We begin every Amidah by invoking the merit of Yaakov Avinu (Jacob, our Patriarch). Yet, according to the pshat (plain read of the text) Jacob is a gonnif  (thief). The conventional wisdom is that if Jacob had not stolen Esau’s blessing, the religious movement that would become Judaism would have died in the cradle. Rashi explains that Jacob demanded to be blessed by his wrestling opponent (who the commentator identifies as the guardian angel of Esau), in an attempt to clear his name. In other words, Jacob wanted the guardian angel to admit that Jacob had every right to the blessing he gained through deception, because Esau was not up to the task of continuing the legacy of Abraham and Isaac. So, if Jacob were davening with us today, instead of pounding his chest and declaring gazalnu (we have stolen), he would rationalize his actions. 

However, Rashbam would not let Jacob off the hook so easily. He believes that the reason why Jacob was left alone when he encountered the angel, was because Jacob had decided to deliberately fall behind his family instead of continuing on to Canaan, in order to evade an uncomfortable confrontation with Esau. In essence, Rashbam is suggesting that Jacob was really wrestling with himself, his own desire to avoid his destiny, which was to transform from Jacob to Israel.

Throughout his whole life, Jacob had been a “wannabe” Esau. Jacob was born, clutching his elder twin’s heels, trying to unsuccessfully surpass him as the first born. His initial failure did not dissuade him from buying Esau’s birthright and stealing his blessing, the blessing of the first born. After the theft of the blessing, as Jacob was about to flee his enraged brother, his father blessed him again, this time with the knowledge he was blessing Jacob. This blessing was very different from the one Jacob had attained through deceit. The stolen blessing was one of dominion over brethren. This second blessing, which Isaac knowingly gave to Jacob, was a blessing to inherit the Promised Land, that is the blessing of Abraham.

The change of Jacob’s name from “Jacob” to “Israel” demonstrates that Jacob had finally accepted his divinely ordained mission to continue in the footsteps of Abraham and Isaac, instead of continuing to live as a “wannabe” Esau. Ya’akov, the Hebrew for Jacob,  comes from the word  “ekev,” meaning “heel” and is derogatory in that it evokes........

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