(25) Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. (26) When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he wrenched Jacob’s hip at its socket, so that the socket of his hip was strained as he wrestled with him. (27) Then he said, “Let me go, for dawn is breaking.” But he answered, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” (28) Said the other, “What is your name?” He replied, “Jacob.” (29) Said he, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with beings divine and human, and have prevailed.” (30) Jacob asked, “Pray tell me your name.” But he said, “You must not ask my name!” And he took leave of him there. (31) So Jacob named the place Peniel, meaning, “I have seen a divine being face to face, yet my life has been preserved.” (32) The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping on his hip.
Rabbi Avital Hochstein
On a physical plane, Ya'akov struggles, fights, and wrestles with this Man; while on a textual plane, the reader must struggle and wrestle with pinning down the details of this wrestling match.
(ב) רַבִּי חוּנְיָא אָמַר נִדְמָה לוֹ בִּדְמוּת רוֹעֶה, לָזֶה צֹאן וְלָזֶה צֹאן, לָזֶה גְּמַלִּים וְלָזֶה גְּמַלִּים, אָמַר לוֹ הַעֲבֵר אֶת שֶׁלְּךָ וְאַחַר כָּךְ אֲנִי מַעֲבִיר אֶת שֶׁלִּי. הֶעֱבִיר יַעֲקֹב אָבִינוּ שֶׁלּוֹ אָמַר נַחֲזֹר וְנֶחְמֵי דִּלְּמָא אַנְשִׁינַן כְּלוּם, מִן דְּחָזַר (בראשית לב, כה): וַיֵּאָבֵק אִישׁ עִמּוֹ...
...וְרַבָּנָן אָמְרֵי לְאַרְכִילִיסְטִים נִדְמָה לוֹ, לָזֶה צֹאן וְלָזֶה צֹאן, לָזֶה גְּמַלִּים וְלָזֶה גְּמַלִּים, אָמַר לוֹ הַעֲבֵר אֶת שֶׁלִּי וַאֲנִי אַעֲבִיר אֶת שֶׁלָּךְ, הֶעֱבִיר הַמַּלְאָךְ אֶת שֶׁל אָבִינוּ יַעֲקֹב כְּהֶרֶף עַיִן וְהָיָה אָבִינוּ יַעֲקֹב מַעֲבִיר וְחוֹזֵר וּמַשְׁכַּח מַעֲבִיר וְחוֹזֵר וּמַשְׁכַּח כָּל הַלַּיְלָה, אֲמַר לֵיהּ פַּרְקָמוֹס [נסח אחר: פרמקוס], אָמַר רַבִּי פִּינְחָס בְּאוֹתָהּ שָׁעָה נָטַל אָבִינוּ יַעֲקֹב פּוֹקָרִין וְנָתַן לוֹ בְּתוֹךְ צַוָּארוֹ, אֲמַר לֵיהּ פַּרְקָמוֹס פַּרְקָמוֹס. אָמַר רַב הוּנָא בַּסּוֹף אָמַר הַמַּלְאָךְ אֲנִי מוֹדִיעוֹ עִם מִי הוּא עוֹסֵק, מֶה עָשָׂה, נָתַן אֶצְבָּעוֹ [נסח אחר: צור] בָּאָרֶץ, הִתְחִילָה הָאָרֶץ תּוֹסֶסֶת אֵשׁ, אָמַר לוֹ יַעֲקֹב מִן דָּא אַתְּ מַדְחֵיל לִי, אֲנָא כֻּלֵּיהּ מִנָּהּ, הֲדָא הוּא דִּכְתִיב (עובדיה א, יח): וְהָיָה בֵית יַעֲקֹב אֵשׁ וגו'.
(2) Rabbi Chunya said, "He appeared to him in the image of a shepherd. This one had a flock and this one had a flock. This one had camels, and this one had camels. He said to him, "Take across what is yours, and after that, I will take across what is mine." Jacob, our father, took across what was his, and said, "Let us return and let us see, lest we forgot something." After he returned, "a man wrestled with him" (Genesis 32:25)."...
“And the sages said: ‘The angel appeared to Yaakov in the guise of an archvillain. Both Yaakov and the angel had herds of sheep and camels. The angel said to Yaakov: You bring my things across the river and I will take your things. In the blink of an eye, the angel had transferred Jacob’s possessions across the river, but, Yaakov, every time he brought the angels things from one side of the river to the other, it was as if more things appeared to be moved. Yaakov toiled all night long, back and forth, back and forth. Pretty soon Yaakov realized something was awry and shouted out: Sorcerer (pharmakos) and the two began to wrestle. Jacob took a rag and stuffed it in his opponent’s mouth, fearing his opponent would conjure up trouble. The angel, in turn, decided to show Yaakov who he was really dealing with, thrusting a finger into the ground causing lava to spewed forth. Yaakov then burst forth, saying: ‘You don’t scare me for I am made entirely of fire’, as it is written: ‘And the house of Jacob is fire.’ (Obadiah 1:18)”
(18) The House of Jacob shall be fire, And the House of Joseph flame, And the House of Esau shall be straw; They shall burn it and devour it, And no survivor shall be left of the House of Esau
—for the Eternal has spoken.
Yaakov and the Angel – “The Match of the Millennium” by Rabbi Mordechai Silverstein 2020
What underlies this wild story? Much has been said about the rabbinic identification of this angel with Esau (Edom) and, in turn, with Rome, both politically and culturally. Yaakov, representing the Jewish nation and Judaism, was at war with Rome and Esau was taken to be the coded stand-in for the enemy who could not be identified explicitly. This midrash offered a cathartic way of expressing an oppressed nation’s wishes to overcome its oppressor. Yaakov may have come out of the wrestling match scathed but he was not defeated.
One can read something even deeper into this anecdote. The battle with “Rome” was not just an external battle. Rome represented a culture which was both alien and intimate to the Jew. Judaism was one’s “deep” identity and Rome represented the broader cultural milieu. Jews, like other minority peoples, were in a constant struggle – a wrestling match over how to find the correct balance in determining who they were, how they would live and how they self-identified. This was not an easy struggle. It is not easy having a minority identity in a majority culture and preserving that identity. It is no wonder Yaakov out of the struggle injured!
Yaakov’s battle with this “angel” is an ongoing Jewish struggle, no less difficult today than in the past. Coming out of this encounter successfully, unscathed and intact, is not certain. Still, since it is an unavoidable part of Jewish life, Jacob’s story bids us to be prepared for the encounter.
(ג) רַבִּי חָמָא בְּרַבִּי חֲנִינָא אָמַר שָׂרוֹ שֶׁל עֵשָׂו הָיָה, הוּא דַּהֲוָה אָמַר לֵיהּ (בראשית לג, י): כִּי עַל כֵּן רָאִיתִי פָנֶיךָ כִּרְאֹת פְּנֵי אֱלֹהִים וַתִּרְצֵנִי, מָשָׁל לְאַתְּלֵיטוֹס שֶׁהוּא עוֹמֵד וּמִתְגּוֹשֵׁשׁ עִם בְּנוֹ שֶׁל מֶלֶךְ, תָּלָה עֵינָיו וְרָאָה אֶת הַמֶּלֶךְ עוֹמֵד עַל גַּבָּיו וְהִרְפִּישׁ עַצְמוֹ לְפָנָיו, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (בראשית לב, כו): וַיַּרְא כִּי לֹא יָכֹל לוֹ, אָמַר רַבִּי לֵוִי וַיַּרְא בַּשְּׁכִינָה כִּי לֹא יָכֹל לוֹ. אָמַר רַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה אֵין אָנוּ יוֹדְעִים מִי נָצַח אִם מַלְאָךְ אִם יַעֲקֹב, וּמִן מַה דִּכְתִיב (בראשית לב, כה): וַיֵּאָבֵק אִישׁ עִמּוֹ, הֱוֵי מִי נִתְמַלֵּא אָבָק הָאִישׁ שֶׁעִמּוֹ...
(3) Rabbi Chama bar Chanina said, "He was the ministering angel of Esav. And that is [what he meant] when he said to him, 'For this have I seen your face as I saw the face of God and you have accepted me' (Genesis 33:10). There is a parable about an athlete that got up and wrestled with the son of the king. He lifted his eyes and he saw that the king was standing behind him and [so] he fell to the ground in front of him. This is what [is meant by that which] is written, 'and he saw that he could not overcome him.'" Rabbi Levi said, "'And he saw' the Divine Presence 'and he could not overcome him.'"
Said Rabbi Berachia, "We do not know who won, whether it was the angel or whether it was Jacob. And from that which it is written, 'and a man wrestled (vayitabek, the root of which contains the letters that spell dust) with him,' prove who was covered in dust - the man that was with him.'...
Grown to manhood, he strove with a divine being, (5) He strove with an angel and prevailed—
The other had to weep and implore him.
At Bethel [Jacob] would meet him,
There to commune with him.
“So he strove [vayyasar] with an angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication to him; at Beth El he would find him, and there he would speak with us” (Hosea 12:5). From this verse I do not know who became master [sar], i.e., was victorious, over whom. When another verse states: “And he said: Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with angels and with men, and have prevailed” (Genesis 32:29), you must say that Jacob became master over the angel. The verse in Hosea states: “He wept, and made supplication to him.” From this verse I do not know who cried to whom. When another verse states: “And he said: Let me go, for the dawn has risen” (Genesis 32:27), you must say that the angel cried to Jacob.
Jacob Into Israel: The Ability to Prevail Through Struggle, by Rabbi Avital Hochstein 2016
Now we can turn to find new meaning in the blessing that the Angel gives. Perhaps it is not the change of name, but rather the promise of ability. And this is not the ability to win or lose, but the ability to continue to struggle, internally and externally, and to survive. A struggle that is constant and essential, a struggle that ends up as the destiny of an entire people. Maybe both the name Yisrael and the verb "va-tukhal" need to be read in the future tense, "You will wrestle and you will be able to wrestle". The ability to withstand conflict that the angel promises to Ya'akov is also a blessing for his progeny and namesake people.
When Ya'akov becomes Yisrael that is a deep and meaningful transition. Ya'akov is no longer a trickster, someone who is looking for the Achilles heel (akev) of those who surround him, someone who advances himself through conflict and deceit. But he is not blessed to become a victor and someone who never has to fight again. He is instead blessed to have the fight move inward, to be a person who wrestles with himself, with his God, face-to-face. A move from a battle in which there are winners and losers, blessed and unblessed, to above all being someone who is able. A person who survives and thrives despite his life's tensions. He is aware of them and is constantly trying to conquer them, not out of a fear of losing, but out of a recognition of their value and his own ability - va-tukhal.
Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg on Vayishlach, Limmud on One Leg 2014
But I want to return to Jacob, left alone among the almost abandoned pots and pans. Many strains of thought assail the person who stands on the border, staring at the remnants of the past, gazing uncomfortably into the darkness of the future. What figures must emerge from his troubled thoughts to confront him?
Maybe the man with whom Jacob wrestles all night is his younger self. Who was he when he passed this place in such a hurry twenty years ago? From what had he run away then, which, dormant in his consciousness, returns to burn inside him now? There were, of course, stinging moments, such as when Laban had retorted, in justification of his own deceit in passing off Leah as Rachel, 'It's not done in our place, giving the younger before the older'. But now the details of his past conduct, how he planned it, what he said, return with a louring familiarity, just as the images of home, the pastures, the trees, the clumps of shrub, flood back into the mind of the absentee a moment before he turns the old corner and sees his childhood tents.
Or Jacob struggles with the man he's since become. Those pots and pans bear all the insignia of the last twenty years. He'd arrived in Paddan-Aram a pauper, proposed to Rachel with nothing to his name, then came the years of intense love, afterwards the disappointment, the quarrels between the sisters, the seasons of icy frost and burning sun, the disputes with Laban, the final flight that had brought him to this lonely place: Who was he now, in middle age, who had passed this way with a young man's stride and his dreams of a ladder between heaven and earth? Was this the fulfilment of all his hopes?
All night Jacob wrestles with the truth of whom he has been and the reality of who he now is. But what earns him the name of Israel, the title of one who struggles with God, is that he refuses to let that truth go and insists on turning it into blessings.