Musar untuk Kejadian 32:27

There is another mystical dimension to the love between Esau and Jacob, or to love generally. Under certain conditions the feeling of love for something may transform evil into good and the קליפה, unworthy outer shell, may be transformed into something sacred. This is the very dimension which enables people to convert from paganism to Judaism. Our sages have connected this phenomenon with the גיד הנשה, when they explained Genesis 32, 27 where Samael says: "Let me depart, for dawn has come." Chulin 91a, has Jacob ask the angel: "Are you a thief or a gambler that you shun daylight? Samael responded that he was an angel and that from the day he had been created he had not had an opportunity to sing G–d's praises in the heavenly choir until that very day. Rashi interprets the word kubiestous in the Talmud to mean "soul snatcher." [I have translated it as "gambler." Ed.] There is a profound meaning in Rashi's comment, since souls are viewed as oppressed and held hostage by Samael. The Zohar in Parshat Mishpatim comments on this subject.

Since the blessing Jacob received from his father had been of a material nature, such as "the dew of the heavens, the fat parts of the earth, etc." [seeing Isaac thought he was blessing Esau], he could not really receive Isaac's spiritual blessings until he had successfully confronted Esau, i.e. had experienced the fear of Esau approaching him with four hundred armed men. Jacob's very desire to belong to the choicest of the בני עליה, the spiritually most refined human beings, necessitated that he undergo a thorough process of refinement. His stay at Laban, i.e. physical and mental hardship for over twenty years were all part of the preparation for receiving the ultimate spiritual blessings. After Jacob had successfully confronted the spiritual power of Esau in his nocturnal encounter in Genesis 32,25 ויאבק איש עמו (compare Bereshit Rabbah 77,3), he finally obtained the consent of his adversary that he was entitled to the blessings he had received from his father. This is why Esau said in 33,9: "you may keep what is yours." Esau's spiritual counterpart had already acknowledged this during the struggle when he had bestowed a blessing on Jacob in 32,30: ויברך אותו שם, "He blessed him there." At that time Jacob was also informed about the forthcoming change of his name to ישראל. The Esau on earth, had previously called him Jacob as a slur when he had felt himself betrayed in 27,36.

Having appreciated all the foregoing, we can now understand a statement in the Talmud Chulin 92a, commenting on Hosea 12,5: וישר אל מלאך ויוכל, בכה ויתחנן לו, "He contended with an angel and prevailed; the other had to weep and to implore him." The Talmud says that it is not clear who became “שר” over whom. When the angel implored Jacob to release him, it seemed that he implored Jacob, weeping. Evidently Israel then became שר over the angel. How then can the Talmud assume that the "Master" had implored the servant and wept?