We find an amazing thing, God changed Abraham’s name from Abram to Avrohom, Sarah’s name from Sari to Sarah, and once their names were changed, the Torah no longer refers to them by their previous names (in fact, later, Yehoishuas name is changed and the same story applies) however, when Yaakov’s name is changed from Yaakov to Yisroel (Jacob to Israel) both names are frequently used.

 

This holds a great secret from Kabbalah:

Kabbalah teaches us, that Yaakov is the collective soul of the Jewish people, as all Jewish souls stem from him, so when we understand the dynamic of Jacob, we understand our own dynamic.

In the beginning, we begin as Yaakov; Yaakov can be divide into Yud, Ekev; Yud represents God and Ekev represents the Heel – we begin life as God in the heel – in other words, our soul is in truth God, but consciously we do not know this – we see ourselves as a little heel.

But we then must come to the realization of an extraordinary reality, for it states “Yaakov is the rope connecting God to man” – so like a rope in which two people are attached, if I move, it causes the other person to move, and this is where the name Yisroel comes in – for when I do good on earth – particularly after I vanquish my Yetzer Hara, negate demon that continuously entices me toward evil (which was when Yaakov’s name was changed) I then am called “Li Rosh, the head of God” – for God in his unlimited goodness, love and infinite humility created a reality where you determine where God’s head is.

There is no nice way to say it, so say it we will – in the magnum-opus of Chassidic philosophy, the Tanya, the Alter Rebbe says, when I do a sin (something I know I shouldn’t do, but I do it anyway) it is literally like taking the face of God and shoving it into a toilet bowl filled with excrement – like it or not, God’s Head, is on Your Shoulders.