VAYISHLACH_GENESIS XXXII,4 – XXXVI
Yaacov decides that he cannot continue in the ambiguous, dubious morality environment of his uncle Lavan’s home. He has formed a large family and acquired assets for his economic independence. Yaacov decides to return to the ancestral land. But Esav, the brother from whom he took the birthright, has not forgotten the deception and is preparing to receive Yaacov with a retinue of four hundred men. Yaacov decides to divide his caravan so that, in the event of an armed confrontation, at least half of his people can be saved. Vayira Yaacov me’od, vayetser lo…, “Yaacov was very afraid, and it distressed him…”.
Yaacov, according to our Chachamim, was “afraid” of dying, and “distressed” in case he had to kill others. This situation is being repeated in our days in Yehudah, Shomron, and Azah, where Tsahal’s (IDF) soldiers must watch out for their lives foremost. But at the same time, they are aware of their duty to prevent other people’s blood from being shed.
In Lebanon, many soldiers lost their lives for not entering enemy homes first. They were then met by terrorists who, hidden behind the aprons of their women, did shoot. War does not allow for manners and the usual considerations if you want to survive. But what value would our life have if, to secure it, we had to betray the essence of the reason for our existence? It would be like ensuring that the end justifies the means. Vayira has to be united with Vayetser, because in our eagerness to survive we cannot blind ourselves and not see the right of others to live an equally dignified life.
Yaacov elevates his prayers to God, Hatsileini na miyad achi, miyad Esav: “Save me please from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esav”. Our Chachamim comment, “He is my brother, but he is also Esav”, the archetype of an evil one. Consanguinity does not always guarantee friendship and kindness. The enmity between siblings can be extremely cruel, fueled by envy and excessive filial competition. Part of human history begins with the murder of Abel by his brother Cain.
Yaacov prepares for the meeting with Esav with Tefillah, “prayer”, Doron, “gifts”, and for the possibility of Milchamah, “armed conflict”. It is the night before the meeting, Vayivater Yaacov levado, vaye’avek ish imo…,”Yaacov is left alone and fights with a man”. Yaacov is the victor and does not allow the man to leave without first obtaining a blessing. Lo Yaacov ye’amer od shimecha ki im Israel, “your name shall no longer be Yaacov, it will be Israel,” pronounces the enigmatic man, Ki sarita…vatuchal, “because you sired over… and were victorious”. Who was this man fighting Yaacov?
According to some commentators, he was the guardian angel of Esav who managed to wound Yaacov in the thigh, leaving him lame because of combat. Yaacov gets his original name because at birth he had held on to his brother’s heel. Now he receives a new name, Israel, which shows him as the victorious one. It is the same word used to designate the Jewish State created by the resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations in November 1947. When it proclaimed its independence in May 1948, it did so under the name of State of Israel.
Why was the name Israel chosen to designate the new state? Judea would have been a name more in keeping with history. After the death of King Shlomo, the state was divided into two kingdoms, Israel in the north, and Yehudah, Judea, in the south. We are the descendants of Yehudah’s kingdom, and therefore this would have been the most appropriate name.
The impotence of not being able to decide their fate best characterized the Jewish people during the two millennia of their exile. In what geographical place did the Jew reside? In the country in which he was allowed to reside. What were their preferred trades or professions? He depended on the goodness of the guilds or the quotas, on the numerus clausus that the universities offered him.
Why did Jews leave, massively, any country? Because they were banished. In short, the Jew was not the one who decided either his present or his future. He was an object that behaved according to the idiosyncrasies and whim of others. He was not allowed any initiative or decision of his own. He reacted according to the circumstances that were created in the environment, but without being able to participate in it. The Jew had no voice, no participation, in the decisions of society. He was entirely removed from the surrounding environment. Just as the name Yaacov means to follow behind something or someone, so was the life of the Jew of this long-standing diaspora. He was destined to follow other people’s instructions in an intolerant and hostile environment.
With the creation of the new state, this situation was to be terminated. This was a cry for independence, in the sense that, from that moment on, it was the Jew himself who was going to decide his fate. He himself was going to chart the compass and the course of his life. He would cease to be a passive witness of history to become an actor, a participant in the great decisions of human society. He was willing to fight for it and was confident that he could overcome adversity.
Perhaps that is the reason why they chose the name Israel for the new state. With its establishment, the Jew wanted to imprint a different attitude to the history of past centuries. He set out to point out that we are like biblical Israel, the one who, when necessary, faced an angel and was victorious.
The meeting with Esav turns out peaceful and friendly. The brothers hug and Vayishakehu, “kiss” with emotion. In the original Torah Scroll, the word Vayishakehu stands out because of dots on top of the letters that lack phonetic significance. Our Chajamim, with their usual sensibility, point out that these dots allude to the fact that Esav’s embrace and kiss were not sincere and, therefore, Yaacov decides to turn away from his brother again and make an independent life for himself and his immediate family.
Our story now opens a literary parenthesis to introduce an enigmatic episode, that of the seduction of Dinah, the daughter of Yaacov. Dinah takes a walk in the countryside (considered immodest for a young woman) and Shechem, son of Chamor the Lord of those lands, falls in love with her. Shechem has sex with Dinah and urges his father to talk to Yaacov and his sons to allow them to marry. Chamor tells Yaacov to conclude an arrangement for Yaacov’s daughters to marry their sons and vice versa. Shechem adds that he is willing to do anything to get married. The brothers demand that he be circumcised as well as all their males. On the third day after circumcision, when the pain is acute, Shimon and Levi, brothers of Dinah, massacre all the men. The brothers claim that they could not remain indifferent to their sister’s forced prostitution. Yaacov, although he does not clearly object to the immorality of his children’s actions, comments that they have done him great harm because, henceforth, he will be hated by the inhabitants of the region.
The episode described raises numerous ethical questions that are incompatible with the moral content of Divine revelation at Mount Sinai. Our commentators abound in reasoning and explanations, but the obvious injustice and cruelty do not disappear and remain open for reflection by every Torah reader.
MITSVAH: TORAH ORDINANCE IN THIS PARASHAH
CONTAINS 1 PROHIBITION
- Genesis 32:33 Do not ingest the sciatic nerve (Gid hanasheh)
