Feeling the Fear (Rabbi Sacks on Vayishlach, Covenant & Conversation)

The Rabbi Sacks Legacy

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 601 Ratings

🗓️ 6 December 2022

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Welcome to Rabbi Sacks' commentary on the weekly Torah portion. This series of Covenant & Conversation essays explores the theme of finding spirituality in the Torah, week by week, parsha by parsha. You can find the full written article on Vayishlach available to read, print, and share, by visiting: https://www.rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/vayishlach/feeling-the-fear/ The new FAMILY EDITION is now also available: https://www.rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation-family-edition/vayishlach/feeling-the-fear/ For more articles, videos, and other material from Rabbi Sacks, please visit www.RabbiSacks.org and follow @RabbiSacks. The Rabbi Sacks Legacy continues to share weekly inspiration from Rabbi Sacks. This piece was originally written and recorded by Rabbi Sacks in 2015. With thanks to the Schimmel Family for their generous sponsorship of Covenant & Conversation, dedicated in loving memory of Harry (Chaim) Schimmel.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Feeling the Fear
0:02.0	It's one of the most enigmatic episodes in the Terror,
0:05.0	but also one of the most important
0:07.0	because it was the moment that gave the Jewish people its name,
0:11.0	Israel, the one who wrestles with God and with men and prevails.
0:16.0	Jacob hearing that his brother Esau is coming to meet him with a force of 400 men, was
0:21.1	terrified. He was, says, the terror, by Yereyakov Maudvayetsilo, very afraid and distressed.
0:28.1	He made three forms of preparation, appeasement, prayer, and war. He sent Esau, a huge gift of cattle
0:35.1	and flocks, hoping to appease him. He prayed to God, rescue me,
0:39.5	I pray from the hand of my brother, and he made preparation for war, dividing his household into two
0:45.0	camps so that one at least would survive, yet he remained anxious. Alone at night he wrestled
0:51.3	with the stranger until the break of dawn.
0:56.0	Who the stranger was isn't clear.
0:57.5	The text calls him a man.
0:59.9	Josea and the Haftere called him an angel.
1:03.2	The sages said it was the guardian angel of Esau.
1:07.0	Jacob himself seemed sure that he'd encountered God himself. He called the place where the struggle took place, Ponell, saying,
1:10.7	I have seen God
1:11.5	face to face, and my life was spared. There are many interpretations, but one is especially
1:19.1	fascinating, both in style and substance. It comes from Rush's grandson, Rabishmal Benmeyer, Rush Bam.
1:27.8	Rushbaum had a strikingly original approach to biblical commentary.
1:33.3	He felt that the sages, intent as they were, on reading the text for its halakhic ramifications,
	...

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