Most of us feel like we know who we are, most of the time. But in this week’s Torah reading, we’re told something different—that there’s more to life than we can at first see. By speaking of Jacob’s struggle with the angel, we can come to understand that there are two levels to who we really are. Jacob is told:

“No longer shall your name be called Jacob; rather, Israel shall be your name. For you have struggled with the divine and with men, and you have prevailed” (Genesis 32:29).

One level of who we are is like Jacob, working to survive the physical reality. The other level is that of Israel, which is the part of us that can come into a higher awareness of the wisdom of the universe. It might take some time to discover this level of awareness, but it can gradually be realized when we take the time to listen for it from within.

However, this does not mean that we change from one level of our self to the other and leave the first level behind. We’re still in both levels. So life challenges us to discover the subtlety of knowing when to be at the earthly level of these two levels and when to relate to life from the higher, more enlightened perspective.