What's in a name?

Vayishlach

Gen. 32:4 - 36:43

Précis: As he nears his return to his homeland, Jacob sent (vayishlach) messengers to Esau to ascertain Esau’s state of mind after their 20-year separation. While he awaits a reply, Jacob encounters an “adversary” (most assume an angel) with whom Jacob wrestles through the night. As dawn breaks, the adversary announces that Jacob’s name is to be changed to Israel: “He who wrestles with God.” On the following day, Esau approaches, and despite Jacob’s fears, there is a happy reunion.

            We then read the story of how a local prince rapes Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, and then asks to marry her. Jacob agrees on condition that all of the men of the city are circumcised. While the men are recovering, Jacob’s sons Simon and Levi attack the city and kill all of the inhabitants in revenge for the insult to their sister.

           Jacob soon travels to Beth-el (the site of his ladder dream), and on the way, Rachel gives birth to Benjamin and dies in childbirth. Thereafter, Isaac’s death is noted, as is his burial by Esau and Jacob. The parasha ends with a genealogy of Esau and his descendants.

Gen. 32:25–30 “Jacob remained alone. A man struggled with him until dawn. He realized that he could not overpower him, so he struck at his hip-joint, dislocating it during the struggle. The man said, ‘Let me go, for dawn has arrived!’ Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go until you bless me.’ He asked him, ‘What then is your name?’ ‘Jacob.’ He said, ‘You shall no longer be called Jacob, but rather Yisrael, because you have struggled with gods and with men and prevailed.’ Jacob said, ‘Tell me your name.’ The man replied, ‘You must not ask my name!’ He then blessed him.”

Dr. Joshua Kulp reminds us (Torah Sparks, 11/29/17) of the following statement of the Sages:

“There are three names by which a person is called:
one which their parents call them, one which people call them,
and one which they earn for themselves.
The last is the best one of all.”

            Jacob begins his life grasping at his brother’s heel. As he grows, almost every episode shows his deceptive character (taking his brother’s birthright for lentils, securing the blessing of the first-born through deception, and mysteriously taking ownership of his father-in-law’s flocks.). As Kulp suggests, Jacob was an “identity-hider.”

            Now at this most critical moment of his life, he wrestles with another figure, having been left alone. With nowhere to hide, and no one to hide anything from. Jacob is finally struggling to form a new identity.

            Many of us live lives in which we hide our identities from others, and even from ourselves. Finding out who we really are involves our own kind of wrestling, and it is hard work. But this work can bring great confidence as well as blessing. Jacob prevails against his foe. More importantly, he has prevailed over his own fear of showing to the world his true character. While he may still be called Jacob, he is now earned the name Israel, a name which can be translated as one who struggles with God. Yisrael is the name destined to change the history of the world. We can earn our own names through fearless self-examination and struggle. That “name” may not change the world, but it can change the way in which we are regarded by those we love.