Reliance on Hashem in darkness

במדרש אשא עיני כו' כי יעקב אע"ה עזב כל הסיועות אשר הי' לו אצל אביו.

In the Midrash on "I lift my eyes…" — for Yaakov Avinu left behind all the supports he had while with his father.

Yaakov, setting out from his father's house toward Lavan, deliberately gave up every external aid and protection he had enjoyed at home.

זכות אב ואם.

The merit of father and mother.

Among the supports he relinquished was the protective zechus (merit) of his parents that had sheltered him until now.

וגם קדושת המקום ארץ ישראל.

And also the holiness of the place — Eretz Yisrael.

He left as well the elevated kedushah of the Land itself, going out into the lower, more exposed world of galus (exile).

והכניס עצמו במדריגה זו שלא יהי' לו עזר רק מהשי"ת.

And he placed himself in this level, that he should have no help except from Hashem.

Stripped of every external prop, Yaakov stood in a place where his only reliance was direct bitachon (trust) in Hashem alone.

וזה שכתבו חז"ל שתיקן תפילת ערבית.

This is what Chazal wrote, that he established the evening prayer (tefillas arvis).

Because he entered this darkness with no support but Hashem, it was precisely Yaakov who instituted the prayer of the night.

כי בודאי אין בכח היושב בחושך לבוא לתפלה כמאמר אין חבוש מתיר עצמו.

For certainly one who sits in darkness has not the power on his own to come to prayer, as the saying goes: "A prisoner cannot free himself from prison."

Normally a person sunk in spiritual darkness cannot lift himself out by his own strength — just as a captive cannot release his own chains.

אך בזאת נאות ליעקב אע"ה.

But in this, it was fitting for Yaakov Avinu.

Yaakov was uniquely suited to break this rule, because of the way he had entered the darkness.

באשר הכניס עצמו למקום החושך הזה.

Inasmuch as he placed himself into this place of darkness.

Since he descended into the darkness willingly, for the sake of Hashem, the darkness itself became something he could rise out of in prayer.

בזה תיקן תפילת ערבית.

By this he established the evening prayer.

His self-chosen entry into the night is what gave him the power to fashion the avodah (service) of prayer even from within darkness.

והאמת כי גם לנו נשאר מקבלה זו אשר קיבל על עצמו למס"נ עבור קדושת שמו ית' ולהלחם מלחמות ה' במקומות המסוכנים.

And the truth is that there remains to us as well something of this acceptance which he took upon himself — mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice) for the holiness of His Name, and to fight the battles of Hashem in dangerous places.

Yaakov's willingness to give himself over for Hashem in perilous places became an inheritance passed down to his descendants.

לכן יש לנו ג"כ עבודות הקשות מעול גלות ועול היצה"ר הגובר עלינו תמיד וכן איתא במדרש כי אם הי' עולה על הסולם לא הי' הגלות ע"ש.

Therefore we too have hard labors — the yoke of galus and the yoke of the yetzer hara that constantly overpowers us; and so it is brought in the Midrash, that had he ascended the ladder there would have been no exile, see there.

The hard service we face — the burden of exile and the constant pressure of the yetzer hara (evil inclination) — flows from this same inheritance; the Midrash hints that the full ladder of ascent was left for his children to climb across the generations of galus.

ואנחנו מקבלים קבלת אבינו ובוחרים בדרכיהם לכן יש לנו לבטוח בהקב"ה שלא יבוא לנו היזק מזה ח"ו.

And we accept the acceptance of our father and choose his ways; therefore we have grounds to trust in Hashem that no harm will come to us from this, chas v'shalom.

Because we take up Yaakov's same resolve and follow his path, we may rely with bitachon that Hashem will protect us in the dangerous places of our own avodah.

ונזכה לצאת מהחשיכה לאורה ב"ב אמן:

And may we merit to go out from darkness to light, speedily in our days, amen.

The piece closes with a tefillah that we, like Yaakov, emerge from the darkness of galus into the light of geulah (redemption).

Summary: Yaakov gave up every external support and entered pure reliance on Hashem, and from that very darkness he fashioned the evening prayer. His descendants inherit both the hard avodah of galus and the yetzer hara and the power, through mesirus nefesh and bitachon, to emerge from darkness into light.