VAYISHLACH 32:4 - 36:43
This week's Parshah is Vayishlach.
Among other things we learn:
After 20 years Jacob returns to the Land.
He learns that Esau is approaching with 400 armed men.
Jacob prepares for war, prays, and sends Esau a large gift of livestock.
Jacob wrestles with an Angel who renames him "Yisrael".
Jacob and Esau meet; embrace and kiss, but part ways.
Jacob and his family settle in Shechem where Dinah is raped and Shimon and Levi take revenge.
Rachel dies while giving birth to Benjamin, and is buried in a roadside grave.
Esau's family is recounted in detail.
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In the Parshah at 32:21 it seems that Jacob may be making an atonement, כפרה to his brother Esau for the taking of the birthright and the usurping of the blessing of material wealth given by Isaac.
כִּי-אָמַר אֲכַפְּרָה פָנָיו, בַּמִּנְחָה הַהֹלֶכֶת לְפָנָי, וְאַחֲרֵי-כֵן אֶרְאֶה פָנָיו, אוּלַי יִשָּׂא פָנָ
" …For he said, "I will make atonement for his anger with the gift that is going before me, and afterwards I will see his face, perhaps he will favor me."
I want to focus on the word אֲכַפְּרָה, “atonement”.
Making atonement is admitting that you have done wrong.
It is an admission of guilt.
It is Jacob saying that all along Esau was right and that he (Jacob) was wrong.
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In this week's Parshah at 32:25, we learn that our forefather Jacob was tough. He wrestled with a mysterious being, perhaps an Angel, hung in there and finally succeeded, a lesson for us all.
וַיִּוָּתֵר יַעֲקֹב, לְבַדּוֹ; וַיֵּאָבֵק אִישׁ עִמּ, וֹ, עַד עֲלוֹת הַשָּׁחַר
“And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day”.
Why did a “man” wrestle with Jacob?
What meaning does that wrestling match have for us today in terms of Jacob or the Jewish people or yourself?
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The 13th century French Rabbi Chizkuni comments on 32:25 “...Jacob was left alone...”:
Jacob should have had support from his family. He should not have been left alone for this struggle.
If you are like most Jews who have made Aliyah and come from assimilated families, you will not have their support. At the very best they will consider you to be quirky. At the worst they will consider you certifiable.
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At 32:29 -
The mysterious Angel renames Jacob; he will be called Israel.
וַיֹּאמֶר, לֹא יַעֲקֹב יֵאָמֵר עוֹד שִׁמְךָ--כִּי, אִם-יִשְׂרָאֵל: כִּי-שָׂרִיתָ עִם-אֱלֹהִים וְעִם-אֲנָשִׁים, וַתּוּכָל
“Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, because you have dominion with God and with men, and you have overcome”.
I think an alternate translation should be considered. One that considers the root of שָׂרִיתָ to stem from "prince":
"... for as a prince with God and with men, and you have prevailed.”
There will be Jews that have a problem with this translation in that it comes from the King James Version of the Chumash.
I like a better translation. One that is more meaningful:
We have learned that the Children of Israel were given the name, יִשְׂרָאֵל. This name was given to Jacob by an Angel. It means “God prevails” and is the embodiment of our nation and of our people.
It is our identity.
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At 33:3 Jacob bows down seven times and refers to himself as Esau’s servant. This is tantamount to offering Esau back the birthright.
And Jacob transfers over to Esau much of the material wealth accumulated while working for Lavan.
וְהוּא, עָבַר לִפְנֵיהֶם; וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ אַרְצָה שֶׁבַע פְּעָמִים
“And he went ahead of them and prostrated himself to the ground seven times…”
A suzerain does not kowtow to an under lord. The irony of this however, is that Esau is indifferent. As told to us by Rabbi Yitz, indifference is Esau’s major character flaw. In the sense of appeasement, he can take it or leave it. Esau takes the gift of appeasement; the brothers embrace. Esau leaves, and each brother goes their separate ways.
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At 33:16-17 the brothers go their separate ways. Esau is said to have founded the nation of Edom. There were kings in Edom, descendants of Esau long before there were kings in Israel.
There has been a love/hate relation between the Edomites and the Israelites, probably starting from the get-go, 3,500 years ago. This may have lasted until today, but certainly was present in the time of the Hasmoneans .As to how Hashem regards this relationship, one only has to go Devarim 2:4-6
where the Israelites under Moshe were refused entry to Edom and had to go around it without making war with them during the trek to the Land of Israel"
“… and charge the people as follows: You are about to pass through the territory of your kindred, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so, be very careful not to engage in battle with them, for I will not give you even so much as a foot’s length of their land, since I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. You shall purchase food from them for money, so that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them for money, so that you may drink”.
Hundreds of years later King David defeated the Edomites, and Edom became a vassal state of Israel. For centuries afterwards there was a lot of back and forth until the destruction of the first Temple.
In 587 BCE, when the Kingdom of Judah was weakened and about to be defeated by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar, the Edomites entered Judah and may have helped plunder Jerusalem. In 167 BCE Judah Maccabee conquered Edom, and shortly thereafter John Hyrcanus forcedly converted the Edomites. Edom’s name became Idumea and from there emerged King Herod the Great, King of the Jews and possibly a descendant of Esau
In retrospect, a descendant of Esau became a ruler over Jacob, and we have come full circle.
DECEPTION: an act or statement which misleads, hides the truth, or promotes a belief, concept, or idea that is not true…often done for personal gain or advantage.
At 33:14 we learn that Ya’akov misleads Esav about his plans to join him in Se’ir, and that the sons of Ya’akov dupe the citizens of Sh’khem into a mass circumcision – and then pillage the town in revenge for the rape of Dinah (34:13).
No big deal so you say; what’s a little deception now and again?
But look at this list. If you try not very hard you may begin to see a pattern emerging :
a. Yitzhak is deceived by Ya’akov who is prompted and aided by Rivkah (Ch. 27).
b. Yitzhak is deceived by Rivkah, who claims that she wants to send Ya’akov away for marriage purposes (when it’s really to save his life – 27:46).
c. Lavan fools Ya’akov into marrying Leah before Rachel – thus getting her married off and gaining 7 more “free” years of labor from Ya’akov (29:23-27).
d. Rachel lies to her father about the idols she stole from his house (31:19).
e. Lavan manipulates Ya’akov’s wages “ten times” (31:41).
f. Ya’akov misleads Esav about his plans to join him in Se’ir (33:14).
g. The sons of Ya’akov dupe the citizens of Sh’khem into a mass circumcision – and then pillage the town in revenge for the rape of Dinah (34:13).
h. The brothers fool their father into thinking that Yoseph has been killed by an animal (37:31).
i. Tamar fools Yehuda into thinking that she is a *K’deshah* (38:14-15).
j. Potiphar’s wife lies to her husband, getting Yoseph thrown into the court jail (39:14-20).
k. Yoseph maintains his disguise with his brothers, not revealing their relationship until Yehuda's bold stand (44:18-34)
l. Yoseph (evidently) has his brothers lie to Pharaoh about their livelihood (46:33-34).
m. The brothers (apparently) lie to Yoseph about Ya’akov’s deathbed wishes (49:17).
What lies to we hear today?
Think about anti-Semitism or fake news, lies about Israel or Jews or about me and you.
I am reading a book entitled "The Samson Option" by Seymour M. Hersh. It concerns the building of a nuclear facility at Dimona. From the get-go and still today, deception and outright lying in Israel and abroad was very much the government's policy.
Related to deception is stealing. Think about stealing the afikomen during the Passover Seder.
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At 33:18 Jacob arrived at the outskirts of the city of Shechem, where he purchased a plot of land. Jacob's daughter, Dinah, ventured out into the city of Shechem where she was abducted , violated her and kept hostage.
Dinah's two brothers, Simon and Levi, entered the city, killed all its male inhabitants, and liberated Dinah. Jacob was displeased by this act, fearing reprisal from the neighboring Canaanites.
Jacob may have been unhappy with the course of action taken by his two sons, but personally took action against the Canaanites. As recorded much later in the Chumash at 48:22 Jacob says to Joseph:
וַאֲנִי נָתַתִּי לְךָ, שְׁכֶם אַחַד--עַל-אַחֶיךָ: אֲשֶׁר לָקַחְתִּי מִיַּד הָאֱמֹרִי, בְּחַרְבִּי וּבְקַשְׁתִּי
“And I have given you Shechem, one portion over your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow."
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PROCASTINATION
After the massacre of the townspeople of Shechem, after making a promise at least 20 years prior, Hashem once more reminds Jacob at 35:1 –
וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים אֶל-יַעֲקֹב, קוּם עֲלֵה בֵית-אֵל וְשֶׁב-שָׁם; וַעֲשֵׂה-שָׁם מִזְבֵּחַ--לָאֵלהַנִּרְאֶה אֵלֶיךָ, בְּבָרְחֲךָ מִפְּנֵי עֵשָׂו אָחִיךָ
“And God said to Jacob, Arise and go up to Beth el and dwell there, and make there an altar to the God Who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau."
Hashem must be long on patience.
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If you want Hashem’s protection, you better get rid of your foreign gods (35:2,4):
וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב אֶל-בֵּיתוֹ, וְאֶל כָּל-אֲשֶׁר עִמּוֹ: הָסִרוּ אֶת-אֱלֹהֵי הַנֵּכָר, אֲשֶׁר בְּתֹכְכֶם, וְהִטַּהֲרוּ, וְהַחֲלִיפוּ שִׂמְלֹתֵיכֶם.
"Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him: 'Put away the strange gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments";וַיִּתְּנוּ אֶל-יַעֲקֹב, אֵת כָּל-אֱלֹהֵי הַנֵּכָר אֲשֶׁר בְּיָדָם, וְאֶת-הַנְּזָמִים, אֲשֶׁר בְּאָזְנֵיהֶם; וַיִּטְמֹן אֹתָם יַעֲקֹב, תַּחַת הָאֵלָה אֲשֶׁר עִם-שְׁכֶם
“And they gave unto Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth which was by Shechem”.
Why under a specific tree? הָאֵלָה looks a lot like "the goddess".
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In the final Aliyah at 36:20 we learn something about a Canaanite king named Seir and Jacob’s brother Esau. Seir was king over a mountain region immediately south of Israel, an area later called “Edom”. Prior to his encounter with Jacob, Esau moved south to the Mountain of Seir. The 400 men who rode with him were from that region. At some point Esau had displaced Seir and ruled the region.
Seir eldest son was named Lotan was a leader in his own right. Lotan had a sister. Her name was Timna. She was a noble woman and Clan Leader (36:22,40), and she was under the rule of Esau.
The Talmud, Sanhedrin 99b, speaks about Menashe, a Judean king who ridiculed and trivialized the Torah, including the passages that refer to Esau’s genealogy and Timna.
The Sages tell of the importance of the passages. They relate that Timna wanted to convert, but was rejected by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. She then becomes a concubine to Esau’s son Eliphaz in order to have a relationship with the family, albeit a secondary one.
Timna and Eliphaz have a son; he is Amalek our dire enemy. The Sages conjecture that had Timna been accepted by the Patriarchs, history may have turned out differently.
