The man formerly known as Jacob: Vayishlach 5786

The conventional wisdom is that if Jacob had not stolen Esau’s blessing, the religious movement that would become Judaism would have died in the cradle. Rashi explains that Jacob demanded to be blessed by his wrestling opponent (who the commentator identifies as the guardian angel of Esau), in an attempt to clear his name. In other words, Jacob wanted the guardian angel to admit that Jacob had every right to the blessing he gained through deception because Esau was not up to the task of continuing the legacy of Abraham and Isaac. 

The Rashbam has a different point of view. He believes that the reason why Jacob was left alone when he encountered the angel was because Jacob had decided not to continue on Canaan, but rather wanted to run away in an attempt to avoid a confrontation with Esau. In essence, Rashbam is suggesting that Jacob was really wrestling with himself, his own desire to avoid his destiny, which was to transform from Jacob to Israel.

Throughout his whole life, Jacob had been a “wannabe” Esau. Jacob was born, clutching his elder twin’s heels, trying to unsuccessfully surpass him as the first born. His initial failure did not dissuade him from buying Esau’s birthright and stealing his blessing, the blessing of the first born. After the theft of the blessing, as Jacob was about to flee his enraged brother, his father blessed him again, this time with the knowledge he was blessing Jacob. This blessing was very different from the one Jacob had attained through deceit. The stolen blessing was one of dominion over brethren. This second blessing, which Isaac knowingly gave to Jacob,  was a blessing to inherit the Promised Land, that is the blessing of Abraham.

The change of Jacob’s name from “Jacob” to “Israel” demonstrates that Jacob had finally accepted his divinely ordained mission to continue in the footsteps of Abraham and Isaac instead of continuing to live as a “wannabe” Esau. Our third patriarch, who had up to this point been known as Jacob or Ya’akov in Hebrew. Ya’akov comes from the ekev, meaning “heal.,” and is derogatory in that it evokes his failed attempt to supplant Esau. But from this moment on, our third patriarch  would now be known as Israel, or Yisrael in Hebrew meaning, “he who struggles with God and man and prevails.” Unlike mortal rulers who often look for yes men, God desires those such as Abraham, who are willing to take up the struggle by challenging the status quo and even struggle with God, as Abraham did when he argued on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah.  

The name Israel (Yisrael) denotes the patriarch’s new upright status. The first three letters of Yisrael spell “yashar,” meaning “upright,” for now he would continue in the line of Abraham and Isaac who serve as God’s emissary. In fact, Yisrael contains within it the word sar, meaning “prince,” for now that he has accepted his identity, he is able to function as God’s prince. 

The acceptance of his role explains why when Esau asked Jacob how he was doing, Jacob responded, “I have everything.” Nobody has everything, because our third patriarch had shed his identity as Jacob and now embraced being Israel he was finally at peace and felt as if he had everything. Pirkei Avot famously asks, “who is truly happy” and answers “he who is content with his lot.” In fact, Jacob was so content with his lot, he asked Esau to take his blessing, that is the very blessing he had stolen from Esau years ago. In other words, Jacob returned the blessing because he realized he didn’t need it, he had never needed it. At long last Isaac’s younger son was content with his lot.

But one question remains. Why does the Torah at times still refer to the younger son of Isaac as Jacob, even after his name was changed to Israel? Rabbi Alex Israel explains that it is to remind us that change is hard. Sometimes after taking two steps forward we may falter and take a step backwards. Yet, we must continue to propel ourselves forward. Because our patriarch Israel, continued forward despite many hardships, we today continue to read his story, which is our story, a story of progress.