Why We Remember Jacob’s Limp Of the six hundred and thirteen commandments in the Torah, only three appear in the book of Genesis: the commandment to be fruitful and multiply, the covenant of circumcision, and in this week’s Torah portion, in response to the story of the angel wrestling with Jacob and dislocating his hip, the prohibition of eating the Gid Hanashe, the sciatic nerve: Therefore, the children of Israel may not eat the displaced tendon, which is on the socket of the hip, until this day, for he touched the socket of Jacob's hip, in the hip sinew. (Genesis 32:33) The first two commandments, procreation and the covenant with G-d, are obviously pivotal and fundamental; but why is the episode with the angel so important that it warrants a commandment in the book of Genesis even before the Torah was given? The sages teach that “the actions of the parents are a sign for the children”. The stories of the patriarchs are archetypes of the events that would occur at a later time in history with the Jewish people. The story of the mysterious man wrestling with Jacob all night is interpreted as a precursor to the oppression that the Jewish people would undergo throughout the lengthy exile. Jacob’s injured hip represents the profound affliction that we experience. As the Chinuch explains: It is from the roots of this commandment [that it is to serve as] a hint to Israel that though they will suffer many troubles in the exile by the hand of the nations and by the hand of the descendants of Esav, [the Jews] should trust that they will not perish, but rather that their descendants and name will stand firm forever, and that their redeemer will come and redeem them from their oppressor. And in continually remembering this idea through the commandment that serves as a reminder, they will stand firm in their faith and righteousness forever. And this hint [stems from the fact that] that the angel who fought with Yaakov our forefather — who, according to tradition, was the guardian angel of Esav — wished to eliminate Yaakov from the world, he and his descendants; but he could not [get the better] of him, but anguished him in injuring his thigh. Likewise, Esav’s seed anguishes the seed of Yaakov; but in the end, [the latter] will be saved from them. As we find with respect to [our] forefather that the sun shone to heal him and he was saved from pain, so will the sun of the messiah shine and he will heal us from our pain and redeem us speedily in our days, amen! This story, then, is a critical story and lesson for us to remember, placing it as one of the first three commandments in all of the Torah. The commandment reminds us that, despite the suffering we endure, G-d watches over us and protects us, and that everything that happens in our lives is by Divine providence. Indeed, the commemoration of the story is related to the specifics of the event, the specific sinew that was affected, as opposed to a remembrance of the general story, in order to remind us that not only does G-d orchestrate the big events in our lives, but rather every detail in our lives is specifically orchestrated by G-d with a specific purpose. We may not know why we crossed this path, or met this person, or lived through this experience, yet we know that at every moment, and at every crossroad, there is a reason why we are here, and a purpose to fulfill.