Genesis 32:4–36:43
Parshat Vayishlach
Returning home, Jacob sends messengers to his brother Esau and prepares with gifts, prayer and readiness for battle. That night he wrestles with an angel and receives the name Israel, and the brothers meet in peace. The portion goes on to the episode of Dinah in Shechem, the birth of Benjamin and the death of Rachel, and the generations of Esau.
Essays
Parsha Vayishlach – Learning from Evil Jacob fled the wrath of his brother Esau and stayed with his uncle Laban for 20 years. Our parsha this week relates that Jacob is… Parsha Vayishlach – Being Alone and the Lone Jug of Oil When you are all alone in your struggle for good, you are not truly alone. There is a G-dly flame that burns in the heart of every Jew that accompanies us in all of our positive efforts. We are never alone. Parsha Vayishlach – Don’t Lose Your Staff When we start to strengthen our trust, the forces of evil and negativity look for our vulnerable spaces hoping to drag us down even more. They find that vulnerability in loneliness. Esau’s guardian angel waited for Jacob to be alone and at that moment he attacked him. As soon as we remove ourselves Parsha Vayishlach – Humility When a person is exposed to something so much greater than himself, it engenders a natural sense of insignificance and humility. When a relatively tall person stands next to a much taller person, he will somehow feel short. And the more good we experience then, the more humble we become, and the mor Parsha Vayishlach – In Transit During the brief “intermission” between levels and worlds, the souls of the righteous become disoriented. In the words of Kabbalah, they then are characterized as being in a state of “katnus-lowness.” True, their state of “lowness” is higher than their former state of “highness,” nevertheless, becau Parsha Vayishlach – In Unity There Is No Fear Instead of understanding the division of Jacob’s entourage into two camps as a consequence of fear, the Chassidic translation reverses it. Jacob’s fear was actually a consequence of the division of his entourage. Jacob was well aware of the fact that when the Jewish people are united they are invinc Parsha Vayishlach – Is This How We Celebrate a Bar Mitzvah?! The lesson for a Bar and Bas Mitzvah, the day a Jewish boy or girl is initiated into the Jewish community, is that a Jew has to feel an intense sense of connection to every other Jew. This feeling must also be accompanied with readiness to sacrifice one’s own comfort and convenience. Parsha Vayishlach – Moshiach for Dummies and Beyond It is axiomatic in Judaism that a Jew must not only believe in Moshiach’s coming but he or she must also yearn for and eagerly anticipate it. We must want, pray and even “demand” Moshiach’s arrival. The importance of desiring Moshiach and Redemption is dramatically expressed in our daily prayer, the Parsha Vayishlach – Name Dropping The preference Jacob had for the name Benjamin-Son of the South (Israel) over Rachel's’ choice, Ben Oni-the Son of My Pain, for their last son, reflects the way Jacob viewed life in general. Never forgetful of the travail that he lived through, he was committed to the “Land of Israel” mentality of o Parsha Vayishlach – Preparations for Moshiach We cannot allow the temptations and compromises of Galus to gain mastery over us. This is a continuing struggle and we cannot go into it with our eyes closed. But, even as we prepare to do battle with the forces of Galus, we must base that preparedness on the confidence that we will be victorious. W Parsha Vayishlach – Reprogramming Sometimes the threat to our existence comes from the right; sometimes from the left. Sometimes it comes from secularists and sometimes from religious fanatics. Frequently the assault is directed against our bodies and sometimes the attack is geared to undermine our soul. Be prepared for all forms of Parsha Vayishlach – Returning with Light and Joy The ultimate goal of Teshuvah, of return to G-d is “good deeds.” The process of Teshuvah should not engender a desire to escape reality and responsibility but rather it should serve as a force of positive energy that will lead to more and more good deeds; more and more positive engagement with the p Parsha Vayishlach – Self Respect We are witness to unprecedented, almost universal, opposition to our rights to the Land of Israel, coming not only from our most implacable enemies in the far-right or far-left, but even from the most “sophisticated” leaders in the academic world. Many of those, who we felt were the most tolerant an Parsha Vayishlach – The Three Instruments of Perfection Contrary to the popular myth that Jews are pacifists and do not believe in self-defense, Jewish law, as stated in the Talmud, makes it clear, “One who comes to kill you, wake up early to kill him.” This is enshrined in Jewish law regarding individuals who find themselves threatened by others and it Parsha Vayishlach – The World of Otherness Perhaps, Jacob’s fear of fighting with Esau was that if he acquired some negative traits as a consequence of his need to engage in violence it would scar his spiritual genetic makeup. And as a result, the “otherness” of his progeny would be lost. His descendants would be made ordinary and incapable Parsha Vayishlach – Trust in Trust There is a famous adage stated by the third Chabad Rebbe; known as the Tzemach Tzedek that echoes this idea: “Think positive and it will be positive.” Parsha Vayishlach – We Envy You! The Alter Rebbe referred to Moses’ vaunted praise as the most humble man on the face of the earth and asked: How could Moses be so humble when he knew his towering greatness? Moses was given a preview of all future generations of Jews. When he saw the final generation before the coming of Moshiach a Parsha Vayishlach – The Wrestlers We have instruments that G-d put at our disposal, such as the internet, fax machines, computers etc. Some view these technological marvels as the “angel of Esau” that must be fought because of their negative influence. It makes more sense to view the tools of modern technology as positive instrument Parsha Vayishlach – Torah Power When a person is alive, even if it is a day old, it has the capacity to instill fear in the animal. When a person loses his or her appreciation for life, he or she becomes vulnerable to the attack from all directions. There is something mystical about life that threatens the most formidable foe. Parsha Vayishlach – When Was the Last Time You Rode Your Donkey? Most material acquisitions are made by people who subordinate themselves to their material possessions; they crave them, they cherish them, they live for them. Jacob, conversely, makes sure that his material possessions are subordinated to him; they are only used to serve Jacob’s true and intrinsic Parsha Vayishlach – Wholly, Wholly, Wholly One might have reached the erroneous conclusion that there is some good in suffering because of the heroic responses that it elicits. The Torah, by telling us that Jacob returned whole in terms of his body, wishes to impress upon us that suffering is not a permanent fixture in G-d’s plan for the wor Parsha Vayishlach – Wrestling There are times in our lives that we stand alone; we feel isolated and lonely. This is not all bad. When we do not have others to look at and interact with, we become introspective. We begin to think more seriously about who we are and what is our purpose in life. These periods of introspection can