{"id":66862,"date":"2019-12-12T09:42:26","date_gmt":"2019-12-12T07:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=66862"},"modified":"2022-03-20T23:59:21","modified_gmt":"2022-03-20T21:59:21","slug":"jacobs-spiritual-wrestling-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/jacobs-spiritual-wrestling-match\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacob&#8217;s Spiritual Wrestling Match"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[486,490,368],"acf":{"old_id":"66862","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":46171,"related_cahpter":"1074","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Both victorious and humbled, he now knows he can go on and prevail","content":"<p>This dreamlike picture of the struggle between Jacob and the angel highlights the way dreams and angels communicate divine messages. Jacob\u2019s ability to overcome Laban\u2019s exploitation, increase his flock, and convince his wives to leave their father\u2019s house are all linked to a dream and an angel. In Jacob\u2019s words: \u201cAs you know, I have served your father with all my might but your father has cheated me\u2026. I had a dream in which I saw that the he-goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled and mottled. And in the dream an angel of God said to me: \u2018Note well that all the he-goats which are mating with the flock are streaked, speckled and mottled for I have noted all that Laban has been doing to you. I am the God of Bethel\u2026. Now arise and leave this land and return to your native land\u2019\u201d (Gen. 31:11\u201313).<\/p>\n<p>Going back to Canaan, Jacob fears meeting Esau, so he prepares for the inevitable reunion. He leads his wives, his two handmaidens, and his eleven children, with his possessions, \u201cacross the ford of the Jabok\u201d (Gen 32:23). And then \u201cJacob was left alone\u2026\u201d (Gen 32:25). Suddenly he is accosted by a mysterious man, who wrestles with him until \u201cthe break of dawn\u201d (Gen 32:25). The man could not prevail \u201cso he wrenched Jacob\u2019s hip at the socket\u201d (Gen. 32:26). Despite his injury, Jacob continues the struggle, declaring that he will only allow the man to depart if he gives him a blessing. The man then says: \u201cYour name shall no longer be Jacob but Israel, for you have striven with beings divine and human and have prevailed\u201d (Gen. 32:29).<\/p>\n<p>Who was the stranger with whom Jacob struggled? Who were \u201cthe beings divine and human\u201d against whom Jacob prevailed? In Avner Moriah\u2019s painting, Jacob\u2019s antagonist is imaged as a large, winged angel, with his arms raised over Jacob\u2019s head, perhaps in a gesture of blessing. The sun is blue and the clouds around it are red, perhaps suggesting \u201cthe break of dawn.\u201d Jacob is painted blue and we see a brown shadow on the ground behind him, but his opponent, who is figured in white with dots marking his body and wings, has no shadow. The artist brilliantly shows the struggle as a spiritual rather than a physical one. There is no physical contact between the combatants. Jacob\u2019s very small shadow suggests his fearful self-image, and his arms are pointing downward in a gesture of defeat. Yet spiritually he is triumphant.<\/p>\n<p>There are also dots on one of the mountains\u2026But why dots? They suggest \u201cstreaked speckled, and mottled he-goats,\u201d thus reflecting the way Jacob settled his score with Laban, and implying that the struggle with the man\/angel is proof that God is keeping the promise He made to Jacob at Bethel.<\/p>\n<p>With his new name, \u00a0Jacob is strong, a man who has overcome sore troubles and tribulations and now knows himself able to face Esau, assured that God is with him.<\/p>\n","image":{"ID":66865,"id":66865,"title":"08 Va-yishlah","filename":"08-Va-yishlah.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/08-Va-yishlah.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/jacobs-spiritual-wrestling-match\/08-va-yishlah\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"08-va-yishlah","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":66862,"date":"2019-12-12 07:42:09","modified":"2019-12-12 07:42:23","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1984,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/08-Va-yishlah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/08-Va-yishlah-238x300.jpg","medium-width":238,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/08-Va-yishlah-768x968.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":968,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/08-Va-yishlah-813x1024.jpg","large-width":813,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/08-Va-yishlah.jpg","1536x1536-width":1219,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/08-Va-yishlah.jpg","2048x2048-width":1625,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/08-Va-yishlah-952x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":952,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/08-Va-yishlah-333x420.jpg","home_baner-width":333,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"The Chapter Illustrated","main_caption":"Jacob's Spiritual Wrestling Match","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Both victorious and humbled, he now knows he can go on and prevail","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":66865,"id":66865,"title":"08 Va-yishlah","filename":"08-Va-yishlah.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/08-Va-yishlah.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/jacobs-spiritual-wrestling-match\/08-va-yishlah\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"08-va-yishlah","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":66862,"date":"2019-12-12 07:42:09","modified":"2019-12-12 07:42:23","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1984,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/08-Va-yishlah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/08-Va-yishlah-238x300.jpg","medium-width":238,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/08-Va-yishlah-768x968.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":968,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/08-Va-yishlah-813x1024.jpg","large-width":813,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/08-Va-yishlah.jpg","1536x1536-width":1219,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/08-Va-yishlah.jpg","2048x2048-width":1625,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/08-Va-yishlah-952x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":952,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/08-Va-yishlah-333x420.jpg","home_baner-width":333,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"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":""},"links":false,"send_noty":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66862"}],"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=66862"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66866,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66862\/revisions\/66866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}