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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