Vayishlach D'var Torah

Vayishlach summary:

Esau was about to come to visit Jacob, so Jacob split up his possessions, he got presents ready for Esau, and he sent himself and his family across a river to protect them from Esau. That night, when Jacob was alone, a divine being came and wrestled him all night. In the morning, as the divine being left, he said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with beings divine and human, and have prevailed.” 

When Esau came the next day, they were very happy to see each other and Jacob gave Esau a present.

Jacob and his children travelled to Shechem, another city. One day, Shechem, who was the chief of the land Shechem, abducted and raped Dinah, Jacob’s only daughter. Shechem’s father, Hamor, went to Jacob to speak with him. He requested that Dinah marry Shechem, and he said that if Shechem could marry Dinah he would let Jacob’s sons marry the women of his city. Jacob responded with a deal: their families could intermarry but only if every male in the city of Shechem got circumcised. 

All the men got circumcised, but since they were adults, it was probably very painful. So, while they were all in pain, Simeon and Levi (two of Jacob’s sons) killed every adult male in the city, including Shechem and Hamor. They retrieved Dinah and then the rest of Jacob’s sons went throughout the city, collecting all of their possessions. Jacob then got mad at Simeon and Levi for ruining his reputation and increasing the possibility of them being attacked, but they answered, “Should our sister be treated like a [prostitute]?”

As Jacob continued his travels, God blessed him and said, “You whose name is Jacob, You should be called Jacob no more, But Israel shall be your name.” This is when Jacob’s name is officially changed by God to Israel. Soon after, Rachel became pregnant again, and had another boy, but she died in childbirth. The boy was named Benjamin. Overall, Jacob had 12 sons- Leah’s sons, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; Rachel’s sons, Joseph and Benjamin; Rachel’s maid Bilhah had Dan and Naphtali, and Leah’s maid Zilpah had Gad and Asher. After the birth of Benjamin, Jacob returned to Isaac, who was 180 years old, and he died.

Commentary:

This week, yet another of our leaders in the Torah made a bad decision that benefited himself. When Shechem had taken Dinah by force, Jacob heard about it, but he didn’t do anything about it. While his sons came in angry from their work in the fields, Jacob was calmly talking with Hamor and Shechem about intermarrying, like nothing had ever happened! Jacob then agreed to let Shechem marry Dinah (and his kids would marry the women of Shechem) as long as every man was circumcised. After Dinah had been through an experience that was probably traumatic for her, Jacob wasn’t talking to her, or doing something to make her feel better, but he was giving her away, like a possession, to the man who had just assaulted her. After that deal was made, Jacob’s sons ended up being the ones who stood up for Dinah, for they killed Hamor, Shechem, and every other male citizen of the town. However, instead of being proud of them for standing up for Dinah, Jacob yelled at them, saying “You have brought trouble on me, making me odious among the inhabitants of the land” (Genesis 34:30) and scolding them for ruining his reputation. Even after Jacob’s sons had stood up for his daughter, all Jacob could think about was his reputation, which is once again an example of how the leaders of our ancestors were frequently extremely selfish, and they made decisions that only helped themselves.