Ra’anana Community Kollel

 

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                                    Published by the Ra’anana Community Kollel

                                                         Vayishlach 5766
                                     

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                                 Stop, Think and Ask

                                                    Rabbi Dovid Horwitz

This week’s parshah finds Yaakov battling the angel of Eisav all throughout the night. Upon morning the angel begs Yaakov to release him in order that he should be able to sing shira to Hashem. Before doing so Yaakov asks him his name to which he replies, “Why do you ask of me my name?”

On a simple level the angle seems to be brushing aside Yaakov’s question. On a deeper level we could interpret the angel’s response as the answer. His name actually was, “why do you ask of me my name?” Midrashim tell us that the angel of Eisav is none other than the yetzer hara or Satan himself. Yaakov’s struggle with the angel was a battle of good over evil, of a Jew fighting his evil inclination to avoid sinning.

In this light, Yaakov, after having defeated the yetzer hara in battle, asked the angel what his name was. What is his essence? What makes the yetzer hara so effective in causing Jews to sin? Yaakov was hoping to receive this vital information so that he would be able to teach the Jewish people how to effectively resist the yetzer hara’s attacks.

Did the angel divulge this information to Yaakov? Was Yaakov told the secret of the yetzer hara’s success? The answer is yes. The angel tells Yaakov, “do you know why I am so effective in causing so many Jews to sin? It is because they don’t ask me my name. They don’t care to look beyond the surface. They feel temptation and they run to satisfy it. If they were to stop and ask what my name is, if they would stop a moment and think, “where is this temptation coming from? Is it real?”, then they would not fall victim to my attacks.”

The Yetzer’s success lies in his name, “why do you ask me of my name?” As long as we follow our temptations blindly, then the angel has won. Yaakov, however, bequeathed to the Jewish people the ability to stop, think and ask. To stop and ask ourselves what it is that we are about to do, that is the biggest defense we have to win the battle!