In the Darkness of the Night

Every event in Parshat Vayishlach is presented by the Torah as ambivalent - the Torah leaves it for us to decide if it's good or bad - Did Yaakov act correctly in telling Esav he was returning, how Yaakov dealt with Esav, the vengeance of Shimon and Levi.

Yaakov is returning to the real world, he is no longer dealing with the black-and-white world of Lavan's house.

In Yaakov's confrontation with the angel, the Torah is very abrupt. Plus, it doesn't tell us who "the man" is, why Yaakov is up in the middle of the night and moving camp (if he already prepared the day before).

Seforno: Bnei Yisrael are punished with not being allowed to eat the גיד הנשה because they left Yaakov alone.

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Delivered at the OU Israel Center, February 6th, 2019 (1 Adar Alef 5779)