Yaacov went that night back to look for some lost small jars that he had left behind and he encountered a man who wrestled with him through the night. The man was actually Eisav’s guarding angel, although the angel was able to dislocate his upper thigh ( this is why we don’t eat the upper thigh of the cow or as it’s known fillet mignon ). Yaacov struggled with him and eventually he was able to overcome him. Yaacov demanded the Angel to give him a blessing and then the angel informed him that G-d would give him an additional name and he would be called Yisrael, which signifies “he who has struggled and has overcome.”
Let’s look at this pasuk carefully. The commentaries say that the little jars he went back to retrieve were actually filled with oil and it says this was the oil that hadn’t been desecrated by the Greeks and they used centuries later to light the Menorah in the times of the miracle of Chanukah. For Jacob his possessions weren’t material things for him they were used for holy purposes.
Both Yaacov and Yisrael represent the two ways in which we interact with the world and G-d’s sent challenges. Yaacov is the struggle inside of us in which we have the ability to choose between right and wrong, Yisrael is the winner, when we have been able to overcome and go up in the ladder. This is an ongoing battle we have to fight every day of our lives. When you win one another comes.
May we all have the Emunah (faith) which gives us the strength to never give up and continue ascending in life. And if we fall, it’s ok we just have to get up, clean ourselves and continue.
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