פרשת וישלח

ויקם בלילה ההוא , he crossed the river at night because he intended to change direction to avoid a meeting with Esau. We find that David did something similar when he was fleeing from his son Avshalom at the same location of Machanyim as reported in Samuel II 17,21-24. At that time, coming from the direction of Jerusalem, David crossed the river Jordan, a more formidable river than the Yabbok, a mere tributary of the Jordan which could be crossed relatively easily. [flight by crossing a river, eliminating footprints and wading along the bank before crossing to the other side slows down the pursuers who first have to find in which direction the fugitive continued. Ed.].

ויותר יעקב לבדו, after he had transferred all his belongings to the other side of the river, so that the only one still to be brought across was he himself. The reason that he wanted to cross only after everyone else had already crossed was that he intended to flee in a different direction so as to avoid a face to face encounter with Esau.

THERE WRESTLED an angel WITH HIM. So that he could not flee, and so that fulfillment of the word of the Holy One, blessed be He, would be seen, that Esav would not harm him.

YOU HAVE STRIVEN. This is from the same root as (Hos. 12:4), "Grown to manhood, he strove [sarah] with a divine being," like "kanah - kanita," "asah - asita." But (Hos. 12:5) "He strove [vayasar] with an angel and prevailed" is of the form "shav," "kam," "ratz," from which one would say, "vayakom," "vayashar," "vayarotz." And the fact that Ya'akov was struck and was lamed was because the Holy One, blessed be He, promised him yet he fled. And we find the same thing with all those who go on the road contrary to the wishes of the Holy One, blessed be He, or who refuse to go, that they are punished. Regarding Moshe, it is written (Ex. 4:13), "make someone else Your agent," and (v.14), "The LORD became angry with Moses." And according to the Rabbinic exposition (Zev. 102a), even though the Sages said, "Everywhere [in the Torah] where 'blazing anger' is mentioned, it makes an impression," here, what impression is there? "There is your brother Aaron the Levite" (Ex. 4:14) -- he was to be the Levi, and you the Kohen; now, he will be the Kohen and you the Levi. However, according to the plain sense, [the impression is that] because he [Moshe] was making excuses to avoid going, it is written (Ex. 4:24), "At a night encampment on the way, Adonai encountered him and sought to kill him." Likewise with Yonah, who was swallowed into the belly of the fish. And likewise with Bil'am (Num. 22:22), "But God was incensed at his going" and he became lame, as it is written (v.25), "squeezed Balaam’s foot against the wall," and (Num. 23:3), "And he went off shefi" - lame, as in (Job 33:21), "his bones rubbed away [shafu]."