Overheard on Vayishlach

Heard an awesome dvar comparing Yaakov's wrestle with the angel and the formation of Eve, and it inspired me to think about the issue a bit more. Here are the awesome parts:

1. We have two stories in Breishit where God, or some sort of Divine messenger, damages or changes a person's body: the angel striking Jacob's thigh and God excising Adam's rib.

2. In both cases, the victim is introduced as being alone.
-Adam in 2:18:

וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים, לֹא-טוֹב הֱיוֹת הָאָדָם לְבַדּוֹ; אֶעֱשֶׂה-לּוֹ עֵזֶר, כְּנֶגְדּוֹ.

God said, "It is not good for Adam to be alone. I shall make him a helpmate."

-Jacob in 32:15:

וַיִּוָּתֵר יַעֲקֹב, לְבַדּוֹ; וַיֵּאָבֵק אִישׁ עִמּוֹ, עַד עֲלוֹת הַשָּׁחַר

Jacob was left alone - and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

3. In both cases, names and name giving giving play a prominent role.

-Adam names the animals, and then names woman.

יָּבֵא אֶל-הָאָדָם, לִרְאוֹת מַה-יִּקְרָא-לוֹ; וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִקְרָא-לוֹ הָאָדָם נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה, הוּא שְׁמוֹ.

לְזֹאת יִקָּרֵא אִשָּׁה, כִּי מֵאִישׁ לֻקְחָה-זֹּאת

God brought all the animals to Adam, to see what he would name them, and that which Adam named the animals, that became its name . . . [regarding Eve] "This I shall name Woman, for of Man it was taken." (I've also translated q.r.a as "named" in this context - which is what it means in context, though it does weaken the point a bit.)

-The angel asks Jacob's name and re-names him. Jacob asks the angels name and does some naming of his own.

וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו, מַה-שְּׁמֶךָ; וַיֹּאמֶר, יַעֲקֹב

וַיֹּאמֶר, לֹא יַעֲקֹב יֵאָמֵר עוֹד שִׁמְךָ--כִּי, אִם-יִשְׂרָאֵל:-

וַיִּשְׁאַל יַעֲקֹב, וַיֹּאמֶר הַגִּידָה-נָּא שְׁמֶךָ, וַיֹּאמֶר, לָמָּה זֶּה תִּשְׁאַל לִשְׁמִי;

וַיִּקְרָא יַעֲקֹב שֵׁם הַמָּקוֹם, פְּנִיאֵל

The angel said to him, "What is you name?" He responded, "Jacob." The angel said to him, "No longer shall Jacob be said as your - rather, it shall be Israel" . . . Now Jacob asked, and said, "Please tell me your name." He responded, "Why would you ask my name?" . . . Jacob named the place Peniel.

4. Now . . . ARE YOU READY FOR THIS? There's only two times in Breishit where the word צלע appears.

-Adam's צלע ("rib", but also translated as "side") is removed by God.

וַיִּקַּח, אַחַת מִצַּלְעֹתָיו, וַיִּסְגֹּר בָּשָׂר, תַּחְתֶּנָּה

וַיִּבֶן יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים אֶת-הַצֵּלָע אֲשֶׁר-לָקַח מִן-הָאָדָם, לְאִשָּׁה;

God took one of his ribs, closing the flesh under it. God constucted Woman from the rib which he took from Adam.

-Turns out, the word for Jacob's limp is quite similar! (I'm no master of Hebrew etymology, but limping is walking to the "side")

וְהוּא צֹלֵעַ, עַל-יְרֵכוֹ

And Jacob was limping upon his thigh.

5. Finally, both stories contain a procession of animals, sent before a particular man.

-God brings all the animals before Adam. (See the naming section)

-Jacob sends a huge caravan of animals before Esau.

וַיִּקַּח מִן-הַבָּא בְיָדוֹ, מִנְחָה--לְעֵשָׂו אָחִיו

זִּים מָאתַיִם, וּתְיָשִׁים עֶשְׂרִים, רְחֵלִים מָאתַיִם, וְאֵילִים עֶשְׂרִים

גְּמַלִּים מֵינִיקוֹת וּבְנֵיהֶם, שְׁלֹשִׁים; פָּרוֹת אַרְבָּעִים, וּפָרִים עֲשָׂרָה, אֲתֹנֹת עֶשְׂרִים, וַעְיָרִם עֲשָׂרָה

Jacob took a gift for his brother Esau from that which he owned. 200 she-goats and 20 goats; 200 ewes and 20 rams; 30 suckling camels and their young; 40 cows and 10 bulls; 20 she-asses and 10 donkeys.

Pretty Cool, Right! Those are the main parallels - but you could stretch for a few more:

a. Forbidden Foods: Surrounding both narratives are mentions of forbidden food. The command to not eat from the Tree of Knowing Good and Bad immediately precedes the Adam story (2:16-17). The tradition of Jacob's sons to not eat from the Gid Hanasheh (sciatic nerve) immediately follows the Jacob story (32:33).

b. Breaking the Fourth Wall: Both stories do this unusual (but not entirely rare) thing, where the narrator suddenly steps back from the narrative and explains how something in it effects us today. In effect, the narrator seems to break the fourth wall. Likewise, both examples begin with a על כן – "therefore". In the Adam story, we are told, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his woman, being as one flesh." By Jacob, we learn, "Therefore, the Children of Israel do not eat from the sciatic nerve which is on the hollow of the thigh, to this very day."

c. Some interesting things going on with sleep. In the Jacob story, the narrator tells us twice about Jacob sleeping at night, and thrice mentions that it was "that night". (See 32:14, 22, 23). Oddly enough, Jacob decides to get up in the middle of the night, which is when the wrestling match takes place. In the Adam story, there is no indication that anything occurs during night time - instead, God places Adam under a sudden, heavy sleep before performing His surgery (See 2:21). Jacob is up in the middle of the night; Adam is asleep in the middle of the day.

d. Just generally, both stories deal with how mankind/Jews relate to our bodies. Adam and Eve, in the last verse of the story, stand naked and unashamed. (OK - the Christians probably screwed up that Perek. That verse belongs to the next narrative). The last verse in the Jacob chapter details how Jews no longer eat from the sciatic nerve, commemorating what happened to their ancestor's body.