When Yakov was all alone, a man came and struggled with him until the breaking of dawn.... Then the man said "Let me leave, for the sun has risen!"

(Bereishit 32:25-27)

Rashi reveals some of the secrets of this passage. According to the Midrash, Rashi tells us, this "person" was none other than the guardian angel of Esav. (Each nation has a representative in Hashem's heavenly court -- Shmot Rabba 21:5, see also Rashi Devarim 2:31. Esav, as forebear of the Roman nation, had his own "guardian angel.") His struggle with Yakov was intended to foreshadow Esav's eventual domination over Yakov. Instead, however, it was the angel that succumbed to Yakov. Yakov's symbolic victory was a sign that he was destined to overpower Esav and to survive Esav's attempts to crush him.

The commentaries agree that this encounter did not merely foreshadow the interaction between the two brothers at their impending meeting. Rather, it served as a prophetic synopsis of the relationship between their descendants throughout the generations.

The Kli Yakar offers his interpretation of the struggle, encapsulating many of the suggestions of his predecessors. He maintains that the struggle between Yakov and the guardian angel of Esav represented the struggle between the descendants of Yakov and the forces of evil who try to obscure the presence of Hashem in this world. The struggle is a constant one. The descendants of Yakov are continually trying to show the world that there is a Creator. They must both bolster their own faith and spread the fear of Hashem throughout the world -- all the while facing the harsh opposition of Esav and his emissaries. This is the struggle between Yakov and the angel of Esav (who is actually none other than the Satan himself -- see Parasha Page for Toldot 5756, section III).

The Kli Yakar explains that the sun is the great witness to Hashem's power in this world (as we explained at length in the Parasha Page for Sukkot 5756, section II). When a person contemplates the sun, with its tremendous display of energy and its life giving functions, it makes him aware of the power that Hashem exerts on this world. Armed with this reminder, he is able to overcome all the seductions presented by the material world to draw him away from his Creator.

This is the reason the angel only fought until dawn. With the rising of the sun, the angel said, "I have no more power over Yakov." And this is the manner in which we must fight against the forces of Esav throughout the generations. We must encourage ourselves to fear none but Hashem Himself, by taking note of the signs of Hashem's power that we constantly see in this world.

In the beginning of Parashat Vayetze, we are told that Yakov, during his travels, was forced to stop "because the sun had arrived" (this is the literal translation, although idiomatically it is usually rendered, "the sun set"). The Midrash explains:

What does it mean that Yakov stopped "Because the sun had arrived?" Yakov, upon his arrival at that place, heard the ministering angels saying, "The sun has arrived, the sun has arrived!"

Years later, when his son Yosef said (Bereishit 37:9) "I dreamed, and behold the sun and the moon (which, as Rashi tells us, represent Yosef's father and mother)... were bowing down to me," Yakov exclaimed, "Who revealed to my child this secret, that I am called the sun?!"

(Bereishit Rabba 68:10)

We find a similar theme in another Midrash:

"And Hashem called the light (which he created on the first day of Creation) 'day'" (Bereishit 1:5)-- this refers to Yakov. "And the darkness he called 'night'" (ibid.) -- this refers to Esav. "And there was evening" (ibid.)-- this is the dominion of Esav. "And there was morning" (ibid.)--this is the dominion of Yakov.

(Bereishit Rabba 2:3)

The name "Yakov" is often used to refer not only to the patriarch himself, but to the entire Jewish people (see, for example, Bemidbar 24:5). Yakov, or the Jewish nation as a whole, is compared to light. The mission of the Jewish people is to bring the light of Hashem's teachings, i.e. the Torah of Hashem, to the world at large. In this way, the Bnai Yisrael are the "light" of the world. The forces that are trying to stop them are the "darkness" of the world. This is the meaning of the Midrash which states that Esav is darkness. Esav represents the forces which are trying to keep the world in the dark and to prevent Yakov from spreading his light.

This is also the message of the first Midrash which we quoted above. The angels informed Yakov, as he left his father's house and began to make his way into the open world, that his mission was to be like the sun -- to be a beacon of spiritual light to nations of the world. When Yosef saw in his dream that his father was represented by the sun, it was a sign that Yakov would continue to fulfill this mission upon his descent to Egypt, after Yosef was appointed to a position of influence in that country.

With this in mind, perhaps we can suggest a deeper meaning behind the wrestling angel's statement about the sun. The angel gave up the fight when he saw that "the sun was rising." The angel realized that Yakov would never succumb to the material enticements presented to him by the surrounding nations. The sun *of Yakov* was rising, and would repulse the forces of evil and not be subdued. Yakov himself would forever be a beacon of light to the nations of the world. That is what the angel meant by saying, "Let me leave, for the sun has risen" -- "You have succeeded in your mission, Yakov; I have no more power over you." And just as Esav's forces lost in their struggle with Yakov, so too, whenever Yakov's children fulfill their mission, by revealing Hashem's presence in the world, Esav will have no power over them.

Said Rav Levi: Why is a person's voice not heard as well by day as it is by night? Because of the sound produced by the sun's disc as it saws its way through the Heavens like a sawyer cutting down cedars.

The dust which can be discerned hanging in the air where the sun shines is the sawdust that is produced by the sun's progress. It is referred to in Hebrew as "Lo" -- "nothingness." This is what Nevuchadnetzar (the Babylonian king who destroyed the First Temple) meant when he said (Daniel 4:32): "All of the inhabitants of the earth are as 'Lo' [to Hashem]."

(Gemara Yoma 20b)

As we learned above, the night, when the great beacon of Hashem is not shining on the land, is Esav's dominion. It is a time when we do not see Hashem's hand clearly in the world. It is under the cover of night that a person is particularly susceptible to the persuasions of the forces of evil. This is what the Midrash means when it says, "And there was evening" -- this is the dominion of Esav." The darkness of night allows a person to forget his Creator.

When Rav Levi asked, "Why is the voice of person heard better at night," he meant, "Why is a *person* dominated by his physical, worldly impulses at night more than by day?" His answer was that by day, the sun can be heard boring through the heavens like a man sawing through cedars. The daytime is dominated by the "voice" of the sun, that great harbinger of Hashem's mighty presence. This bolsters a person's faith, and makes him less susceptible to the persuasions of the Evil Inclination.

The manner in which the sun cuts through the firmament is compared to "a man cutting through cedars." The tall, erect cedar tree is used by the Torah as a symbol of haughtiness (Rashi, Vayikra 14:4). As the sun cuts its way through the heavens, Hashem cuts the haughty down to size. The sun humbles the arrogant by openly demonstrating Hashem's power.

"The dust which can be discerned hanging in the air where the sun shines is the sawdust that is produced by the sun's progress." --The dust that reflects light in the sun's rays, reminds us of the lesson in humility that we derive from the sun. Wherever the sun shines, we are reminded that "You are dust, and you will return to dust" (Bereishit 3:19). We are made aware of the overwhelming power of Hashem, compared to our own impotence. This is precisely the context in which "Lo" is quoted in Daniel -- "All of the inhabitants of the world are like nothingness [to Hashem]."

This, then, is the lesson of the sun's "sawing," a lesson of which we are reminded every time we see dust suspended in a beam of sunlight. The passage in Yoma, rather than being an outdated lesson in astronomy, is actually a deep philosophical lesson of faith in Hashem.