Jacob’s Dual Spiritual Identity

עם לבן גרתי. פרש"י הייתי גר ד"א תרי"ג מצות שמרתי.

“I have sojourned (garti) with Laban.” Rashi explains: I was a stranger. Another explanation: I kept the 613 (taryag) commandments.

Rashi reads garti both as “I was a stranger” and, by its numerical value of 613, as “I kept the mitzvot.”

וב' הפירושים ענין אחד להם.

The two explanations are one matter.

They are not two separate readings.

להודיע כי בבחינת הגירות העצה ע"י תרי"ג מצות.

They teach that in the state of being a stranger, the way through is the 613 commandments.

In exile, the mitzvot are what carry us.

דכתיב נר מצוה ותורה אור.

As it is written, “For a mitzvah is a lamp and the Torah is light.”

Proverbs contrasts the lamp of a mitzvah with the light of Torah.

כי יעקב אע"ה הוא בחי' תורה אור.

For Jacob our father is the aspect of “Torah is light.”

Jacob himself embodies the light of Torah.

וכשבא למקום מנוחתו לא הי' לו שום פחד מעשו ומסטרא דילי'.

When he came to his place of rest, he had no fear at all of Esau and his side.

At home, in his own place, Esau could not threaten him.

כדכתיב וילך אל ארץ מפני יעקב כשנתגלה פנימיות של יעקב אע"ה.

As it is written, “and he went to a land, away from Jacob,” when the inner self of Jacob our father was revealed.

When Jacob’s true self shone, Esau moved away.

אך מקודם הוצרך לתקן בחי' נר מצוה שהם הארות התורה המתלבשים במעשה גשמיות ומאירין תוך החושך והגלות.

But first he had to repair the aspect of “a mitzvah is a lamp”: the lights of the Torah that are clothed in physical deeds and shine within the darkness and the exile.

Before that, in Laban’s house, he needed the lamp of mitzvot to light the darkness.

והכל הי' הכנה בעבורינו כי יש בני ישראל שיש להם אחיזה בשם יעקב ויש בשם ישראל.

All this was a preparation for us. For there are Jews who have a hold in the name Jacob, and some in the name Israel.

Jacob’s two stages are two kinds of Jews.

ואיתא לא שיעקר שם יעקב כו' ישראל עיקר ויעקב טפל כו'.

It is taught: not that the name Jacob is uprooted, and so on, but Israel is the main name and Jacob secondary, and so on.

The Talmud says the name Jacob remains, alongside Israel.

ובאברהם אמרו הקורא אברם עובר בעשה.

And about Abraham they said: one who calls him Avram transgresses a positive commandment.

Abraham’s old name was fully replaced.

כי אברהם קודם שנימול היה בכלל כל האומות וזה נתבטל ממנו לגמרי כשנימול.

For before Abraham was circumcised he was included among all the nations, and this was completely removed from him when he was circumcised.

Abraham’s change was total.

דכ' גוים ערלים וישראל ערלי לב.

It is written, “The nations are uncircumcised, and Israel is uncircumcised of heart.”

Jeremiah distinguishes two kinds of blockage.

פירוש שיש שידין נוכראין ויהודאין כדאיתא בזוה"ק.

Meaning, there are foreign demons and Jewish ones, as the holy Zohar says.

Even Israel’s obstacles are of a different kind.

ולכן הערלות שנמצא בלבות בני ישראל יכולין להחזירו ג"כ להקדושה.

Therefore the blockage found in the hearts of Israel can also be returned to holiness.

A Jewish heart’s hardness can be turned back to good.

וכענין שאמרו מחלוקת שהיא לשם שמים סופו להתקיים פירוש שגם ההתנגדות יש לו ג"כ קיום.

Like what they said, a dispute for the sake of Heaven will endure in the end: meaning, even the opposition has lasting existence.

Struggle itself, when aimed at Heaven, has value that lasts.

ולכן גם פשוטי בני ישראל שכל ימיהם עוסקין במלחמות הללו.

Therefore even simple Jews, who all their days are busy with these battles,

Ordinary people who fight inner battles all their lives,

הגם שאין יכולין לתקן א"ע בשלימות.

even though they cannot repair themselves completely,

though they never fully win,

מ"מ יש להם אחיזה בשם יעקב.

still they have a hold in the name Jacob.

still belong to Jacob.

והוא ע"י נר מצוה כנ"ל.

And that is through “a mitzvah is a lamp,” as said above.

Their hold comes through the mitzvot.

ובאמת זה נק' גירות.

In truth this is called being a stranger.

This is the meaning of garti.

ונשמות בני ישראל שנשתלחו בעוה"ז נתן לנו השי"ת המצות להיות מלוות אותנו כמ"ש במדרש תצא לוית חן הם ע"ש.

For the souls of Israel that were sent into this world, God gave us the mitzvot to accompany us, as the Midrash says, “They are a garland of grace.” See there.

The mitzvot escort the soul through its foreign stay.

וזהו ואחר עד עתה.

This is “and I stayed until now” (va’echar ad atah).

Jacob’s words to Esau’s messengers.

דכתיב אחור וקדם צרתני.

As it is written, “Behind and before You formed me.”

Psalm 139 speaks of two sides of creation.

דחז"ל אמרו וייצר ב' יצירות בעוה"ז ובעוה"ב.

Our Sages said: vayitzer, with two letters yud, two formations, in this world and in the World to Come.

Man was formed twice over, for two worlds.

ומקודם צריכין לתקן בבחי' אחור.

First one must repair in the aspect of “behind.”

First comes the outer, “behind” stage.

וזהו ואחר עד עתה.

This is “and I stayed until now.”

Jacob’s long stay with Laban was that stage.

ועתה התחיל לבוא לפנימיות שלו בחי' שם ישראל כנ"ל.

Now he began to come to his inner self, the aspect of the name Israel, as said above.

Now he moves to the inner stage of Israel.

וכל איש ישראל יש בו ב' בחינות אלו.

Every Jew has both these aspects in him.

Each of us is both Jacob and Israel.

ויש בש"ק התגלות הפנימיות לכן נקרא יום מנוחה ויש בו הארה מבחי' תורה כמ"ש שבת יעשה כולו תורה:

On the holy Shabbat the inner self is revealed. Therefore it is called a day of rest, and it has a light of the aspect of Torah, as it is said, Shabbat should be made entirely Torah.

Shabbat reveals the Israel within us and the light of Torah.

Summary: “I sojourned with Laban” means both that Jacob was a stranger and that he kept the 613 mitzvot, because in exile the mitzvot are the lamp that lights the darkness. Jacob is the light of Torah, and once his inner self was revealed, Esau withdrew. Some Jews hold the name Jacob, fighting lifelong inner battles through the mitzvot, and some the name Israel. Unlike Abraham’s old name, Jacob’s remains, because a struggle for Heaven has lasting worth. Every Jew has both sides, the outer work of exile and the inner self that Shabbat reveals.