The Fear of the Dark

VAYISHLACHThe Fear of the DarkWhy does Yaakov speak with a diminished sense of self and disparage his spiritual merits precisely at the most difficult moments of his life, when he needs immense kindness from Heaven?Yaakov knew that this is how it works. One must go through a fall in order to leap upward, and that fall was about to happen now. Therefore he asks for mercy, that the temporary shrinking of stature pass without incident.