You and G-d are partners in creation

“Life is full of loneliness, misery, and suffering, and it's all over much too soon.” — Woody Allen

In one of the Torah’s most dramatic scenes, we read in this week's portion, Vayishlach:
“Jacob remained alone, and a man wrestled with him until dawn.”

The struggle was intense. When the mysterious attacker saw that he could not defeat Jacob, he struck Jacob’s hip. 

Yet Jacob prevailed, and with this victory earned a new name: Yisrael one who struggles with G-d and man and triumphs.

What captures our imagination is the phrase: “Jacob remained alone.” At his defining moment, Jacob stands in solitude. 

There is sadness here humans are not meant to be alone.

Yet the Midrash offers a very different interpretation. It compares Jacob being “alone” to the Messianic future described by Isaiah:
“G-d will be exalted alone on that day.”
Just as G-d is “alone,” the Midrash says, so Jacob was “alone.”

Why compare Jacob’s lonely nighttime battle to G-d’s ultimate revelation?

The Chassidic Insight

On 19 Kislev, the holiday of Chassidut, we turn to a teaching from Rabbi Moshe, grandson of the Baal Shem Tov.

In Degel, he explains the Midrash using the Talmudic statement:

“Every person must say: The world was created for me.”

If the world were created for me, then in a deep spiritual sense, I am alone:

 The world’s purpose depends on my choices.

 I am not here to impress others or seek their approval. I am an essential pillar of creation. 

When a person realizes this, they can serve G-d with clarity and purity.

 In that state, all negativity and confusion fall away, and the truth becomes visible: 

G-d is alone, and you — His messenger — are alone with Him.

This is the meaning of the Midrash:
“Jacob remained alone”—he grasped that he had a unique, irreplaceable mission.
“G-d will be exalted alone”—when a person reaches such inner clarity, G-d’s oneness is revealed through them.

Two Types of Loneliness

There is a loneliness that paralyzes. Born of trauma, shame, fear, or betrayal, it pushes a person into hiding. 

Life becomes a mask to escape the pain.

But there is another type:  the solitude of purpose.

A recognition that I am unique. No one else can bring my light into the world.

 My voice, my love, my mission cannot be duplicated.

This is Adam’s message in the Talmud:
“For my sake, the world was created.”
Not as arrogance, but as responsibility. Something in creation waits for me alone.

Jacob, the twin, was never truly alone. He emerged holding Esav’s heel. 

He took blessings by impersonating Esav. He said the tragic words, “I am Esav.”

Like the insecure modern person who chases status, accomplishments, 

and validation yet feels hollow inside, Jacob spent much of his early life competing and comparing.

But in Vayishlach, Jacob separates from all that. He becomes individuated.
He stops playing Esav’s game and discovers his own infinite identity.

The nighttime struggle gives him scars because becoming yourself is painful. 

You cannot get a new name without wounds.

Jacob becomes Yisrael, not at the end of his journey, 

but at its fragile beginning, when he dares to be an “amateur” instead of a perfect imitation of someone else.

“Jacob remained alone” teaches that your deepest battles are fought when you stand face-to-face with yourself. 

And in that moment, you must remember:

You are infinite.
You are free.
You are singular.
Nothing can destroy the real you, and nobody can fulfill your mission.

You and G-d are alone in the world partners in creation.

Chassidus teaches the Jew who he really is.

Rabbi Chaim Kreiswirth once recalled fleeing Europe before WWII. 

A Jew, fearing he wouldn’t survive, entrusted him with a Swiss bank account number containing a fortune. 

Decades later, in Antwerp, a desperate, impoverished Jew named Reb Aaron came to Rabbi Kreiswirth seeking help. 

As they spoke, Rabbi Kreiswirth realized this was a relative of the wealthy man.

“You are not poor,” he said. “You are a rich man.”
He handed Reb Aaron the account number.

Reb Aaron had lived a life of poverty not because he lacked wealth, but because he didn’t know what he possessed.

So too with us.
We think we are spiritually impoverished when, in truth, we are heirs to immeasurable treasure.
This is the Baal Shem Tov’s and the Alter Rebbe’s message:

You are infinite.
You are G-d’s ambassador on earth.
The world was created for you.

All of history, and all of creation, is waiting for your next step.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky