Rashi attributes the name given by the Torah to the sciatic nerve, Gid Hanashe, to the fact that the nerve was “nash’e,” “jumped” out of its place. When the angel struck Yaakov, he dislocated the sciatic nerve. Accordingly, the word nashe is defined as being removed from its original or usual place. Another meaning can be applied to the word “nash’e,” which sheds light upon the actual damage that resulted when the angel struck Yaakov.
Horav Avigdor Tzvi Nebentzhal, Shlita, cites the pasuk in Parashas Mikeitz (Bereishis 41:51) in which Yosef, upon naming his son Menashe, says, ki nashani elokim es kol amoli, “Hashem has made me forget all my hardship.” In this instance the word nashani is defined as “made me forget.” Hence, “nashe” has something to do with forgetting. Essentially, both definitions coincide. One who forgets has a certain frame of reference removed from his memory. Hashem facilitated Yosef’s ability to forget his affliction. How do we now reconcile our definition with the gid ha’nashe? Does it become the gid ha’shikchah the “nerve of forgetfulness”?
Horav Nebentzahl suggests that essentially this is the manner in which the angel impaired Yaakov and his descendants. Shikcha – forgetfulness – like most qualities, has its advantages as well as its disadvantages. The ability to forget can be an enormous gift that is necessary in order to maintain our sanity. The fact that Hashem has decreed that the memory of one who has passed on slowly slips away from us, is a blessing in disguise. If we would remember the death of a loved one many years later as if it had happened that day, we would go out of our minds! It is similar to our relationships with people. Imagine if we would continue remembering the humiliation we once suffered once at the hands of another person. We might never forgive him, if we had not been blessed with the ability to forget.
The Orchos Tzaddikim offers yet another “advantage” to forgetting – Torah study. If a person never forgets, he might complete the Torah and feel he has nothing more to learn. This is impossible, since there is no end to the length and breadth of the study of Torah with all of its commentary. A person might foolishly think, however, that he has learned it all and stop studying.
Obviously, there is also a downside to forgetfulness. We are obliged to remember certain things. We are to remember all of the trial and travail that has accompanied us as a nation, so that we, remember that Hashem has been with us throughout. We must remember that it is to Hashem to whom we owe everything. We may not forget divrei Torah, Torah lessons. We must review them constantly, for to forget demonstrates laxity and thoughtlessness. It shows that we do not take our Torah study seriously. We are not addressing the one who forgets because his memory fails him. We are, rather, criticizing he who desires to forget, who puts the Torah out of his mind because its mitzvos encumber him.
In light of the above, Horav Nebentzhal suggests that the “dislocation” that occurred symbolically represented the angel’s dislodging the Jew’s memory of Hashem, His Torah and mitzvos. This became the gid ha’nashe, nerve of forgetfulness, to signify the forgetfulness that Eisav’s angel penetrated into our phsyce. Had the angel not harmed Yaakov, we would be as perfect in our belief in Hashem as Yaakov Avinu was before he was struck by the angel.
