The first two missed the wrestling – Vayyishlach
The Chafetz Chayyim raises a question concerning the struggle between Jacob and the assailant (Gen. 32:25). Tradition says the enemy was the spirit of Esau, bent on destroying the Jewish future. So why was Abraham not attacked? Why not Isaac? Why only Jacob?
Each patriarch symbolised a different characteristic. Abraham was the soul of kindness. Isaac, who “meditated in the field towards evening”, was piety. Jacob was studious and spent years in the yeshivot of Shem and Ever.
The Chafetz Chayyim argues that while kindness and prayer are essential to Judaism, neither in itself guarantees Jewish continuity. Attacking Abraham or Isaac would not have been enough for the spirit of Esau.
Jacob, on the other hand, did represent a threat. A people that studies has a future. To know your past, understand your role and duty in the present, and be determined to construct a destiny – this comes out of study. Hence the verse, “The voice is the voice of Jacob but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Gen. 27:22) is explained by the sages: “So long as the voice of Jacob is heard in the places of study, the hands of Esau have no power over him”.
A Jewish community needs philanthropy (Abraham) and prayer (Issac). But underpinning both it must have Jacob, symbolising study of the Jewish heritage… not only for the children, but for adults too, of all ages; and it needs adults who pledge themselves to daily advancement in Jewish knowledge.
