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ב"ה

Nameless Enemies

Friday, 27 November, 2015 - 2:31 pm

In this week’s Torah portion, Vayishlach, Yaakov “was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.”  Eventually, Yaakov is injured but prevails. According to the Midrash this ‘fellow’ is an angel, representing Yaakov’s brother Eisav.

At the conclusion of this encounter the man wishes to leave, but Yaakov asks for a blessing. The angel responds, "Why is it that you ask for my name?" And he blessed him there.

What is the meaning of this curious exchange about names?

The Midrash adds that the reason the angel did not provide a name is because, they do not have permanent names. Their names constantly change.

Yet, still, we are left wondering. What is the meaning of this exchange? Why did Yaakov need to know his name? And, more importantly, why did the angel avoid disclosing his identity? Could he not have given his ‘current’ name?

Perhaps the query of Yaakov was not limited to his particular encounter. Yaakov may have been asking a larger, more probing question: Who is the true face of anti-Semitism? What is your name and identity? How can we know exactly who you are, so we can anticipate you in the future?

And the angel responded: Why do you ask for my name – our names change all the time.

Sometimes the anti-Semite comes in the guise of Eisav’s angel. During Chanukah it was Antiochus and his Hellenist cohorts. It may be Haman or Hitler. It may be Stalin or bin Laden.

Sometimes the anti-Semite is dressed in a fine suit and espousing world values and universal peace. Or she may be wearing a burqa and a bomb.

Anti-Semitism has no face. It has no era. When one disappears another may arrive.

That’s why all the studies and strategies in the world have not achieved the successful demise of anti-Semitism.  It’s not logical, but it is reality. Just look at the 23 people that have been murdered in Israel in the last couple months.

At its core, anti-Semitism is an epic struggle between Yaakov and Eisav.

So, where do we turn when anti-Semitism rears its ugly head in one form or another?

Yaakov was renamed Yisrael, which connotes the head versus the heel. Yaakov was injured by the angel of Eisav. But ultimately he came out ahead. Certainly, we must defend ourselves against such evils. But we must also remember that it is our fidelity to Yisrael, the Jewish nation and the Jewish tradition, that maintains our existence.

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