We're all familiar with this week's parasha, Vayishlach, Yaakov, Malachim (angels), and Esav, Achiv (his brother). After 20 years of dwelling with Lavan, Yaakov is on his way back to Yisrael, and he's met by his brother Esav with an army of 400 men. You know the story: he divides the camp and sends him gifts. Before they meet, Yaakov is alone. He goes over to a brook and stays by himself. What happens? He meets up with the Sar Esav, also known as Satan, also known as Yetzer Hara (evil inclination), and they're fighting. Finally, the angel finds that he cannot overcome Yaakov anymore. He hurts him in his hip. He dislocates the muscle that connects to the hip, so Yaakov no longer has use of his leg. Daybreak is coming. The angel says, “You have to let me go because I have to go back to Shamayim (heavens).” Yaakov tells him, “No, you can't go back unless you bless me.” So the angel asks him, “What's your name?” He says, “Yaakov.” The angel says, “No longer are we going to call your name Yaakov. We're going to change your name to Yisrael.”
Then Yaakov asks a very special question. Very strange. The question is about the Gid HaNasheh (sciatic nerve). Why is Yaakov Avinu saying, “Gid HaNasheh”? When you read the Pasuk (verse), that's what he tells him. I have another question for you. It appears that this angel had two jobs: number one, to injure him in his leg, and number two, to change his name. But we know from the incident of Avraham Avinu, when the three angels came to him, that each one of them had a separate job because an angel can only have one job. One was to heal, one was to tell him about having a child, and one was to destroy Sedom. So how is it that this angel can have two jobs? One of them is to hurt him, and one of them is to change his name?
So possibly, we can look at it in a different way. This angel came to answer Yaakov's question. What was his question? He says, “Tell me your name.” There is an unclear exchange. The last four letters, which represent the hundred, are Kuf (letter with value 100), Resh (Hebrew letter), Shin (Hebrew letter), and Tav (Hebrew letter). And then we start with the Sofit (final letter form). Chaf Sofit (final kaf) is the first one, which is 500, 600, 700, 800, 900. We go back to Elef (thousand), which is Alef (first Hebrew letter), with a value of one. So Chaf Sofit is 500, Mem (Hebrew letter) is 40, and Alef is 1. 541. What is the very famous word that has a numerical value of 541? No other word besides Yisrael. Isn't that something? What was his name before he changed it to Yisrael? It's Yaakov. What's the numerical value of Yaakov? It comes down to 182. If you want to get out your calculator and take away 182 from 541, it comes out to 382. 359. What on earth has a numerical value of 359? Nothing else but Satan. Satan came and changed his name from Yaakov to Yisrael. All he did was answer his question by Vayishal Yaakov (Yaakov asked): Hagidah na shemecha (Tell me your name). I have two questions in one. One of them is that you have to do his job, and the other is that you have to change my name.
But who is that Satan? Satan, besides being the angel of death, is also Yetzer Hara. What is the Torah telling us? We are Yaakov, and within us we have this Yisrael. We have to get it out. We have to overcome it. And when we do, when we overcome the angel the same way that Yaakov Avinu overcame the angel, the Satan of Esav, when we overcome that, we are worthy of the name Yisrael.