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Alternatively, on another level, Jacob may have been fighting and narratives in the Tanach, Midrash, Talmud, Kabbalah, and
a projection of his brother Esau, a “man” whose heel he had quite Chassidut, addressing this formidable energy inhabiting the human
literally been grasping since birth. He had fought him over who body and psyche. Joseph took that energy and power of imagination
would be born first, over the birthright, over the blessing, and now and used them to create and amplify his keen ability to decipher
he would have to fight him again. Jacob knew he must overcome a the symbolic meaning of dreams (dreams that are, paradoxically,
lifetime of emotional uncertainty and ambiguity to be able to face produced by the very same mental imaginative force).
Esau one more fateful time. Yet Jacob understood that his battle We wage the battle for control of the mind and the imagination
with Esau was not just a physical battle but also a lofty spiritual over the effects that content and imagery introduced by the
one. For Jacob to defeat Esau physically he would have to defeat following three sets of stimuli have on them: external stimuli that
him spiritually. From this perspective, Rashi’s interpretation makes constantly bombard our minds; our own hormones’ disturbing jolt;
sense: Jacob was fighting with the angel of Esau, the higher spiritual and conflicting feelings and inner voices that well up within us, each
root determining who Esau was and what he stood for. demanding our attention and careful discipline. The Ba’al Shem
Ultimately, as the verse explicitly states, Jacob fought not only Tov taught that a person is where his thoughts are, and we all know
with man, but with God. Jacob’s struggle with God represents how far away we can be in our minds while our bodies remain quite
human beings’ universal, existential struggle to understand who stationary.
we really are, why we are here in this world, and how we should The mitzvah not to stray after our hearts or after our eyes
comprehend God’s Providence, especially when things do not go the (Numbers 15:39) is one of six perpetual mitzvot incumbent on every
way we expect. On a deeper level, this is the struggle to understand Jew, in every place and at all times, as taught by Rambam at the
how to make His will our will.
beginning of his classic work the Mishneh Torah (see glossary for a
Instead of explaining the wrestling match in terms of Jacob’s fuller explanation of these six mitzvot as well as Appendix 2). It is
immediate concerns and life, the entire incident can also represent the also one of the hardest to fulfill, for the mind is like a wild stallion,
archetypal battle fought by Jacob and his descendants throughout daring anyone to train it. Yet the mind and our imagination can
eternity. This spiritual battle is associated with the number eight. be trained to a great degree. We must choose between possessing
The Talmud relates that all the nations are ruled by the stars, while untrained, undisciplined, wild minds and imaginations that drag us
Israel has the ability to transcend their authority and decide its own after them, or rectified minds and imaginations that become vessels
destiny (Shabbat 156a). As a result of his triumph that night Jacob for Divine inspiration and prophecy.
earned the name Israel. This symbolizes Jacob’s elevation above the The Midrash states that Joseph knew seventy languages. His
natural order, represented by the number seven, and his assumption knowledge of the symbolism inherent in language was a crucial
of a new transcendental identity, symbolized by the number eight.
component of his dream interpreting skills, for dreams either translate
Later in the portion, the Torah enumerates Esau’s offspring. prophetic messages from God or translate our individual experiences
Part of that passage records the kings who ruled in Edom before a of the world into symbolic words and images. The latter dreams give
king ruled over Israel. This somewhat abstruse section is described expression to our unconscious, subconscious and super-conscious
in Kabbalistic literature as containing lofty secrets related to the levels, serving as the mechanism by which these largely concealed
creation of the world, the reality of evil, and the ultimate rectification aspects of our psyche communicate, as they filter and react to the
of the world. Eight kings are mentioned, seven who rule and die and vast amount of physical, emotional, and spiritual input bombarding
our senses during our waking hours.

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