Expert: J.M.J. West - 9/9/2008

Question
what are the contributions of Jacob in Israel?

Answer
I'm sorry, but I don't know fully what you are asking.  Nevertheless, I'll take a stab.  Let me know how I did.

Jacob is called "Israel" because he "strove with God" in an interesting Old Testament passage which imaged the Trinity.  Jacob wrestles with “a man” who enters Gen 32 at v. 24 (seemingly out of nowhere) and is gone by verse 30.

v. 26 – Jacob asks the man for his blessing (recognizing the man as somehow holier than he)

The man names Jacob “Israel”, which means “strives with God” or “God strives”. Jacob has “striven with God and with humans” and has prevailed (v. 2Cool

v. 30 - After he receives the blessing, he marvels “I have seen God face to face”

I'd even wager that this was, in some way, Christ, acting a-temporally in anticipation of the incarnation...but that's where things get weird and cool...

So, he contributed the name Israel to Israel, though really that was God doing the naming.

He also had a number of sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.  These became the 12 tribes of Israel, so he contributed that too...
More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob

Hope that helps! Good luck in the search.  If you can re-phrase your question, I'll take another stab at it.

I'd recommend: www.catholic.com for a great resource site to dig a bit into the scriptures!