ON THE PARSHA Parshas VaYishlach by Dovid Lipman, Israel Year 2, No. 8 Introduction This parsha, which tells how our father Yaakov made a home in the land of Israel, has six parts: 1) Yaakov prepares to meet Eisav [TWOTS] 2) Yaakov battles a stranger [WON] 3) Yaakov confronts Eisav [ATTL] 4) Dinah's Abduction [RAUW] 5) A Funeral and an Altar [FTG] 6) The Family of Eisav [DYR] 1. Yaakov prepares to meet Eisav -- 32:4 (Beg.) to 32:24 Messengers of Yaakov report that Eisav is to greet him with an army, and Yaakov prepares for the confrontation 3 ways: He prays to Hashem for help, he sends a gift to appease Eisav, and he divides his camp, to prevent the family from being killed all at once. Then he crosses the river with his family at night, to wait for Eisav. The World of the Supernatural (32:4) "And Yaakov sent angels...", as Rashi emphasizes. There's much significance in that Yaakov's messengers were actually angels, for a pattern started in VaYeitzei between angels and Yaakov. In Yaakov's dream, he saw angels, and later he sees angels bringing sheep to him in a dream. Then he meets angels while awake (end of VaYeitzei), and now sends them on a mission. Later, he battles an angel and wins, all showing Yaakov reaching and surpassing the world of angels - as the Ramban says, the Jews do not need a protecting angel, for their protection is directly from Hashem. 2. Y. battles a stranger -- 32:25 to 32:33 (end, Chap. 32) Yaakov, alone by the river, battles a stranger until the morning, and Yaakov survives, sustaining only a wound in the thigh (source of the mitzvah not to eat the Gid HaNasheh). Defeated, the stranger blesses Yaakov and tells him the name Yisrael, and Yaakov lets him go free. Worthy of Note (32:30) " 'Why ask my name?' " The angel of Eisav (our 'stranger', identified by the Midrash) hints to one of the powers of evil - asking why things are as they are. "Lamah Zeh" means "Why is this?", and, the angel says, if you ask why, that's ME talking, as we find Eisav's downfall began with this insistence that life is purposeless (25:32), which perhaps stemmed from his mother Rivkah's compaint (25:22). In fact, the reverse is true - Eisav (read: life without spirituality) is purposeless, as Yaakov hints(33:15): "Why is this?" is his reponse to the idea of Eisav helping him out. 3. Yaakov confronts Eisav -- Chap. 33 Yaakov, his wives, and his sons all present themselves to Eisav who responds to Yaakov with love. Yaakov politely turns down Eisav's offers of help, and Eisav returns to his hoem, while Yaakov, after a short delay, settles near Sh'chem, buys a home, and gives thanks to Hashem. A Time to Laugh (33:17) "...so he called the place 'Succos' ". Why is the name spelled with a vav, and the huts are called 'Succos' without a vav? Because once one names a place, the name can appear in contracts, like a get or a k'subah, which are written without vowels. So the name has to have a vav, so its pronunciation be clear, in case it would be used in such a contract. 4. Dinah's Abduction -- Chap. 34 Dinah is taken by force by Sh'chem, president of the area, and he goes with his father to try to convince Yaakov to let him marry her. Shimon and Levi tell the two to have all the town's males circumcise, and then they'll even join families. When the people comply, Shimon and Levi, on the third and most painful day, wipe out the city and take Dinah back, satisfied, but Yaakov feels the act uncautious. Rare and Unusual Words (34:25) "Ish". Rashi (Nazir 29b) brings this use of the word meaning "man" to describe Shimon and Levi, to show that one is called a man at age 13, for, he says, there is a tradition that they were 13 years old at that time. 5. A Funeral and an Altar -- Chap. 35 Hashem reminds Yaakov to go to Beis-El to make an altar, and the family prepares and goes. Rivkah's nurse Devorah dies and is buried there, and they hold her funeral. Then Hashem appears to Yaakov with approval and blessings, and Yaakov renews the Beis-El altar. While the family travels from there, Rachel dies in childbirth, and Yaakov names her son Binyamin, so he now has twelve sons. He joins his father in Chevron, and Yitzchak dies at age 180. From the Gemara (35:11) Yevamos 65b - One opinion derives the singling out of men for the mitzvah to have children from the use of singular in this pasuk, where Yaakov is told to have more children. 6. The Family of Eisav -- Chap. 36 Eisav's three wives bear him five sons, and they leave the land because he's too rich to share space with the also wealthy Yaakov. There he has grandsons, and each becomes a family leader within Edom, Eisav's nation, as the previous families in the land (Se'ir) had also done. Eight kings rule his land, and then the land divides into states, with a different set of leaders. Do You Remember? - from the files of On the Parsha 1. What exactly made Shimon and Levi sure they'd succeed? 2. May one have pleasure from the Gid HaNasheh? 3. What did Yaakov do near Sh'chem, and why? 4. What term shows us how to make a blessing on a mitzvah?