The Struggling of Jacob

The Struggling of Jacob
By Alex Horn

Islam is “surrender to God”.

Israel is “wrestling with God”. 

Islam is “submit”.

Israel is “struggle”.

In the East, the Muslims cry “submit, submit!”

In the West, the Christians cry “believe, believe!”

And in between, and throughout, the lone Jews struggle, and wrestle, and cry out silent; and their blood, seed, and tears fill the world salty from river to sea.

The word “Islam” is the noun version of the Arabic root verb “aslama”, which means “to give up, to submit, to surrender, to give into, or to hand over.” The Arabic word for peace, “salaam”, shares a common etymology with the words “aslama”, “Islam”, and “Muslim”. 

A key element of the Islamic faith is the belief that inner peace can only be achieved through total surrender to God. As Celene Ibrahim and Najiba Akbar put it for the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research: 

“Living in this state of surrender leads individuals to wholeness, contentment, fulfillment, and liberation from the emotional and psychological vagaries of life.”

The word “Israel” literally means “one who struggles with God”. God gave the name to the Jewish patriarch, Jacob, after he wrestled with an angel. Jacob’s life was an endless series of struggles: from fights with his brother, to disputes with his father-in-law, to disasters with his children. And yet he endured, and became the father of a Nation, as God promised. For that reason, “Israel” has acquired an additional meaning: “God perseveres”.

The Jewish emphasis on struggle and perseverance is rooted in the core belief that morality, enlightenment, and salvation are not destinations, but rather journeys. As Chabad.org puts it: 

“We do believe that goodness prevails, but the happy ending is not our focus. Our focus is the struggle to get there. Regardless of the result, the struggle itself is holy. That’s why the Torah doesn’t speak about heaven. We believe in the afterlife, but we aren’t preoccupied with it. We focus our energy on the effort to be a good person, the struggle to do the right thing, the battle against our adversaries, both internal and external.”