{"id":38578,"date":"2018-07-09T18:50:05","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T15:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-32\/"},"modified":"2022-04-17T16:23:37","modified_gmt":"2022-04-17T13:23:37","slug":"wall-32","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-32\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Torah-Genesis-32"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"32","date":"20251013","book":"Genesis","chapter":"32","chapter_main_number":"32","books_group":"Torah","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"38661","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"Genesis 32 - Judy Hammond ","post_title":"Genesis 32 - Judy Hammond","slug":"genesis-32-judy-hammond","old_id":"38661","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"32","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Genesis 32","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"read by Judy Hammond","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/genesis-chapter-32-read-by-judy-hammond","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"32","chapter_main_number":"32","date":"20251013","wall_id":"32"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"103177","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Jacob\u2019s Mid-Life Crisis ","post_title":"Jacob\u2019s Mid-Life Crisis","slug":"jacobs-mid-life-crisis","old_id":"103177","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":101758,"post_title":"Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam","slug":"naomi-bromberg-bar-yam","old_id":"101758","first_name":"Naomi ","last_name":"Bromberg Bar-Yam ","description":"Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam is a social worker and advocate in maternal and child health. She explores her work and life through Torah drashot, rituals and children\u2019s stories.","short_description":"Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam is a social worker and advocate in maternal and child health. She explores her work and life through Torah drashot, rituals and children\u2019s stories.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":101760,"alt":"","title":"-62028435af471--62028435af472Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","width":361,"height":449,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg-241x300.jpg","medium-width":241,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":449,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":449,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":449,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":449,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":449,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg-338x420.jpg","home_baner-width":338,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"32","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"In maturing, achieving wholeness, we get physical, spiritual, emotional bumps, bruises and scars\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Jacob was a complex man with strong qualities both good and bad. In his younger years, he is described as \"a mild man who stayed in camp\" (Gen 26:27) but he grew into an outgoing, sometimes wily and deceptive man. Here, Jacob is a wealthy man with a large family and household, returning to settle in the land of his father and grandfather. He is preparing to meet his brother Esau, whom he left twenty years earlier fearing that Esau would make good on his threat to kill him for stealing the birthright and blessing.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob crosses the river Jabbok alone and is met by an \u201c<\/span>ish<\/span><\/em>\u201d - a man - with whom he wrestles all night. Various commentaries say \u201c<\/span>ish<\/span><\/em>\u201d was an angel, or Esau, or Jacob himself. One says that the twins Jacob and Esau were mirror images of one another, the two sides of each of us, quiet and outgoing, straightforward and wily. Ultimately, to be whole, he\/they must face\/ wrestle\/ reconcile with one another\/themselves.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the process of becoming whole, Jacob was injured. In maturing, achieving wholeness, we get physical, spiritual, emotional bumps, bruises and scars.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At Jacob's insistence, this moment was marked by a name change, a new identity. However, like other milestones, Jacob's change of name, his reunion with his brother\/rejoining of himself did not change his life significantly. One commentary says that Jacob's injury was to be a constant reminder of his new identity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Bill Moyer's <\/span>Genesis: A Living Conversation<\/span><\/em>, Avivah Zornberg points out that Jacob \"\u2026doesn't quite lose the name of Jacob. When Abram becomes Abraham, he's no longer Abram. But Jacob always remains Jacob. \u2026 His identity is complex. He's constantly in a struggle between the two sides of his identity. It's not a transformation, but an evolution. Something has opened up in him, but it's a resource, not something that will absolutely define him.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob's life proceeds with the tragic events of his daughter Dina's rape and his sons' subsequent massacre of the people of Shechem (chap. 34) and with Benjamin's birth at the cost of the life of his beloved Rachel (35:16-19), and Jacob and Esau's second reunion to bury their father (35:29).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the midst of these events, God changed his name a second time: \u201c<\/em><\/span>God said to him, your name is Jacob, you shall be called Jacob no more, but your name shall be Israel, and his name was Israel\u201d <\/span><\/em>(35:10 ).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob's struggle with the man\/Esau\/himself was very personal, carried out alone. Unlike his grandparents Abram\/Abraham and Sarai\/Sarah, Israel, the struggler with God, was added to his already firm identity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"32","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"He is good-hearted and well-intentioned to the very end\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

After his treaty with Jacob, Laban receives a final postscript at the beginning of chapter 32: \u201cEarly in the morning, Laban kissed his sons and daughters and bade them good-by; then Laban left on his journey homeward\u201d (verse 1). Why does the Torah give Laban this final passage? The story could have ended with the truce, and Jacob going on his way. Perhaps the Torah is giving Laban his due, and in doing so, Laban\u2019s true motivation is revealed. Remember, that Laban was a young man when he first appears in chapter 24. In one quick day, Laban loses his sister to a strange servant of a cousin he never met. Laban never sees Rebekah again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Then, years later, his nephew shows up unannounced and wishes to marry his daughter. This time, Laban is prepared. He keeps Jacob around- agreeing to a seven-year plan proposed by Jacob. Then, when his oldest daughter is about to suffer utter humiliation, he makes a last-minute swap to protect her. Fearing his nephew will leave, he offers Rachel in return for another seven years of staying around. He does, however, allow Jacob to marry her right away. After the seven years, Jacob approaches Laban with intent to leave. Once again, with his family set to abandon him, Laban agrees to another delay. This time he allows Jacob to trick him out of his entire flock. Over the grumblings of his sons, Laban is willing to wait multiple fertility cycles-losing his flock in the process. Why? Time. The more he allows Jacob to take advantage of him, the longer his family stays intact.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But now this obsession with keeping his family together alienates them all. His sons grumble and his two daughters tell Jacob that they have nothing left in Haran. This is why Jacob notices that Laban is acting differently than when they first met, including when Laban switched his brides. Now Laban\u2019s obsession has become self-destructive. When Jacob slips away and Laban follows, God intervenes telling Laban enough is enough. He can no longer stand in the way of Jacob\u2019s journey.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Laban confronts Jacob \u201cThe daughters are my daughters, the children are my children...\u201d Like Laban\u2019s sister beforehand, Jacob wants to leave without a proper goodbye. In a last-ditch effort, Laban tries to delay them because of his idols. But, when he must choose between embarrassing his daughter, Rachel, and delaying the departure, he chooses to respect her wishes. Finally, Laban makes Jacob swear that he will not harm his daughters or take other wives. Laban\u2019s final wish is that they be protected.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

His final act in Tanach is to kiss his family and go \u201cto his place.\u201d The last time we saw that phrase it was Abraham leaving \u201cto his place\u201d after arguing with God over Sodom. Then, Abraham finally separated from his nephew. Here too, Laban must put aside his personal feelings and allow Jacob to move on his journey.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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","post_title":"Perfect","slug":"perfect","old_id":"103173","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":44967,"post_title":"Abe Mezrich","slug":"abe-mezrich","old_id":"44967","first_name":"Abe ","last_name":"Mezrich ","description":"Abe Mezrich wants to know what our sacred texts say about our world right now. 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Jacob, just named by the angel,
\r\nis damaged by the angel,
\r\nnow he walks with a limp.<\/p>\r\n

The angel, who has no name,
\r\ncannot win a battle
\r\nwith a struggling man.<\/p>\r\n

No one in this story is complete.<\/p>\r\n

Everyone in this story is holy.<\/p>\r\n

___
\r\nGenesis 32:25-33<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64970,"alt":"","title":"is6-holy-holy-holy","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","width":428,"height":425,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","medium_large-width":428,"medium_large-height":425,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","large-width":428,"large-height":425,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","1536x1536-width":428,"1536x1536-height":425,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","2048x2048-width":428,"2048x2048-height":425,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","post_full_size-width":428,"post_full_size-height":425,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy-423x420.jpg","home_baner-width":423,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Perfect","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"No one in this story is complete \/ Everyone in this story is holy","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64970,"alt":"","title":"is6-holy-holy-holy","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","width":428,"height":425,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","medium_large-width":428,"medium_large-height":425,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","large-width":428,"large-height":425,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","1536x1536-width":428,"1536x1536-height":425,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","2048x2048-width":428,"2048x2048-height":425,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","post_full_size-width":428,"post_full_size-height":425,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy-423x420.jpg","home_baner-width":423,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"32","chapter_main_number":"32","date":"20251013","wall_id":"32"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"480","name":"Holiness","old_id":"880"}]},{"order":5,"id":"103175","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Growing Into A Leader ","post_title":"Growing Into A Leader","slug":"growing-into-a-leader","old_id":"103175","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46656,"post_title":"Molly Morris","slug":"molly-morris","old_id":"46656","first_name":"Molly ","last_name":"Morris ","description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. 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Remember in chapter 27 when Jacob fled from his brother in fear after receiving the blessings from his father Isaac? Through that whole episode Jacob was portrayed as a follower: doing what his mother told him, being dressed in goat skins by his mother, meekly appearing before his father and finally taking off for safety to his uncle\u2019s home. We understood from that chapter that Esau was, in fact, the predominantly physically strong brother \u2013 the doer in that relationship, while Jacob held the spiritual foreground. Jacob\u2019s very name \u2013 Ya\u2019akov \u2013 alludes to more than the simple explanation of being the twin hanging on to his brother\u2019s heel at birth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Our sages provide alternative meanings for the word \u201ceikev\u201d including \u201ctwisted and turning,\u201d even \u201cdeceiving.\u201d In fact, the latter is how Esau used it in chapter 27 upon hearing of the deceit perpetrated on him. The notion of a twisted path for Jacob is evident through his lifelong struggles. He seems to have traveled a very twisted, challenge-fraught path: from being born, attaining the birthright, for his beloved wife and with his uncle Laban.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In chapter 32, twenty years have passed since Jacob fled from his father\u2019s house. He\u2019s made something of himself both spiritually and physically. He has wealth, he has a family, and he now has the inner strength to set off on his own. Jacob \u2013 Ya\u2019akov \u2013 has grown into the dual leadership role, physically and spiritually, that he was destined for. Now on his way to independence, he initiates contact with his brother Esau, sending out messengers to meet him while at the same time preparing his own camp in case the reconciliation goes badly. And then he faces one more challenge. The Torah tells us that Jacob fought all night with an angel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Midrash Bereishit Rabbah (77:3) provides a homiletical explanation that Jacob\u2019s opponent was, in fact, the guardian angel of Esau, sent to allow Jacob to prove his strength and fortitude. And when he did so, the angel informed Jacob that he would now receive a new name: Israel. Rashi comments that the new name signals to Jacob that he is no longer the bearer of the blessings through trickery or deceit (<\/span>eikev<\/span><\/i>) but has earned his place through growth and merit. Israel is his new name, along with Ya\u2019akov because he \u201csuccessfully struggled with the divine and with man, and prevailed (32:9).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps the propensity for leadership is inborn, but that, in itself, doesn\u2019t make a leader. To realize the potential leader within takes time and hard work. But still, that isn\u2019t enough. Leadership can only actualize when there is a followership that requires that particular leader. This is the moment for Jacob\u2019s leadership to come forward.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":60971,"alt":"","title":"2sam19-leader facing","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-leader-facing.png","width":1920,"height":732,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-leader-facing-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-leader-facing-300x114.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":114,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-leader-facing-768x293.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":293,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-leader-facing-1024x390.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":390,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-leader-facing.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":586,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-leader-facing.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":732,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-leader-facing-1200x458.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":458,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-leader-facing-1102x420.png","home_baner-width":1102,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Growing Into A Leader","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Many stations on Jacob\u2019s twisted path of life - and ours","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":60971,"alt":"","title":"2sam19-leader facing","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-leader-facing.png","width":1920,"height":732,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-leader-facing-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-leader-facing-300x114.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":114,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-leader-facing-768x293.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":293,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-leader-facing-1024x390.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":390,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-leader-facing.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":586,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-leader-facing.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":732,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-leader-facing-1200x458.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":458,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-leader-facing-1102x420.png","home_baner-width":1102,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"32","chapter_main_number":"32","date":"20251013","wall_id":"32"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"401","name":"Life","old_id":"801"},{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"}]},{"order":6,"id":"103179","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Crossing Yabbok ","post_title":"Crossing Yabbok","slug":"crossing-yabbok","old_id":"103179","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":35831,"post_title":"Ruth Fogelman","slug":"ruth-fogelman","old_id":"35831","first_name":"Ruth ","last_name":"Fogelman ","description":"Ruth Fogelman was born in England and has lived in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City for most of her life. 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":35832,"alt":"","title":"Ruth Fogelman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","width":969,"height":973,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--768x771.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":771,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","large-width":969,"large-height":973,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","1536x1536-width":969,"1536x1536-height":973,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","2048x2048-width":969,"2048x2048-height":973,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","post_full_size-width":969,"post_full_size-height":973,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--418x420.jpg","home_baner-width":418,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"32","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"\u201cYou first,\u201d I hear my Mistress\u2019s voice\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

And [Jacob] rose up that night and took his two wives and two maidservants and his eleven sons and passed over the ford of the Yabbok.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Genesis 32:23<\/p>\r\n

Do I dream of lowing cows
\r\nand bleating sheep
\r\nin deepest night?<\/p>\r\n

Do I dream of trembling earth
\r\nbeneath my bed
\r\nquaking from the pounding
\r\nof a thousand hooves?<\/p>\r\n

The bleating sheep and lowing cows
\r\nare no dream.
\r\nThough their voices shut out the river\u2019s murmur
\r\nI hear distant hoots and howls of ravagers.<\/p>\r\n

The crescent moon casts no light.
\r\nMy limbs are heavy with sleep
\r\nand I shiver, fearful and cold.<\/p>\r\n

Master hurries us.
\r\nI want to scratch the thick air
\r\npull down the looming blanket of night.
\r\nMy ankles wet in dew-laden grass
\r\nwith my sons I approach the river crossing.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cYou first,\u201d I hear my Mistress\u2019s voice.
\r\nShe rides with her child on a mule at our side.
\r\nTension colors her voice
\r\nand haunts the dank air.<\/p>\r\n

Black waters and black sky embrace
\r\nas one as man and wife.
\r\nThe swishing stream laps my legs
\r\nas we ford to further side
\r\non our journey to the Southern Land
\r\nfulfilling now our Master\u2019s long-held dream.<\/p>\r\n

This poem appears in Ruth\u2019s book, Cradled in God\u2019s Arms<\/em><\/p>\r\n

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He has studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion and Yeshivat Otniel. A native of Dallas, Texas, Benji now resides with his wife, Leah Nerenberg, in Jerusalem.","short_description":"Benji Zoller is a current student of Jewish Thought and Hebrew Literature at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. A native of Dallas, Texas, Benji now resides with his wife, Leah Nerenberg, in Jerusalem.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":104023,"alt":"","title":"-6258019f9e1f4--6258019f9e1f5benji zoller.jpeg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6258019f9e1f4-6258019f9e1f5benji-zoller.jpeg.jpeg","width":1011,"height":1011,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6258019f9e1f4-6258019f9e1f5benji-zoller.jpeg-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6258019f9e1f4-6258019f9e1f5benji-zoller.jpeg-300x300.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6258019f9e1f4-6258019f9e1f5benji-zoller.jpeg-768x768.jpeg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6258019f9e1f4-6258019f9e1f5benji-zoller.jpeg.jpeg","large-width":1011,"large-height":1011,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6258019f9e1f4-6258019f9e1f5benji-zoller.jpeg.jpeg","1536x1536-width":1011,"1536x1536-height":1011,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6258019f9e1f4-6258019f9e1f5benji-zoller.jpeg.jpeg","2048x2048-width":1011,"2048x2048-height":1011,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6258019f9e1f4-6258019f9e1f5benji-zoller.jpeg.jpeg","post_full_size-width":1011,"post_full_size-height":1011,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6258019f9e1f4-6258019f9e1f5benji-zoller.jpeg-420x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"32","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Beneath Jacob's struggle is his soul, his Godly foundation of purpose and meaning, which allows him to face the world with clarity, which is not a blessing bestowed, but earned\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Before facing his twin brother Esau, Jacob finds himself alone. With a river dividing him from his family, in the darkness of the night he is visited by phantom fears of when he fled from Esau, two decades prior.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At this very juncture of solitude and worry, Jacob wrestles with an <\/span>ish<\/span><\/i> (translated as \u201ca man\u201d). While the sages teach that this <\/span>ish<\/span><\/i> is an angel, perhaps the <\/span>ish<\/span><\/i> is a manifestation of Jacob\u2019s inner conflict. Not identifying any distinction between Jacob and the <\/span>ish<\/span><\/i>, the Torah paints a picture of their struggle lasting the entire night. For hours they wrestle, one on top of the other, as the dust forms clouds encompassing them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

That is, until Jacob\u2019s hip socket becomes wrenched, quite literally shaking Jacob to his core. <\/span>Who am I?<\/span><\/i> he is compelled to ask. All his values, his orientation of reality and his sense of self is knocked out of place, forcing him to reestablish his footing upon the earth he stands.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In this very moment, when Jacob finds clarity, his name changes from Jacob \u2013 which comes from a root meaning crooked (<\/span>\u2018oqbah<\/span><\/i>), to Israel \u2013 which comes from a root meaning lordliness and openness (<\/span>serarah<\/span><\/i>).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Only after Jacob becomes Israel does he dare to ask the <\/span>ish<\/span><\/i> for his name. Rather than answering, however, the <\/span>ish<\/span><\/i> simply responds with the question of \u201cwhy should you ask?\u201d Jacob, of course, knows who this is, he has known it all along: the <\/span>ish<\/span><\/i> is his own inner conflict. When Jacob realizes this, he is blessed, for he has \u201cseen God face-to-face.\u201d In other words, now Jacob understands that beneath the frustration and struggle is his soul, his Godly foundation of purpose and meaning, which allows him to face the world with clarity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This clarity, however, is not a blessing which is bestowed, but earned. Jacob must struggle in order to prevail; he must be shaken in order to find himself.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We often find ourselves in states of emotional and spiritual exile, watching the river flow downstream, afraid to cross over the gushing waters. It can be terrifying to feel alone, as though there is no one to turn to. Yet, within us there is a light. Though when we stumble, we feel as though we are dimming its glow, in reality we are making it shine brighter and brighter. For those difficult moments not only help us understand the world, but guide us to a true understanding of ourselves.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Jacob's Inner Struggle","tile_main_caption":"Beneath Jacob's struggle is his soul, his Godly foundation of purpose and meaning, which allows him to face the world with clarity, which is not a blessing bestowed, but earned","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"32","chapter_main_number":"32","date":"20251013","wall_id":"32"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"386","name":"Psychology","old_id":"786"},{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"},{"term_id":"544","name":"Struggle","old_id":"944"},{"term_id":"585","name":"Soul","old_id":"985"}]},{"order":8,"id":"38716","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Jacob Goes for Win-Win ","post_title":"Jacob Goes for Win-Win","slug":"jacob-goes-for-win-win","old_id":"38716","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33859,"post_title":"Avidan Freedman","slug":"avidan-freedman","old_id":"33859","first_name":"Avidan","last_name":"Freedman","description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. He is an activist advocating for moral limits on Israeli arms exports, and on behalf of African refugees, and a proud husband and father of 5. He received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, and from the Israeli chief rabbinate.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. ","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33860,"alt":"Avidan Freedman","title":"Avidan Freedman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","width":856,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-768x919.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":919,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-856x1024.jpg","large-width":856,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","1536x1536-width":856,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","2048x2048-width":856,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"32","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"He walks away limping, but victorious, in a deadlock which allows him to demand blessing, and to give it in return","post_main_content_content":"

Jacob's encounter with Esau is not forced upon him; he initiates it, even while knowing the great risk. His message is not an apology, it's even more extreme- a willing relinquishment of the blessing he stole. The sensitive reader will have noted that the difference between the blessing Jacob receives and the one that Esau receives is the issue of dominion. Who will rule? This was the question that defined their relationship from the womb as a zero-sum game of competition. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob sneakily defeated Esau in the battle over the blessings, but now he seems to be handing back the victory. While Isaac had told him \"you will be your brothers' master,\" Jacob repeatedly refers to himself as servant and Esau as master, offering him tribute as proof. While Isaac had promised that \"your mother's sons will bow to you\", Jacob and his family bow to Esau. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Is Jacob admitting defeat? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Just the opposite. After all, in the win-lose dynamic, any victory is always only temporary- along with the promise to Jacob that he will rule always lurks the promise to Esau, that he will overthrow Jacob's yoke. Every win is the preamble to the next loss. But Jacob has realized that, if he's willing to pay the price, he can redefine the game as win-win. He can prevent Esau from throwing off his yoke if he willingly removes it. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob's mysterious night-long battle is the testing ground for this approach. His victory is gained not by defeating his adversary, but by reaching a deadlock which allows him to demand blessing, and to give it in return. He walks away limping, but victorious, no longer defined as Jacob, perpetually stuck in the struggle to come out on top, but as Yisrael<\/em>, a prince who defines his own terms of victory.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

(Cover art by Elisheva Horowitz, by courtesy of the artist)<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":38778,"alt":"","title":"Yaakov and 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Goes for Win-Win","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"He walks away limping, but victorious, in a deadlock which allows him to demand blessing, and to give it in return","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":38778,"alt":"","title":"Yaakov and 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She has been named by Newsweek as one of ten \u201crabbis to watch,\u201d and the Forward one of the top 50 most influential women rabbis, and currently serves as Rabbi-in-Residence at Avodah.","short_description":"Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg is the author of seven books and currently serves as Rabbi-in-Residence at Avodah","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34270,"alt":"","title":"Danya-Ruttenberg2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Danya-Ruttenberg2.jpg","width":1000,"height":667,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Danya-Ruttenberg2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Danya-Ruttenberg2-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Danya-Ruttenberg2-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Danya-Ruttenberg2.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":667,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Danya-Ruttenberg2.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":667,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Danya-Ruttenberg2.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":667,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Danya-Ruttenberg2.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":667,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Danya-Ruttenberg2-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"32","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A mystical interpretation sees Jacob receiving - and giving - angels","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cJacob went on his way, and the angels of God encountered him. \u00a0And when he saw them, Jacob said, \u2018this is God\u2019s camp.\u2019 And Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.\" (Genesis 32:2-4)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When Jacob left his father-in-law Laban\u2019s house after 20 years of service, he sent human messengers to bring a peace offering to his brother in light of the harm Jacob had inflicted as a young man\u2014in stealing Esau\u2019s blessing and possibly in the mercenary exchange of Esau\u2019s birthright for stew. \u00a0But the Zohar describes it thusly: <\/span>\"<\/b>Once Laban departed from him, the Divine Presence connected with him, and holy legions came to surround him, and from these angels he sent messengers to Esau...\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In other words: when Jacob left Laban, the Divine Presence came to him and encircled him with holy servants--the same angels he then sent to Esau. Jacob didn\u2019t just receive angels, he also gave them. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob\u2019s earlier dream of angels and a ladder didn\u2019t particularly change him; at Laban\u2019s, he was the same trickster he had been with Esau, setting up aggressive, proactive breeding procedures that gave him strong flocks, leaving feebler animals to his father-in-law\u2019s estate. \u00a0Then he packed up and left without warning\u2014as always, worrying about himself first. But, in Genesis 31, Laban chased after him for a proper goodbye. Maybe for the first time, someone told Jacob that he mattered to them. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The angels here didn\u2019t descend from heaven dramatically as in his dream; rather, they came through the camp. Jacob finally began to understand that a life of connection with the divine must touch every aspect of his world--most critically, his relationships.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It was only then that he was able to muster the courage to reach out to Esau in vulnerability, to make an offering for intimacy. To send him angels. And it was only after that that he would be ready to wrestle with God as an equal.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":95859,"alt":"","title":"sos8-angels","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels.png","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-1200x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Jacob\u2019s Vulnerability","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A mystical interpretation sees Jacob receiving - and giving - angels","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":95859,"alt":"","title":"sos8-angels","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels.png","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-1200x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"32","chapter_main_number":"32","date":"20251013","wall_id":"32"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"},{"term_id":"509","name":"Angels","old_id":"909"}]},{"order":10,"id":"39084","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Jacob and the Blessing of Self-Transformation ","post_title":"Jacob and the Blessing of Self-Transformation","slug":"jacob-and-the-blessing-of-self-transformation","old_id":"39084","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":39086,"post_title":"David Wolpe","slug":"david-wolpe","old_id":"39086","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Wolpe","description":"Rabbi David Wolpe is the Max Webb Senior Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, California. He previously taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, Hunter College, and UCLA. Ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York in 1987, Wolpe is a leader in Conservative Judaism.","short_description":"Rabbi David Wolpe is the Max Webb Senior Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, California. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":39087,"alt":"","title":"david wolpe","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-wolpe.jpg","width":178,"height":186,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-wolpe-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-wolpe.jpg","medium-width":178,"medium-height":186,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-wolpe.jpg","medium_large-width":178,"medium_large-height":186,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-wolpe.jpg","large-width":178,"large-height":186,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-wolpe.jpg","1536x1536-width":178,"1536x1536-height":186,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-wolpe.jpg","2048x2048-width":178,"2048x2048-height":186,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-wolpe.jpg","post_full_size-width":178,"post_full_size-height":186,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-wolpe.jpg","home_baner-width":178,"home_baner-height":186}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"32","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Jacob sees his brother and weeps for all the years he was blind","post_main_content_content":"

Jacob, having stolen the birthright from his older brother, runs away from home. He goes to the house of his Uncle Laban. \u00a0There he falls in love with Laban's daughter Rachel and plans to marry her. Jacob goes to bed that night expecting that Rachel will be his new bride. \u00a0He does not realize that her older sister Leah has snuck into his bed. In fact according to the text, Jacob is not aware of the duplicity until the morning.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How is this possible? \u00a0One message in the story is that the person you go to sleep with at night is not always the person you wake up to in the morning. Especially if you drink.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The deeper point is that something is missing in Jacob. \u00a0He may be infatuated with Rachel, but he does not truly see her.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob begins life unable to see the reality of others. \u00a0He deceives his father and steals his brother\u2019s birthright. His blind father does not \u2018see\u2019 Jacob in many ways. Those who are not seen often find themselves too unable to see. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Years later, Jacob is informed that the brother from whom he stole the birthright intends to come and kill him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The night before he is to meet Esau, the Torah says \"And Jacob was alone, and a man wrestled with him until the coming of the dawn (Gen. 32:24).\" Even though the wrestler is commonly assumed to be an angel, the phrase \"Jacob was alone\" \u00a0suggests a struggle with himself. And as a result of that struggle something unforeseen takes place.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At dawn Jacob, tells the angel he will not let go until the angel blesses him. \u00a0And we read the following: The man asked him, \u201cWhat is your name?\u201d \u201cJacob,\u201d he answered.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Then the man said, \u201cYour name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel\" \u00a0(Gen. 32:27,28). Imagine asking for a blessing and hearing: \"Your name is no longer Kenneth -- your name is Fred!\" \u00a0I don't think most people would consider that much of a blessing.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And yet that is the angel's blessing to Jacob. \u00a0For the angel has given him the blessing of self-transformation. \u00a0He will not be entirely different -- many times in the future the Bible will refer to him again as 'Jacob.' \u00a0But he has grown through self-struggle.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Now, instead of confrontation we read: \"But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.\" \u00a0And then Jacob tells him, \"For to see your face is like seeing the face of God.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob now sees people. Jacob sees his brother and weeps in part for all the years he was blind. Jacob has learned to see others, and to love.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":84724,"alt":"","title":"ps63-eye seeing God","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Jacob and the Blessing of Self-Transformation","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Jacob sees his brother and weeps for all the years he was blind","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":84724,"alt":"","title":"ps63-eye seeing God","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"32","chapter_main_number":"32","date":"20251013","wall_id":"32"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"},{"term_id":"504","name":"Blessing","old_id":"904"}]},{"order":11,"id":"38705","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"What is Your Name - This Time? ","post_title":"What is Your Name - This Time?","slug":"what-is-your-name-this-time","old_id":"38705","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37404,"post_title":"Jennifer Raskas","slug":"jennifer-raskas","old_id":"37404","first_name":"Jennifer ","last_name":"Raskas ","description":"Jennifer Raskas is the Washington D.C. Manager for the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. She teaches classes widely on Hebrew literary approaches to readings in Tanakh. Jennifer received her Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and her Master's in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.","short_description":"Jennifer Raskas is the Washington D.C. Manager for the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37405,"alt":"","title":"Jennifer Raskas","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483.jpg","width":1680,"height":1647,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-300x294.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":294,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-768x753.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":753,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-1024x1004.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1004,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1506,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483.jpg","2048x2048-width":1680,"2048x2048-height":1647,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-1200x1176.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1176,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-428x420.jpg","home_baner-width":428,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"32","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"It is often only after we face our hardest internal struggles, that we are ready to face the external world","post_main_content_content":"

\u201c\u2019I will not let you go until you bless me.\u201d<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>And he said to him, \u2018What is your name?\u2019\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why does Jacob, while wrestling an angel demand a blessing? Why does the angel ask for Jacob\u2019s name? \u00a0According to Rav Shmuel Klitzner, in \u201cWrestling Jacob: Deception, Identity and Freudian Slips in Genesis\u201d, the answer lies in Jacob overcoming psychological trauma.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The moment that Jacob is born holding Esau\u2019s ankle, there emerges a struggle over which brother will retain first-born status. This struggle continues when Jacob buys the birthright from Esau, and peaks during the gripping account of Jacob and Rebecca deceiving Isaac into giving Jacob Esau\u2019s blessing. <\/span>At the climactic moment of deception, Isaac asks Jacob, \u201cWho are you my son?\u201d Jacob answers: \u201cI am Esau, your eldest\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps when Jacob wrestles with the angel, he hauntingly recalls his earlier deception to his father, and then asks for a blessing. The knowing angel responds, \u201cWhat is your name?\u201d In a moment where the past and the recollection of calling himself \u201cEsau\u201d may be tormenting him, Jacob answers with the truth, his name is \u201cJacob\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Now, \u201cthe sun comes up for him\u201d. The angel changes his name from Jacob, from the root 'akuv\u00a0<\/em>crooked, to Israel, which contains the Hebrew letters for <\/span>yashar<\/span><\/i>, straight. \u00a0Now Jacob can better confront Esau, after he successfully confronted his most challenging adversary \u2013 himself.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We all face challenges. \u00a0Often, like Jacob, it is after we face our hardest internal struggles, that we are then ready to make the external world around us stronger, more just, more <\/span>yashar<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":98993,"alt":"","title":"1chron6-names","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron6-names.png","width":1280,"height":640,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron6-names-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron6-names-300x150.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron6-names-768x384.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron6-names-1024x512.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron6-names.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":640,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron6-names.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":640,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron6-names-1200x600.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron6-names-840x420.png","home_baner-width":840,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"What is Your Name - This Time?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"It is often only after we face our hardest internal struggles, that we are ready to face the external world","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":98993,"alt":"","title":"1chron6-names","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron6-names.png","width":1280,"height":640,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron6-names-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron6-names-300x150.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron6-names-768x384.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron6-names-1024x512.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron6-names.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":640,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron6-names.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":640,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron6-names-1200x600.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron6-names-840x420.png","home_baner-width":840,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"32","chapter_main_number":"32","date":"20251013","wall_id":"32"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"},{"term_id":"501","name":"Deception","old_id":"901"}]},{"order":12,"id":"38722","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Why Did Jacob Wrestle? 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https:\/\/youtu.be\/yc2UAY6h7PI<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Narrated by: Dara Horn","tile_main_caption":"Why Did Jacob Wrestle?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A Bimbam Video","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/yc2UAY6h7PI","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"32","chapter_main_number":"32","date":"20251013","wall_id":"32"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"},{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"}]},{"order":13,"id":"38711","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"He Named That Place \u201cTwo-Camps\u201d ","post_title":"He Named That Place \u201cTwo-Camps\u201d","slug":"he-named-that-place-two-camps","old_id":"38711","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38713,"post_title":"Collin Davis","slug":"collin-davis","old_id":"38713","first_name":"Collin ","last_name":"Davis","description":"Collin (Chaim Eliezer) Davis is a candidate for Rabbinic Ordination at JTS. He is the Head of Masa Education, Camp Ramah in the Rockies, and loves teaching Torah and Jewish Spirituality in traditional and creative methods.","short_description":"Collin Davis is a candidate for Rabbinic Ordination at JTS, and is the Head of Masa Education, Camp Ramah in the Rockies","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38714,"alt":"","title":"collin davis","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/collin-davis-e1535285850965.jpg","width":170,"height":168,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/collin-davis-e1535285850965-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/collin-davis-e1535285850965.jpg","medium-width":170,"medium-height":168,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/collin-davis-e1535285850965.jpg","medium_large-width":170,"medium_large-height":168,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/collin-davis-e1535285850965.jpg","large-width":170,"large-height":168,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/collin-davis-e1535285850965.jpg","1536x1536-width":170,"1536x1536-height":168,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/collin-davis-e1535285850965.jpg","2048x2048-width":170,"2048x2048-height":168,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/collin-davis-e1535285850965.jpg","post_full_size-width":170,"post_full_size-height":168,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/collin-davis-e1535285850965.jpg","home_baner-width":170,"home_baner-height":168}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"32","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"In the times we feel most divided we can also have moments of great revelation","post_main_content_content":"

In Genesis 32:4 we read that when Jacob saw angels present at his campsite, \u201che said, \u2018This is God\u2019s camp\u2019 and he named the place <\/span>Machanaim<\/em> <\/span>(two-camps).\u201d Many of the commentators throughout the ages have interpreted the meaning of the grammatical dual form used for <\/span>machaneh<\/em> <\/span>\u201ccamp\u201d to be the camp of Jacob and the camp of the angels he saw. However, just a few lines later, in chapter 32, verse 8, we read, \u201cJacob was greatly frightened; in his anxiety, he divided the people with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

After Jacob split everything he had into two camps, he encountered the divine messenger, which revealed the nature of the Jewish soul to Jacob\u2014wrestling with humanity and divinity and becoming Israel. Israel was given his new name in a moment of recognizing the divine in the world, and renames the place <\/span>Peniel<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>as the Torah relates in 32:31, <\/span>\u201c <\/span><\/i>So Jacob named the place Peniel, meaning, \u201cI have seen a <\/span>divine being face to face<\/em> <\/span>, yet my life has been preserved.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From this we can learn that in the times we feel most divided we can also have moments of great revelation. Throughout history, there have been times when hiding their true selves was necessary for Jews to survive. We are fortunate to live in a time that is overall favorable towards Jews. It seems that more and more Jews though are dividing themselves into two groups: the religious and the secular. In our day-to-day lives, we encounter moments where we have to decide whether to divide ourselves into two camps or to wrestle with the messenger. In each case, there is opportunity for revelation and growth if, like Jacob, we are prepared to see it.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":38726,"alt":"","title":"mahanayim","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mahanayim-e1535287616204.jpg","width":233,"height":270,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mahanayim-e1535287616204-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mahanayim-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mahanayim-e1535287616204.jpg","medium_large-width":233,"medium_large-height":270,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mahanayim-e1535287616204.jpg","large-width":233,"large-height":270,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mahanayim-e1535287616204.jpg","1536x1536-width":233,"1536x1536-height":270,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mahanayim-e1535287616204.jpg","2048x2048-width":233,"2048x2048-height":270,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mahanayim-e1535287616204.jpg","post_full_size-width":233,"post_full_size-height":270,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mahanayim-e1535287616204.jpg","home_baner-width":233,"home_baner-height":270}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"He Named That Place \u201cTwo-Camps\u201d","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"In the times we feel most divided we can also have moments of great revelation","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":38726,"alt":"","title":"mahanayim","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mahanayim-e1535287616204.jpg","width":233,"height":270,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mahanayim-e1535287616204-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mahanayim-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mahanayim-e1535287616204.jpg","medium_large-width":233,"medium_large-height":270,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mahanayim-e1535287616204.jpg","large-width":233,"large-height":270,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mahanayim-e1535287616204.jpg","1536x1536-width":233,"1536x1536-height":270,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mahanayim-e1535287616204.jpg","2048x2048-width":233,"2048x2048-height":270,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mahanayim-e1535287616204.jpg","post_full_size-width":233,"post_full_size-height":270,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mahanayim-e1535287616204.jpg","home_baner-width":233,"home_baner-height":270}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"32","chapter_main_number":"32","date":"20251013","wall_id":"32"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"541","name":"Revelation","old_id":"941"}]},{"order":14,"id":"38709","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"With Whom Did Jacob do Battle? ","post_title":"With Whom Did Jacob do Battle?","slug":"with-whom-did-jacob-do-battle","old_id":"38709","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38140,"post_title":"Daniel Goodman","slug":"daniel-goodman","old_id":"38140","first_name":"Daniel ","last_name":"Goodman ","description":"Daniel Goodman is a dedicated writer, rabbi, and scholar. He is pursuing a Ph.D. at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and is studying English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. He has published in numerous academic and popular journals, magazines, and newspapers, and in over a dozen literary journals. He received the Whizin Prize in Jewish Ethics in both 2014 and 2015, and his first edited book, Black Fire on White Fire: Essays in Honor of Rabbi Avi Weiss, was published by KTAV in 2017.\r\n","short_description":"Daniel Goodman is a dedicated writer, rabbi, and scholar. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38141,"alt":"","title":"daniel goodman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/daniel-goodman-e1534665731469.jpg","width":2180,"height":2858,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/daniel-goodman-e1534665731469-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/daniel-goodman-e1534665731469-229x300.jpg","medium-width":229,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/daniel-goodman-e1534665731469-768x1007.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1007,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/daniel-goodman-e1534665731469-781x1024.jpg","large-width":781,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/daniel-goodman-e1534665731469.jpg","1536x1536-width":1172,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/daniel-goodman-e1534665731469.jpg","2048x2048-width":1562,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/daniel-goodman-e1534665731469-915x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":915,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/daniel-goodman-e1534665731469-320x420.jpg","home_baner-width":320,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"32","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A rationalist and a literalist wrestle with the text","post_main_content_content":"

It is one of the most resonant moments of the entire biblical saga: Jacob, on his way to meet his brother Esau for the first time since fleeing from him many years ago, leaves his family and his camp in the middle of the night and encounters an unnamed figure\u2014an angel\u2014who wrestles with him until dawn. Jacob walks away from the encounter with a limp, but he gains a new name: Israel\u2014\u201che who wrestles with God\u201d\u2014the name which shall became the namesake for the people that will descend from his children.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This story may be one of the more memorable episodes in the entire Tanakh, but did it really happen? Maimonides, the great medieval halakhist and philosopher, startlingly maintains that it did not. According to Maimonides, human beings can only see angels in dreams, or in waking visions. Thus, according to Maimonides, the seminal story of Jacob wrestling with the angel was not an event that occurred in the external world; it only occurred within Jacob\u2019s mind.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If so, responded Nachmanides, Maimonides\u2019 great medieval antagonist, how could Jacob have walked away from this \u201cdream\u201d with a limp? This vision was obviously no dream, Nachmanides responded; it was an event that took place in the external world, and had real, physical consequences.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So? Was Jacob wrestling with the angel a tension-filled tussle in the darkness of the night? Or a no-holds-barred battle within the depths of the soul? The view you choose to take of this story\u2014reading it through the prism of Maimonides\u2019 realism, or through Nachmanides\u2019 literalism\u2014may be the reading of the Jewish tradition that most speaks to you: rationalism, or mysticism; both schools of thought, like Jacob and the angel, have always, and will always, continue to wrestle with each other within the limitless wrestling ring that is the universe of Torah.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":48708,"alt":"","title":"Num31-jacob-wrestling-the-angel-of-god","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num31-jacob-wrestling-the-angel-of-god.jpg","width":900,"height":717,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num31-jacob-wrestling-the-angel-of-god-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num31-jacob-wrestling-the-angel-of-god-300x239.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":239,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num31-jacob-wrestling-the-angel-of-god-768x612.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":612,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num31-jacob-wrestling-the-angel-of-god.jpg","large-width":900,"large-height":717,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num31-jacob-wrestling-the-angel-of-god.jpg","1536x1536-width":900,"1536x1536-height":717,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num31-jacob-wrestling-the-angel-of-god.jpg","2048x2048-width":900,"2048x2048-height":717,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num31-jacob-wrestling-the-angel-of-god.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":717,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Num31-jacob-wrestling-the-angel-of-god-527x420.jpg","home_baner-width":527,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"With Whom Did Jacob do Battle?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A rationalist and a literalist wrestle with the 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Wrestled with Himself ","post_title":"Jacob Wrestled with Himself","slug":"jacob-wrestled-with-himself","old_id":"38703","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38549,"post_title":"Gil Kopatch","slug":"gil-kopatch","old_id":"38549","first_name":"Gil ","last_name":"Kopatch","description":"Gil Kopatch is a satirist, screenwriter, playwright, Israeli comedian, and chairman of the former Green Leaf party.","short_description":"Gil Kopatch is a satirist, screenwriter, playwright and Israeli comedian.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":1194,"alt":"","title":"\u05d2\u05d9\u05dc \u05e7\u05d5\u05e4\u05d8\u05e9","caption":"\u05e6\u05d9\u05dc\u05d5\u05dd: \u05d2\u05d3\u05d9 \u05d3\u05d2\u05d5\u05df","description":"\u05e6\u05d9\u05dc\u05d5\u05dd: \u05d2\u05d3\u05d9 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in so doing, gets a grip on himself and his legacy","post_main_content_content":"

In an attempt to appease Esau\u2019s wrath, Jacob sends him gifts that amount to quite a pay-off: \u00a0\u201c200 she-goats and 20 he-goats; 200 ewes and 20 rams; 30 milch camels with their colts; 40 cows and 10 bulls; 20 she-asses and 10 he-asses\u201d (Genesis 32:14-15).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is a convoy worth a fortune. According to the current price list - each cow costs about NIS 10,000, meaning the herd of cattle alone is worth about half a million shekels, the equivalent of about $150,000.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is meant to teach us:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \r\n\t
  1. When making peace with enemies you have to be generous.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. \u201cBribe will blind the eyes of the wise\u201d (Deuteronomy 16:19), not to mention the eyes of the wicked like Esau.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

    But Jacob still is not calm. He is afraid that Esau may not be interested in money but wants to see blood. Jacob\u2019s anxiety is overwhelming, and he cannot sleep. He takes his entire family and takes them to the other side of the stream, and then returns and remains alone. \u00a0It is very strange.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Why does he not stay with his children and his wives to protect them? They, too, are feeling anxious! Apparently Jacob actually considered running away. His \u201cJacobite\u201d character whispered to him, \"Run away, leave everything and save yourself,\" but then \"a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn\" (Genesis 32:25).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Suddenly a man comes up and begins beating him. \u00a0Or perhaps it was a heavenly angel who specialized in Jiu-Jitsu, or Jacob himself wrestling with himself?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The same man comes just to ensure that when Jacob is confronted by reality he will not run away from it. Jacob does some deep and painful soul searching. He beats himself up. And he gets injured.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    At a certain point, the morning dawns, and things start to become somewhat clearer. Jacob gets a grip on himself and says to himself \u201cWhat is your name?\u201d He replied, \u201cJacob.\u201d Said he, \u201cYour name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel\u201d (Genesis 32:28-29).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Jacob takes control of himself. He is no longer Jacob, the cunning manipulative liar, but Israel, honest with his God, a pursuer of truth, fair and decent. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

    PS - We are all supposed to be children of Israel, and not children of Jacob.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Jacob Wrestled with Himself","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And in so doing, gets a grip on himself and his legacy","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"32","chapter_main_number":"32","date":"20251013","wall_id":"32"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"},{"term_id":"542","name":"Generosity","old_id":"942"}]},{"order":16,"id":"38691","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Tortured By the Thought of Possibly Having to Kill ","post_title":"Tortured By the Thought of Possibly Having to Kill","slug":"tortured-by-the-thought-of-possibly-having-to-kill","old_id":"38691","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37918,"post_title":"Shai Held","slug":"shai-held","old_id":"37918","first_name":" Shai ","last_name":"Held","description":"Rabbi Shai Held, theologian, scholar, and educator, is President, Dean, and Chair in Jewish Thought at Hadar, where he also directs the Center for Jewish Leadership and Ideas. A 2011 recipient of the prestigious Covenant Award for excellence in Jewish education, Rabbi Held has been named multiple times to Newsweek\u2019s list of the 50 most influential rabbis in America. He holds a doctorate in religion from Harvard; Rabbi Held's first book, Abraham Joshua Heschel: The Call of Transcendence, was published by Indiana University Press in 2013; The Heart of Torah, a collection of essays on the Torah in two volumes, was published by JPS in 2017.","short_description":"Rabbi Shai Held is President, Dean, and Chair in Jewish Thought at Hadar,","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37919,"alt":"","title":"shai held","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","width":150,"height":186,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","medium-width":150,"medium-height":186,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","medium_large-width":150,"medium_large-height":186,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","large-width":150,"large-height":186,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","1536x1536-width":150,"1536x1536-height":186,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","2048x2048-width":150,"2048x2048-height":186,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","post_full_size-width":150,"post_full_size-height":186,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","home_baner-width":150,"home_baner-height":186}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"32","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Having a state means having an army, but that is a tragic necessity rather than a revelation of the holy","post_main_content_content":"

    What is the Jewish attitude towards violence and military force? One crucial window into that extremely important question is provided by a Rabbinic interpretation of today\u2019s chapter. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Jacob had long ago left home after taking his brother\u2019s blessing in a morally compromised fashion (Genesis 27). Now, on his way back home, he faces the fearful scene of Esau coming towards him with four hundred men (32:7); in that moment, Jacob no doubt recalls Esau\u2019s desire to kill him (27:41-42).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    When he hears of Esau\u2019s approach, the Torah tells us, \u201cJacob was greatly afraid, and he was distressed\u201d (32:8). Rabbinic tradition is confused by this seemingly unnecessary doubling of language: if Jacob was greatly afraid, then surely he was also distressed. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Citing a midrash, Rashi comments: \u201cJacob was greatly afraid lest he be killed, and he was distressed lest he kill others.\u201d The Talmudic Sage R. Judah b. Ilai suggests that as Esau headed his way, Jacob thought, \u201cIf he prevails against me, will he not kill me; while if I am stronger, will I not kill him?\u201d (Genesis Rabbah 76:2). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

    In Rashi\u2019s version of the midrash, found in several manuscripts as well, Jacob is first and foremost worried about being killed, but he is also afraid of becoming a killer himself. But in other versions of the midrash, the order is reversed: \u201cJacob was greatly afraid lest he kill, and he was distressed lest he be killed.\u201d In this rather startling formulation, Jacob is even more worried about taking a life than he is about having his own taken. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

    To be clear: the Jewish tradition is far from pacifistic. On the contrary, a significant principle of Jewish law and ethics asserts that \u201cif someone comes to kill you, hasten to kill him first\u201d (BT, Berakhot 58a). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

    But even so, R. Judah b. Ilai imagines Jacob tormented by the thought that he would need to take a life. Justified violence is nevertheless tragic, a manifestation of a world still agonizingly far from perfection. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Today, Jews have Israel; and having a state means having an army, but that is a tragic necessity rather than a revelation of the holy. Even as Jews traditionally refuse pacifism, we ought to remember our ancestor Jacob, who was tortured by the thought that he might have to kill. 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What Sort of Wrestling Was This? ","post_title":"Just What Sort of Wrestling Was This?","slug":"just-what-sort-of-wrestling-was-this","old_id":"38693","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38550,"post_title":"Moshe Meir","slug":"moshe-meir","old_id":"38550","first_name":"Moshe","last_name":"Meir ","description":"Dr. Moshe Meir is a writer, poet, educator, researcher in Jewish thought and Israeli philosophy. He is a facilitator of study groups that focus on Jewish sources and has developed a study method that is based on thinking about subject matter from different angles.","short_description":"Dr. Moshe Meir is a writer, poet, educator, researcher in Jewish thought and Israeli philosophy.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":1558,"alt":"","title":"","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/81-1.jpg","width":171,"height":184,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/81-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/81-1.jpg","medium-width":171,"medium-height":184,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/81-1.jpg","medium_large-width":171,"medium_large-height":184,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/81-1.jpg","large-width":171,"large-height":184,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/81-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":171,"1536x1536-height":184,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/81-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":171,"2048x2048-height":184,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/81-1.jpg","post_full_size-width":171,"post_full_size-height":184,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/81-1.jpg","home_baner-width":171,"home_baner-height":184}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"32","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A fight in which there is truth to be fought is an embrace","post_main_content_content":"

    \u201cAnd a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn\u201d (Genesis 32:25). \u00a0This image has become a foundational image and symbol for the Jewish people. Loneliness, the mysterious enemy, the struggle at dawn and the break of day. Let us look at one phrase: \u201che wrestled.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

    This is what Rashi wrote about it: \u201cMenahem ben Saruk (the author of the first biblical dictionary in Hebrew) interpreted: A man became covered with dirt, meaning dust, because they were kicking up dust with their feet as a result of their movement (while wrestling). \u00a0To me, however, it seems that it stems from the word \u2018he attached himself to,\u2019 and that \u2018he wrestled\u2019 is of Aramaic origin related to the word \u201cjoin with loops.\u201d For it is the way of two who wrestle for one person to throw the other down, and then he grasps him (embraces him) and entwines him in his arms.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Rembrandt in his painting \u201cJacob Wrestling the Angel\u201d (1659) follows the interpretation of Rashi, but goes one step further. \u00a0Look at the picture and you will see: The figures appear not as wrestling with one another, but as embracing each other, and the angel looks like a woman, and the embrace takes on a new meaning.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The struggle of the embrace leads me to thoughts about the struggle. Some see the struggle as belonging to the field of violent war, to the field of evil, to the desire to find a winner and defeat the enemy. But in the tradition of the sages, the struggle, and especially the struggle of differing opinions, is the closest connection and embrace between one person and another:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said: \u201cEven a parent and child, a rabbi and disciple, \u00a0who are engaged in Torah together in one gate become enemies with each other due to the intensity of their studies. But they do not leave there until they love each other, as it is stated in the verse discussing the places the Jewish people engaged in battle in the wilderness: \u201cTherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord, Vahev in Suphah [<\/span>beSufa<\/span><\/em>], and the valleys of Arnon\u201d (Numbers 21:14). The word \u201c<\/span>vahev<\/span><\/em>\u201d is interpreted as related to the word for love, <\/span>ahava<\/span><\/em>. Additionally, do not read this as \u201cin Suphah [<\/span>beSufa<\/span><\/em>]\u201d; rather, read it as \u201cat its end [<\/span>besofa<\/span><\/em>],\u201di.e., at the conclusion of their dispute they are beloved to each other.. [Talmud Kiddushin 40b]<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Speech that emphasizes diversity is a struggle. \u00a0A fight in which there is truth to be fought is an embrace.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Cover image: Rembrandt, <\/span>Jacob Wrestling With the Angel,<\/span><\/i> [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":38694,"alt":"","title":"Rembrandt_-_Jacob_Wrestling_with_the_Angel_-_Google_Art_Project","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Rembrandt_-_Jacob_Wrestling_with_the_Angel_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg","width":4000,"height":4771,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Rembrandt_-_Jacob_Wrestling_with_the_Angel_-_Google_Art_Project-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Rembrandt_-_Jacob_Wrestling_with_the_Angel_-_Google_Art_Project-252x300.jpg","medium-width":252,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Rembrandt_-_Jacob_Wrestling_with_the_Angel_-_Google_Art_Project-768x916.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":916,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Rembrandt_-_Jacob_Wrestling_with_the_Angel_-_Google_Art_Project-859x1024.jpg","large-width":859,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Rembrandt_-_Jacob_Wrestling_with_the_Angel_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg","1536x1536-width":1288,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Rembrandt_-_Jacob_Wrestling_with_the_Angel_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg","2048x2048-width":1717,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Rembrandt_-_Jacob_Wrestling_with_the_Angel_-_Google_Art_Project-1006x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1006,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Rembrandt_-_Jacob_Wrestling_with_the_Angel_-_Google_Art_Project-352x420.jpg","home_baner-width":352,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Just 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was Dinah? ","post_title":"Where was Dinah?","slug":"where-was-dinah","old_id":"38742","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34002,"post_title":"Yonatan Feintuch","slug":"rabbi-dr-yonatan-feintuch","old_id":"34002","first_name":"Yonatan","last_name":"Feintuch","description":"Rabbi Dr. Yonatan Feintuch resides with his wife Carmit and their six children in Jerusalem.\r\nHe co-heads (with his wife, Carmit) the 'Ilana de-Haye' Beit Midrash for women in Katamon, Jerusalem, and teaches Talmud, Midrash, Tanach and Jewish Education at Bar Ilan University, Yeshivat Har Etzion Beit Midrash for Women in Migdal Oz and Herzog College in Alon Shvut.\r\nHe studied at various Yeshivot and Batei Midrash, including Yeshivat Har Etzion and Beit Morasha, and holds a PhD in Talmud from Bar Ilan University.\r\nHe writes and speaks on issues of Tanach, Midrash and Aggadot of the Talmud, with a special emphasis on issues of the dynamics between halakha and aggada in the Talmud.\r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Dr. Yonatan Feintuch co-heads (with his wife, Carmit) the 'Ilana de-Haye' Beit Midrash for women in Jerusalem, and teaches at Bar Ilan University, Yeshivat Har Etzion Beit Midrash for Women and Herzog College.\r\n","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34003,"alt":"","title":"Rabbi Dr. Yonatan Feintuch","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr.-Yonatan-Feintuch.jpg","width":69,"height":102,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr.-Yonatan-Feintuch.jpg","thumbnail-width":69,"thumbnail-height":102,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr.-Yonatan-Feintuch.jpg","medium-width":69,"medium-height":102,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr.-Yonatan-Feintuch.jpg","medium_large-width":69,"medium_large-height":102,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr.-Yonatan-Feintuch.jpg","large-width":69,"large-height":102,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr.-Yonatan-Feintuch.jpg","1536x1536-width":69,"1536x1536-height":102,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr.-Yonatan-Feintuch.jpg","2048x2048-width":69,"2048x2048-height":102,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr.-Yonatan-Feintuch.jpg","post_full_size-width":69,"post_full_size-height":102,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr.-Yonatan-Feintuch.jpg","home_baner-width":69,"home_baner-height":102}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"32","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Did Jacob try to put off the inevitable?","post_main_content_content":"

    Jacob approaches Esau, carrying \"his eleven children\" (32:23). But the Midrash notes someone is missing: \"And Dina where is she?\" The Midrash answers: Jacob locked her in a chest, to conceal her from Esau.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Next, the Midrash connects to the wider context, pointing out that Dina was eventually forced into an intimate relationship by Shechem, a total stranger and '<\/em><\/span>arel<\/span><\/em> [uncircumcised] (Bereishit Rabbah 76).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    One theme of this Midrash is often missed: the futility of attempting to evade destiny. Maybe Dina is destined to marry a non-righteous man, perhaps to spread Jacob's family's influence in darker realms. But Jacob won't play along, and attempts to manipulate the situation. This doesn't work. If Dina won't marry Esau, she will end up in a violent intimate relationship with Shechem.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    In a similar vein, a brief narrative in the Babylonian Talmud (Berakhot 10a) tells the story of King Hezekiah's illness. Isaiah, the prophet, informed him that he will not recover, since on foreseeing that great evil will come from his future son, Menashe, Hezekiah refrained from reproduction altogether. Hezekiah, according to the story, makes one more attempt to trick destiny by marrying his daughter to Isaiah, building on their cumulative merits to produce a righteous offspring. But that won't work either, says Isaiah. One cannot evade destiny with manipulative actions. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The story, however, doesn't end there. Even when all appears to be lost, Hezekiah claims, one should not refrain from prayer. This works, partially, but the story doesn't make that claim. The actual statement is that one should not prevent oneself from 'mercy'. Indeed, prayer doesn't always change reality. Hezekiah's son will be evil. But the change in one's internal reality, which an open heart and a sincere dialogue with God can achieve, is also a gift of God's mercy. In attempting to manipulate the situation, on the other hand, one gives up on the dialogue with God and his decisions.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The Midrash on Jacob may have an additional part of the broader context in mind as well. For in the beginning of the chapter Jacob does not attempt to avoid confronting Esau, but rather turns (<\/span>inter alia<\/span><\/em>) to prayer (32:12) \u2013\u00a0 'Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother\u2026\". Had he chosen to confront God with prayer over Dina's destiny as well instead of attempting to manipulate it, the Midrash implies, they may have been spared the tragic affair of Shechem.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":103219,"alt":"","title":"-6237a1d6ec4c8--6237a1d6ec4c9gen32-treasure chest 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was Dinah?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Did Jacob try to put off the inevitable?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":103219,"alt":"","title":"-6237a1d6ec4c8--6237a1d6ec4c9gen32-treasure chest 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My Brother\u2014Facing God ","post_title":"Facing My Brother\u2014Facing God","slug":"facing-my-brother-facing-god","old_id":"38677","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38220,"post_title":"Yehuda Rapoport","slug":"yehuda-rapoport","old_id":"38220","first_name":"Yehuda ","last_name":"Rapoport ","description":"Yehuda Rapoport is a Jewish educator, psychotherapist and a web developer. He was a recipient of the Grinspoon-Steinhardt award for excellence in Jewish education. More of Yehuda's thoughts can be found at: yehudathoughts.blogspot.com","short_description":"Yehuda Rapoport is a Jewish educator, psychotherapist and a web developer. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38221,"alt":"","title":"Yehuda_Rapoport","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yehuda_Rapoport-e1534784247260.jpg","width":1142,"height":1114,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yehuda_Rapoport-e1534784247260-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yehuda_Rapoport-e1534784247260-300x293.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":293,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yehuda_Rapoport-e1534784247260-768x749.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":749,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yehuda_Rapoport-e1534784247260-1024x999.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":999,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yehuda_Rapoport-e1534784247260.jpg","1536x1536-width":1142,"1536x1536-height":1114,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yehuda_Rapoport-e1534784247260.jpg","2048x2048-width":1142,"2048x2048-height":1114,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yehuda_Rapoport-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yehuda_Rapoport-e1534784247260-431x420.jpg","home_baner-width":431,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"32","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Learning from Cain and Abel, Jacob realized that the way to God was through the face of his brother.","post_main_content_content":"

    In this chapter Jacob makes the disturbing discovery that Esau\u2019s enmity has not diminished over the twenty years that he has been with Laban. He is on his way with four hundred men\u2014his intentions apparently not benign. This news terrifies Jacob and he begins to prepare for the ominous encounter. Everything he has gained, the family he has formed\u2014all is in peril.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Jacob sends multiple herds of animals as gifts to assuage Esau\u2019s anger. He sends his servants with the message: Also, behold, your servant Jacob is behind us, for he said, \u201cI will seek atonement from his face (<\/span>akhapparah panav<\/span><\/em>)<\/span> with the offering (<\/span>mincha<\/span><\/em>) that goes before me\u2014and then I shall see his face (<\/span>er\u2019eh panav<\/span><\/em>)\u2014perhaps he will lift up my face! (<\/span>yisa panai<\/span><\/i>)\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    This statement is filled with terminology that is otherwise reserved for the sacrificial service: <\/span>kapparah<\/em> <\/span>(atonement), <\/span>mincha<\/span><\/em> (an offering\/gift) and <\/span>panim<\/span><\/em> (face), as well as <\/span>yisa<\/span><\/em> (to bear\/lift up). It sounds like Jacob is talking about an encounter with God. This is, in fact, exactly what Jacob says in the next chapter (33:10), \u201cFor I have seen your face\u2014like seeing the face of God and He favored me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Perhaps Jacob has realized that it is this encounter with his brother which will ultimately enable him to encounter God. I would suggest this story be read in light of the story of Cain and Abel. Each of them offered a <\/span>mincha<\/span><\/em> to God\u2014Cain\u2019s offering was rejected and Abel\u2019s was accepted. Cain\u2019s \u201cface fell\u201d\u2014he was overwhelmed by jealousy of his brother and was not able to reflect on how to improve himself. We know what happened next\u2014murder: the ultimate failure to \u201craise up\u201d the face of one\u2019s brother. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Where brotherly strife reigns, the encounter with God is impossible. Cain, who could not face his brother, was henceforth hidden from the face of God. Jacob realized that the way to God was through the face of his brother.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":82021,"alt":"","title":"ps30-hidden face","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-hidden-face.jpg","width":3508,"height":2480,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-hidden-face-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-hidden-face-300x212.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":212,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-hidden-face-768x543.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":543,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-hidden-face-1024x724.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":724,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-hidden-face.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1086,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-hidden-face.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1448,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-hidden-face-1200x848.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":848,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-hidden-face-594x420.jpg","home_baner-width":594,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Facing My Brother\u2014Facing God","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Learning from Cain and Abel, Jacob realized that the way to God was through the face of his brother.","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":82021,"alt":"","title":"ps30-hidden face","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-hidden-face.jpg","width":3508,"height":2480,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-hidden-face-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-hidden-face-300x212.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":212,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-hidden-face-768x543.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":543,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-hidden-face-1024x724.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":724,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-hidden-face.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1086,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-hidden-face.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1448,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-hidden-face-1200x848.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":848,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-hidden-face-594x420.jpg","home_baner-width":594,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"32","chapter_main_number":"32","date":"20251013","wall_id":"32"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"437","name":"Prayer","old_id":"837"},{"term_id":"486","name":"Esau","old_id":"886"},{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"}]},{"order":20,"id":"44513","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Responding to Violence With Kindness and Goodness ","post_title":"Responding to Violence With Kindness and Goodness","slug":"responding-to-violence-with-kindness-and-goodness","old_id":"44513","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36663,"post_title":"Beth Kissileff","slug":"beth-kissileff","old_id":"36663","first_name":"Beth ","last_name":"Kissileff ","description":"Beth Kissileff is the editor of the anthology Reading Genesis (2016 - https:\/\/www.bloomsbury.com\/us\/reading-genesis-9780567381521), and the forthcoming Reading Exodus, and the author of the novel Questioning Return - https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Questioning-Return-Novel-Beth-Kissileff\/dp\/1942134231. \r\nHer journalism appears in many publications; she has taught most recently at the University of Pittsburgh. Visit her online at www.bethkissileff.com. ","short_description":"Beth Kissileff is the editor of the anthology Reading Genesis (Bloomsbury\/ T and T Clark, 2016) , a journalist and teacher.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36664,"alt":"","title":"BethKissileff","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","width":3478,"height":3200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-300x276.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":276,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-768x707.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":707,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-1024x942.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":942,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1413,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1884,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-1200x1104.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1104,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-456x420.jpg","home_baner-width":456,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1019","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Seeing the face of God in the face of one who wants to kill you","post_main_content_content":"

    I have found that violence is strangely capable of returning my characters to reality and preparing them to accept their moment of grace. Their heads are so hard that almost nothing else will do the work.<\/p>\r\n

    -Flannery O\u2019Connor,<\/em> quoted from Bloom\u2019s Literary Criticism<\/a><\/em><\/p>\r\n

    I have been thinking this week about how Catholic writer Flannery O\u2019Connor\u2019s notions of violence affecting transformation in a character apply to the life of our patriarch Jacob throughout his life, but particularly in this week\u2019s portion, Vayishlach <\/em>(\"He sent out\"). As the portion opens, after twenty years of servitude, having his wages \"changed ten times\" (31:41), relationships with two wives and two concubines, the birth of eleven sons and a daughter, Jacob is finally leaving Haran and crossing through his twin brother Esau\u2019s territory in the \u201cland of Seir, the field of Edom\u201d (32:3). This necessitates the encounter Jacob has been avoiding with the brother who is furious that Jacob has supplanted him (27: 36) and towards whom he has murderous intentions (27:41).<\/p>\r\n

    We know that from the beginning of his journeying out of his parents\u2019 house, Jacob has been changed by his unexpected visions of God and of angels (28:12-17; 32:1-2), and learning to depart from the na\u00efve ways that are natural to him as an \u201cish tam<\/em>\u201d (simple or whole man, 25:24) and more like his brother the \u201cyode'a tzayid<\/em>\u201d (knowledgeable about hunting, 25:24) which begin when he disguises himself as his brother at his mother\u2019s request (27:8-17).<\/p>\r\n

    In this portion, the transformation is finalized. Jacob wrestles with another being \u2013 whether an actual angel, or Esau\u2019s guardian angel, an emissary of Esau, or possibly Jacob\u2019s guilty conscience \u2013 and his name is changed to Israel (32:28).<\/p>\r\n

    What really enables Jacob to change, and signifies that his transformation has been effective? Quoting Genesis Rabbah 78, Rashi (on 32:29) says about this name change that \u201cwe have no fixed names, our names change, all depending upon the service that we are commanded to carry out as the missions (shlihut<\/em>) that we are charged with.\u201d I believe that though no transformation can ever be fixed, and even those on the right path can go astray at any time, through the agency of violence, Jacob has changed.<\/p>\r\n

    Wrestling with the angel, as well as his years in the house of Laban, enables Jacob to say, \u201cI have seen God face to face and my soul has been saved\u201d (32:30). Once he encounters the real Esau, Jacob says something similar, \u201cFor therefore I have seen your face as though I had seen the face of God\u201d (33:10). It is extremely difficult to see the face of God, the divine spark that is in each human being, especially in the face of someone who is seeking to kill you; Jacob is able to do that. This ability to see the core humanity in another is what lets us know Jacob has become a fully realized human being worthy of the name Israel (32:28 and 35:10).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

    Or in the words of Flannery O\u2019Connor in the story \u201cA Good Man is Hard to Find,\u201d which apply equally well to Jacob or to most of us, \u201cShe would have been a good woman,\u201d the Misfit said, \u201cif it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

    Jacob remains flawed after this of course, not restraining the murderous impulses of his sons in response to the rape of their sister (chapter 34), favoring some sons over others (chapter 37), or seeing his life only as \u201climited and awful\u201d (47:9) when he reflects on it to Pharaoh, nearing his death.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t have anyone there to shoot him every minute, but then, when he does encounter both the angel and Esau, he is<\/em> capable of being a good man.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

    The rest of us should only be so fortunate as to be able to respond to violence with kindness and goodness.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":78824,"alt":"","title":"zeph1-face","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph1-face.jpg","width":6000,"height":4000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph1-face-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph1-face-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph1-face-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph1-face-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph1-face.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph1-face.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph1-face-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph1-face-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Parashat Vayishlach 5779","tile_main_caption":"Responding to Violence With Kindness and Goodness","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"Seeing the face of God in the face of one who wants to kill you","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":78824,"alt":"","title":"zeph1-face","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph1-face.jpg","width":6000,"height":4000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph1-face-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph1-face-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph1-face-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph1-face-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph1-face.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph1-face.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph1-face-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph1-face-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Leviticus","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1019"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"},{"term_id":"374","name":"Humanity","old_id":"774"},{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"},{"term_id":"540","name":"Transformation","old_id":"940"}]},{"order":21,"id":"38687","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Wrestler ","post_title":"The Wrestler","slug":"the-wrestler","old_id":"38687","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36669,"post_title":"Yakov Azriel","slug":"yakov-azriel","old_id":"36669","first_name":"Yakov ","last_name":"Azriel","description":"Yakov Azriel, who lives in Israel, has published five books of poetry in the USA and hundreds of poems in journals and magazines. His poems have won twenty-two prizes in international poetry competitions, and he has twice been awarded fellowships from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.","short_description":"Yakov Azriel is an English language poet who lives in Israel","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36670,"alt":"","title":"Yakov.Azriel.Photo","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","width":1099,"height":1519,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-217x300.jpg","medium-width":217,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":741,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","large-width":741,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","1536x1536-width":1099,"1536x1536-height":1519,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","2048x2048-width":1099,"2048x2048-height":1519,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-868x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":868,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-304x420.jpg","home_baner-width":304,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"32","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Teach me, too, to be a wrestler","post_main_content_content":"

    \u201cJacob was left alone; and someone wrestled with him until daybreak. \u00a0When he saw that he was unable to prevail against him [against Jacob], he wrenched Jacob\u2019s hip from its socket, so that the hollow of his thigh was strained as he wrestled with him.\u201d<\/em> (Genesis 32:24-25)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Who was it you wrestled with all night<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>When you stood completely alone,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Poised on the river-threshold,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>About to tread on holy ground?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Was it the demon Doubt<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Who suddenly jumped on you from behind<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>And threw you down on the riverbank,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Trying to push your head into the water?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Was it the demon Fear<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Who wrenched your hip from its socket<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>As his tentacles squeezed your chest<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>And his talons clasped your arms?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Was it the demon Hate<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Who bit your neck with his pointed teeth and fangs<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>As his claws scratched your cheeks<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>And ripped the sinew of your leg?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Or was it the angel of Knowledge<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Who flew to you from her Tree in Eden,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>On whose branches she had built her nest,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>And whose wings grazed your thigh, leaving you lame?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Distant father \u2014 Jacob \u2014<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Unafraid to gaze at God, face to face, and live \u2014<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Teach me<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>To be a wrestler.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":103222,"alt":"","title":"-6237a37188893--6237a37188895gen32-wrestler.png","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237a37188893-6237a37188895gen32-wrestler.png.png","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237a37188893-6237a37188895gen32-wrestler.png-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237a37188893-6237a37188895gen32-wrestler.png-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237a37188893-6237a37188895gen32-wrestler.png-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237a37188893-6237a37188895gen32-wrestler.png-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237a37188893-6237a37188895gen32-wrestler.png.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237a37188893-6237a37188895gen32-wrestler.png.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237a37188893-6237a37188895gen32-wrestler.png-1200x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237a37188893-6237a37188895gen32-wrestler.png-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"The Wrestler","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Teach me, too, to be a 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Spiritual Wrestling Match ","post_title":"Jacob's Spiritual Wrestling Match","slug":"jacobs-spiritual-wrestling-match","old_id":"66862","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46171,"post_title":"Avner Moriah","slug":"avner-moriah","old_id":"46171","first_name":"Avner ","last_name":"Moriah ","description":"Avner Moriah is a prolific Israel artist who has addressed a wide range of Jewish and Israeli themes during the four decades of his artistic journey. Currently, Avner is completing a singular artistic and spiritual feat of illuminating the entire Chumash. The unique illuminated books contain hundreds of original drawings that offer a profound, provocative and humorous perspective. \r\nFor the entire weekly portion series, visit: https:\/\/avnermoriahprints.com\/collections\/parasha\r\nFor more of his work visit: https:\/\/avnermoriah.com\/\r\n","short_description":"Avner Moriah is a prolific Israel artist who is illuminating the entire Chumash.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":46173,"alt":"","title":"avner moriah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679.jpg","width":1387,"height":1425,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-292x300.jpg","medium-width":292,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-768x789.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":789,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-997x1024.jpg","large-width":997,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679.jpg","1536x1536-width":1387,"1536x1536-height":1425,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679.jpg","2048x2048-width":1387,"2048x2048-height":1425,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-1168x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1168,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-409x420.jpg","home_baner-width":409,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"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","post_main_content_content":"

    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>\r\n

    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>\r\n

    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>\r\n

    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>\r\n

    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>","post_main_content_image":{"id":66865,"alt":"","title":"08 Va-yishlah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/08-Va-yishlah.jpg","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}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Chapter Illustrated","tile_main_caption":"Jacob's Spiritual Wrestling Match","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Both victorious and humbled, he now knows he can go on and prevail","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":66865,"alt":"","title":"08 Va-yishlah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/08-Va-yishlah.jpg","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}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1074"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"},{"term_id":"486","name":"Esau","old_id":"886"},{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"}]},{"order":23,"id":"38644","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner - Gen 32 ","post_title":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner - Gen 32","slug":"milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-gen-32","old_id":"38644","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34011,"post_title":"Jeremy Benstein","slug":"dr-jeremy-benstein","old_id":"34011","first_name":"Jeremy","last_name":"Benstein","description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English. He is one of the founders of the Heschel Center for Sustainability. He writes the MiliMiliM - Hebrew Corner on the site, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34232,"alt":"","title":"Jeremy Benstein","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"32","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"\u05d9\u05e2\u05e7\u05d1-\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc - Jacob\/Israel","post_main_content_content":"

    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>\r\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>\r\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>\r\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>\r\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>\r\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>\r\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>\r\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>","post_main_content_image":{"id":103184,"alt":"","title":"-6237402e459d5--6237402e459d6gen32-milim yaakov jacob israel.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237402e459d5-6237402e459d6gen32-milim-yaakov-jacob-israel.jpg.jpg","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}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"

    Artwork by: Ben Schachter<\/p>","tile_top_caption":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner","tile_main_caption":"Chapter 32: \u05d9\u05e2\u05e7\u05d1-\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc - Jacob\/Israel","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"... a word from the daily chapter...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":103184,"alt":"","title":"-6237402e459d5--6237402e459d6gen32-milim yaakov jacob 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on the Daily Chapter - Gen 32","tile_main_caption":"Short talks by Adam Mintz and by David Silber","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"Rabbi Silber's teachings are dedicated in memory of Joan Silverstein Meyers and Ellen Goodstein Koplow. ","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/sets\/genesis-chapter-32","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"2","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"32","chapter_main_number":"32","date":"20251013","wall_id":"32"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":25,"id":"38672","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Chapter Summary - Genesis 32 ","post_title":"Chapter Summary - Genesis 32","slug":"chapter-summary-genesis-32","old_id":"38672","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":false,"related_cahpter":"32","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Chapter 32 Summary: Close Encounters of the Third Kind\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    For an entire chapter, Jacob prepares for his encounter with his brother Esau (which will take place in the next chapter). \u00a0One can certainly understand the pressure which grew after the messengers, whom Jacob sent to inform Esau about his return, informed him that Esau \u201cis coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him\u201d (Genesis 32:7).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    What does on do? \u00a0You start shooting in every direction:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      \r\n\t
    1. Split the camp (the people and property) into two. \u00a0If one half gets killed at war, at least the second one will remain (verses 8-9).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    2. Pray (to God who had instructed Jacob to return to Canaan and promised to protect him): \u201cDeliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; else, I fear, he may come and strike me down, mothers and children alike\u201d (verses 10-13).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    3. Give gifts to Esau--abundant gifts from the best of the sheep, camels, and cattle in incremental installments: one messenger after another, one set of flock after another, and in the mouth of each one is the message: \u201cthey are a gift sent to my Lord Esau\u201d (verse 19).<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

      In the next chapter, as was stated, Jacob meets Esau (stay tuned!). \u00a0However, the night before, and after he took everyone over the Jordan, a mysterious and surprising encounter takes place, \u201cJacob was left alone. \u00a0And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn\u201d (verse 25). While they were wrestling, Jacob is injured in his leg, but in the end he manages to vanquish the mysterious character and is not ready to release him without receiving a blessing. \u00a0With the blessing, Jacob gets from this mysterious character a new name--Israel. It is based on his ability to grapple and win \u201cfor you have striven with beings divine and human, and have prevailed\u201d (verse 29). Jacob calls the place of the struggle Peniel--\u201dI have seen a divine being face to face, yet my life has been preserved\u201d (verse 31).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      Points to Ponder:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

        \r\n\t
      1. The chapter opens and closes with \u201cencounters of the third kind\u201d which are documented by the names of the places. \u00a0At Mahanaim, Jacob meets \u201cGod\u2019s camp\u201d (verses 2-3) and at Peniel he sees \u201cI have seen a divine being face to face\u201d (verse 31).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
      2. Jacob shows great diplomacy. \u00a0Pay attention to the organization of the animals sent ahead to Esau and the message that Jacob\u2019s servants are supposed to deliver (verses 14-21).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
      3. Jacob\u2019s prayer is worth quoting: \u201cI am unworthy of all the kindness and by all the truth that You have so steadfastly shown Your servant: \u00a0with my staff alone I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps\u201d (verse 11). (The first part of this phrase has entered modern Hebrew usage and the entire verse is the basis of Israeli singer Yonatan Razel\u2019s song; listen at<\/span> https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=HZYivKwVmJc<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
      4. A change in name signals a change in essence. \u00a0We have encountered name changes previously in the patriarchal family. Abram became Abraham, Sarai became Sarah (Chapter 17). \u00a0This time, the name change is more dramatic. This is especially true if we recall where Jacob got his name in the first place (\u201che might supplant me these two times\u201d in Genesis 27:36), has Jacob changed with his change in name? \u00a0Let\u2019s look for answers in the upcoming chapters.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
      5. The thigh muscle: \u00a0It is not clear where exactly on his body Jacob was injured, but surprisingly, this injury is the explanation for one of the laws of keeping kosher--the prohibition of eating the thigh muscle (verse 33).<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Daily Summary","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder: Genesis 32","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"32","chapter_main_number":"32","date":"20251013","wall_id":"32"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"posts_home":[],"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/38578"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}