Breaking Eisav’s Embrace: Grappling Our Way Back to Yerushalayim

After Yaakov successfully fends off his mysterious assailant – identified by Chazal as the ministering angel of Eisav – he demands a beracha before letting him go. The malach famously bestows the name Yisrael to Yaakov, the name with which his progeny will be associated forever. This blessing is not coincidental; through defeating the angel of Eisav, Yaakov proved himself worthy of the immortal title of Yisrael, a title reflecting mastery over the physical and spiritual realms. 

However, a close read of the pesukim reveals that the angel granted Yaakov something else. After blessing him with the name of Yisrael, the verse again emphasizes that he blessed Yaakov: 

He said, “No longer will it be said that your name is Yaakov, but Yisrael, for you have striven with the Divine and with men and have overcome.” Then Yaakov inquired and he said, “Tell, if you please, your name.” And he said, “why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there. (Bereishis 32:29-30, see Radak)

What is this mysterious additional blessing that was granted to Yaakov? The Midrash (Pesikta Zutrata, Vayishlach 32) explains that the malach blessed Yaakov that his progeny would eventually merit serving Hashem in Yerushalayim. If the added blessing concerns Yerushalayim, something about Yaakov’s metaphysical struggle with Eisav must be a spiritual precondition for Am Yisrael’s future in the holy city. 

Furthermore, after his encounter with Eisav, the Torah says ויבא יעקב שלם עיר שכם – Yaakov came complete to the city of Shechem. The Midrash concludes (Pesikta Zutrata, Vayishlach 33), that Yaakov had arrived in Yerushalayim. Of course, Shechem is not Yerushalayim geographically. Chazal are making a metaphysical point and deepening the connection: not only does Yaakov’s victory earn him the beracha for Yerushalayim, but even facilitates his “arrival” in the city. What is the connection between Yaakov’s victory over Eisav’s angel and Yerushalayim?

To answer this question, we must first understand the nature of Yaakov’s metaphysical clash with this angel. The Torah describes the battle between Yaakov and the angel with the word ויאבק איש עמו – classically translated as “he wrestled with him.” This language connotes intense physical conflict. Indeed, the Ramban (Bereishis 32:26) says that the damage Yaakov suffered to his leg during this battle was a spiritual symbol of the demonic tortures Eisav will inflict on Yaakov’s progeny for years of exile. Eisav is not content simply destroying Yaakov; he seeks to sadistically torture him in the process. 

But there is another layer to this epic clash. Onkelos renders the word ויאבק with the word ואשתדל. As the Ramban notes, this is the same Aramaic word that Onkelos uses to describe the seduction of a young woman. For Onkelos, the malach was not trying to torture and destroy Yaakov; he was trying to seduce him. 

Eisav has two tools in his arsenal to defeat Yaakov. On the one hand, he can approach with his ever-preferred method, his sword and bloodthirst. But when his physical strength cannot exterminate Yaakov, he possesses another weapon. By embracing Yaakov (see Rashi, Bereishis 32:25) and seducing him away from his cosmic potential, Eisav can undermine Yaakov’s greatness and immortality from the inside. 

We’ve experienced this before. Eisav cheerfully embraces the progeny of Yaakov, slowly influencing their hopes and aspirations. Instead of focusing on their unique spiritual destiny, the children of Yaakov begin to crave recognition, acceptance, and respect in Eisav’s world. This is the phenomenon the Meshech Chochmah famously captured when he wrote of Jews who believed that “ברלין היא ירושלים – Berlin is Yerushalayim (Meshech Chochmah, Vayikra 26).” And as soon as Eisav has eviscerated the soul and values of Yaakov, the seductive embrace turns into a vicious bite to the neck (see Bereishis Rabbah 78:9). 

To earn Yerushalayim, the Jewish people have to aggressively ignore the values and cultural influences of Eisav’s world. We must break Eisav’s embrace and recognize that in his shallow offers of brotherhood and equality hides a soulless existence with murderous consequences. 

Having resisted both the violence and the seduction of Eisav, Yaakov becomes worthy of the beracha that his children will one day serve Hashem in Yerushalayim. He arrives at Shalem, the city that connotes the completion of his spiritual destiny. May we soon merit to break free from Eisav’s threats and embrace, returning wholly and confidently to Yerushalayim.

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