Spiritual Struggle and Redemption Vayishlach תרס”ג 2
בפסוק ויאבק איש עמו עד עלות השחר דרשו חז”ל שהעלו אבק ברגליהם עד כסא הכבוד.
“On the verse ‘And a man wrestled with him until dawn,’ the Sages taught that they raised dust with their feet up to the Throne of Glory.”
The Sefat Emet begins by expanding the midrash: the struggle between Jacob and the angel stirs “dust” that rises to the highest spiritual realm, hinting that earthly battles have cosmic reach.
הרמז כי המלחמה עם הסט”א והיצה”ר הוא לעולם כענין שאמרו חז”ל הגדול מחבירו יצרו גדול ממנו ולכן צדיקים נדמה להם כהר.
“This hints that the battle with the Other Side and the evil inclination is perpetual, as the Sages said: ‘Whoever is greater than his fellow—his inclination is greater than he,’ and therefore to the righteous it appears like a mountain.”
The struggle against temptation intensifies the holier a person becomes. What seems small to others appears to a tzaddik as a mountain to climb, reflecting his heightened sensitivity.
שכח המלחמה לעולם עד כסא הכבוד.
“For the force of this struggle extends forever up to the Throne of Glory.”
The Sefat Emet states that this inner battle has repercussions reaching the highest divine realm, not merely the human heart.
ולכן אמרו חז”ל גדולה תשובה שמגעת עד כסא הכבוד כיון שהפגם הולך עד שם.
“Therefore the Sages said: ‘Great is repentance, for it reaches up to the Throne of Glory,’ since the blemish reaches there as well.”
Because spiritual damage rises to the upper worlds, repentance must reach just as high to effect repair.
ושם בשורש נשמת אדם שהוא יעקב שצורתו חקוקה תחת כסה”כ שם אין פגם ומשם שורש התשובה.
“And there, in the root of the soul of a person—which is Jacob, whose image is engraved beneath the Throne—there is no blemish, and from there is the root of repentance.”
The soul’s deepest source remains untouched by sin; this untouched core is what enables renewal and return.
ולכן אחר מלחמה זו אמר לו המלאך לא יקרא עוד שמך יעקב כי יעקב השם על בחי’ המלחמה וכיון שעבר כל דרך המלחמה זכה לשם ישראל:
“Therefore, after this struggle, the angel said to him: ‘Your name shall no longer be Jacob,’ for ‘Jacob’ denotes the aspect of struggle, and since he passed through the whole path of battle, he merited the name ‘Israel.’”
Jacob’s new name marks his transition from the identity of struggle to one of mastery and divine alignment.
The Sefat Emet teaches that Jacob’s wrestling symbolizes the lifelong spiritual battle whose effects reach the highest realms; repentance draws from the unblemished root of the soul, enabling transformation from Jacob to Israel.
