Jacob Wrestling with the Angel

[CTyankee]

Hello all,

I am an art historian now contemplating a new book, which relates to gesture and pose in art, and would appreciate some text from Jewish writings on Jacob wrestling with the angel. I am not a religious person so I have little background on the subject.

For reference, see Rembrandt and Delacroix's versions, which covers both Catholic and Protestant faiths' teaching and would like to also consider how this story is presented and meaning drawn from, in the Reform Jewish teachings.

I hope you can help me. I do want to present a nuanced account of this religiously themed scene in terms modern Jewish thinking. I have tried linking to these but have been unsuccessful. But if you are interested I think you can at least view the images.

Thank you so much!

[MyMission]

1. There are many interpretations to this story

Even within the Jewish community. I can give you some basic information, explanations, definitions, and a few links for you to investigate. I can't claim to be a Jewish scholar, (I know a few) but I am fairly observant, and have and do study Torah on a weekly basis.

So, Regarding Jewish practice and studies and commentary, here's some basic information.

Branches of Judaism, as you may know, basically include reform (least observant of Jewish law), conservative (mix of observance and modernity, but strict adherence to Jewish ritual) and orthodox (strict adherence to Jewish law and ritual), with reconstructionist and renewal and modern orthodox added to the mix in recent decades. Rabbi's in all branches study and refer to similar sources and texts, although they will offer differing interpretations.

Jews around the world read/study the Torah (5 books of Moses) every year in order, based on the Jewish calendar. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy). We complete Deuteronomy and begin Genesis on the same day, several weeks after the Jewish new Year.

There is a weekly Torah portion or chapter (parsha or parshat), and these stories are interpreted and discussed every year. Rabbi's give a sermon (d'var=speech or talk) or write about it every year. As we study "the same portion" year after year, we are changing, growing, seeing or relating to different parts of the story. And we have rabbi's and scholars who have been writing on this for centuries!

Vayishlach is the Torah Portion: Genesis 32:4-36:43 that contains this story.
(You could Google vayishlach commentary and be reading for years!)

Commentary on this Torah portion is vast, drawing from various sources.
We have midrash, which is stories that supplement or explain or enhance the Torah portion.
Midrashim is plural.
We have Talmud, which is the legal, ritualistic discussion of what the Torah meant and means.
When you read discussions on this story from a Jewish lens you will see those words.

So, here are some links. You asked for reform, but I'm including others too.

Chabad is part of the Orthodox segment, and they do religious and spiritual outreach to Jews everywhere. Their website offers assorted stories and interpretations on any given parsha or subject. I found this comprehensive article.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2389625/jewish/Jacob-Wrestles-With-the-Angel.htm

The Jewish theological seminary (JTS) is the seat of the conservative movement. They train Rabbi's and Jewish scholars. Here's a link to assorted commentary on this parsha that will offer a wide range of perspectives.
https://www.jtsa.edu/jts-torah-online/

And here's a link to an article from the reform community.
https://reformjudaism.org/learning/torah-study/torah-commentary/wrestling-man-not-angel

Many of the articles will touch on similar themes or threads.
{Was he wrestling with an angel, a man, himself?)

I hope this is helpful, and not too much information.

[CTyankee]

3. No, not too much. I am an art historian and nothing is ever too much!

The author of this book on Rembrandt is Simon Schama, who is Jewish himself and certainly not timid about taking on this subject, all 700 pages of it!

I am not religious and I guess I'm a WASP, but not brought up in any religion. My interpretation, based on what I have been reading, is that Jacob is wrestling with himself and saying "I will not let thee go except thou bless me" is his way of searching for his own spiritual understanding. Rembrandt was painting in a Protestant country, so his interpretation would be slanted accordingly.

Rembrandt has also delivered on an interpretation of the return of the prodigal son that I consider one of the most powerful scenes in art. It stops your heart with its tenderness and beauty.

Rubens was painting at the same time and were somewhat rivals. Rubens had the Catholic sensitivity and background. You have only to compare the two artists treatment of the descent from the cross to understand the difference.

[Mosby]

2. Dvar torah from a rabbi I know.

In this week’s parashah, Vayishlah, Yaakov receives his new identity as Yisrael, the one who struggles with God. Yaakov’s willingness to wrestle with the divine, to keep God in this world and not allow God to withdraw to heaven, defines him as the father of the Jewish people. As heirs to Yisrael, we do the same thing each time we perform a mitzvah, a sacred deed. We wrestle God to earth. We make the transcendent, the ultimate mystery, a tangible presence in our world.

On Shabbat, we come to shul to seek peace, to escape the struggles that preoccupy us during the rest of the week. But the peace that we seek is not a static, lazy peace. It is a peace that makes it possible for us to engage in a different kind of struggle. the struggle to grow, to search, to seize the divine.

May the quiet of Shabbat enable us, like Yisrael our ancestor, to bring heaven down to earth.

https://thenewshul.org/our-rabbis/

[CTyankee]

4. That is wonderful and quite apt. Thank you. It gives a fuller understanding of what is going on in

in this painting. Thank you!