Will the Real Jacob Please Stand up?

When it would rain at camp, we'd get pretty creative about the games we'd play to keep ourselves occupied. Aside from the usual puzzles, cards, monopoly… we'd also play a lot of different types of charades games. One of them was modeled after a popular television show: “Will the Real . . . Please Stand Up?” We'd, of course, pick our favorite pop stars of the time and try to trick our camp buddies.

This game made me think, as I studied these past few weeks' Torah portions, about our patriarch Jacob. Jacob's life has such an unbelievable story it appears at times that we could be talking about different people, entirely, and not the same Patriarch. For example, is it really the same person who cheats his brother out of the birthright, but remains loyal to Laban, his father-in-law, when he mistreats him? Is it the same person who steals the blessing from his brother and is then afraid that he is not strong enough to confront him? Is this the same person who once deceived his father and brother and now wrestles with a divine messenger and receives the blessing of God? Who is the real Jacob?

As we unpack Jacob's life, it becomes very difficult to understand how all the pieces of his life make one united whole. Rabbi Daniel Alexander writes of Jacob: “ . . .we become acquainted with one of the most complex of literary personalities, one with obvious flaws of character, a trickster and a deceiver with immense capacity for honesty, perseverance and love . . .”

Who is Jacob? Is he a trickster? A master manipulator? A kind and generous son-in-law? A close look at the stories of his life will enlighten us.

The first time we meet the adult Jacob is when he steals his brother's birthright. In this disturbing the adult story, he shows no remorse, and tricks Esau out of this right quickly. Briefly, the story of the birthright:

And Jacob cooked porridge, and Esau came in from the field and he was faint, and said to Jacob, “ Give me to swallow, I pray, of that red porridge, for I am faint!” (Therefore was his name called Edom) And Jacob said, “Sell me this day your birthright.” And Esau said, “Behold I am at the point of death and what profit shall this birthright do to me?” And Jacob said, “ Swear to me this day” and he swore and he sold his birthright to Jacob.

By losing the birthright, Esau loses status in the household, as well as his right to double inheritance. Jacob took advantage of his brother, making the deal of a lifetime.

With this act, Jacob seems to have earned the name he was given at birth, Yaakov. Derived from the word heel, it was given as his name because he was holding his brothers heel at birth. But Yaakov also means supplanter, or schemer. Is Jacob a cold hearted schemer? Can this be our patriarch?

The next passage reveals more about Jacob. In these verses, Jacob steals the blessing from his brother, while their father, Isaac, is in his sickbed. This time, however, with a careful reading, we can detect changes in Jacob's behavior. The key to understanding the difference, I believe, is in looking at how the plan unfolds. Listen to this: “And Rebecca spoke to Jacob her son, saying, behold I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, bring me venison and savory food, that I may eat and bless you before my death.” Rebecca continues: “ Now therefore my son, obey my voice according to that which I command you. Go now to the flock and fetch me from there two good kids of the goats, and I will make them into savory food for your father, and you will bring it to your father that he may eat and that he may bless you before his death.”

The idea to “trick” Esau and Isaac, in this case is not Jacobs but Rebecca's. While Jacob complies with his mothers plan, do we, perhaps, see a change in Jacob's character? Nehama Leibowitz, master Torah teacher, teaches that there is reluctance on the part of Jacob. He doesn't come up with the plan, nor does he add to the plan at all. He leaves all of the planning to his mother. Is the supplanter, the schemer, on his way to a new moral conscience? Is he struggling with his mother's scheme, but not yet strong enough to stand against it?

After Esau discovers he has been tricked, again, he threatens Jacob's life and Jacob flees. On his flight, he spends the night in the wilderness. During this fateful evening, he has a dream. In this dream, he learns that God will be with him. Jacob rises from his rest, amazed and in awe. He dedicates a memorial do God, declaring the space holy. His attitude is renewed, rejuvenated. He is awed that God was with him and he didn't know it. But then he says, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I will go, and give me bread to eat, and clothing to wear, so that I come back to my fathers land in peace, then the Lord shall be my Lord, and this stone shall be God's house, and all that You shall give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

While it is understandable that Jacob would still fear for his life and worry about his safety, isn't it audacious to make such a deal with God? This deal maker-the manipulator-is still at work here, struggling between his spiritual awakening and his scheming history.

On his travels, Jacob connects with his family. Laban's daughter, Rebecca captures his heart. He agrees to marry her in return for seven years labor for Laban. Jacob works hard to make Laban's camp thrive. Perhaps it is to prove to Laban, and to the woman he loves, that he is worthy? Or perhaps, as his inner struggle continues, it is to prove to himself that he is worthy!

And then-the trickster was tricked! Jacob wakes up, the morning after his wedding, to find that Leah is his bride, not Rachel. What does he do? He agrees to work seven more years for Rachel, at the same time as becoming a dedicated husband to Leah.

During these years, Jacob becomes a leader of the tribe, a successful shepherd, and father many times over. After some time, it is clear that it is time for Jacob to leave Laban's home and begin his own.

On his journey to his new life as his own leader, he begins to contemplate a reunion with Esau, whom he had not seen since he fled. He is afraid. His ego falters. He devises a plan so that if his brother attacks, some of his people will be safe.

When evening falls, Jacob elects to sleep alone on the side of the Jabbok River. During the evening, he engages in a famous wrestling match with a divine messenger. The struggle lasts the entire night. As daylight breaks, Jacob is renamed: Yisrael, Israel-one who struggles with God. His hipsocket is wrenched, and he limps away, forever marked by the encounter.

This is the final chapter in Jacob's transformation from supplanter to patriarch. In this, he confronts his fears-Esau, and his morally difficult choices. Nehama Leibowitz makes a convincing argument that the divine messenger with whom he wrestles is actually a spiritual wrestling match with Esau. She writes, “Before Jacob actually encountered Esau in the flesh, his spirit struggled with that of Esau's. Only after . . . was Jacob, injured and limping, able to go forth to meet his brother and become reconciled with him.” Jacob's battle that evening was, I believe, the culmination of his struggle with difficult life choices. The result is a physical and spiritual transformation. He will carry the mark of the struggle in his walk. He will always wear the name that now suits him so well: One who Struggles with God, Israel. Jacob moves forward to a successful and peaceful reunion with his brother.

The real Jacob is the not the schemer, the trickster, nor is he perfect. Rather it is the journey of a man to become his best self. Jacob is our patriarch because of his journey, not despite it. Jacob is not many figures, but one-one with an intricate and complex character, but one, nonetheless.

The story of Jacob's struggle is an important one, for we can all identify with it. We all struggle with life choices; we all regret some of the choices we have made. We have all been on a journey, away from the name we feel we sometimes deserve, and towards the name we wish to deserve. Inside each of us is Israel: the one who struggles with God. As did Jacob, we too, can become Israel if we grow and learn from our mistakes, and journey to our best selves.

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