The first wrestling match in recorded history took place in Parashat Vayishlach: ”וַיִּוָּתֵר יַעֲקֹב לְבַדּוֹ וַיֵּאָבֵק אִישׁ עִמּוֹ עַד עֲלוֹת הַשָּׁחַר,” “Yaakov remained there alone, and a man wrestled with him until dawn. Chazal explain that this “man” was ”שָׂרוֹ שֶׁל עֵשָׂו,” “Esav’s guardian angel”—the spirit of Esav. The fight was not physical but a spiritual battle between Yaakov and Esav. Many find in this struggle an allusion to Chanukah, as Chanukah was the first time the Jews faced religious persecution. The spiritual battle of Chanukah was foreshadowed by the confrontation between Yaakov and the “spirit of Esav.” Interestingly enough, Esav’s spirit was separated from his body in this battle. Yaakov’s spirit and body, however, were combined as one.
This ties into the notable miracle of the oil in the Menorah. We can ask the question — why is it that right after the Jews beat the Greeks, the Jews lit the Menorah? Why was this act in particular so important?
There are two aspects of the human being. One is the physical, the גוף, and the second is the spiritual aspect, the נשמה. As it says in BeReishit: “ויפח באפיו רוח נשמת חיים,” “Hashem blew a spirit into the body.” The spiritual element in a person can also be called the נפש. The נפש is the bridge between the two worlds of the body and soul, and it helps them work together. The main difference between the Greek and Jewish societies, which made them clash, was their belief about this subject. The Greeks believed in the separation of the spiritual and the physical—spirit had no impact on the physical aspects of life. This is why the Greeks built many monuments and sculptures, achieving the epitome of physical construction. We, the Jewish People, believe that the two elements of body and soul are intertwined. The physical, in a sense, serves the spiritual. The physical body enables the Neshamah to bring light and holiness to the world.
After the Jews won the battle against the Greeks, it is only fitting that they lit the Menorah. The Menorah is the perfect symbol of our philosophy—the oil is the physical part of the lamp, the flame is spiritual, and the wick is the bridge between the two. The wick draws the oil up, which fuels the intangible flame. This symbolizes what we should be doing with our physical bodies—transforming our physical energy into spiritual energy. It is fascinating that the נפש, the bridge between the two worlds, is composed of the three letters, נ, פ, ש. These three letters can stand for, נר, פתיל, שמן, the flame, wick, and oil. Our נפש is like a candle.
We can learn a critical lesson from the confrontation between Yaakov and the angel. Their fight was between the two ways of life; the Greek’s separatist view regarding the physical and spiritual worlds against the Jewish view where the two are merged. In the end, Yaakov wins the battle, and the message is clear: the physical being cannot successfully exist independent of its spiritual counterpart, but when we unite them, we become an illuminating force with limitless potential.