In Parashah “Vayishlach” Jacob one night encounters Eisav’s guardian angel who wrestled with him. After an intense battle Jacob prevailed, although the angel was able to harm him by dislocating his thigh.
Jacob demanded that the angel bless him, instead the angel informed him that H”S was going to give him the additional name of “Israel” which means “He who has wrestled with G-d and prevailed.”
The name “Israel” did not replace Jacob’s original name but instead it complemented it. It brought Jacob to a new and loftier status that he was now granted.
Jacob’s two names represent the two ways in which we interact with the world. “Jacob” represents the struggle we all endure against our animalistic self in order to reveal the Divine within us. “Israel” on the other hand represents our dominion over our animal soul, when we have conquered our instinctive nature and we use it for the sake of the Divine.
We all have this duality, which we battle every day. The Jacob (struggle) in us has an immense worth, without it we could never reach to the “Israel” within.
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