Vayishlach
Genesis 32:3 – 36:43
Jacob prepares to meet Esau after twenty years apart, dividing his camp and sending gifts ahead. The night before the encounter, he wrestles with a mysterious being until dawn and receives the name Israel — 'for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.' The reunion with Esau is peaceful, but tragedy follows: Dinah is violated in Shechem, and Simeon and Levi take violent revenge. Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin, Isaac dies and is buried by both sons, and the parasha concludes with the genealogy of Esau and the chiefs of Edom.
Key figures
- Jacob/Israel — Wrestles with the angel, reconciles with Esau, receives the name Israel
- Esau — Meets Jacob peacefully, embraces him, settles in Seir
- Dinah — Daughter of Jacob and Leah, violated by Shechem son of Hamor
- Simeon and Levi — Avenge Dinah by destroying the city of Shechem
- Rachel — Dies giving birth to Benjamin, buried on the road to Ephrath
- Benjamin (Binyamin) — Rachel's second son, born as she dies
Famous verses
- 32:28 And he said: "Your name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed."
- 33:4 And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him; and they wept.
Haftarah: {'ref': 'Obadiah 1:1-21', 'connection': "Obadiah prophesies judgment against Edom, the nation descended from Esau, directly connecting to the parasha's account of Esau and the founding of Edom."}
Total gematria: 488,807.