Torah For Our Times: Vayigash – What’s In A Name?

How was it decided to give the name “Israel” to the modern Jewish state?  The decision was made by a vote of Prime Minister David Ben Gurion’s new provincial government.  The vote, which took place on May 12, 1948, was 7-to-3.  Most of the populous assumed the name would be Yehuda (Judea). In ancient times, Judea was the strongest of the tribal fiefdoms in the Promised Land.  Jerusalem was located in Judea and King David, who moved the ancient capital from Hebron to Jerusalem, was a Judean.  And, of course, Yehudah (Judah) was the self-proclaimed leader of Jacob’s twelve sons.

Judah was not Jacob’s first-born son, but his brothers seemed to gravitate to him whenever an important decision had to be made.  It was Judah who decided rather than kill their younger brother Joseph, let them sell him as a slave.  It was also Judah who chose to marry among the Canaanites, suffered the death of two of his children, and had sexual relations with a woman he thought was a prostitute. 

The late Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, writes, “Yet history turned out otherwise.  Joseph’s descendants, the tribes of Ephraim and Menashe, disappeared from the pages of history after the Assyrian conquest in 722 BCE, while Judah’s descendants, starting with David, became kings.  The tribe of Judah survived the Babylonian conquest, and it is Judah whose name we bear as a people.  We are Yehudim (Jews).”

Like his father before him, Judah experienced an “Ah, Hah” moment; an event that awoke him from his moral slumber.  Joseph had arisen to a position of authority in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh.  During a terrible famine, Joseph was put in charge of distributing food to the greater population of Egypt.  Not recognizing Joseph, the first time Judah and his brothers visited Egypt in search of food, they are ordered to return again this time bringing their youngest brother Benjamin.  Upon returning, Benjamin is falsely accused of theft and Joseph (the viceroy of Egypt) sentences him to slavery.  It is Judah who steps forward and passionately argues, “Now then, please let [me] remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy. . . How can I return to my father if the boy is not with me?  Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father!”

In the end, the name Yehudah (Judea) would certainly have been appropriate for today’s modern Jewish state, but it wasn’t to be.  I’m told there was little enthusiasm among the government leaders for the selection of “Israel”, but in less than 2 days they would be announcing the formal establishment of a Jewish state, so “Israel” it would be! 

After careful thought, there could not have been a better choice.  Personages, like Judah and his descendant King David, fought with their personal demons through moments of darkness, only to become stronger and morally courageous.  So, too, Judah’s father Jacob, whose name was changed to “Israel” (literally, “he who wrestled with God”).  It was Jacob (Yisrael) who saw beyond the moment to a future that would take another three-thousand years to fully realize.  Yisrael (Israel) is not about a person, but an entire people.  Am Yisrael Chai/ The people (and the state) Israel live on!

Rabbi Howard Siegel