Musar sobre Jó 28:3

The attribute of Justice is not to be confused with עקא, distress, rather it means that man is to be treated according to his just deserts, be it reward or punishment. The only reason it is a source of distress to be judged by is the fact that we are all unable to measure up to its yardstick. It is thus quite normal that both Jacob and Esau were offspring of Isaac. One of them was destined for oblivion, the other for eternal life. Both are alluded to in the name קצחי. The קץ, "end," part of the name alludes to Esau, the סטרא אחרא to which the Zohar has linked it when commenting on קץ כל בשר בא לפני, "I have decided to put an end to all flesh" (Genesis 6,13). Samael is also referred to as קץ הימים, the end of all days, seeing he puts an end to our "days." The same word is also used to describe חשך, darkness. We read in Job 28,3: קץ שם לחשך, ולכל תכלית הוא חוקר, "He (G–d) sets bounds to darkness, to every limit man probes." Jacob, on the other hand, represents life, i.e. חי as in חי רב פעלים איש, (Samuel II 28,20). The Talmud Taanit 5 makes a point of telling us that יעקב אבינו לא מת, that our patriarch Jacob did not die. We derive all this information from the name קצחי.

The verse (26,5) we have just quoted contains ten words corresponding to the Ten Commandments. When you examine the wording of the Ten Commandments you will find that it contains 172 words, the same as the numerical value of the word עקב, as pointed out by Baal HaTurim. You may ask: If this is so why was יעקב not called עקב? The answer is already alluded to when we read about Jacob's birth, when he is described as holding on to עקב עשו, the heel of Esau (25,26). The last three letters in Jacob's name are an indication that the sanctity, holiness expressed by the letter י in his name will prevail in the world only at the end of history, at the עקב, or סוף. The heel of Esau, however, the one that Jacob held on to, is symbolic of the serpent which hisses: it is the end of life, signifies darkness and death, as we have explained earlier. When the enmity that exists between the serpent and man is described in the Torah in Genesis 3,15: הוא ישופך ראש ואתה תשופנו עקב, "He (man) will strike at your head, and you (the snake) will strike at his heel," the Zohar writes on this verse that the word ראש refers to the first letter in the name יעקב, an allusion to the Ten Commandments. If Jacob observes the Ten Commandments, then he can successfully strike at the ראש, the head of the serpent and all that the serpent represents; but והיה כאשר תריד (Genesis 27,40) "when you will backslide in your service of G–d," then you (the snake) will strike at עקב, the part of the name יעקב when detached from the י and all that this letter stands for." If Jacob had not had the letter י in his name his name would have been associated only with elements derived from the סטרא אחרא, the negative side of the diagram of the emanations. When the Torah reports that וידו אוחזת, that "his hand was holding on to," the letters in the word for "his hand,” i.e. ידו, are the same as the letter יוד. The potential contained in the name יעקב, enabled Jacob to become ישראל, a name that was accorded to Jacob only after his successful refinement through harassment at the hands of Esau. The name ישראל is the pinnacle that the spiritually most refined people can achieve. It indicates that he had been able to contend with Heavenly forces and to prevail (Genesis 32,29). Onkelos translates this verse: "You have fought before G–d with man and have succeeded."