The Meaning of the Name Israel

Hello and blessings

Thus the angel said to our forefather Jacob in Genesis 32:29: "And he said, 'Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.'" This is the reason for the name, as explained in the Torah.

In the depths of the matter, many things are said, and I will quote a few of them.

From the "Kli Yakar" on Genesis 32:

(29) And he said: 'Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel'. The word "Yashar El" ( ישר אל ) means direct to God, for 'Yashar' is a term of seeing, as in "I see" (Numbers 24:17), and it acknowledges that Jacob sees the face of God and is unable to obscure Him in His reality. And by saying that you have striven with God, the name Jacob was taken from him, for Jacob indicates a ‘crooked heart’ (Jeremiah 17:9) and Israel denotes 'straight' as it is said for the future (Isaiah 40:4) that the crooked will be made straight, and this is not the straight that seems straight in the eyes of humans but the one that is seen as straight in the eyes of God and man. Therefore, it was said that you have striven with God and with men, for through your good deeds, you will be a prince and leader with God and men, and this is Israel, a straight to God, a straightness that is seen even in the eyes of the Blessed One.

From the "Kedushat Levi" on the portion of Vayishlach:

And he said: 'Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.' (32:28). The matter is that there is a person who is always connected to the Creator, blessed be He, even when he speaks with people, and there is a person who is connected to the Creator only when he is involved in His work, Torah, and mitzvot, but when he speaks with people, he cannot concentrate his thoughts on the Creator. The first level is called ‘Israel’, because it is the letters of 'Yashar El', and also ‘to me is the head’ (Likutei Torah, Psalms 101). And the second level is called ‘Jacob’, which means to follow (see Eitz Chaim, Gate 3, Chapter 2). This is 'not Jacob... but Israel, for you have striven with God', meaning that you are connected to God even when you are speaking with people, and this is 'with God and men', and 'you have prevailed' to keep your thoughts always connected to the Blessed Creator.

See here what I elaborated on the matter https://www.hidabroot.org/question/19360

Blessings,

Benjamin Shmueli