VaYishLach - Expecting struggle

I’d assert that one of the unfortunate downsides of modern Western culture, with its remarkable advances in technology and its focus on personal independence and the pursuit of happiness, is an expectation that – for the most part – good things will happen to us. In the extreme we can see this attitude in alarming social ills like road rage, drug abuse, and alcoholism, as well as the frighteningly high rate of divorce. More commonly, we might see this attitude in the low national rates of civic involvement and voter turnout, as well as the correspondingly high rates of TV viewership. All these troubling developments reflect a bias towards bliss and a collective retreat from the difficulties of regular life.  As a society we think that life should be happy, even easy, and we recoil when troubles come our way.

At the other end of the spectrum, a truly righteous and intellectually sophisticated person expects there to be struggle and challenge in life. He does not expect a life of ease. And he is actually surprised when he’s achieved a string of successes, wondering if something is amiss.

This perspective is illustrated nicely in this week’s Torah reading.  Preparing for his encounter with his brother Esau after 20 years absence, and fearing that his brother is murderously angry with him, Jacob prays to God. Despite the Lord’s recent promise to him, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.” (31:3) Jacob worries and states in his prayer: “I am not worthy of all the kindnesses and all the truth which you have done for your servant” (32:11).

Jacob does not see his successful escape from the home of his deceitful father-in-law, days earlier, nor the wealth and large family he’s built in the intervening 20 years, as his due. Nor does he take God’s promise for granted. Rather, he prays with genuine concern because he understands that life is often difficult and – even with God’s explicit blessing – a person can still face searing challenges and will need Divine favor to succeed.