Cyberdov

I recently had the pleasure of meeting R Yehuda Gilad, Rosh Yeshiva of Maale Gilboa, where Elan is studying this year. He suggested an interpretation of Jacob’s struggle with the mysterious stranger (Genesis 34:25-33), which turns the whole of Jacob’s story on its head.

We usually assume that this story is about Jacob standing up for himself, and receiving the name ‘Israel’ to denote his ability to be victorious in a physical struggle. However, if that were the case, one would expect him to have more self-confidence in the ensuing encounter with Esau - yet in the next chapter, we see him behaving as timidly as ever - sending gifts of appeasement, bowing repeatedly, etc.

The clues are in the allusions to pivotal events in Jacob’s past. 34:28 - “And he said to him, what is your name? And he said, Jacob”. This recalls Isaac’s asking Jacob (27:18) “Who are you? And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau…”. We also have a strange statement by Jacob in 33:10-11: “Take my present at my hand; forasmuch as I have seen thy face, as one seeth the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. Take, I pray thee, my gift…” Seeing the face is a phrase that recounts the events of the previous evening, where Jacob says (32: 31): “Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: ‘for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved”. Finally, in 33:10-11, there are two different words that refer to the gift Jacob is giving to Esau - minchah (which is in line with 32:14), and beracha - which evokes the blessing that Jacob obtained from Isaac.

R Gilad proposed that until now, Jacob had felt that it was Esau who was holding him back - that Esau had something that Jacob needed to take from him to complete his character and lead him to his destiny. Hence his attempts to buy the birthright and steal Isaac’s blessing. However, at Penuel, he came to the realization that his name was Jacob - i.e. he was responsible to develop his potential from his own resources, not by trying to take from Esau. At that point, he was able to gain the blessing of the stranger - his new name (and the aspect of his character that would complete his destiny), Israel. With this realization, he was no longer in need of conflict with Esau - and the encounter became a ceremony of returning the stolen blessings. He first returns the material wealth promised in the blessing, and then reenacts 32:29: “nations will bow to you” by bowing before Esau, and finally proclaims (33:11): “Take back my Beracha (=blessing)!”

Following this idea, it turns out that Isaac was correct in wanting to give that blessing to Esau, and Jacob was mistaken in seeking Esau’s blessing for himself - and only once heunderstood this could he find the potential for his own blessing from within himself.

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