Vayishlach: Renaming

 Jacob is renamed Israel ...twice. The name sticks.. to an extent. Unlike Abraham and Sarah, the text often reverts to Jacob. Who are these people: Jacob and Israel? 

Jacob is the child that held onto the heel of his firstborn brother Esau. His defeat, and his determination to continue,  in the intra-uterine battle for ascendency is reflected in this pursuit until the end. His name comes from עֲקֹ֤ב akeiv, hold back the other. When Esau realizes that he was tricked out of his father's blessing, he calls Jacob's act : vayaakveini, 

וַיֹּ֡אמֶר הֲכִי֩ קָרָ֨א שְׁמ֜וֹ יַעֲקֹ֗ב וַֽיַּעְקְבֵ֙נִי֙ זֶ֣ה פַעֲמַ֔יִם אֶת־בְּכֹרָתִ֣י לָקָ֔ח וְהִנֵּ֥ה עַתָּ֖ה לָקַ֣ח בִּרְכָתִ֑י וַיֹּאמַ֕ר הֲלֹא־אָצַ֥לְתָּ לִּ֖י בְּרָכָֽה׃ 

[Esau] said, “Was he, then, named Jacob that he might supplant^*supplant Heb. ‘aqab, connected with “Jacob.” me these two times? First he took away my birthright and now he has taken away my blessing!” And he added, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

Jews continue to call themselves the children of Jacob, the progeny of the deceiver. 

Jacob is terrified. He must confront the brother who believes that he was deceived and holds a murderous grudge against him. He splits his household into two camps ( he sends half his people from Europe to America, along with a hearty delegation to British [nee Ottoman] Palestine) so that one contingent may flee while the other is destroyed. He prepares an elaborate gift, a bribe to which he devotes a large proportion of his wealth, to be delivered in parts, to maximize the effect, and sends it to his now powerful ( hegemonic) brother (like the oligarchs and Putin). 

Terrified Jacob tries to sleep, but instead he wrestles with The Man, an unidentified entity( who refuses to give his name) with the power  of blessing. Jacob ends up lame. Is this ironic? Was that what he was trying to do when he held the heel of Esau? Is this a continuation of that same wrestling match?

The blessing is: Jacob is renamed Israel.  The usual  renaming formula is invoked: 

וַיֹּ֗אמֶר לֹ֤א יַעֲקֹב֙ יֵאָמֵ֥ר עוֹד֙ שִׁמְךָ֔ כִּ֖י אִם־יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל

Said he, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven^*striven Heb. saritha, connected with first part of “Israel.” with beings divine and human,^*beings divine and human Or “God (Elohim, connected with second part of ‘Israel’) and human beings.” and have prevailed.” 

This is a significant, slightly hidden blessing. Jacob/Israel is fearing a life or death battle.  The impact of self confidence cannot be underestimated. Jacob, whose name reflected ongoing exertion despite  frustration at birth, has grown into a mighty force that can successfully contend, even with Divine powers.  The name Israel changes the self image from an obstacle to a howitzer. 

The next verse calls him...Jacob. 

At the same time, as a result of the same wrestling match, Jacob is left lame; he is left pitiful, an enemy that is not worth fighting. Is this an aid to his old trickery?

Jacob 's daughter Dina is raped and abducted by his Hittite neighbors.  Jacob's second and third sons, Simon and Levi, avenge the violation by decimating the city, with some guile. Jacob is left terrified that the surrounding tribes will avenge the massacre, but the fear  of them, their self-confidence, saves the camp.  After some travel,  the Jacob  family return to the place of  dream Jacob had when  he exited Canaan, running from Esau. Gd names him... Israel. Confidence. 

[There is also a hint of matriarch Sarah in this name Israel. She was a model of endurance through great trials; and a strong force for the future of her progeny. ]

The first essay I wrote in Freshman English at Brooklyn college was about my names. On my birth certificate I was named Sheldon: the most American name my parents could think of ( having essentially no English, coming from DP camp 2 years prior).  I have lived with, and  perhaps up to, this nerd name, a name that has been rescued somewhat by the Bing Bang Theory television series [I may have seen half an episode]. I grew up called Shloime by my parents, my secret, real name.  A name of wisdom, power, wholeness and the shtetl.  A name like Israel. In my adolescence, Shloime  became the modern Hebrew Shlomo, what my wife and several  Jewish  friends call me. I am not yet Shlomo. I am trying to grow into that one.