When Yaakov hears that his brother Esav is coming to attack,he prepares himself for battle and makes a plan.

אִם־יָבוֹא עֵשָׂו אֶל־הַמַּחֲנֶה הָאַחַת וְהִכָּהוּ וְהָיָה הַמַּחֲנֶה הַנִּשְׁאָר לִפְלֵיטָה׃

If Esav comes to the one camp and attacks it, the other camp may yet escape. (32:9)

He also sent Esav a gift to appease him and possibly avoid battle.

וַיָּלֶן שָׁם בַּלַּיְלָה הַהוּא וַיִּקַּח מִן־הַבָּא בְיָדוֹ מִנְחָה לְעֵשָׂו אָחִיו׃

After spending the night there, he selected from what was at hand these presents for his brother Esav. (32:14)

Ramban (Nachmonides) writes that we see from here that Yaakov did not rely on his merits to be saved from his threatening brother. Rather he engaged in the efforts needed to save himself and his family to the best of his ability. If even Yaakov doesn’t rely on miracles then we certainly need to engage in whatever efforts we need to provide for ourselves.

But there was one more thing that he knew he had to do. He prayed.

וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב אֱ-לֹהֵי אָבִי אַבְרָהָם וֵא-לֹהֵי אָבִי יִצְחָק ה’ הָאֹמֵר אֵלַי שׁוּב לְאַרְצְךָ וּלְמוֹלַדְתְּךָ וְאֵיטִיבָה עִמָּךְ׃ […] הַצִּילֵנִי נָא מִיַּד אָחִי מִיַּד עֵשָׂו כִּי־יָרֵא אָנֹכִי אֹתוֹ פֶּן־יָבוֹא וְהִכַּנִי אֵם עַל־בָּנִים׃

Then Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, ‘Return to your native land and I will deal bountifully with you’! […] Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; else, I fear, he may come and strike me down, mothers and children alike.

Yaaakov taught us that no matter how much effort we put in, it is essential that we turn to Hashem in prayer acknowledging that our efforts are meaningless without His willingness to bring them to success.

Now, in his prayer Yaakov makes a remarkable statement.

קָטֹנְתִּי מִכֹּל הַחֲסָדִים וּמִכׇּל־הָאֱמֶת אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתָ אֶת־עַבְדֶּךָ כִּי בְמַקְלִי עָבַרְתִּי אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּן הַזֶּה וְעַתָּה הָיִיתִי לִשְׁנֵי מַחֲנוֹת׃

I am unworthy of all the kindness that You have so steadfastly shown Your servant: with my staff alone I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. (32:11)

Let’s look back at the past twenty years of Yaakov’s life. He was forced to flee for his life from his father’s home. He worked seven years for the woman he wanted to marry only to be tricked into marrying her sister and then needing to work another seven years for her. As he continues to work he is constantly beset with the shenanigans of his conniving father-in-law trying to cheat him out of the earnings he deserved. But at the end, Yaakov comes out on top. If there was anyone who could have seen himself as someone who pulled himself up by his bootstraps and persevered through hard work, it was him. But he didn’t do that. Rather he declared how unworthy he was of, “all the kindness that You (Hashem) have so steadfastly shown Your servant.” Everything he came out of and everything he came out with were the kindnesses that Hashem had constantly bestowed upon him.

It wasn’t about him. It was about Hashem.

With prayer and gratitude to the Almighty, along with his efforts, Yaakov readied himself to face a challenge greater than all those that he had faced before.

And with that he taught us how to face our own challenges and merit salvation and success.

Shabbat Shalom!
Yitzchak