Dec 5, 2025 – Vayishlach

Wrestling: A Poetic Approach
Three Writers on Jacob’s Altercation With the Angel

For all the poetry lovers out there, this Shabbat is another especially good one for you.

After 20 years away from home, Jacob returns but not without confronting his past. All this time, the guilt of deceiving his father and robbing his brother has weighed heavily on his mind.

Alone at night he wrestles with an unnamed being. The passage has been the inspiration for scores of poems. Tonight we share three of them during our service.

With her keen insight into loneliness and longing, Emily Dickinson’s “A Little East of Jordan” depicts Jacob summoning all the strength and cunning he can to combat his foe.

Rainer Maria Rilke’s “The Man Watching” is a cautionary tale warning us not to be overconfident about Jacob holding his own. Victory is difficult to define, and defeat need not be devastating.

Likewise, Malcolm Guite’s “Jacob Wrestles” paints a perplexing portrait of the patriarch’s pivotal moment. The artist is intrigued by what Jacob wants out of the unnamed being and what the future of a new name portends.

Along with beautiful music from Lauren Hill and Jerry Suhl, we hope these poems will make for a memorable evening and meaningful prayer.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter