Jacob Wrestling with an Angel: Theme and Variations
Click on the photo to get to the correct instructions. Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to add verbal instructions, but step by step photos are shown.
Jacob holding Angel in a headlock:
Jacob pinning angel:
My thanks to my brother Alon, who wrestled in high school, for telling me how to place the apple wrestlers, to my daughter Haya for thinking of and making the headlocked wrestlers, and my son Yair for his suggestions and advice.
Torah Thoughts
FIRST, yes, I use the words Ya’akov and Jacob interchangeably. They are different ways of saying the same thing and both refer to Avraham’s grandson, who, this week, becomes Yisrael/Israel, after whom we are named.
Though both Parsha Noshes this week depict Jacob wrestling with an angel, it is important to note that the actual text does not say “angel” but “man.” Some think this may have been Eisav. But the fact that Ya’akov’s name is changed to Yisrael, or “one who wrestles with G-d,” indicates that the one with whom Ya’akov wrestled was divinely sent.
Note, too, that the wings are not really a Jewish depiction, though they are possible.. If y’all write to me and ask me to remove them in large enough numbers, I will do so. But the wings made the snack more interesting looking and emphasized that it my have been an angel, to Western eyes.
That being said, it is also important to understand the Jewish idea of angels. They are essentially automatons, created by G-d for a specific task, only to disappear thereafter (like my keys). Other than the Archangels, they are not eternal, and are not human souls, but their own sort of being.