Confronting Our Demons | Vayishlach 5785

Ya’akov sends messengers to Eisav that he is coming back – but why does he do this? Does he really want this confrontation? Ya’akov reveals then that he is afraid and pained – but he was the one who initiated the confrontation, so why is he so scared?

Ya’akov has had enough of running away. All his life he has been running away, and he finally understood that you can’t run away from your problems, you have to own the consequences of your actions. He understands that he needs to confront his demons.

He then has a confrontation with a strange ‘ish’ – who fights him the entire night – who we are told is Eisav’s spiritual force. He has to confront Eisav in his heart, and only then do we have his transformation. The angel changes his name to Yisrael – meaning the one who confronts their demons and overcomes them.

Yes, when you confront your enemies and demons you sometimes get injured, as Ya’akov did – that is the price of confrontation, but the price of deception and avoidance is even worse. Therefore, he limped for the rest of his life, and we as Jews are limping to an extent since then. May Hashem bless us to be able to confront those we need to confront, without injury and with blessing.