Weekly Torah Portion

In preparation for Jacob’s confrontation with Esau the next day the Torah tells how Jacob took his wives and children and crossed over the Yabok stream. Later that night he crosses back over the Yabok and it is then when alone that he fights with a “man” until dawn. As discussed above, Jacob’s struggle that night occurred on many different levels simultaneously, including an internal battle with himself. In order to defeat Esau the next day he knew he had to come to terms once and for all with his own sense of identity, his insecurity surrounding the birthright and the blessing he took from Esau, and ultimately with his purpose and destiny. This inner struggle is beautifully hinted to in the similarity of Hebrew letters in four words that tie the story together: Jacob ( ???? ), Yabok ( ??? ), the stream he crossed over, the word “and he wrestled” ( ???? ), and “he struck him”( ???), the action taken when the “man” saw he could not overcome Jacob. The fact that these four words share similar letters teaches us an intrinsic connection between them.

Crossing over the Yabok alone symbolizes his need to go deep within his own being to conjure up the strength to cross over his limited self definition, going beyond his present level of inner strength in order to face Esau once again. The letters of the word Yabok being the same as the word Jacob (except for the letter ayin which is missing), points to his need to fill in a missing void that will complete him as an individual.

In the last portion we analyzed the word for “Hebrew,” to “cross over.” Once again this is the very word used for Jacob crossing over the Yabok. In fact, the word for “stream” used in conjunction with the Yabok is the same root as “to cross over.” Thus there seems to be a deep connection between Abraham’s ability to overcome obstacles and Jacob preparing to do the very same in his confrontation with Esau.

This connection is revealed in a statement in the Zohar commenting on the following verse: “On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and he saw the place from afar” (Genesis 22:4). This verse is describing when Abraham is taking Isaac to offer him up as an offering as God had instructed him. The Zohar states that the “third day” refers to Jacob, the third of the patriarchs, and “from afar” relates to a state of prophesy. Although Abraham was commanded to take Isaac and bring him as an offering, Abraham sees prophetically how Jacob will somehow emerge nonetheless and the tradition will be continued. Of course ultimately God informs Abraham not to sacrifice Isaac and his vision of Jacob is realized. Thus we can conjecture that the strength Jacob had to cross over the Yabok, and ultimately, to go beyond his limitations, is drawn directly from his grandfather Abraham.

The word for “he wrestled” contains the same letters as Jacob, except the letter ayin is exchanged for an alef. The missing letter ayin from the word Yabok is realized within Jacob but then transformed into an alef during his existential battle that fateful night. The letter alef numerically equals one, representing the unity of purpose that Jacob had to attain in order to defeat his foe. The letter ayin significantly equals seventy, the exact number of souls who later accompanied Jacob down to Egypt. This represents Jacob wrestling with his own destiny, struggling with his inner conviction that he is worthy and able to accomplish all that God has promised him.

The word “he struck him,” containing two letters of Jacob’s name, reveals a deep psychological truth. Whenever we do battle with forces around us and/or within us, even when we emerge victorious there are inevitably wounds from the encounter. Whether they come in the form of cutting words or suspicions aroused, guilt experienced or raw emotions exposed, every victory has its price to pay. The trick is to learn to take things in stride and to not be overly attached to the negative side affects. Jacob was definitely wounded as the Torah makes clear but shortly after it says that Jacob came “whole” to the city of Shechem. This indicates his ability to deal with his injury and not be hampered by it.

The similarity of letters in these four words that hint to Jacob’s internal struggle is a profound example of how the inner dimensions of the Torah are found in the subtleties of the Hebrew language. This is why any translation of the Torah from the original Hebrew can never transmit the true depths of its meaning.