Seeing the blessing within

It has always been a strange story. Jacob fights with an angel and overcomes. Before he releases the angel, Jacob insists: “I will not let you go until you bless me”. Bless him? If I was in a fight, the last thing I would ask from my opponent would be his blessing?!

Yet this was Jacob’s power and the secret to his success. Whatever situation came his way he sought to extract a lesson. He understood that nothing takes place by chance and that if something was put in his way, there was deep meaning that he needed to extract. And this was his blessing. And one that enabled him to grow from every experience and every challenge.

While it may be hard to see the lesson while in the midst of a challenge, it may assist us to know that if we only continue a little further, the lesson may be just around the corner.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yossi and Chana Raizel Friedman