Jacob was on his way to a reconciliation with his estranged brother, Esau, when he inexplicably returned across a river. It was there that he battled a formidable foe until the dawn, incurring a permanent injury. Jacob risked the encounter, says the Talmud,3 because he wished to recover some assets he had left behind. The rule is, ancient sages say, that a wise person values his money more than his body.
