{"id":38644,"date":"2018-08-26T10:45:30","date_gmt":"2018-08-26T07:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=38644"},"modified":"2022-03-20T16:57:45","modified_gmt":"2022-03-20T14:57:45","slug":"milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-gen-32","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-gen-32\/","title":{"rendered":"MiliMiliM – The Hebrew Corner – Gen 32"},"content":{"rendered":"
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32:29 – \u201cYour name shall no longer be <\/em><\/span>Ya\u2019akov<\/span> Jacob, but <\/span><\/em>Yisrael<\/span> Israel, for you have striven with beings divine and human, and have prevailed.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Ya’akov’s name means something like “heel-holder”, after his grabbing onto his older brother’s heel (<\/span>‘<\/b>akev<\/span><\/em>) at birth (Gen. 25:26). The root is \u05e2-\u05e7-\u05d1, <\/span>‘ayin-k-v<\/span><\/em>. <\/span><\/i>Later Esau riffs on this name in his lament after having Isaac’s blessing stolen from him: “Was he, then, named Ya’akov that he might supplant me (<\/span>ya<\/span>‘<\/b>akov vaya<\/span>‘<\/b>akveni<\/span><\/em>) these two times?” (Gen. 27:36 \u2013 Rober Alter translates it as “trip me now twice by the heels”). The two times are of course the earlier sale of the birthright for a mess of pottage, and the theft here of the blessing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here, in the famous scene of Jacob wrestling with an unknown figure at the ford of the Jabbok River (Gen. 32: 23-33, which also echoes his name), Ya’akov holds his opponent fast until he receives a blessing, which comes in the form of a new name, <\/span>Yisrael<\/span><\/em>, Israel, together with the explanation: “for you have <\/span>striven<\/span> (<\/span>sarita<\/span><\/em>) with beings divine and human [or: “God and men”], and have prevailed.” The root \u05e9-\u05e8-\u05d4, \u00a0<\/span>s-r-h<\/span><\/em>, here “strive,” (in the form <\/span>sarita<\/span><\/em>, “you have striven”) also has the sense of “rule,” as in the name <\/span>Sarah<\/span><\/em> (“princess,” see Gen. 17:15), and the noun <\/span>sar<\/span><\/em> “ruler” or “prince” (as in <\/span>sar shalom<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> “the prince of peace, Isaiah 9:5).<\/span><\/p>\n

Rashi explains that this means that Jacob\/Israel shall no longer gain his blessings <\/span>b<\/span>‘<\/b>okvah uveremiyah<\/span><\/em>, “through deceit and trickery” (the “Ya’akov” root), but <\/span>beserarah uvegilui panim<\/span><\/em>, through mastery (or lordliness), and openness.<\/span><\/p>\n

This connects with a completely different possible interpretation of the name Israel, hinted at in various sources. The first three letters of the name Yisrael are \u05d9-\u05e9-\u05e8, <\/span>y-sh-r<\/span><\/em>, which is a root of its own, meaning “straight, honest.” Since the root of Ya’akov’s name is linked to deceit, it’s not much of a stretch to see that his new “corrective” name should be connected to “straightness,” or “honesty.” The commentator Kli Yakar on 32:29, reads the name as <\/span>yashar-el<\/span><\/em>, parsing it as “straight in God’s eyes.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The explicit link between these two roots is made in several places. One is in Micah 3:9, where Israel is addressed as <\/span>Beit Yisrael<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> “the house of Israel,” who pervert <\/span>hayesharah<\/span><\/em>, “equity.” \u00a0Another is the famous phrase in Isaiah 40:4: <\/span>vehaya ha<\/span>‘<\/b>akov lemishor<\/span><\/em>, ‘the crooked shall be made straight.’<\/span><\/p>\n

Likewise, there is the additional name <\/span>Yeshurun<\/span><\/em>, “Jeshurun” (cf. Deut. 32:15, 33:5, 26), a sort of synonym for Israel, that even more clearly signifies this root sense of<\/span> y-sh-r<\/span><\/em>, <\/i><\/b>“straight.”.<\/span><\/p>\n

So Jacob the trickster underdog becomes Israel, the striver who prevails; from crooked ‘supplanter’ to the ‘true one’ of God. And we go from being <\/span>bnei Ya’akov<\/span><\/em>,<\/em> the children of Jacob, a clan, to <\/span>bnei Yisrael<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> the children of Israel, a nation in the making.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":103184,"id":103184,"title":"-6237402e459d5--6237402e459d6gen32-milim yaakov jacob israel.jpg","filename":"6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-gen-32\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel-jpg\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel-jpg","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":38644,"date":"2022-03-20 14:54:38","modified":"2022-03-20 14:54:51","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":"

Artwork by: Ben Schachter<\/p>\n"},"tile":{"top_caption":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner","main_caption":"Chapter 32: \u05d9\u05e2\u05e7\u05d1-\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc - Jacob\/Israel","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"... a word from the daily chapter...","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":103184,"id":103184,"title":"-6237402e459d5--6237402e459d6gen32-milim yaakov jacob israel.jpg","filename":"6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-gen-32\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel-jpg\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel-jpg","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":38644,"date":"2022-03-20 14:54:38","modified":"2022-03-20 14:54:51","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":"Robert Kneschke (shutterstock 161025986)"},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"old_create_date":"","links":false,"send_noty":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38644"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38644"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103185,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38644\/revisions\/103185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}