Zohar Vayishlach (תשפ”ו יום שלישי קבר רשבי מירון)

When the angel said to Jacob, “Let me go, because the morning is coming,” Jacob answered, “I won’t let you go unless you bless me” (Genesis 32:27).

Rabbi Yehuda opened with a verse: “Who is this who shines like the dawn, beautiful like the moon, pure like the sun, and awesome like an army with banners?” (Song of Songs 6:10).
He explained: this verse is really talking about the Jewish people at the time when Hashem will lift them up and take them out of exile. At first, Hashem will open for them a very tiny opening of light—just a thin crack. Later He will open a bigger light. And finally He will open the great supernal gates from all four directions of the world.

This is how Hashem always brings salvation to the Jewish people and to the righteous. He brings redemption little by little, not all at once.
It is like a person who has lived in darkness for a long time. If you suddenly show him a strong light, it will hurt him. So first, you shine just a very small light—thin like the eye of a needle. Then a little more. And then more. Slowly, he can handle the full light.

This is the same way Hashem redeemed Israel when they left Egypt: “Little by little I will drive them out” (Exodus 23:30).
This is also how a sick person becomes healthy. He does not recover in one moment. He gets better slowly, step by step, until he becomes strong again.

But Esau is not like this. He received his spiritual light all at once, and because he got it in a single moment, he eventually lost it, little by little. And this will continue until Israel becomes strong, and they will remove his power completely—from this world and from the next.
Because Esau received light instantly, it destroyed him. But the light of Israel grows slowly, little by little, until they become strong. And then Hashem will shine on them forever.

The sages asked: Why does the verse describe Israel as “looking out like the dawn”?
The dawn is still dark—just before the light begins. It is the thinnest, weakest kind of light.
Then comes “beautiful like the moon,” because moonlight is stronger than dawn.
Then “clear like the sun,” because sunlight is even stronger.
Finally, “awesome like an army with banners”—this means the light reaches its full, revealed strength.

Think about the early morning. First it is still dark. Then a little light appears. Then more light. And eventually the day becomes bright and full.
This is exactly how Hashem will shine on the Jewish people.
First like the dawn—thin and dark.
Then like the moon.
Then like the sun.
And finally strong, clear, and awesome, like an army in perfect formation.

Look at the language: it doesn’t say “when the dawn arrived,” but “when the dawn went up” (Genesis 32:27).
This teaches that when dawn begins to rise, the spiritual force of Esau becomes strong and tries to attack Jacob. That is the moment when Esau gains some strength.

But when the blackness of dawn rises and the light begins to come in, Jacob becomes strong—because that is the moment when his light is meant to shine.
As it says, “The sun rose for him as he passed Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh” (Genesis 32:32).
“The sun rose for him”—this means it was Jacob’s time to shine.

When the dawn began to rise, Jacob suddenly became stronger.
The angel who fought with him started to lose his strength, because this angel only has power during the night — during darkness, confusion, and fear. But Jacob has strength during the day — the time of light, clarity, and truth.

Because of this, the verse says:
“And he said, ‘Let me go, for the day breaks’”
(Genesis 32:27).
It is as if the angel said:
“The light is coming… and now I am in your hands. I cannot fight you anymore.”

“And he was limping on his thigh”—this hints to the suffering of the Jewish people in exile. As long as they are in exile, they feel pain, sorrow, and many hardships.
But when the “sun rises”—when redemption comes, when rest finally arrives—they will look back and say, “How did we survive all that pain?”
Their hearts will feel the weight of everything they endured, but the light of redemption will make everything clear and healed forever,
חזק וברוך 🌹