DON’T GIVE UP THE FIGHT!

Parashat Vayishlach
Kislev 16, 5782 / November 19-20, 2021
Torah - Genesis 32:4 – 36:43
Haftarah – Ovadiah 1:1-21 (Sephardim and most Ashkenazim); Hosea 11:7 – 12:12 (some Ashkenazim – what I grew up with)
 
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Elisheva bat Minnie Leah, Feigel bat Kreina, and D'vorah bat Feigel. 

This d'var torah is offered in memory of my uncle, David Flom, whose yahrzeit falls on Thursday, Kislev 21. Y'hi zikhro barukh - may his memory be a blessing.
 
Lunch and Learn meets Tuesday at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. We’re continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya’akov.  A link to the reading is here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jt-NLamlIiAGpBhU7WNrCVZGBYhHHWCN/view?usp=sharing 

On November 16, we’ll be continuing from the top of page 16, "Amar Rebbi Chelbo amar Rav Huna" - "R. Chelbo in the name of R. Huna said..." 

Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about becoming a Chaver and our various programs, at:
https://bnaihayim.org/ 

Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at: 
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/     

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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DON’T GIVE UP THE FIGHT!
 
'And (the angel) said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with humans, and you have prevailed.'" Genesis 32:29

 

Jacob Wrestling with the Angel - Leon Joseph Florentin Bonnat, ca. 1876

Jewish tradition, going back to the opening chapters of Genesis, holds that names contain the essential being of the person, place or thing named. We Jews have been called the "Children of Israel" or the "People Israel" for longer than we have been called "Jews". The origin of the name is given in our verse. Does "Israel" describe our very essence?

Consider first the struggle with other people. In the course of the Tanakh itself, our people struggled with Canaanites, Egyptians, Philistines, Assyrians, Babylonians, and others. Since then, we have striven with Greeks, Romans, Crusaders, Cossacks, Nazis, Soviets, and many others. We have not always prevailed, in the sense of military victory - quite the contrary - no significant military victories from circa 165 BCE until 1948 CE. Yet, to the extent any people or nations at all exist today using those names, they are quite different from what they were. And what about us? We are still here, so we have prevailed; but we are still "a people apart", still struggling to be "a light unto the nations", still fighting sometimes for the very right to be Jews.
 
Now consider contention with God. From Abraham until modern times, Jews have wrestled with God. Our people at times have refused to follow God's word, sometimes at a heavy price. More often, our people have listened to God, yet still paid a price. We ask, "God, what do you want from us?" "God, what do these words mean, why do you command us to do such and such?" "God, where were You when the Temple was destroyed, when our people were being slaughtered at Auschwitz, and all the other times?" "Shall not the Judge of the entire world act justly?" Sometimes, there is more than one "right" answer. Sometimes, there is no satisfactory answer. Sometimes, there is no answer, no response at all. 

If we surrender to the forces around us, we give up the right to call ourselves Israel. It is not prevailing that matters; it is the very struggle with God and with man that defines the essence of being a Jew. Don't give up the fight!
 
Shabbat Shalom!
 
Richard A. Flom, Rabbi Emeritus
TBH/CBM
Sherman Oaks, CA
".איזה הוא חכם? הלומד מכל אדם"
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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