Tanach · Acharonim on Tanach · Or HaChaim · Torah
Or HaChaim on Genesis 35:10/אור החיים על בראשית ל״ה:י׳
אלֹא יִקָּרֵא שִׁמְךָ וְגוֹ׳ כִּי אִם יִשְׂרָאֵל. צָרִיךְ לָדַעַת מַה נִשְׁתַּנָּה יַעֲקֹב מֵאַבְרָהָם, כִּי הַקּוֹרֵא לְאַבְרָהָם אַבְרָם עוֹבֵר בַּעֲשֵׂה (ברכות יג.), אֲבָל הַקּוֹרֵא לְיִשְׂרָאֵל יַעֲקֹב אֵינוֹ עוֹבֵר. וַהֲגַם שֶׁרַבּוֹתֵינוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה (שם) אָמְרוּ כִּי יַעֲקֹב אַהְדְּרֵיהּ קְרָא, וְלָמָּה לֹא נִלְמַד מִמַּה דְּאַהְדְּרֵיהּ לְיַעֲקֹב הֲגַם שֶׁאָמַר בּוֹ ״לֹא יִקָּרֵא״ וְאַהְדְּרֵיהּ כְּמוֹ כֵן בְּאַבְרָהָם?
1 לא יקרא שמך יעקב כי אם ישראל, "You will not be called Jacob but Israel, etc." We need to understand the difference between when G'd renamed Abram and when he renamed Jacob. Berachot 13 states that anyone who calls Abraham Abram nowadays violates a positive commandment, whereas it is permissible to refer to Jacob as either Jacob or Israel. Although our rabbis in the Talmud there point out that the Torah itself refers to Israel as Jacob after G'd renamed him, in view of the fact that we ignore the words לא יקרא when it comes to Jacob, why should the same rule not apply to Abraham and we should have the choice of calling him by either name?
בוְאוּלַי כִּי לְצַד שֶׁשִּׁנָּה ה׳ דְּבָרוֹ הַטּוֹב הָאָמוּר בְּיַעֲקֹב מֵהָאָמוּר בְּאַבְרָהָם, בְּמַה שֶׁאָמַר ״שִׁמְךָ יַעֲקֹב״, כִּי לֹא הָיָה צָרִיךְ לוֹמַר כֵּן, כִּי מַה חִדֵּשׁ בָּזֶה בְּאָמְרוֹ ״שִׁמְךָ יַעֲקֹב״? אֶלָּא וַדַּאי שֶׁנִּתְכַּוֵּן לוֹמַר שֵׁם קָבוּעַ הוּא לְךָ. אֶלָּא שֶׁצָּרִיךְ לָדַעַת טַעְמוֹ שֶׁל הקב״ה לָמָּה בְּאַבְרָהָם הִקְפִּיד עַל אַבְרָם, וְעַל יַעֲקֹב לֹא הִקְפִּיד. וְיֵרָאֶה כִּי יֵשׁ טַעַם נָכוֹן, וְהוּא לְמַה שֶׁקָּדַם לָנוּ כִּי שְׁמוֹת בְּנֵי הָאָדָם הֵם שְׁמוֹת נַפְשׁוֹתָם, וַה׳ שָׂם שַׁמּוֹת בָּאָרֶץ וְדָרְשׁוּ זַ״ל (ברכות ז.) וְכוּ׳. וְהִנֵּה יַעֲקֹב יִהְיֶה שֵׁם נֶפֶשׁ שֶׁהָיְתָה לוֹ, וְלָזֶה הֲגַם שֶׁנִּתּוֹסֵף בּוֹ רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים הַנִּקְרָא יִשְׂרָאֵל, לֹא מִפְּנֵי זֶה אָבַד הָרִאשׁוֹן, וַהֲרֵי יֶשְׁנָם לְרִאשׁוֹן גַּם שֵׁנִי וְיָכוֹל הוּא לִקָּרֵא יַעֲקֹב וְאֵין רָאוּי שֶׁיֵּעָקֵר שְׁמוֹ הָרִאשׁוֹן לַחֲלוּטִין. מַה שֶׁאֵין כֵּן אַבְרָהָם, כִּי גַּם אַחַר שִׁנּוּי שְׁמוֹ לְעִלּוּי לֹא נֶעֱקַר שֵׁם הָרִאשׁוֹן, כִּי יֵשׁ בִּכְלַל אַבְרָהָם אַבְרָם, וְלָזֶה יְצַו הָאֵל לִקְרוֹת לוֹ בִּתְמִידוּת אַבְרָהָם, וְאֵין עֲקִירָה לָרִאשׁוֹן כִּי בִּכְלַל אַבְרָהָם אַבְרָם. וְאוּלַי כִּי זֶה רָמַז הַכָּתוּב בְּדִבְרֵי הַיָּמִים (דברי הימים א׳ א:כו) ״אַבְרָם הוּא אַבְרָהָם״. וּכְפִי זֶה אָמְרוֹ לֹא יִקָּרֵא שִׁמְךָ עוֹד וְגוֹ׳, פֵּרוּשׁ לְבַד אֶלָּא גַּם יִשְׂרָאֵל. גַּם דִּיֵּק בְּאָמְרוֹ ״לֹא יִקָּרֵא שִׁמְךָ עוֹד״ וְלֹא אָמַר ״לֹא יִקָּרֵא עוֹד שִׁמְךָ״ כְּמוֹ שֶׁאָמַר בְּאַבְרָהָם (בראשית יז:ה), וְהָבֵן:
2Perhaps the very fact that G'd limited the good news when He renamed Jacob by saying: "your name is Jacob," made this change of name qualitatively different from that of Abraham at the time. There had been no need for G'd to repeat "your name is Jacob." Who did not know this? Surely what G'd meant by this was that Jacob's permanent name would remain Jacob, but that on some occasions he would be referred to by an additional name, i.e. Israel. Why would it bother G'd that we should not refer to Abraham's original name? I believe there is a very good reason. We have to remember that names describe the nature of its bearers' souls, their essence. The Talmud Berachot 7 illustrates this point. Jacob's essence then is described by the name Jacob. Whenever he enjoyed a large measure of Holy Spirit he was referred to as "Israel." There is certainly no reason why Jacob should be deprived of his original name on account of an occasional infusion of רוח הקודש. It was quite different in the case of Abraham who retained all the letters of his original name in his expanded name also. This is why G'd commanded to call him only by his new and expanded name Abraham. By doing so one did not deny his original name at all. Perhaps Chronicles I,1 26 refers to this when it states: "Abram is Abraham." When the Torah said: "your name shall not be called, etc," the meaning is that it should not be called exclusively Jacob but also Israel. This is exactly parallel to Genesis 17,5 where Abraham's name was changed.