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.”
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.