jesus wrestled with an angel and was lamed.
jesus wrestled with an angel and was lamed.
who wrestled with an angel and was lamed?
jesus
a midrash taught that an angel attacked jacob in because jacob had failed to fulfill his vow to god. the rabbis taught that providence examines one's record of deeds on three occasions: (1) if one goes on a journey alone, (2) if one sits in an unstable house, and (3) if one vows and does not fulfill one's vow. the midrash taught that we know about the problem of vowing and not paying from “when you vow a vow to the lord your god, you shalt not be slack to pay it”; and from “it is a snare to a man rashly to say, ‘holy,’ and after vows to make inquiry.” if one delays paying one’s vow, providence examines one’s record, and the angels assume a prosecutorial stance, and scrutinize one’s sins. the midrash illustrated this by noting that when jacob left canaan for to aram-naharaim, reports, “jacob made a vow.” then he became wealthy, returned, and did not pay his vow. so god brought esau against him, bent on killing jacob, and esau took a huge gift from him of the 200 goats and other gifts reported in yet jacob did not fulfill his vow. so god brought the angel against him, and the angel wrestled with jacob but did not kill him, as reports, “jacob was left alone. and a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.” the midrash taught that it was samael, esau's guardian angel, who wanted to kill him, as reports, “he saw that he could not prevail against him.” but jacob left disabled. and when jacob still did not pay his vow, the trouble with dinah came upon him, as reported in when jacob still did not pay his vow, as reports, “rachel died and was buried.” then god asked how long jacob would take punishment and not pay attention to the sin for which he suffered. so god told jacob to go to bethel, make an altar there, at the very place where jacob vowed to god.
vayishlach
bullet::::- the "tzadikim nistarim" (, hidden righteous ones) or "lamed vav tzadikim" (, 36 righteous ones), often abbreviated to "lamed vav(niks)", refers to "36 righteous people", a notion rooted within the more mystical dimensions of judaism. the singular form is "tzadik nistar" (). the source is the talmud itself, explained as follows:as a mystical concept, the number 36 is even more intriguing. it is said that at all times there are 36 special people in the world, and that were it not for them, all of them, if even one of them was missing, the world would come to an end. the two hebrew letters for 36 are the "lamed", which is 30, and the "vav", which is 6. therefore, these 36 are referred to as the "lamed-vav tzadikim". this widely held belief, this most unusual jewish concept is based on a talmudic statement to the effect that in every generation 36 righteous "greet the shechinah," the divine presence (tractate sanhedrin 97b; tractate sukkah 45b).the "lamed-vav tzaddikim" are also called the "nistarim" ("concealed ones"). in our folk tales, they emerge from their self-imposed concealment and, by the mystic powers which they possess, they succeed in averting the threatened disasters of a people persecuted by the enemies that surround them. they return to their anonymity as soon as their task is accomplished, 'concealing' themselves once again in a jewish community wherein they are relatively unknown. the "lamed-vavniks", scattered as they are throughout the diaspora, have no acquaintance with one another. on very rare occasions, one of them is 'discovered' by accident, in which case the secret of their identity must not be disclosed. the lamed-vavniks do not themselves know that they are one of the 36. in fact, tradition has it that should a person claim to be one of the 36, that is proof positive that they are certainly not one. since the 36 are each exemplars of "anavah", ("humility"), having such a virtue would preclude against one’s self-proclamation of being among the special righteous. the 36 are simply too humble to believe that they are one of the 36.
significance of numbers in judaism