“The angels returned to Jacob saying ‘We came to your brother to Esau and he is also coming toward you and four hundred men are with him.’ Yaakov was very frightened and he was distressed” (Bereishis 32:7–8)
This seems difficult. We know a person’s [spiritual] level is determined by the degree to which he cleanses himself of physicality; the more he dissociates himself from the mundane the higher his level. Such a person is also better prepared for intellectual matters; this is the consensus of the philosophers.
But we seem to find that Yaakov Avinu was more attached to the mundane than all the philosophers l’havdil. After all he made a vow to Hashem (Bereishis 25:22) on condition that “He will give me bread to eat and a garment to wear” while there have been philosophers who lived as ascetics all their lives.
And then someone showed me the words of Ramban in his introduction to Toras Ha’Adam which are more precious than gold:
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