Monday, December 12, 2022

Celebrate The Struggle

After Yaakov fights with the angle, he names him Yisrael כי שרית אם אלקים ואנשים ותוכל.  If the point is that Yaakov was able to even be victorious over angles, he should have been named תוכל for he was victorious? Rav Leibel Eger explains that the point isn't the victory, the point is the battle.  Klal Yisrael is named for the fact that they are willing to put up a fight no matter what stands in the way. 

The Tanya Ch. 27 says וְלָכֵן, אַל יִפּוֹל לֵב אָדָם עָלָיו, וְלֹא יֵרַע לְבָבוֹ מְאֹד, גַּם אִם יִהְיֶה כֵּן כָּל יָמָיו בְּמִלְחָמָה זוֹ, כִּי אוּלַי לְכָךְ נִבְרָא, וְזֹאת עֲבוֹדָתוֹ לְאַכֽפָּיָא לְסִטְרָא אָחֳרָא תָּמִיד.  One who spends their entire life having to fight against the impulses, desires and urges of the yetzer harah should not feel bad for that is one's avodah.  One is put in the world in order to fight against the yetzer harah.  

The Tanya (which is finished today by those that follow the yearly cycle,) champions the battle of the banyoni.  It is not only the victory that one must celebrate but the fact that one puts up a fight and struggles against the yetzer harah is itself worthy of celebration. 

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