To get there is a struggle – Tol’dot
In this sidra Jacob and Esau want their father’s blessing. In the sidra Vayyishlach we read about Jacob and the angel struggling and Jacob insisting that the angel bless him.
These dramatic confrontations remind us that blessings do not come easily. Without striving, nothing worthwhile can be achieved.
Yes, it is true that we all want a quiet life unruffled by problems and challenges, but that is highly unlikely. Achievement is born out of struggle.
The Talmud quotes Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, “The Holy One, blessed be He, gave three precious gifts to Israel, but all of them He gave only through struggle; they are Torah, the land of Israel and the World to Come” (Ber. 5a).
Torah does not come easily. It has to take over your mind, indeed your whole life. You have to be strong enough to withstand other temptations and distractions. But without Torah and the effort to achieve it you do not know who you are and what your task is in the world.
The land of Israel was not handed to us on a plate, in ancient times or today. Ben Gurion said, it was not only hard to achieve the state: it’s even harder, to maintain it. But Israel is necessary, both for us and for the world. It is evidence to the world that God’s promise of messianic redemption is not forgotten, and through Israel the whole world is blessed.
Concerning the World to Come, the struggle is to reach the goal unblemished. The World to Come is like Shabbat – you deserve rest only when you have earned it by honest effort. But there is another olam haba – heaven on earth, where there is no war, hatred, callousness, injustice and discrimination. Heaven knows what a struggle that is.
