Page:A Jewish Interpretation of the Book of Genesis (Morgenstern, 1919, jewishinterpreta00morg).pdf/291

Rh 273

Jacob and Bsau

There is no assurmust be backed by unfailing trust in God, and strength of will and determination for the right, which endure for all time and under all circumstances, which can withstand the allurements of fortune and prosperity and smug self-complacency, as well as the discouragements of adversity and failure and self-

succumb

teen years, only to

in the end.

ance that good will triumph of

condemnation.

But when the

It

itself.

faith

be

courage

the

firm,

dauntless and the will steadfast, then victory

is

assured in

And with the first ray of the dawn, which heralds our new day, we step forth from the combat, changed men, blessed by the very evil powers with which we have striven, no longer the old Jacob, but now the new Israel, God's

the end.

cham^^ion.

Yet we never emerge unscathed. The battle is too long Some of our strength is sapped, and hard and exacting. some of our vigor is abated, some of our youth is fled it and we is the inevitable price of experience and wisdom for this battle, too, must limp upon the thigh as we go





wounds and scars. And if ward more slowly upon the course

leave

its

thereafter of

life,

we go forwhich leads

toward the goal of existence whicli God has appointed for each of us, and if we limp, and at times even halt and falter, still it is all in accordance with God's plan, and we can only continue to push on as best we may. After all, as the Bible so wisely says, "the race is not always to the swift" (Ecand he who limps in God's service will clesiastes IX, 11) attain the goal of life more surely and speedily than he who runs after evil. True living consists in striving rather than in attaining, in fighting bravely and manfully throughout the long, dark hours of the night against the powers of evil which seek to conquer and submerge mankind, and in con;

quering just as the dawn breaks.

Victory over

be gained in the darkness of the night. night,

and

lives

and grows ever stronger

Evil

is

evil

can not

the child of

in the black shad- \n