If you do a google images search on the words "jacob fighting with the angel", this (^) is what you will find. Almost every, if not every one of them seems to use רשי's opinion of the איש that יעקב was fighting with and the nature of the fight. They all depict a man with wings (human idea of an angel) having a fistfight if you will with יעקב. As these pictures depict, רשי thinks that the "איש" was עשו's heavenly representative or a "bad" angel and that the fight between the two "men" was a physical one; יעקב physically fought off an angel until the sunrise. The ברכה that the angel then gave יעקב, according to רשי, was the declaration that he (יעקב) was perfectly deserving of the physical part of the ברכה given by יצחק as well as the spiritual part.
רדק on the other hand, thinks that רשי's "bad angel" or "heavenly representative" was really 'ה showing and teaching יעקב that he can defeat עשו in a direct encounter. 'ה is doing it, according to רדק, in order to give יעקב the confidence and courage he needs to openly confront and fight עשו.
Of course it's completely up to you to decide which idea you like better, but personally even though I've always been taught differently, I like רדק's idea better. I like the idea that 'ה was letting this happen as a way of helping יעקב, not just letting it happen to him by someone/something else. The only problems that I have with it though, are:
- If 'ה was doing it to help יעקב and give him confidence and courage, why would he injure him (with the גיד הנשה)?
- How could יעקב possibly be able to match 'ה with or without Him being in some kind of form that יעקב would be able to fight?
- Why would 'ה mention that He had to go at the sunrise and beg יעקב to let Him go? If He actually had to go (which He wouldn't have), He would have been able to just go. He is all powerful. And if He didn't actually have to go, why say that He did?
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