Yakov and the שר של עשו wrestle and fight for hours on end, the whole night is spent. The man whose face is on Hashem’s כסא הכבוד and the מלאך that represents עשו and אדום in שמים. Many מפרשים explain that this was the יצר הרע, that in שמים, אדום is represented by none other than the שטן himself. And consequently, this fight is a representation of the timeless battle between good and evil in the world. This battle that we all deal with every minute of every day was fought on a macro level that night. I think if we explore this story in detail and in conjunction with a few other things חז”ל say, we will find a fascinating and revolutionary way of viewing the יצר הרע that lives inside of us and that we struggle with every day.
The גמרא in כתובות דף עז: says that the מלאך המות was an acquaintance of ר’ חנינא בר פפא and רש”י comments אוהבו ורגיל אצלו תמיד. That these two were good friends with a loving relationship and that the יצר הרע would visit him constantly. The question falls on both parties. Firstly, if we had to imagine who the יצר הרע would be friends with we would guess a רשע who commits all types of sins, or at least someone who struggles and usually fails. Why would he be friends with a holy אמורא? Also, why would ר’ חנינא בר פפא consider himself friends with the יצר הרע? We daven every day for Hashem to save us from the יצר הרע!
Rashi in our פרשה quotes the גמרא in חולין that says, when the שר של עשו told Yakov שלחני כי עלה השחר, let me go for the sun has come up, he was saying that you need to let me go so that I can sing my שירה to Hashem and I haven’t ever sang before from the day I was created until now. שירה is described as the highest form of praise and one that is given to Hashem upon completion of a mission. When each מלאך finished their mission, they sing שירה to Hashem and then get another mission. If this is the יצר הרע why has he never had a chance to say שירה yet? There have been tons and tons of עבירות done since the beginning of time. קין killed הבל, the דור המבול, מגדל בבל, סדום and עמורה. The שטן has been having a field day until Avraham came around, and even then, most of the world was opposed to Avraham and was worshipping idols daily. If I had to guess he’s fulfilled his mission of evil every day. Yet it seems like he’s saying that his mission was only fulfilled when Yakov bested him that night.
Most of us would imagine the שטן as an evil being, maybe he’s red or has some horns, probably a cackling laugh. And even if we don’t run to the Christian images of the שטן, we definitely see him as something evil and ugly. The problem with this is that he lives inside each one of us, and that makes us evil and ugly on some level. And then the guilt comes, and we feel no good since we have evil inside of us and we can’t seem to get away from it. But, I think all of what we showed above gives us a new view. The יצר הרע was sent into this world as an extension of Hashem, which is exactly what a מלאך is. He is the מלאך המות, the angel of death. Death was introduced to the world when אדם and חוה ate from the עץ הדעת. They created a scenario where they were distanced from Hashem and they would need to die in order to be reunited with their Creators. So, the mission of the מלאך המות is really to bring us close to Hashem again. And his purpose is not only at the end of a person’s life, the גמרא in סנהדרין says that the שטן, מלאך המות, and יצר הרע are one and the same. Each day this מלאך challenges us from inside our heads to get close to Hashem. Day by day to bridge the gap and close the chasm that was opened at the beginning of time.
His mission as a מלאך is to be defeated by us and his true purpose, like everything else in this world, is to bring us closer to Hashem. That long night spent wrestling with Yakov was the first time that he was defeated so thoroughly that he was able to come before his Creator and say, “I did it!” He had helped a human exercise their spiritual muscles and challenge him to stand up to one test and after another and find Hashem in all the challenges. The יצר הרע is like a trainer for our spirituality, pushing us to our limits and then testing us further to show us that we are capable of more than we can ever knew. He gives us נסיון after נסיון and allows us to raise ourselves up as banners to the world that Hashem exists in every situation and at any level that a Jew is on.
Obviously, this can be very difficult, and he doesn’t go easy on us. But if you’ve ever seen a real trainer of a fighter, or a professional athlete, they can seem like the meanest and nastiest people in the world, but the truth is, that they are only looking to advance their student. We are all students of the יצר הרע and we are meant to engage with him in a training that gives us the opportunity to do Hashem’s will. And more importantly, we are Godly. Inside and out, front and back. There is no part of us that is evil. There is the part that is evidently Godly, and the part where we must uncover the Godliness.
As the winter gets longer and the world around us dies, let’s all hold on to our נשמה and be prepared to train with the יצר הרע and help bring the world closer to Hashem.