NOVEMBER 18 • 2021 | 43

Facing Our Legacy
A

t the outset of our
weekly Torah por-
tion, Jacob prepares
to meet his brother Esau for
the first time in many years.
The last time they saw
each other, Esau had
promised retribution
for Jacob’s stealing his
blessing from their
father Isaac.
After splitting his
large family into two
camps, Jacob is left
alone and encounters
a mysterious figure,
who wrestles with him
throughout the night.
Before dawn, the man
injures Jacob’s thigh,
but Jacob emerges victorious;
at which point, the antagonist
proclaims that Jacob should no
longer be called Jacob but rath-
er Israel, a name that signals
that he “took on man and God
and prevailed.
”
This enigmatic episode begs
for an explanation. What does
Jacob’s name change really
mean and why is it through
the name Israel that his
descendants are known?
Jacob’s original name car-
ries an ambiguous meaning.
The Hebrew name means
heel (Jacob grabbed Esau’s
heel when emerging from the
womb) and it also means “to
trick or deceive.
” Indeed, Esau
accused Jacob of tricking him
twice, and Jacob also tricked
his father-in-law Laban (per-
haps deservedly) by tricking
him into giving him extra
cattle before he snuck away to
return to Canaan. Until this
point in our story, Jacob avoids
direct encounters and prefers
trickery, avoidance and deceit.

That’s exactly the opposite
of what is about to happen
with Esau. Jacob is going to
meet him directly, to confront
the danger of his once-furious
brother head on. No
avoidance, no trickery.
Before this confronta-
tion, however, he meets
the angel who fights with
him. He doesn’t outfox
him or deceive him, but
he wrestles with him
and overcomes him. It
is a shift in the way that
Jacob has operated; for
that, the angel perma-
nently changes his name
from Jacob — the one
who avoids and deceives
— to Israel — one who
encounters matters directly.
Although Jews are the
descendants of Jacob, we are
called the people of Israel. Our
charge is to leave aside the
trickery and confront issues
directly.
We need to wrestle with our
inclination to avoid confronta-
tion because we are the people
of Israel, the people who rep-
resent the transformed legacy
of our forefather Jacob.
Throughout history, we
have seen many exemplars
among our Jewish ancestors
who have seen injustice, who
have recognized misfortune
and who have taken it upon
themselves to tackle these
problems head on. This is our
legacy as the people of Israel,
and it continues to be our
responsibility as a nation.

Rabbi Josh Levisohn is head of school

at Farber Hebrew Day School in

Southfield.

SPIRIT
TORAH PORTION

Rabbi Josh
Levisohn

Parshat

Vayishlach:

Genesis

32:4-36:43;

Obadiah

1:1-21.

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