The story in the book of jacob wrestling with god has received a lot of attention, but it is a part of a branch of judaism long forgotten. The rabbis that came after Jacob in this branch created many other stories about him, and they also made up for lost time in the scriptures about him. Jacob is one of these rabbis' favourite characters because he always follows his heart even when he gets knocked down. As the author says, He's just an overachiever. He's got ambition. Ambition is a gidim, a sin. Wants to be better than his brother, better than his father. He goes out in the world and works hard to get there. This branch of judaism was different from the other branches that became more popular, because they believed that it was possible to communicate with god. There was only one god, they believed, and this god was the omnipresent principle that they believed was above all other things. They called this principle El Yahvah, or the god. Their idea of this god is not the idea which we have today. The rabbis were not monotheists; they did not believe in a trinity like Christianity with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.