@ Brotherly 'love'

  A synopsis of the Maamar found in Torah Ohr

The struggle between Jacob and an angel is symbolic of the struggle between Good and Evil. Evil has no independent life and exists by living off the scraps, as it were, of the G-dly life-force channeled to Good,  how could Evil could struggle for supremacy with Good at all: this should be impossible?

The answer  in  that  G-d transcends any distinction between Good and Evil. G-d could just as easily have created a world in which what we know as Evil is superior to what we know as Good. Evil sought not merely to challenge Good, but to challenge the very Divine plan by which Good is superior to Evil in the first place.

The correspondence between G-d's attributes and the major sections of the human body are symbolic  of the truggle between Jacob and the angel in which each embraced and tried to  topple the other .

Before Jacob crossed the river Yabok to meet Esau, a mysterious stranger comes to wrestle. They struggle through the night and, as day breaks, the stranger reveals himself as an angel of G-d and begs Jacob to release him. In exchange for a blessing, Jacob is told that from then on he shall be known as "Israel," a name which signifies victory in the struggle.

Everything in life reflects an underlying spiritual nature. Especially so in the events in the Torah where the protagonists were the most pious and saintly figures imaginable. Our Divinely inspired forefathers were able to perceive on their own the spirituality of things, the G-dliness concealed within nature, and often consciously coordinated their actions to be physical parallels of spiritual concepts.

The angel was the guardian angel of Jacob's wicked brother, Esau, and the struggle embodied the struggle between Good and Evil.

This itself requires explanation. G-d is One and that there is nothing else besides Him. Everything in the universe, whether a physical object or a concept or event, only exists if G-d so wills it and since G-d wills that something should exist, He bestows upon it the spiritual "life-force" which brings that thing into existence and sustains it. This applies to "Evil" as much as to anything else. It is only because G-d's "master plan" calls for the existence of evil (in order to conquer it and transform it into good, by observing the Torah) that evil exists at all - but there is no question that its existence is derived from none other than G-d. No "independent power" responsible is for evil, a power separate from the One G-d (as if such a thing were possible).

Since it’s not fitting for G-d to directly create evil, the spiritual life force which gives Evil its existence is "routed" through the forces of Good.  Evil sustains itself from the "leftover" spirituality that could not be used by the forces of Holiness, of Good. A stray dog feeds by eating  garbage in the street. Although it is nourished by leftover food it certainly could not be said that the householders are feeding the dog. The heat from a subway grate may likewise warm stray dogs, but the subway officials, but that is not intended. Evil, however, depends on Holiness even more than in these examples, because while the dog already exists, the very existence of Evil is derived from the "leftovers" of the Divine life-force which animates Good.

Therefore,  the idea that Evil should struggle with Good, with its own life-force, seems more than just ingratitude - it seems as though it should be "mechanically" impossible. How do we understand the teaching of our sages that this incident  represented an attempt by Evil to overthrow Good?

To comprehend this, we need to understand  how Evil is "nourished" through Good.

The idea that it is not proper for G-d to give life to Evil, only to Good - is only meaningful from our mortal perspective. To us, it seems inappropriate for G-d to animate Evil. Our perspective is severely limited; the truth is that from the perspective of G-d Himself, Who created the world and everything in it, Good and Evil are equally insignificant. Both are functions of behavior in this physical world which G-d transcends utterly. We must observe the distinction between Good and Evil because we dwell in and are subject to the boundaries of this world; to G-d, however, Who creates Good and Evil, it's all the same. Why does G-d choose to recognize Good over Evil, allowing His creative vitality to flow directly into Good but withholding that vitality from Evil? The reason is that G-d, in his love of the Jews, allowed us to influence the paths of G-dly sustenance to the world. In the merit of  Torah study and mitzva observance, G-d validates "our" perspective by channeling His spiritual life force directly only to those who are subjugated to Him.

This is hinted at in Bereishis 36:31, "And these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned a king over the Children of Israel." The word "Edom" is associated with Esau, representing the forces of Evil and the reference to kings ruling in Edom is an allusion to the ways in which G-dly vitality was in fact once found even there. However, this was "before there reigned a king over the Children of Israel" - that is, once the Jews, through their worship, limited the direct flow of G-dliness to that which has nullified itself before G-d, the forces of Evil - characterized by a lack of deference to G-d's Will, and in fact by defiance of G-d's Will - no longer received their spiritual sustenance directly (as explained above).

This is the meaning of the verse (1 Kings 22:48), "There was no king in Edom."

Deference to G-d's Will – bitul, isn’t just mere deference but actual nullification, making oneself completely insignificant, as nothing, before G-d - is the factor that distinguishes Good from Evil.

Considering how bitul is reflected in our personalities will help us understand how this comes about spiritually as well.

The highest faculty is the intellect. Unlike other organs, whose action is physically observable, the activity of the brain - thought - has never been observed. Medical science has been able to observe electrical impulses in the brain, but actual thoughts, the mind itself, is mysteriously separate from any physical manifestation. Conceptually too, it’s hard to identify the source and nature of the intellect: at its essential level, it is the capacity to conceive ideas and then to develop and understand them, but where do these new ideas come from? They seem to pop into one's mind from nowhere.

The above may be considered characteristic of the quality of bitul: The intellect is as "nothing" in and of itself. Its own substance or sense of "self," does not get in the way of its sensitivity to that which is outside itself. It can receive input from the source of new ideas (which source is mystically associated with a high spiritual level), similar to how light shines into a room in direct proportion to the transparency of the material covering the window.

The emotional faculties are not as closely associated with the quality of bitul, but are still susceptible to its influence. (Emotions can not be observed, they are the emotions of the particular person and manifest that person's sense of self, unlike new thoughts or ideas which seem to come to a person externally.) For example, if the mind contemplates sufficiently the greatness of G-d, then the emotions of love of  and reverence for G-d will be aroused within the person, even to the point where the person puts G-d above his or her own interests. (E.g., the person may want to read a novel, but out of love for G-d will read Torah literature instead.) Emotions too, although less "transparent" than the intellect, can be made subservient to G-d.

The intellect  is associated with the head, while the emotions are associated with the heart, or, more generally, the torso. Below are the legs which also symbolize particular spiritual attributes. However, these are focused not on the person but rather on someone to whom the person wishes to transmit his own influence. For example, one who wishes to teach another, must determine the student's capacity to understand, and then taylor the teaching appropriate to that capacity. Or, before giving charity, the giver evaluates the need of the recipient. 

These considerations - focused on a recipient instead of the person are represented by the legs of a person, which carry the person forward. Finally, after formulating the most appropriate plan for transmitting one's influence, the person actually transmits that influence. This concludes a process which may be understood as a gradual progression from receipt of a new idea from an external, "higher," source, through the filtering down of that idea to the point where it influences the person (i.e. to love G-d), and ending with the transmitting of the teaching to someone else. Every step of this process can be imbued with bitul;  however, once the transmitted concept has left the original person and been passed on, it is susceptible to lack of bitul and distortion.

This should help us understand the manner in which G-d transmits spiritual influence to the forces of holiness, from whence it is possible for the forces of evil to derive benefit as well. G-d manifests Himself in the world, or transmits spirituality to it, in ten general ways known as the "ten sefiros." Our own characters are fashioned after these sefiros, so that, by Torah-guided contemplation of our own personalities, we may better understand G-d. Thus, we refer to the sefiros by names to which our own attributes correspond, from chochma ("wisdom," or the point at which new ideas come into the mind), through chesed ("kindness"), gevurah ("might" or "restraint") and related "emotions," all the way down to malchus (the faculty which actually transmits influence to another). 

At the highest level, when G-d first manifests Himself through the ten sefiros - they are all batul  to G-d Himself, and are really one with Him. This is the realm of Atzilus. Since G-d wants the world to exist in a way which allows for diversity and multiplicity (which would not be possible if everything were seen to be united with G-d, Who is One and not diverse), He also allows (through the attribute of malchus, which transmits outward) the spiritual life-force to flow beyond Atzilus, through countless, progressively lower, spiritual levels (known in a broad sense as the three realms of Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah) which are not necessarily completely batul to Him.

(The degree of bitul to G-d in these spiritual realms is not a measure of how much they "accept" G-d's sovereignty  (this is not subject to their choice), but a measure of how revealed G-d is in those realms. The more openly revealed G-d is, the more "transparent" and batul the inhabitants of that realm; conversely, the more G-d conceals Himself, the more the inhabitants appear to be separate entities - the opposite of bitul.)

Our physical universe is the lowest of all levels (because in it, G-d is completely concealed from our perception), and the ultimate purpose of the entire progression, because it is specifically in a context within which G-dliness is not apparent at all (and in fact, in which it appears that G-d does not rule (G-d forbid)) that the ultimate expression of G-d's sovereignty can be achieved - by us (the inhabitants of that realm) deliberately subjugating ourselves to Him anyway.

Now, "good" and "evil" are defined by bitul to G-d's Will. That which is "transparent" to G-dliness, which does not set itself up as an independent existence but merely expresses and furthers G-d's Will, is "good"; that which opposes and hinders G-d's Will, as though it possessed a valid existence in its own right and a will of its own, is "evil." Clearly, on the highest plane of spiritual existence, the realm of Atzilus, evil cannot exist, since at that level, as explained above, everything is one with G-d Himself and completely batul to Him. However, in order for the purpose of creation to be achievable - in order for us inhabitants of that lowest of realms, in which G-d is completely concealed, to bring G-dliness into open revelation by making ourselves subservient to Him - there must necessarily be a concealment of G-dliness, allowing for a lack of bitul, somewhere along the line. The existence of evil begins, in fact, after the point at which malchus of Atzilus has transmitted the G-dly life-giving force beyond that realm of total bitul to G-d. (This is analogous to an idea being transmitted from one person, whom that idea totally permeated and motivated, to a separate person, where it might become distorted.) The life-force is not transmitted to evil; rather, it is now accessible for evil to benefit from, similar to the dog which can get warmth from a subway grating.

(If evil is defined as the opposition to G-d's Will, what defines opposition to G-d's Will? The answer is that G-d has revealed his Will to us in the Torah: study of Torah and living by its directives (the mitzvos) are expressions of G-d's Will, while neglect or violation (G-d forbid) of the mitzvos are the very definition of opposition to G-d's Will. Thus, whether or not evil is able to exist - by drawing from the spiritual life force flowing through good - is entirely up to us: if we (G-d forbid) transgress the laws of the Torah, evil exists; if we obey the Torah, it does not.)

In other words, G-d's life-force is accessed, although in a "back-handed" manner, so to speak, by evil, we can now understand the symbolism of the story of the angel of evil wrestling with Jacob.

The distinction between good and evil is meaningful to G-d's creatures, but not to G-d Himself, Who created and defined them to begin with. Charity seems "good" because it was G-d's Will that the world be structured in such a way; had He willed otherwise, however, He could just as easily have set up a society in which charity is considered wicked and murder, praiseworthy. G-d Himself is utterly transcendent of all worldly matters, including "good" and "evil." The archangel of Esau, i.e. the forces of evil, was not trying to be cut off from its own life force by overthrowing the forces of good; rather, it challenged the very system by which its life force had to be filtered through good in the first place. Its characteristic lack of bitul, or humility, left evil dissatisfied with its place in the scheme of things: it sought to rise up and, bypassing good entirely, draw its life force directly from that level of G-d  which transcends the distinction between good and evil.

The struggle was with Jacob specifically, it was Jacob whose spiritual accomplishments were rewarded by the investiture of G-d's life force primarily into the forces of good.

Evil has no hold over intellect (which is inherently batul); objective intellectual analysis is able to recognize good as good and evil as evil. It is only on the emotional level that a person's own desires and temptations can cause one to "forget" the difference between right and wrong. If one has contemplated at length on such ideas as the greatness of G-d, one's emotions should be stimulated to desire only G-d and the performance of His Will. The desire for worldly things should then have no hold even over the emotions. However, without adequate meditation, one's emotions could theoretically be drawn after worldly desires instead of spiritual ones.

Jacob is identified with levels of G-dly manifestation called the "emotional" attributes of the realm of Atzilus. Jacob symbolized a thorough dedication of one's emotions to G-dly matters. The angel of Esau symbolized the corruption or diversion of the emotions to worldly desires. Each tried to topple the other, swaying the emotional faculties of Man entirely over to their side. More specifically, the major emotional attributes of chesed (kindness) and gevurah (might, restraint) are symbolized by the right and left arms respectively; thus, each combatant encircling the other with his arms was an earthly manifestation of the spiritual struggle of the evil character traits, on the one hand, to dominate the personality, and that of the holy character traits, to dominate and convert the capacity for worldly desires entirely to good.

Evil's mistake was in not recognizing the true nature of Jacob. The emotions can only be swayed to material desires when the influence of the intellect is lacking since the objective intellect can discern right from wrong. Jacob was not only the embodiment of the dedication of emotions to G-d; he embodied also the influence of the intellect which permeates the emotions and motivates this dedication. This is hinted at by Jacob's name. Yaakov is spelled yud, ayin, kuf and vais. A yud is written as a simple dot, representing the  "point" at which ideas enter the intellect. The latter three letters of Yaakov spell the  word eikev, or "heel," the lowest part of the body. Thus Yaakov, formed by combining these two elements, symbolizes that in Jacob and his descendants, the Jewish people, the influence of the yud - the intellect and its bitul to G-d - permeates and pervades the entire personality, extending even to the lowest level. For this reason, the evil angel was no match for him, and could only injure Jacob in the thigh which is a part of the body associated with relating to another, as opposed to being intrinsic to the person's own self.

Not only that, but Jacob actually overwhelmed the evil forces, subjugating the inclination to do evil - the desire for worldly pursuits - to the inclination to do good - the desire for spiritual pursuits. (This is what is meant by the exhortation in the Shema  to struggle to love G-d not only with our inclination to do good, but also with our desire for worldly pursuits: even our capacity to appreciate physical matters should be used in the furtherance of holy objectives.) In mystical terms, Jacob - the embodiment of the emotional attributes of Atzilus, the capacity for dedication of emotions to G-d - overwhelmed and elevated the emotional attributes of klippa (the forces of evil), the capacity for diversion of the emotions to desires.

The incident mirrors these spiritual themes in all its details. The word used for "grapple" or "wrestle" - vayeavek - is related to the word for dust (avak), because when people engage in a fierce physical struggle they kick up clouds of dust. The Sages say that Jacob and the angel "raised up dust unto the Throne of Glory [G-d's throne]." The raising of this dust itself symbolizes the ideas discussed above, and carries them one step further. The difference between "dust" and "dirt" is that dirt can grow plants, thus the vegetable, animal and human kingdoms depend on it whereas dust and ash can’t.

Spiritually, this is because dirt (the physical manifestation of the attribute of malchus), like intellect, is as nothing - to the point where it is trod upon by all - and therefore "merits" the revelation within itself of that same spirituality which shines within intellect. (This is in accordance with the principle that "the beginning is wedged in the end" - i.e., the very highest level is, paradoxically, expressed specifically within the very lowest.) Dust and ash symbolize what remains after all useful material has been extracted, for example, after all a material's substance has been consumed by fire.

The symbolism of Jacob and the guardian angel of Esau "raising dust unto the very Throne of Glory" is  as follows: Jacob (Good) and Esau (Evil) battled for supremacy, each bodily embracing the other and trying to overwhelm it. Evil was no match for Good, and was itself overwhelmed, resulting in Jacob being renamed "Israel" in recognition of this victory. The victory was so complete that not only were the emotional attributes of klippa, of the evil angel, subjugated and elevated to the emotional attributes of Atzilus, even the "useless dust" of evil, mystically derived from malchus of klippa, was "raised" - elevated - unto malchus of Atzilus, associated with G-d's Throne of Glory.