One of my favorite lessons and that has always been especially powerful for me tells how Jacob’s name was changed from Jacob to Israel. This story contains the key of how to gain control of our lives and the Opponent – the source of all the chaos in this world. Sometimes we must wrestle for control.
In the Biblical account, Jacob wrestles all night with the angel (many ideas on who this “angel” might be-the Lord-Satan-or a spirit of his brother Esau). By morning, the angel says to Jacob, “Please release me.” Jacob replies that he will not release the angel until the angel gives him a blessing. Eventually, the angel gives the blessing, changing Jacob’s name to Israel. At the end of the story, Jacob asks for the angel’s name, but the angel refuses to give up his name.
There are many Kabbalistic secrets in this powerful story,
so let us see that we can find.
I believe that the angel represents the ‘evil inclination’, also known as the Opponent, the source of all chaos in this world. When Jacob asked the angel his name, he was basically asking, “What is your essence? How do you operate? How do you bring people down?” The angel answered, “Why do you need to know my name? I am always here. I don’t want people to know my name, I am always hiding.” By identifying the angel, Jacob wanted to equip all of mankind with the main tool of controlling the forces of chaos that wreak havoc in our lives and the world. If we can name it-we can defeat it in the spiritual realms.
The Rabbis and Sages explain that most of the time we are not aware that every second of the day, the Opponent tries to play games with us. This force never rests. This means we need to know that when we overcome one challenge, there will always be another challenge waiting. When we fight our ego, we always need to be on the lookout for the next layer of ego. If we are alive, we have spiritual work to do. We do not want to be complacent, thereby blocking the Light from coming into our lives. Part of being the Vessel God chose us to be is doing the work of preparing our Vessel.
When we become satisfied with our spiritual growth, when we are too sure of our tikkun, when we think ‘we’ve got it all figured out’ – then we will most likely be completely controlled by the Opponent. How do we know that the Opponent is in control? When we spend our days busy seeing what is wrong with other people and engaging in other negative actions.
If, on the other hand, we are humble enough to know that the Opponent is always hiding –to know that we may see one aspect of the situation, but that there is always another level and layer – then we will be open and humble to ask the Light for help and take control over the forces of chaos in this world.
Another point is that when difficulties arise, we need to have the strength and wisdom to not get caught up with the immediate problem at hand. The Opponent wants us to be busy with the issue that h wants us paying attention to, taking us away from the real issues that we need to work on. For example, while we are worrying about bad traffic or an unexpected expense, we may completely overlook how we treat others when we are stressed out, or how we take advantage of people and situations. When we look at all the situations we face in a day-we can see where we can be investing in problems that in the end do not matter.
When everything in life is amazing, and we feel spiritual and connected to the Light – that is the time to thank the Light for giving us the strength to achieve. At the same time, we need to consistently ask ourselves: How can I stretch myself even more now? What is my next level? These moment of peace and amazement are there for us to enjoy and draw strength from, there are more battles ahead.
The Opponent is awake 24 hours a day, and if we try to beat him with our own brilliant minds, we have no chance. We must remember to not be busy with getting attention, but to focus our spiritual work and lives on paying attention.
David Fournier Rev. Dr.
Centre for Hebraic Insights
No comments:
Post a Comment