Vayishlach

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Vayishlach or Vayishlah (וישלח — Hebrew for “and he sent,” the first word of the parshah) is the eighth weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. It constitutes Genesis 32:4–36:43. Jews in the Diaspora read it the eighth Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in late November or December.

Jacob Wrestling with the Angel (illustration by Gustave Doré)

1 Summary
2 In classical rabbinic interpretation
3 Commandment
4 Haftarah
5 Further reading
6 External links
- 6.1 Texts
- 6.2 Commentaries

[edit] Summary

[edit] Jacob’s reunion with Esau

Jacob sent a message to Esau in Edom that he had stayed with Laban until then, had oxen, donkeys, flocks, and servants, and hoped to find favor in Esau’s sight. (Gen. 32:4–6.) The messengers returned and greatly frightening Jacob with the report that Esau was coming to meet him with 400 men. (Gen. 32:7–8.) Jacob divided his camp in two, reasoning that if Esau destroyed one of the two, then the other camp could escape. (Gen. 32:8–9.) Jacob prayed to God, recalling that God had promised to return him whole to his country, noting his unworthiness for God’s transformation of him from a poor man with just a staff to the leader of two camps, and prayed God to deliver him from Esau, as God had promised Jacob good and to make his descendants as numerous as the sand of the sea. (Gen. 32:10–13.) Jacob assembled a present of hundreds of goats, sheep, camels, cattle, and donkeys to appease Esau, and instructed his servants to deliver them to Esau in successive droves with the message that they were a present from his servant Jacob, who followed behind. (Gen. 32:14–21.)

Jacob Wrestling with the Angel (painting by Rembrandt)

As the presents went before him, Jacob took his wives, handmaids, children, and belongings over the Jabbok River, and then remained behind that night alone. (Gen. 32:22–25.) Jacob wrestled with a man until dawn, and when the man saw that he was not prevailing, he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh and strained it. (Gen. 32:25–26.) The man asked Jacob to let him go, for the day was breaking, but Jacob would not let him go without a blessing. (Gen. 32:27.) The man asked Jacob his name, and when Jacob replied “Jacob,” the man told him that his name would no more be Jacob, but Israel, for he had striven with God and with men and prevailed. (Gen. 32:28–29.) Jacob asked the man his name, but the man asked him why, and then blessed him. (Gen. 32:30.) Jacob named the place Peniel, saying that he had seen God face to face and lived. (Gen. 32:31.) And at sunrise, Jacob limped from the injury to his thigh. (Gen. 32:32.) Because of this, the Israelites do not eat the sinew of the vein that is the hollow of the thigh, because the angel touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh. (Gen. 32:33.)

The Reunion of Jacob and Esau (painting by Francesco Hayez)

When Jacob saw Esau coming with 400 men, he divided his family, putting the handmaids and their children foremost, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph at the back. (Gen. 33:1–2.) Jacob went before them, and bowed to the ground seven times as he approached his brother. (Gen. 33:3.) Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, and kissed him, and they wept. (Gen. 33:4.) Esau asked who women and the children were, Jacob told him that they were his, and they all came to Esau and bowed down. (Gen. 33:5–7.) Esau asked what Jacob meant by all the livestock, and Jacob told him that he sought Esau’s favor. (Gen. 33:8.) Esau said that he had enough, but Jacob pressed him to accept his present saying that seeing Esau’s face was like seeing the face of God, and Esau took the gifts. (Gen. 33:9–11.) Esau suggested that Jacob and he travel together, but Jacob asked that Esau allow Jacob’s party to travel more slowly, so as not to tax the young children and the flocks, until they came to Esau in Seir. (Gen. 33:12–14.) Esau offered to leave some of his men behind with Jacob, but Jacob declined. (Gen. 33:15.) So Esau left for Seir, and Jacob left for Sukkot (meaning “booths”), where he built a house and made booths for his cattle, thus explaining the place’s name. (Gen. 33:16–17.)

[edit] The rape of Dinah

Jacob came to Shechem, where he bought a parcel of ground outside the city from the children of Hamor for a hundred pieces of money. (Gen. 33:18–19.) Jacob erected an altar there, and called the place El-elohe-Israel.

When Dinah went out to see the daughters of the land, the prince of the land, Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, saw her and lay with her by force. (Gen. 34:1–2.) Shechem loved Dinah and asked Hamor to arrange that he might marry her. (Gen. 34:3–4.) Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled Dinah while Jacob’s sons were in the field, and Jacob held his peace until they returned. (Gen. 34:5.) When Jacob’s sons heard, they came in from the field, and were grieved and very angry. (Gen. 34:7.)

Hamor went out to Jacob and told him that Shechem longed for Dinah, and asked Jacob to give her to him for a wife, and to agree that their two people might intermarry and live and trade together. (Gen. 34:6–10.) And Shechem offered to give Jacob and his sons whatever they wanted as a bride price. (Gen. 34:11–12.) Jacob’s sons answered with guile, saying that they could not give their sister to one not circumcised, and said that they would consent only on the condition that every man of the town became circumcised, and then the two people might intermarry and live together; otherwise they would leave. (Gen. 34:13–17.) Their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, and Shechem did so without delay, out of delight with Dinah. (Gen. 34:18–19.)

Hamor and Shechem spoke to the men of the city in the city gate, saying that Jacob’s family were peaceable, and advocated letting them dwell in the land, trade, and intermarry. (Gen. 34:20–21.) Hamor and Shechem reported that Jacob’s people would only do so on the condition that every man of the town was circumcised, and they argued that the men do so, for Jacob’s animals and wealth would add to the city’s wealth. (Gen. 34:22–23.) And the men heeded Hamor and Shechem, and every man of the city underwent circumcision. (Gen. 34:24.)

On the third day, when the men of the city were in pain, Jacob’s sons Simeon and Levi each took his sword, came upon the city with stealth, and killed all the men, including Hamor and Shechem, and took Dinah out of the city. (Gen. 34:25–26.) Jacob’s sons looted the city, taking as booty their animals, their wealth, their wives, and their children. (Gen. 34:27–29.) Jacob told Simeon and Levi that they had made him odious to the inhabitants of the land, who would gather together against him and destroyed their family. (Gen. 34:30.) Simeon and Levi asked whether they were to allow someone to treat their sister as a prostitute. (Gen. 34:31.)

[edit] Jacob’s flight

God told Jacob to move to Bethel, and make an altar there to God, who had appeared to him there when he fled from Esau. (Gen. 35:1.) Jacob told his household to put away their idols, change their garments, and purify themselves for the trip to Bethel, and they gave Jacob all their idols and earrings and Jacob buried them under the terebinth by Shechem. (Gen. 35:2–4.) A terror of God fell upon the nearby cities so that the people did not pursue Jacob, and they journeyed to Luz, built an altar, and called the place El-beth-el. (Gen. 35:5–7.)

Rebekah's nurse Deborah died, and they buried her below Beth-el under an oak they called Allon-bacuth. (Gen. 35:8.)

And God appeared to Jacob again and blessed him, saying to him that his name would not be Jacob anymore, but Israel. (Gen. 35:9–10.) And God told him to be fruitful and multiply, for nations and kings would descend from him, and God would give Jacob and his descendants the land that God gave to Abraham and Isaac. (Gen. 35:11–12.) And Jacob set up a pillar of stone in the place, poured a drink-offering and oil on it, and called the place Bethel. (Gen. 35:14–15.)

They left Bethel, and before they had come to Ephrath, Rachel went into a difficult labor. (Gen. 35:16.) The midwife told her not to fear not, for this child would also be a son for her. (Gen. 35:17.) And just before Rachel died, she named her son Ben-oni, but Jacob called him Benjamin. (Gen. 35:18.) They buried Rachel on the road to Ephrath at Bethlehem, and Jacob set up a pillar on her grave. (Gen. 35:19–20.) And Israel journeyed beyond Migdal-eder. (Gen. 35:21.)

While Israel dwelt in that land, Reuben lay with Jacob’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it. (Gen. 35:21.)

The text then recounts Jacob’s children born to him in Padan-aram. (Gen. 35:22–26.)

Jacob came to Isaac at Hebron, Isaac died at the old age of 180, and Esau and Jacob buried him. (Gen. 35:27–29.)

The text then recounts Esau’s children. (Gen. 36:1–5.) Esau took his household, animals, and all his possessions that he had gathered in Canaan and went to a land apart from Jacob, in Edom, for their substance was too great for them to dwell together. (Gen. 36:6–8.) The text then recounts Esau’s descendants, the Edomites, among whom were Amalek. (Gen. 36:9–43.)

[edit] In classical rabbinic interpretation

[edit] Genesis chapter 32

The Rabbis of the Midrash questioned the wisdom of Jacob’s decision to contact Esau in Genesis 32:4. Nahman ben Samuel compared the decision to waking a robber sleeping on a path to tell him of danger. The Rabbis envisioned that God asked Jacob: “Esau was going his own way, yet you sent to him?” (Genesis Rabbah 75:1–3.)

The Rabbis of the Midrash deduced that the “messengers” of Genesis 32:4 were angels. The Rabbis reasoned that if (as Genesis Rabbah 59:10 taught) an angel escorted Eliezer, who was just a servant of the house, how much the more would angels have accompanied Jacob, who was the beloved of the house. Rabbi Hama ben Hanina reasoned that if five angels appeared to Hagar, who was just Sarah's handmaid, how much more would angels appear to Jacob. And Rabbi Jannai reasoned that if three angels met Joseph (counting the three uses of “man” in Gen. 37:15–17), and he was the youngest of the ancestors of the 12 tribes if Israel, how much more would angels meet Jacob, who was the father of all 12. (Genesis Rabbah 75:4.)

Rabbi Jacob bar Idi pointed out a contradiction between God’s promise to protect Jacob in Genesis 28:15 and Jacob’s fear in Genesis 32:8; Rabbi Jacob explained that Jacob feared that some sin might cause him to lose the protection of God's promise. (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 4a, Sanhedrin 98b.)

Rabbi Eleazar taught that Obadiah hid 50 of 100 prophets of God in a cave in 1Kings 18:4 because he learned the lesson of dividing his camp from Jacob’s actions in Genesis 32:8–9. Rabbi Abbahu, however, said that it was because the cave could hold only 50. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 39b, Taanit 20b.)

Rabbi Yannai taught that when people expose themselves to danger and are saved by miracles, it is deducted from their merits and so they end up with less merit to their credit. Rabbi Hanin cited Genesis 32:11 to prove this, reading Jacob to say to God: “I am become diminished [that is, I have less merit to my credit] by reason of all the deeds of kindness and all the truth that You have shown to your servant.” (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 32a.)

Job and his wife (painting by Albrecht Dürer)

Chapter 7 of Tractate Chullin in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the prohibition of the sinew of the hip (the sciatic nerve, gid ha-nasheh) in Genesis 32:32. (Mishnah Chullin 7:1–6; Tosefta Chullin 7:1–8; Babylonian Talmud Chullin 89b–103b.)

[edit] Genesis chapter 34

A Tanna taught in Rabbi Jose’s name that Shechem was a place predestined for evil, for in Shechem Dinah was raped (as reported in Genesis 34:2), Joseph’s brothers sold him (as reported in Genesis 37:17, Dothan being near Shechem), and the united kingdom of Israel and Judah was divided (as reported in 1Kings 12:1). (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 102a.)

A Baraita reported that some said that Job lived in the time of Jacob and married Dinah, finding the connection in the use of the same word with regard to Job’s wife in Job 2:10, “You speak as one of the impious women (nebalot) speaks,” and with regard to Dinah in Genesis 34:7, “Because he had committed a vile deed (nebelah) in Israel.” (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 15b.)

The Mishnah deduced from Genesis 34:25 that the wound from a circumcision is still serious enough on the third day that one bathes a circumcised baby on that day even if it is the Sabbath. (Mishnah Shabbat 9:3, 19:3; Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 86a, 134b.)

[edit] Genesis chapter 35

The Mishnah taught that the story of Reuben’s infidelity with Jacob’s concubine Bilhah in Genesis 35:21 is read in the synagogue but not translated. (Mishnah Megillah 4:10; Babylonian Talmud Megillah 25a.)

[edit] Commandment

According to Maimonides and Sefer ha-Chinuch, there is one negative commandment in the parshah:

Not to eat the sinew of the thigh (gid ha-nasheh). (Gen. 32:33.)

(Maimonides. Mishneh Torah, Negative Commandment 183. Cairo, Egypt, 1170–1180. Reprinted in Maimonides. The Commandments: Sefer Ha-Mitzvoth of Maimonides. Translated by Charles B. Chavel, 2:180–81. London: Soncino Press, 1967. ISBN 0-900689-71-4. Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, 1:89–90. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1991. ISBN 0-87306-179-9.)

[edit] Haftarah

The haftarah for the parshah is:

for Ashkenazi Jews: Hosea 11:7–12:12
for Sephardi Jews: Obadiah 1:1–21

[edit] Further reading

[edit] Biblical

Genesis 1:28 (be fruitful and multiply); 9:1, 7; (be fruitful and multiply); 48:7 (Rachel’s death).
Deuteronomy 2:4–5.
Jeremiah 31:14 in JPS; 31:15 in NJPS (site of Rachel’s death).

[edit] Classical rabbinic

Mishnah: Shabbat 9:3, 19:3; Megillah 4:10; Chullin 7:1–6. Land of Israel, circa 200 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Mishnah: A New Translation. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 190, 202, 323, 778–80. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4.
Tosefta: Berakhot 1:10, 4:16; Bikkurim 2:2; Megillah 3:35; Avodah Zarah 3:4; Chullin 7:1–8. Land of Israel, circa 300 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Tosefta: Translated from the Hebrew, with a New Introduction. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 1:6, 26, 348, 652; 2:1269, 1393–95. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 2002. ISBN 1-56563-642-2.
Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 17b, 83a, 84b; Sheviit 72a. Land of Israel, circa 400 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Yerushalmi. Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, vols. 1, 2, 6b. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.
Genesis Rabbah 75:1–83:5. Land of Israel, 5th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Genesis. Translated by H. Freedman and Maurice Simon. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2.

[edit] Medieval

Rashi. Commentary. Genesis 32–36. Troyes, France, late 11th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Rashi. The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated. Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, 1:359–407. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1995. ISBN 0-89906-026-9.

Dickinson

Zohar 1:165b–79a. Spain, late 13th Century. Reprinted in, e.g, The Zohar. Translated by Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon. 5 vols. London: Soncino Press, 1934.

[edit] Modern

Rumpelstiltskin. (power of a true name). In Jacob Grimm & Wilhelm Grimm. Children's and Household Tales. Germany, 1812. Reprinted in, e.g, The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. Edited by Lily Owens, 203-06. New York: Gramercy Books, 2006. ISBN 0-517-09293-X.
Emily Dickinson. Poem 59 (A little East of Jordan,). Circa 1859. In The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Edited by Thomas H. Johnson, 31. New York: Little, Brown & Co., 1960. ISBN 0-316-18414-4.
Irving Fineman. Jacob, An Autobiograhical Novel. New York: Random House, 1941.

Mann

Thomas Mann. Joseph and His Brothers. Translated by John E. Woods, 51–53, 64–65, 69–73, 77, 84–85, 100–03, 112–51, 155–56, 239, 294, 303–14, 326, 335, 399–400, 402–04, 426–27, 429, 432, 438, 446, 454, 491, 500–01, 507, 515, 563, 805, 917. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-4001-9. Originally published as Joseph und seine Brüder. Stockholm: Bermann-Fischer Verlag, 1943.
Elie Wiesel. “And Jacob Fought the Angel.” In Messengers of God: Biblical Portraits & Legends, 103–38. New York: Random House, 1976. ISBN 0-394-49740-6.
Anita Diamant. The Red Tent. St. Martin's Press, 1997. ISBN 0-312-16978-7.
Victor Hurowitz. “Whose Earrings Did Jacob Bury?” Bible Review 17 (4) (Aug. 2001): 31–33, 54.
William H.C. Propp. “Exorcising Demons.” Bible Review 20 (5) (Oct. 2004): 14–21, 47.