What’s in a Name?

We’ve all experienced this at some point or another. Someone we know decides that he or she is no longer going by the name that we have known them by for years. It could be due to a new marriage, a decision to use one’s Hebrew name, or simply because they outgrew a nickname. All three of these scenarios are positive expressions of growth. We have every reason to be encouraging, and yet, why is it that even the respectful and supportive among us, still inevitably lapses and calls these folks by their formerly known names?

I suspect that we struggle with this for multiple reasons. Firstly, old habits die hard. It takes a lot of conscious effort not to fall into the trap of doing what you’ve been doing automatically for so many years. Secondly, it is terribly awkward. A name is the first thing that you learn (and forget) about a person. It is at the very base of the relationship. To suddenly shift something at the foundation, kind of makes it feel like you’re shifting the whole relationship, even though it is only the name that is changing. All things considered, it makes a lot of sense why we would mess up from time to time, after all, we are only human.

But Hashem isn’t. And the Torah isn’t. So it is odd that even though the מלאך of עשו tells יעקב that his name will no longer be יעקב, but ישראל, that both Hashem and the Torah almost exclusively continue to refer to יעקב as יעקב.

Back in פרשת לך לך, there is a similar story. אברם is also informed that he will no longer be אברם, but אברהם instead. Only in his case, it sticks. He never goes back to being אברם. In fact, the גמרא in ברכות tells us that if one were to call אברהם, אברם, he would be transgressing a לאו. Why is this not the case for יעקב as well?

The גמרא addresses this and explains that whereas אברהם received a replacement name, יעקב acquired an additional one. But if that is so, why tell us that his name will no longer be יעקב? Why not say, “Your name will no longer be JUST יעקב?”

רש”י on the פסוק here in וישלח explains that this name change is really just with regard to the בכורה. After the battle with the מלאך, when the מלאך concedes that the birthright is undisputedly יעקב’s, it finally cements the deal. People will no longer question the legitimacy of יעקב’s claim to the בכורה, and they will instead acknowledge that it truly belongs to him not due to deception and trickery, but through noble conduct.

The implication here, as I understand it, is that with matters directly concerning the בכורה, the name used to refer to יעקב is ישראל in order to highlight the legitimacy of his claim. When we see יעקב being called ישראל, the Torah is relating to יעקב as the (rightful) בכור.

The מהר”ל in his commentary נצח ישראל explains what בכורה is. The ב that begins the Torah, בראשית ברא, is a reference to the second world, עולם הבא. This, he says, is the בכורה. To be the בכור, is to be connected to עולם הבא, the second world. The מהר”ל then calls attention to the letters of בכור.

ב כ ר- Each one of these letters is a 2.
ב = 2.
כ = 20.
ר = 200.

ב is the second, because it acknowledges that it is coming after what was first. In the case of בכורה, the father comes first. One’s role as the בכור is implicitly tied to who came before him. He is second to number one, his father. His right to what he inherits, as well as who he is, is all through his connection to his father. The בכור, more than any of his siblings, is invested with all of the potential of the father. His role is to take this potential and use it to represent his father and carry on his legacy. It is this role which earns him the right to inherit more than his brothers. The בכורה that is the connection to עולם הבא is passed down from father to son beginning with אברהם, who was the first to inherit from Hashem. How did he earn this privilege? He chose to be the בכור of Hashem by taking on the role of representing Hashem in the world. At that point Hashem decided to relate to אברהם as his father, and He allowed for אברהם to inherit from Him. When it was time, אברהם invested all of his potential into יצחק.

עשו was meant to be next, but two things happened. The first was that עשו rejected his role as the בכור to represent his father when he chose a completely different path from יצחק . The second was his rejection of his connection to the spiritual world when he sold it for something physical, in this case, lentil soup.

Even though יעקב assumed some ownership over the בכורה once he bought it from עשו, there remained a vestige of עשו’s connection to the spiritual world that came in the form of his מלאך. As long as that connection was intact, the בכורה could not be considered 100 percent יעקב’s. Hashem sent עשו’s מלאך to give יעקב the opportunity to take full ownership over the בכורה, and he succeeded. He received the name ישראל in order to prove that the בכורה was finally legitimately his. When the פסוק tells us that he won’t be called יעקב anymore, it is only with regard to the בכורה. When the name ישראל is used, it is because the בכורה is being referenced, and יעקב is called ישראל there to emphasize his rightful ownership of it.

If we pay close attention to the times when the Torah does refer to יעקב as ישראל, an interesting pattern emerges. Most of the time, it is when documenting יעקב’s exchanges with יוסף or בנימין. What is it about them that evokes יעקב’s connection to the בכורה?

יוסף, as we know, got the בכורה from יעקב. He, like יעקב before him, and יצחק before him, shared אברהם’s physical characteristics. בראשית רבה states that whatever happened to יעקב, also happened to יוסף. This follows our understanding that the father invests his בכור with all of his potential. Remarkably, the גמרא in סוטה says that יוסף was even capable of having all 12 שבטים on his own. We see proof of all of this potential right when יוסף is born.

Immediately following יוסף’s birth, יעקב decides to go back to his homeland. רש”י quotes a פסוק in עובדיה (from our הפטרה) to explain why only now was יעקב willing to face עשו.

וְהָיָה֩ בֵית־יַעֲקֹ֨ב אֵ֜שׁ וּבֵ֧ית יוֹסֵ֣ף לֶהָבָ֗ה וּבֵ֤ית עֵשָׂו֙ לְקַ֔שׁ וְדָלְק֥וּ בָהֶ֖ם וַאֲכָל֑וּם וְלֹֽא־יִֽהְיֶ֤ה שָׂרִיד֙ לְבֵ֣ית עֵשָׂ֔ו כִּ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה דִּבֵּֽר׃

The ילקוט שמוני explains that יעקב understood that אין עשו נופל אלא ביד זרעו של יוסף.
עשו will only fall through the descendants of יוסף.

This rule is observed throughout history. We see it next when משה puts יהושע from שבט אפרים at the head of the war with עמלק after יציאת מצרים. It was clear to Moshe that only through כלל ישראל’s connection to יוסף, could עמלק be defeated.

Intriguingly, other sources in חז”ל, including the מכילתא דרבי שמעון בן יוחאי י״ז, widen this statement to also include the בני בנימין. He writes: שאין בני עשו נופלין אלא ביד בניה של רחל:

This too, is seen throughout history. The fact that שאול and מרדכי, descendants of בנימין, are also charged with facing off with עמלק, prove it. But how does this כח from יוסף extend to בנימין?

The גמרא in סוטה explains how יוסף had the potential to have 12 tribes all on his own. However, in an effort to fight the temptation posed by אשת פוטיפר, the גמרא relates that יוסף thrust his fingertips into the ground and the seed of 10 of these potential שבטים left him. Then the גמרא explains that בנימין had these 10 kids that יוסף lost the potential for fathering himself, and named them all for יוסף. Add these ten to מנשה and אפרים, who we know were worthy of being considered שבטי קה, and now there are 12 that constitute the potential to be כלל ישראל in their own right. What happened here is a form of יבום. This explains how even though בנימין technically fathered these 10 children, they were in fact שייך to יוסף. And now we can understand how they could be absorbed under the privileges of being בני יוסף. That is to say, whatever potential בני יוסף had was extended to בני בנימין.

Additionally, it is worthwhile to mention that בנימין had an aspect of בכורה in his own right. You see, בנימין was the first to be born to ישראל. In essence, he was ישראל’s בכור.

Considering that יוסף and בנימין were the manifestation of יעקב’s connection to the בכורה, it is not surprising that the Torah chooses to call him ישראל when he interacts with them. This is exactly what the מלאך tells יעקב when he gets his new name. “(With matters regarding the בכורה) You will no longer be called יעקב.”

After the מלאך gives יעקב his new name ישראל, and they part ways, the next פסוק says, “ויזרח לו השמש”. The Torah is not a cute story that tells us things like, “One beautiful day, the sun was shining…” Also, what could it mean that the sun rose for him?

If we go back to בראשית ברא and look at רש”י over there, he says something fascinating. בראשית, he says, is a contraction of two words: בשביל and ראשית. Hashem created the world for the sake of ראשית. Who is ראשית? The Torah, which is called ראשית דרכו and ישראל who is called ראשית תבואתו. Or in other words, ביכורים from the language of בכור. This means that the reason Hashem created the world was for the sake of ישראל, who is Hashem’s בכור.

When the Torah says that the sun rose for יעקב, I think that the Torah is confirming what we just uncovered. Now, for the first time ever, ישראל exists in the world. ישראל, as we know, is to be Hashem’s בכור. To be a בכור means to represent the father. Hashem created the entire world for the sake of ישראל to represent Him in this world. And to follow His path: ראשית דרכו. Now that there is a ישראל, the sun’s only purpose for rising, and the validation for the world to be created at all, was realized: for ישראל. And the sun rose for him!

כלל ישראל is Hashem’s בכור. We have the potential to do this proactively by living our lives as the Torah instructs us. This is the highest form of representing Hashem in this world. However, because this בכורה is in our DNA, even when we don’t do what we are supposed to, we still end up representing Hashem’s existence. The very fact that Jews continue to exist under the most unlikely conditions is a testament to Hashem’s existence. He sustains us, proving that He is there. ארץ ישראל, also called after the בכורה, has the same role. At the highest level, the land has the ability to declare Hashem’s existence through hosting Him in His physical home, the בית המקדש. Even when the land is not capable of hosting Him, לא עלינו, just like כלל ישראל, it continues to promote Hashem’s existence by its miraculous and unlikely survival.

May we assume our role as the בכור Hashem and be successful in making known His existence at the highest and most positive form possible.