Rabbi Levinsky Sermon: December 12

This week’s Torah portion tells the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel. Jacob is alone at the river when the angel appears, and the struggle begins. No name is given, no reason explained—only bodies wrestling in the dark. Fear rises, pain sharpens, exhaustion presses in, yet Jacob continues the struggle, discovering that growth is shaped by what we refuse to flee. He grips the wrestler as his own limits are worked and widened. By morning, he limps away changed, carrying both injury and name. He is no longer only Jacob but Israel, the one who wrestles with God, formed not by ease, but by staying in struggle.