The Torah relates two instances in which Yaakov's name is changed to Yisrael. The first is after the struggle between Yaakov and Esav's angel (according to the Midrash that "the man" is Esav's guardian angel). "He said to him, 'what is your name?' and he said, 'Yaakov.' And he said, 'No longer shall you be called Yaakov, but Yisrael, for you have contended with Elokim and with men and have prevailed.'" (32:28-29).
The second time it is Hashem who changes Yaakov's name. "Elokim said to him, 'Your name is Yaakov; your name shall no longer be Yaakov, but Yisrael shall be your name, and He named him Yisrael." (35:10).
Despite all of the above, the name Yaakov is not cancelled, as the Gemara states, (Berachot 13a), that the name Yaakov was not uprooted, but rather Yisrael became the main name and Yaakov was of lesser importance.
In contrast, "Avraham was at first called Avram, as he was at first father to Aram, but in the end he became a father to the whole world." (Berachot 13a). There the Gemara adds the teaching of Bar Kappara, "Whoever calls Avraham Avram transgresses a mitzvat aseh (positive commandment), since it says, 'Your name shall be Avraham.'" The Gemara then asks if this should not also apply to someone who calls Yaakov Yaakov, and answers that this case is different, because Hashem subsequently called him Yaakov, as it says, "Elokim spoke to Yisrael in a night vision, saying, 'Yaakov, Yaakov...'" (46:2).
This means we need to understand the difference between Avraham and Yaakov. The name Avram means that he is the father of Aram, and designates nationalism. But the name Avraham indicates not only a private person, but also relates to his whole nation. Nevertheless, this type of nationalism is not justified from the aspect of truth, because it causes wars and difficult national struggles, such that "it would be fitting for all of humanity to unite into one family and halt all the taunting and bad character traits that result from the division of peoples and their borders." (Orot).
The truth is that in the future, "again there shall be no path of real divisiveness and all the other nations will be a single unit, and above them, as a holy treasure, shall be Am Yisrael, who are a Mamlechet Cohanim veGoy Kadosh (a kingdom of priests and a holy people) to be cherished from among all the nations. (Orot, p. 156).
This is why Hashem cancels Avram's name and only Avraham is permitted because Avraham is the father of all the nations, which is the ideal purpose.
At the beginning of the last century there were nationalist awakenings that climaxed with World War I, although today the prevailing winds are calling for the cancellation of nationalism (the European Union, for example), and as we have stated, this trend is correct. One has to remember, however, that the Jewish people must remain aloof and its nationalism is for the benefit of all of humanity.
Midrash Rabbah brings down what Rav Berachya said in the name of Rav Simon: "There is no other god, and who could be like the G-d of Yeshurun, of Yisrael our grandfather. The Torah writes of the Kadosh Baruch Hu that "Hashem alone is exalted (V'nisgav Hashem L'vado)," and about Yaakov it is also written, "Yaakov remained alone (Vayivater Yaakov L'vado)." This "aloneness" of Am Yisrael reveals that "Hashem alone is exalted," because only Am Yisrael, through its special life throughout its wonderful history reveals Hashem's name in the world, as we daven at Mincha on Shabbat - "You are one and your name is one and who is like your people Yisrael, one nation on earth."
Esav's guardian angel, after he wrestled with Yaakov, understands that Yaakov will always be different, and there is therefore no possibility of canceling him out or defeating him. This is why he says, "No longer shall you be called Yaakov, but Yisrael," which means that Am Yisrael has a special divine role and recounts the praises of Hashem in the world. Am Yisrael is the guardian angel of the whole world and this is the meaning of, "for you have contended with Elokim and with men and have prevailed."
When the Kadosh Baruch Hu changes Yaakov's name He opens with "your name is Yaakov," hinting that the name Yaakov will remain and not be canceled even after he is named Yisrael. Yaakov, who "grasps Esav's heel" is the connection between Am Yisrael and the nations of the world, while Yisrael is the name that indicates a minister and governor. This means that the Kadosh Baruch Hu is teaching us that on the one hand we are a separate nation that is situated separate from the other nations, while on the other hand, we are connected to all of them.
The concept that Esav's guardian angel began in distinguishing the uniqueness of Yisrael, and the Kadosh Baruch Hu completed it in defining the true perspectives of Yisrael in relation to the other nations is not understood by many people today. They are affected by concepts of the modern world that want to view all men as equals, without any nationalistic barriers, and these people think that Yisrael too is part of that concept; that there is no longer a place for Jewish nationalism. In keeping with what we have expounded above, however, this is not true and there is no doubt that this Divine truth must be clarified and revealed. It even turns out that davka with the rise of the philosophy that pulls down the nationalistic barriers, we find the anti-Semitic world, as if it knows instinctively that Am Yisrael is different and its nationalistic barriers will not be removed, which explains the world's anger and rage at us.
How is Jewish nationalism, whose role is to influence the whole world, to assert itself? As a single homogeneous force that expresses power and strength? Or, as a multitude of tones and forms?
It seems that this point can be clarified through a closer look at the stones with which Yaakov built the altars at which he worshiped Hashem. The first time we encounter a matzeiva (monument) that Yaakov builds. "Yaakov rose early in the morning and took the stone that he had put as a resting-place for his head and set it up (heitziv) as a matzeiva." (28:18).
Later, when Yaakov returns to Eretz Cana'an after the tense meeting with Esav, he purchases a plot of pastureland in Shechem and then "Vayitzav (sets up) an altar there." (33:20). Yaakov builds (boneh) an altar one more time, after Shimon and Levi kill all the men of Shechem, and this at Hashem's command. "Elokim said to Yaakov, 'Arise and go up to Beit El and stay there, and make there an altar to Hashem..." 35:1), and Yaakov does this. "He built there an altar and called the place Beit El." (37:7).
When the Kadosh Baruch Hu reveals himself to Yaakov and changes his name to Yisrael and blesses him, Yaakov sets up a matzeiva: "Vayitzav Yaakov matzeiva in the place where Hashem had spoken to him, a stone matzeiva." (34:14). This means that Yaakov set up a matzeiva and built an altar. The alter is built of a number of stones, while a matzeiva is one stone. Chazal teach us (Sifri, parshat Shoftim) that the matzeiva was a cherished thing in the period of our forefathers, but became a hated thing later, and this too requires explanation.
Chazal, in Midrash Rabbah at the beginning of parshat Vayeitzeh, say on the pasuk, "He took from the stones of that place": Rav Yehuda says Yaakov took 12 stones, because Hashem had decreed that he would establish 12 tribes. If the 12 stones unite, I will know that I will establish 12 tribes." According to the Midrash, he took many stones (12) on purpose, in order to see whether they would unite, and in the morning he indeed found one stone, which is an expression of the combined forces for the singular divine purpose, and Yaakov put the stone up as a matzeiva and worships Hashem.
One has to keep in mind that this happened when Yaakov was on his way from Eretz Cana'an to Haran, and while in the galut (Diaspora) one really has to constantly emphasize the connection that unites and not the differences, because otherwise, heaven forbid, the Jewish people could be torn apart.
When Yaakov returns to Eretz Yisrael, he builds (meitziv) an altar, which is not the normal way such an action is described - the word used with altar is always boneh, but here it is meitziv, which indicates a matzeiva. Perhaps the Torah is hinting at the matzeiva that Yaakov "heitziv" when he left Eretz Yisrael, saying "previously this matzeiva was from one stone that preserved the unity, but in Yisrael, the matzeiva turns into an altar of many stones." This is because the nation must be composed of different forces and different natures, which despite their differences all work toward one great purpose, which is fulfilled in Eretz Yisrael.
After Shimon and Levi kill the men of Shechem, the command from Hashem is added with respect to the building of an altar, and this is because one might think that Shimon and Levi acted for the general good of the nation. After all, Yaakov berates them, saying, "You have caused me great trouble, making me odious among the inhabitants of this land, the Canaanites and the Prizites..." (34:30) The brothers gave a natural response, "Should he treat our sister as a harlot?" (34:31)
This means that a natural, healthy national pride burns within them, but this has to be guided by the intelligent and logical counsel, connected with the Torah. This is why the Kadosh Baruch Hu himself says that the altar should be built, as all of Yaakov's sons have a part in the service of Hashem, and even if there are crises or mistakes among part of the nation, they are still connected with the whole. Only after Hashem's revelation, "Elokim appeared to Yaakov again, when he came from Padan Aram... and Elokim said to him... your name shall no longer be Yaakov, but Yisrael." (35:9-10), did Yaakov build the altar.
Still, the phrase "Elokim appeared to him" means that there is something special here, and on these words the Netziv expounds, "Even though Hashem spoke with Yaakov twice, once in Padan Aram and once in Shechem, the first time was not via a revelation of the shechina, because there it is not written, 'appeared,' but rather 'said.' Here, however, Hashem appeared to him as he had done in the dream, during which Yaakov 'saw, and behold, Hashem was standing over him,' and this is why in our current case we have the word 'again.'"
Yaakov understands that the appearance now is connected with the appearance when he left for Haran, and just as then he offered a sacrifice (of oil) on the matzeiva, here too he does the same thing, except that there the main point is unity in preparation for galut, while here on the one hand each of the forces of Yisrael is left whole and independent, but at the same time there must be an emphasis on everyone's singular purpose.
Here the Kadosh Baruch Hu calls him Yisrael, which has the same root as contention with the whole world (as expounded above) and for this purpose all the forces must combine, which is why he sets up a matzeiva.
In our times, too, when we are again back in our land, various forces are beginning to come to the fore, and sometimes it seems that there is no possibility for coordination. We are sure, however, that all this is for the sake of eventually achieving the fulfillment of divine purpose, which is revealed through the united Jewish people.
Shabbat Shalom from Beit Orot in Yerushalayim
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