JPS].
• In 32:25, a “man” (אִישׁ) wrestled with Jacob.
• 32:25 - who was this “angel?” (אִישׁ)  - Etz Hayim summarizes many of the commentaries (*)
• Midrash Tanchuma – angel of evil (sama-el)
• Others say that it’s a benevolent essence – Micha-el; sent to give him courage to face Esau, like an anxious athlete and a coach to give him constant encouragement.
• Bachiya – medieval Spain – righteous people fighting forces of evil (Esau?)
• Sforno- angel sent by god for Jacob’s ultimate salvation – for all Jews; despite his injury, Jacob emerges stronger and will prevail
• *Rashbam – angel sent to keep him from running away, so Jacob could demonstrate his courage to face Esau.  He gets lamed as a punishment for running after God said, “I will be with you.”  If you run away contrary to God’s wish, trouble and punishment ensue; examples are Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jonah.  Natural tendency to run away from responsibility will be harmful in the longer run.
• Word for angel = word for messenger: could be angel or human?
• *Image of wrestling with God, faith, and/or doubt.  Jews have traditions of a clash between ideals and reality; challenges to God over what He did or did not do (such as Nazi era).
• *Rashi, citing Midrash Rabbah 77:3, 78:3 – it’s Esau’s guardian angel
• *Leibowitz – manifestation of Jacob’s anxiety; justify avoidance?  Wrestling with strength and weakness.  Jacob wins by defeating his conscience.  He becomes at peace, weakened physically but emotionally whole.
• Rosenblatt on symbol of river crossing – Jacob passes from youth/adolescence to adulthood.  Who was this being with whom he wrestled?
• Isaac?
• Esau?
• Jacob’s dark side?
• Angel of death?  Esau’s revenge?
• Spiritual vs physical destiny?
• All of the above?
• Everyone struggles, but only in fiction does a struggle come to closure [not always].
• Karen Armstrong on bible – it’s not journalism but elegant prose or poetry; we need to wrestle with the text [dance with it?] to glean some meaning.  
• Glitsner – Jacob wanted to avoid enlightenment; he was a resistant patient.
• Rashi on word for “wrestling” (32:25) – comes from word for dust.  Kick up dust while struggling.  Also related to Aramaic word for tying in a knot.  Menachem was Rashi’s teacher.
• and a man wrestled: Hebrew וַיֵאָבֵק. Menachem (p. 14) explains: And a man became covered with dust, derived from אָבָק, dust, for they were raising dust with their feet through their movements.
  I believe, however, that it is a term meaning that he attached himself, and it is an Aramaic expression [found in the Talmud] (Sanhedrin 63b):“After they became attached (דָּאִבִיקוּ) to it,” “and he would tie it (וְאָבִיק לֵיהּ מֵיבַק),” for so is the habit of two people who make strong efforts to throw each other down, that one embraces the other and attaches himself to him with his arms. Our Rabbis explained (Genesis Rabbah 77:3, 78:3) that this was the prince (guardian angel) of Esau.
  26. When he saw that he could not prevail against him, he touched the socket of his hip, and the socket of Jacob's hip became dislocated as he wrestled with him.
  27. And he (the angel) said, "Let me go, for dawn is breaking," but he (Jacob) said, "I will not let you go unless you have blessed me."
• 32:26, according to Sarna (JPS Torah Commentary) – assailant wants to disengage and attempts to strike a significant [but not crippling] blow to the thigh socket.  An archetypical struggle…
• 32:27, dawn is breaking
• Rashi, citing Genesis Rabbah 78:1 and Talmud Chullin 91a – the angel must do morning prayers!
• Radak – angel has fulfilled his mission.
• Don’t be afraid of dark, light is coming.
• Jacob had such a strong grip that angel believed he was Jacob’s prisoner.  
• Was the angel a vampire?  Or some being that lost power in daylight? According to Robert Alter (The Five Books of Moses) – this verse illustrates the folkloric nature of this episode.  There is a dark being lurking below, like a troll under a bridge.  As dawn breaks, Jacob realizes that this “man” is supernatural, a demon whose powers apply only at night and cannot function in daylight.  As such, it should be no surprise that he tried to cripple Jacob so he could escape.  But Jacob prevailed. [Sarna, Understanding Genesis, page 204]