Rabbi Howard Morrison

The origin of the term Yisrael, or, Israel, appears as a central aspect in today's Torah lesson. Jacob had previously prepared his family for potential battle with an approaching Esau and his four-hundred-armed men. Jacob had sent gifts of appeasement, prayed himself to God, and divided his family into two camps so that if one had to fight, the other would survive for posterity.

Now, suddenly, it is nighttime. We find Jacob all alone in some kind of existential struggle. He wrestles; he fights; he struggles, but with whom? His inner being? an angel? a person? The Torah is ambiguous and unclear. What we do know is that in the outcome of the story, Jacob's name will be henceforth known as Yisrael (Israel), meaning, one who has wrestled and endured with God.

Over the years of my rabbinate, I have counselled people that it is legitimate to wrestle with God, challenge God, doubt God, question God. In doing so, we stay in relationship with God even with uncertainties. The one caviat is not to deny God. Then, we have removed God from any potential relationship.

For four thousand years, we have struggled and prevailed at the same time with the notion of God. Jacob may have been the first, but certainly not the last. In our personal lives, I have witnessed good people struggling with their faith after a brutal illness or death of a loved one. I have met countless Holocaust survivors over the years who understandably wrestle with their faith while they continue to endure with God in a paradoxical manner. 

Time and time again, be it personal or national - the struggle with God continues. Why does God seem to stand silent when the nations of the world throughout history predicate their existence on hating the nationhood called Israel? Today, Jews represent .02% of the world population. One would think the percentage would be much higher given the way our people are targeted from all sorts of extremism. 

Fast forward from the inception of the word and name of Yisrael from Jacob to the way we think of Yisrael today. The modern State of Israel was envisioned by Theodor Hertzl who convened the first Zionist congress in 1897. It was then that David Wolffsohn developed the image of the Israeli flag. The blue and white are based on the Torah's description of the Tzizit, the fringe of the Tallit, which was originally an admixture of white and blue, with the blue known as Techelet. Some two thousand years ago, the Snail from which the Techelet was extracted became extinct. As many of you know, however, in the last century, a scientific replication of that blue dye has enabled many Jews to return to the practice of the blue and white threads in the Tallit.

Others choose to have blue and white in the cloth of the Tallit, though the cloth can be made of any material and with any colors. The white on the flag symbolizes purity, similar to the notion of wearing white on the High Holy Days. The blue and white may also be understood as the dawn of a new day with a blending of the firmament and the sky. The Magen David in the center of the flag is perhaps the ultimate symbol of Jewish pride, responsibility, and unity. That symbol is over 3000 years old, harkening back to King David establishing Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel. 

Soon after Israel became a State, the Israeli flag as we know it became official on October 28, 1948.

For me, when I think of symbols of Israel, the two that come to mind for me are: 1 - Today's narrative, when the term Yisrael first appeared in our history; one who WRESTLES and PREVAILS with God. And 2 - The blue and white of the Israeli flag.

Flags have been the subject of heated debate over the recent past. Many, like me, feel betrayed and abandoned by the hoisting of a flag which symbolizes hate and violence at City Hall and other sites. But no one will stop me from displaying my Israeli flag - on this Bima, as a tie on my shirt, as a design on a kippa, or in some other creative manner.

Like Jacob, who became known as Israel, we, four thousand years later, will continue to wrestle with God, prevail with God, and demonstate our love and commitment to our God-given way of life known as Judaism. Like every generation before us, we will persevere; we will be okay. Call us "the Jewish people;" call us "Am Yisrael (the nation of Israel)," we will be here forever.

Am Yisrael Chai!

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Howard Morrison