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Holding Esav's Heel: Sweetening the Judgments

Bereishis 25:26
וְאַחֲרֵי־כֵן יָצָא אָחִיו וְיָדוֹ אֹחֶזֶת בַּעֲקֵב עֵשָׂו וַיִּקְרָא שְׁמוֹ יַעֲקֹב וְיִצְחָק בֶּן־שִׁשִּׁים שָׁנָה בְּלֶדֶת אֹתָם
After that his brother came out, his hand holding on to Esav's heel, and he called his name Yaakov; and Yitzchak was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.
9“His hand holding on to Esav's heel.” It seems the verse is speaking of the harsh judgments. Samael is Esav's heavenly prince,1 and Yaakov Avinu overcame the harsh judgments so that Samael would not rule over us. Yaakov's own name is bound up with judgment: its numerical value is twice that of Elokim [counting the two Names with their letters],2 and, as we know, the Name Elokim signifies the attribute of judgment. This is the meaning of “his hand holding on to Esav's heel”:3 to sweeten the harsh judgments.4
בַּפָּסוּק וְיָדוֹ אוֹחֶזֶת בַּעֲקֵב עֵשָׂו (בראשית כה, כו). נִרְאֶה, דְּהִנֵּה יָדוּעַ שהס"מ הוּא שָׂרוֹ שֶׁל עֵשָׂו וְיַעֲקֹב אָבִינוּ הָיָה נוֹצֵחַ אֶת הַדִּינִין בִּכְדֵי שהס"מ לֹא יִשְׁלוֹט בָּנוּ וְיַעֲקֹב בְּגִימַטְרִיָּא ב' פְּעָמִים אֱלֹהִים, וְיָדוּעַ שֶׁאֱלֹהִים מוֹרֶה עַל מִדַּת הַדִּין. וְזֶהוּ וְיָדוֹ אוֹחֶזֶת בַּעֲקֵב עֵשָׂו, לְהַמְתִּיק הַדִּינִין:
  1. Samael is the force of evil. ↩
  2. Yaakov (יעקב) is 182 and Elokim (אלהים) is 86. The Arizal counts the two Names together with their ten letters: twice 86, plus 10, is 182 (Sha'ar HaPesukim, Toldos 8). ↩
  3. Editor's note: It seems the Berditchever may be drawing on the same passage of the Arizal, where akev, “heel” (עקב, 172), is itself the two Names Elokim, and Yaakov is that heel with a yud added. Holding Esav's heel would then mean taking hold of the doubled judgment in order to sweeten it. ↩
  4. “Sweetening the harsh judgments” (hamtakas hadinim) is the Kabbalistic term for softening harsh judgments at their root. ↩
In shortYaakov, whose name is twice the Name of judgment, held Esav's heel to sweeten the harsh judgments, so that Samael, Esav's heavenly prince, would not rule over us.
Takeaway

When something harsh comes upon us, we can do as Yaakov did: not run from it, but take hold of it with prayer and trust, so that the judgment itself is sweetened and the force of evil does not rule over us.

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