The quintessential battle between Yaakov and Esav signifies the eternal struggle of the good and evil inclinations.  Yaakov prayed, "Save me from the hands of my brother, from the hands of Esav."  Rav Rice notes that this seeming repetition connotes the double guise of Esav, who will sometimes appear as an enemy and sometimes as a friend. When he seems like our brother, we need to be most vigilant. Similarly, the Torah writes that Esav embraced Yaakov and kissed him, "Vayishakeihu." The commentaries take two different approaches to this kiss. Some explain that Eisav's brotherly feelings were aroused and he kissed Yaakov. Others explain that Eisav actually bit him and Yaakov's neck miraculously turned to marble. Just as marble cannot become tameh, Yaakov's neck proved impervious to the venomous impurity that Esav wanted to inject his him. 

In the same vein, some say the archangel of Esav came as a rasha and others say he appeared in the guise of a tzaddik to teach us that on a metaphysical level Esav will fight Yaakov in two ways.

The Yetzer Hara comes in dual guises too. Sometimes he entices us to do evil for evil's sake. At other times he blinds our perception to think we are doing a mitzvah when we are actually sinning.

When the angel parted from Yaakov he called him Yisrael. The Chatam Sofer cites a gemara that notes that while Avraham remained Avraham, Yaakov's name switches back and forth from Yaakov to Yisrael. Yisrael connotes spiritual perfection and the angel indicates that at this level he will not attack. However, Hashem, who understands human frailty, recognizes that we will still remain "Yaakov" and even when we falter, He will not leave us.  Life is about struggle in the "Yaakov" state while yearning for the ultimate "Yisrael" state. This is the challenge of emuna.

Rav Arush notes that those who live with emuna are happy and confident, while those who do not find life unbearable.

In Shearim B'Tefilah, Rav Pincus writes that we must learn to see Hashem as our master. The struggle of Esav is the battle with the evil inclination, which tries to make us think we're in control. We must realize that life is not about the "I," but about Hashem. Our most potent weapon in this struggle is the midda of simcha, which sensitizes us to hashgacha pratit. There is almost no language that has as many expressions of joy as Hebrew because it is one of the most central tenets of Judaism.

When we feel that we're missing something, we often feel sad. A Jew's soul naturally thirsts for spirituality. Filling this void with material things only creates a false sense of happiness. We need to ask ourselves, "How much do I enjoy Torah and mitzvot and developing a connection with Hashem?" If we don't feel a bond with our Creator, then there is no desire to create beauty and joy in the relationship. We need to work on bringing Hashem into our personal lives and infusing our avoda with passion and enthusiasm. When we have an awareness of where we come from, our achievements and goals, and where we are ultimately headed, then we can begin to understand the purpose of life.

When we're down in the "Yaakov" state, Hashem is still there with us, but ultimately we must yearn for the "Yisrael" state.

May our efforts to grow help us attain true simcha and shleimut.

Our holy writings teach us that Hashem's main purpose in forming the world was to create a relationship with us. The way to attach oneself to Hashem is to bind oneself to one's Divine inner spark and through that to connect to the "shoresh haelyon," the Upper Source. 

The Nefesh Hachaim writes that the keruvim served as a symbol of Hashem's closeness to us.  When the Jews did His will, the two keruvim faced each other.  When they sinned, their backs were turned.  Hashem's great love for us and the significance he placed on developing a bond with us can be discerned from the fact that the keruvim were in the holiest place in the Beit Hamikdash. Just as Hashem's love for us is everlasting, so is our love for Him.

The Chiddushei Harim taught that each Jew has a spark, an inner tzaddik, which is protected by Hashem.  It is about this very spark that we say "magen avraham." Hashem shields it and nothing can extinguish it. When we sin, a partition rises up around the spark and our natural love for Hashem is dulled. Yet we must believe that it is still there and will burn forever no matter how far we may stray.

The keruvim were atop the aron, which held the luchot. This teaches that our connection with Hashem is dependent on Torah. The aron would carry its carriers. People who study the Torah find that it sustains them. The Zohar writes that the world reached a certain perfection when the Beit Hamikdash was built as the keruvim served to connect the Jewish people to Hashem.

Similarly, the foundation of prayer is to connect to Hashem. Tefila is work of the heart and through prayer we break through the barriers separating us from Hashem. The Maharsha in Kedushin writes that tefila has the power to change nature.  A person must never give up hope, for when he succeeds in connecting to Hashem, who transcends natural boundaries, he too can merit to go beyond nature. 

Hashem yearns to hear our prayers that stem from our inner spark. He desires His revelation in this world.  May we merit to expand the tzaddik inside of ourselves to reach ever greater heights in avodat Hashem.

Chazal tell us, "Histakel b'orayta ubara alma." Hashem looked into the Torah and created the world.  What is the implication of this in our own lives? First, Torah is the blueprint of the world. Second, we pre-existed the Torah.  The world was created as a backdrop to the soul's need for free choice and Torah is the key. Our collective soul, the part that makes us one, is as close to the essence of Hashem as anything can possibly be. We are complex beings. When we sin, our animal self overtakes our spiritual self. We constantly struggle and the only way to strengthen our spiritual selves is through Torah. Therefore, Torah had to be created before the world came into existence.

Chazal tell us, "Barati yetzer hara, barati Torah tavlin." I created the evil inclination and I created the Torah as its spice. People try to drive evil out of their lives in myriad ways but only Torah really works. The yetzer hara takes the world with its existing components and makes evil out of it.  It is the force that makes us think that evil is creative. We all confuse good with evil at times, by seeing the physical world as more vivid than the spiritual world and letting it overtake us. Only Torah can cure us of this spiritual blindness.

What should a woman's relationship to Torah be? Women have a part in Torah that is distinctly their own. Historically a Jewish woman's connection to Torah was mostly experiential and largely osmosis. However, within the last century, Hashem has brought women to a more direct access to Torah. This is not because we've changed, but rather because Hashem is taking us to a different place. Although today there is more of an intellectual connection, women are still drawn to the feminine aspects of Torah.  Studies that are technical and analyze the entire mosaic of being and the reasoning behind it do not resonate with most women. Maharal notes that emuna - faith - is feminine, while emet - truth - is masculine. Emet means seeing things as they are by knowing Torah well. This involves studying the technicalities of halacha, such as what is prohibited and permitted. This movement is from above to below. Emuna is looking at the world, perceiving Hashem, and uplifting physicality. Emuna moves from below to above. Men achieve perfection by encountering the yetzer hara and beating it. Torah gives us guidelines to do this. Women are drawn to the part of Torah, which focuses on the inner self.

The Yetzer Hara makes us feel autonomous and distant from Hashem. The only way to return is to go back to the pattern in which Hashem created the world. The only real weapon we have is Torah.