In a portion filled with tension, violence, wrestling, rape, revenge and death, a small scene- a wrestling match – has captured the minds of our people for generations. Toward the beginning of Vayishlach we read: “Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he wrenched Jacob’s hip at its socket, so that the socket of his hip was strained as he wrestled with him. Then [the man] said, “Let me go, for dawn is breaking.” But [Jacob] answered, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” Said the [man], “What is your name?” [Jacob] replied, “Jacob.” Said [the man], “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with beings divine and human, and have prevailed.” (Genesis 32:25-29) Jacob becomes Israel, and the seed of our nation is planted.
Rabbi Howard J. Goldsmith comments: “With the State of Israel in the news nearly every day, it is easy to forget that the term “Israel” was around long before the advent of the modern state in 1948. Ever since Jacob wrestled with that mysterious man and received his new name, Israel, his descendants have been known as the “Children of Israel.” Throughout history, our people have thought of themselves as being descended from Jacob and, thus, took the name Israel. It is through this name that we see ourselves going out of the Land of Egypt each year during the Passover seder. It is through this name that we are called in the Sh’ma, “Hear, O Israel” to recognize the oneness of God. According to the text, Jacob received the name Israel for a specific reason: He struggled “with beings divine and human.” We are Children of Israel merely by being Jewish, but taking our name seriously is what allows us to claim that mantel fully. We are a people who wrestle with God. We question. We challenge. We seek. We struggle with our faith and our tradition… and that is what makes us Israel. Ours is not a religion of blind faith or unquestioned dogma; our very name requires us to question constantly so that, like Jacob, we can become God-wrestlers. Thus, the name given to Jacob so long ago still resonates with us today. We are not “good Jews” for keeping this or that mitzvah. We are good Jews when we take our tradition and our faith seriously enough to wrestle with it, to question it, to fit it into our lives in meaningful and important ways.
When Abraham’s name was changed, it was a permanent change because his destiny and fortune changed as well. Previously he was not worthy of having children who would inherit him, but now he was going to be a father of great nations. Besides, it was Terach who gave his son the name Abram, but it was G-d who changed it to Abraham. Jacob, on the other hand, was named through Divine inspiration. Eliyahu KiTov suggests that there was a subtle but important message in the name change. When G-d appears to Jacob and speaks to him, He speaks in the name “Eh’lo’kim,” implying that just as G-d has several names and is sometimes referred to as Hashem (the Tetragrammaton), and sometimes as Eh’lo’kim, the G-d of Power, so you [Jacob] also have several names, and that your name Jacob will be eternal. In addition, suggests KiTov, the name “Yaakov” (whose root is the word “ekev,” meaning heel or end) implies that your children will survive eternally, until the end of days. This name, says the Al-mighty, which has been given to you by your holy fathers, will never be nullified or cease to exist. Even though your enemies regard the name Jacob as emblematic of deception and crookedness, in the end of days, everyone will recognize that Jacob was straight and honest from beginning to end. Rabbi Buchwald explains:”What’s in a name? When we are called Israel it implies that we have wrestled with G-d and with man and have prevailed. It is a powerful name, with powerful implications. One would think that it should be a permanent name as well. Nevertheless, in the real world we still need Jacob, the man who is able to engage in subterfuge in order to survive, and who is able to strike back at those who are trying to undermine and undo him.”
Prepared by Devorah Abenhaim
