Vayishlach

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 [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0132.htm#4 32:4–36:43.] Jews in the Diaspora read it the eighth Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in late November or December.

ummary

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. () 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. () 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. () Jacob asked the man his name, but the man asked him why, and then blessed him. () 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. () Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, and kissed him, and they wept. () 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. () 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. () Shechem loved Dinah and asked Hamor to arrange that he might marry her. ()

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. () Their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, and Shechem did so without delay, out of delight with Dinah. () And the men heeded Hamor and Shechem, and every man of the city underwent circumcision. () 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. () 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. ()

And God appeared to Jacob again and blessed him, saying to him that his name would not be Jacob anymore, but Israel. ()

They left Bethel, and before they had come to Ephrath, Rachel went into a difficult labor. () They buried Rachel on the road to Ephrath at Bethlehem, and Jacob set up a pillar on her grave. ()

The text then recounts Jacob’s children born to him in Padan-aram. () 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. ( 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 and Jacob’s fear in 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 ), Joseph’s brothers sold him (as reported in “You speak as one of the impious women ("nebalot") speaks,” and with regard to Dinah in is read in the synagogue but not translated. (Mishnah Megillah 4:10; Babylonian Talmud Megillah 25a.)

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"). ()(Maimonides. "Mishneh Torah", [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/p0002.htm#183 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.)

Haftarah

The haftarah for the parshah is:
*for Ashkenazi Jews: Hosea [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1311.htm#7 11:7–12:12]
*for Sephardi Jews: Obadiah [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1601.htm 1:1–21]

Further reading

Biblical

* (be fruitful and multiply); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0109.htm 9:1,] [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0109.htm#7 7;] (be fruitful and multiply); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0148.htm#7 48:7] (Rachel’s death).
*Deuteronomy [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0502.htm#4 2:4–5.]
*Jeremiah [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1131.htm#14 31:14 in JPS;] 31:15 in NJPS (site of Rachel’s death).

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.

Medieval

*Rashi. "Commentary". [http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=8227&showrashi=true 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.
*Zohar [http://www.kabbalah.com/k/index.php/p=zohar/zohar&vol=10 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.

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. 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.
*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.

External links

Texts

* [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0132.htm#4 Masoretic text and 1917 JPS translation]
* [http://bible.ort.org/books/torahd5.asp?action=displaypage&book=1&chapter=32&verse=4&portion=8 Hear the parshah chanted]

Commentaries

* [http://www.jtsa.edu/community/parashah/archives/index.shtml#gen Commentaries] from the Jewish Theological Seminary
* [http://www.uscj.org/Vayishlah_57677105.html Torah Sparks] from the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
* [http://www.ou.org/torah/archive1.htm Commentaries] from the Orthodox Union
* [http://ajrsem.org/index.php?id=199 Commentaries] from the Academy for Jewish Religion
* [http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=15554 Commentaries] from Chabad.org
* [http://urj.org/torah/genesis/index.cfm? Commentaries] and [http://urj.org/shabbat/genesis/ Family Shabbat Table Talk] from the Union for Reform Judaism
* [http://www2.jrf.org/recon-dt/index.php Commentaries] from Reconstructionist Judaism
* [http://www.torah.org/learning/parsha/parsha.html?id1=8 Commentaries] from [http://www.torah.org/ Torah.org]
* [http://www.aish.com/torahPortion/pArchive.asp?eventType=8&eventName=Vayishlach Commentaries] from [http://www.aish.com/ Aish.com]
* [http://www.shiur.com/index.php?id=C0_240_6&spar=240&s_id=240 Commentaries] from [http://www.shiur.com/ Shiur.com]
* [http://www.tfdixie.com/parshat/vayishla/ Commentaries] from [http://www.tfdixie.com/ Torah from Dixie]
* [http://ohr.edu/yhiy/article.php/2820 Commentary] from [http://ohr.edu/index.php Ohr Sameach]
* [http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/vayishlah_index.htm Commentaries] from [http://www.myjewishlearning.com/index.htm MyJewishLearning.com]
* [http://www.judaic.org/addtl_files/vayishlah.htm Commentaries] and [http://www.judaic.org/tabletalk/vayishlah5762.htm Shabbat Table Talk] from [http://www.judaic.org/ The Sephardic Institute]
* [http://www.parshaparts.com/archive/5767/vayishlach.php Commentaries] from [http://www.parshaparts.com/index.php Parshah Parts]
* [http://www.anshe.org/parsha/vayishlach.htm Commentary] from [http://www.anshe.org/ Anshe Emes Synagogue, Los Angeles]
* [http://www.rabbishmuel.com/browse.cgi?type=torah_sermons Torah Sermons] and [http://www.rabbishmuel.com/browse.cgi?type=torah_tidbits Torah Tidbits] from [http://www.ostt.org/ Ohev Sholom Talmud Torah]
* [http://www.teach613.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23&Itemid=2 Commentaries] from [http://www.teach613.org/index.php Teach613.org, Torah Education at Cherry Hill]