When we read the story of Jacob we often ask ourselves, why
Jacob? Why is this deceptive trickster the one chosen to give birth to our
people and to give us our name, “Yisrael”? The following Hasidic commentary
caught my attention this week as a response to these questions:
Toldot Yaakov Yoseph, Vayeshev #6
Regarding … the two names “Yaakov” and “Yisrael”: this
reflects our descent
and ascent, whether physical or spiritual. It is impossible
for us to stand on one
level all the time, and so we are referred to as “ascending
and descending”. When
we go down we are called “Yaakov”, in the sense of “heel’
and lowliness; when
we go up we are called “Yisrael”, a prince and important
person.
Jacob, like all of us, has times of physical and spiritual ascent
as well as times of descent.
This week’s parasha is characterized by this tension between
ascent and descent. Jacob has just received his father’s deepest blessing, and
yet, he is at a low point in his life, as he flees his brother Esau who is intent
on killing him for stealing that blessing.
On the road towards his uncle Laban’s home, Jacob dreams of
angels ascending and descending a staircase that reaches from the ground
towards the sky. God comes to him in the dream and promises Jacob that God will
be with him and bring the promises of the covenant to fruition through him.
When Jacob awakes, he recognizes that God had been there in that place with
him, and he vows to devote himself to God – to something higher.
He then encounters Rachel at the well and experiences love
at first sight. And yet, it is only after years of servitude to and deception
by Laban that he is allowed to finally marry her. Eventually the covenantal
promise is fulfilled – Jacob fathers many children and multiplies his wealth
and flocks. But Laban struggles with him as he tries to leave with his new family
and possessions.
Life is not easy for Jacob. Yes, there are moments of
ascent. But there are many more moments of descent, disappointment, struggle
and suffering.
What better character to carry the name of our people –
those who wrestle with God and humans - Those
who are constantly on the move between “Ya’akov,” “lowliness” and “Yisra’el,” “princeliness.”
Our task as a people is to note God’s presence in all of these places –at the
top of the staircase and at the bottom.
