Vayishlach:

After taking (his family) across the stream, he sent across all his possessions. Jacob was left alone. A man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.

32:24-25

We shall decline to follow the non-Jewish commentator, who endeavored to trace Jacob’s limp…to an attack of rheumatism, caused by sleeping in the open all night, in the damp atmosphere of the brook. Such a mechanical approach to supernatural mystical events must be ruled out…We shall likewise refrain from entering into the controversy between Rambam and Ramban as to whether this wrestling constituted an external event taking place in the world of the senses, or whether a wholly, inner, prophetic experience in Jacob’s soul projected…We have merely to try to understand the significance of the struggle, and what the Torah wished to teach us through it.

Nechama Leibowitz (20^th Century)

The whole matter represents an allusion to our future history, that there would come a time when the descendants of Esav would overcome Jacob almost to the point of total destruction. This happened during the days of the Sages of the Mishnah…There were other generations who did such things to us and worse than this. But we endured all and it passed us by…

Ramban (13^th Century)

According to the sages, the dust that “whirled up” from around these two wrestlers” was a dust that rose up to the Throne of God” For this struggle was the prototype of a struggle that has continued through history; indeed, it is the basic content of world history…until the night has gone from the earth, Jacob will have to struggle.

Samson Raphael Hirsch (19^th Century)

In the Bible, Divine destinies and promises come to pass through human endeavor. Direct intervention by God through miracles is relatively rare. Usually things happen naturally, with Divine providence operating behind the scenes.

Menahem Ben Yashar (Contemporary)

The “man” was the “prince of Esav,…” (Esav’s spiritual counterpart in heaven)…The essence of a nation is not synonymous with its physical existence but with its spiritual character. No nation disappears completely until the spirit animating it, is destroyed and disappears. What we call the genius of a people is what is termed in the bible, in the language of the dawn of thought “the gods of the nation.”…The spiritual essence animating and distinguishing each people was personified…

Nachman Krochmal (19^th Century)

There are times when preoccupation with worldly matters – which are after all only our second most important concerns, exceeds what is reasonable and is apt to be misinterpreted. Jacob’s encounter with the spiritual counterpart of Esav is an example of this. Since Jacob had risen during the night in order to carry insignificant belongings across the river, this had been misinterpreted by Esav’s guardian angel as evidence that Jacob was excessively concerned with worldly goods. This provided said with the opportunity to challenge Jacob’s moral superiority over Esav….

Akedat Yitzchak (15^th Century)