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December 4, 2006/ 13 Kislev 5767
Parshat Vayishlach
Rabbi Ellen Weinberg Dreyfus
 
 
In Parshat Vayishlach, we continue the family saga of Jacob; this time meeting him as he heads back to Canaan with his wives and children, and prepares to encounter his brother Esau. Left alone at night after taking his family across the river, “a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.” (Genesis 32:25) This unidentified wrestler tells Ya’akov (Jacob) that he will now be called Yisrael (Israel) because, he says, “you have struggled with beings divine and human, and have prevailed.” (ibid. 32:29). Jacob/Israel is left limping from the thigh muscle wrenched by his opponent, and soon after, sees Esau approaching him.
 
Names are significant in our tradition, and we can often learn about a character by what he or she is called. Ya’akov  means “heel”, derived from  clutching his twin brother’s heel as they are born. But as we watch him grow up, we see that he indeed behaves like a heel. He is less than honest and forthcoming with his brother and his father, and he does little to inspire admiration and confidence. Even after his vision of the stairway to heaven, he swears an oath that has so many “ifs” in it that it sounds more like a child addressing Santa Claus (Genesis 28:20-22). Jacob’s promise of exclusive worship and even monetary reward if G-d will provide protection, food, clothing, and a round-trip ticket, is not unlike saying, “I’ll be good and clean up my room if you give me a new bicycle.”
 
But our parsha shows us that even a heel can grow up and learn from experience. The Jacob who addresses G-d in Chapter 32 (verses 10-14) is a different man than the youth whom we previously met fleeing from the wrath of his brother. Fast forward twenty years, after he has married, fathered many children, worked hard, and amassed a small fortune. He has matured, and his prayer to G-d reflects his humility, his fear, his gratitude, and his recognition that he is hardly deserving of all the blessings that he enjoys.
 
One reason I find this story so compelling is that it speaks to us in a very basic and important way. Ya’akov the heel becomes Yisrael, the one who struggles with G-d. His swagger has turned into a limp. The man who fled from his brother now embraces him with tears. His story helps us know in our own lives that we can change for the better; that our life experience can help us grow into kinder persons who look beyond our own selfish interests. His story helps us see that our struggles with “beings divine and human” may be part of G-d’s plan; part of our own personal curriculum in the school of hard knocks.
 
We are B’nei Yisrael – the descendents of Israel. We are the inheritors of a tradition of struggling with G-d. And we are also the heirs of a tradition that challenges us to grow in wisdom and in understanding. We are not expected to be perfect, but we are expected to strive to improve. That is the spiritual legacy of Jacob who became Israel.
 
Rabbi Ellen Weinberg Dreyfus, a member of the UJC Rabbinic Cabinet, is rabbi of B’nai Yehuda Beth Sholom in Homewood, Illinois, and is Treasurer of the Central Conference of American Rabbis.
UJC Rabbinic Cabinet Chair: Rabbi Ronald Schwarzberg
Vice Chairs: Rabbi Jonathan Schnitzer, Rabbi Steven Foster
President: Rabbi Bennett F. Miller, D.Min.
Honorary Chair: Rabbi Matthew Simon
Vice President, Jewish Renaissance and Renewal: Dr. Eric Levine
Mekor Chaim Editor & Coordinator: Saul Epstein
Senior Consultant, Rabbinic Cabinet: Rabbi Gerald Weider