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Out of the 613 Mitzvos, only three of them are found in the entire Sefer Bereishis. To have children and to give one’s son a Bris come before the final Mitzvah of not eating the Gid Hanasheh, sciatic nerve. We are told in this week’s Parsha that when Yaakov battled with the angel of Eisav (the Zohar says that this angel was none other than the Yetzer Harah) it was there that he was wounded and thus we do not eat that nerve in any Kosher animal (Bereishis 32:33). Why was he hit there and what practical lesson can we learn from this?

The commentators point out some interesting ideas on this topic. Biologically, the sciatic nerve begins in the lower back and runs down to the lower limb (thigh). It is the longest and widest single nerve in the human body. It connects the upper body to the lower body.

The evil angel wished to cause Yaakov to disconnect his upper body, which possessed knowledge and logic, from his lower body, which represents earthly drives. The Yetzer Harah wishes for us to follow the drives of our bodies and not to heed to our knowledge of the truth and futility of sins. In order to remind ourselves that our purpose on earth is to subdue our earthly desires, we refrain from eating that nerve. This reminds us of the Yetzer Harah’s gaol and our commitment to overcome him.

Additionally, one opinion in the Midrash states that Yaakov was hit on the left side of his body. What does this signify? There were two Luchos given to Moshe. On the right Tablet was inscribed 5 commandments that discussed the service of Hashem (don’t serve Avodah Zarah, keep Shabbos, etc.). On the left Tablet appeared the five commandments that spoke about relationships between man and his fellow friend (don’t steal, murder, etc.). The left side of Yaakov being wounded shows that the Evil Inclination’s greatest area of domination lies in the domain of the left Tablet, personal relationships between people. The Yetzer Harah works hard to destroy harmony and peace between people and to cause fights and Lashon Harah. This is because when Hashem sees his children not respecting Him, He can be more forgiving, but when He sees his children hurting each other, Hashem acts swiftly to correct the problem. Indeed, when the convert asked Hillel to teach him the entire Torah on one foot, Hillel shared with him the powerful lesson of not doing to others what one doesn’t want done to him (Shabbos 31a).

The Gid Hanasheh teaches us to focus on personal growth and character development.

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