GEN1389 Each of the three Jewish patriarchs possessed one particular character trait and Jewish value that set him apart.   Abraham was known for his kindness, as he always invited strangers into his four-door tent open from all sides to beckon guests Sotah 10b.   Isaac’s special characteristic was his worship to God, as he himself was called the ultimate human sacrifice when God tested his father on Mount Moriah. Genesis 22:1-2.   … Jacob’s special characteristic was truth, as it attested to in Micah 7:20.  ... Why, then, did the angel, who was the symbol of the enemy of the Jewish people, wait and choose to fight only with Jacob, and not his father and grandfather?   … Only through the quality of truth can all the other qualities be tempered and used in their proper proportions to make them Jewish qualities.   It was for that reason that the angel waited until Jacob emerged, since the philosophical and symbolic threat to the enemies of the Jewish people was not a real danger until the quality of truth became a Jewish quality, symbolized by Jacob. And it is partially for that reason that the Jewish people could not become a nation until Jacob introduced this quality of truth to the people.  It is no accident that the Jewish nation is called the children of Israel, the new name given to Jacob by this angel after he was unable to win the battle with Jacob.   While Jacob struggled his entire life to find the essence of truth, it was only after this battle that he emerged a new person and his attitude to truth changed dramatically, a demonstrated by all his later actions.   AMEMEI 292