Portion 8 Va-Yishlah Genesis 32:4-36:43
Reconciliation with Esau
Jacob has taught his family and his servants that Esau is a violent man to be feared. Jacob’s messengers clothe Esau in their preconceived notions of him and report back to Jacob that Esau is approaching with 400 men. Jacob divides his camp in fear and prays to God for deliverance.
When Jacob had the vision of the stairway at Bethel he promised God a tithe. Jacob felt justified in promising a tithe to God instead of seeking reconciliation with his brother as justice demanded. In our first signal that Jacob is changing, he now prepares a sacrificial offering to his brother Esau.
Perhaps Jacob’s wrestling with God’s messenger is symbolic of Jacob coming to terms with what God expects of him (reconciliation not ritual) or, perhaps, since the encounter is violent, Jacob is coming to terms with his own violent tendencies that he has projected onto his brother Esau.
Perhaps Jacob’s encounter with the messenger of God and his reconciliation with his brother are analogous to Abraham’s near sacrifice of Isaac. Abraham is tested by God to come to terms with the fact that the covenant is continued through spiritual and moral progeny which might not be the same as biological progeny. Only when Abraham accepts this is he allowed to keep his son. Jacob’s focus, up to this point, on birthright, blessing, and prosperity is analogous to Abraham’s focus on having a son, in that all of these things benefit Jacob’s biological progeny. Jacob is now prepared to give these things up and it is through this willingness to sacrifice that Jacob gains his family back. Two story elements that support this view are that Jacob separates himself from his family before his encounter with the divine and the wrenching of Jacob’s hip socket could be a veiled reference to injured sexual organs. Both episodes are followed by the purchasing of land in Canaan. Israel is to acquire land in Canaan as a result of spiritual growth and good deeds, not through conquest.
Jacob sees Esau with 400 men and they embrace and kiss. The story has the most kick to it if the question “Who are these with you?” is said by Jacob as the kiss dispels his illusions and he finally sees Esau for who he is. Esau’s answer, “The children with whom God has favored your servant,” is the punch line to the entire encounter. Esau is with his wives and children just as Jacob is. Jacob saw 400 men because Jacob deceived himself.
The rape of Dinah and Shechem
After Abraham acquires land from the Hittites (Canaanites), his racism prevents him from allowing his son to marry a Canaanite. There is nothing attributed to God that would prevent such a union. The racism continues into the next generation as Isaac is bitter that his son Esau married two Hittite women. Although it skips Esau, racism is present in Jacob and his sons, and it leads Simeon and Levi to commit idolatry, and transgress the boundaries between heaven and earth by taking vengeance into their own hands, which is reserved for God alone.
Since the Torah has just shown us that we tend to project our own tendencies for violence onto our enemies, we must question the accusation that Dinah was raped, as is beautifully done in the midrash “The Red Tent.” The story of the rape of Shechem by Simeon, Levi, and their brothers, could be an indictment of Israel’s slaughter of the men of Edom at the time of the united Kingdom.
Circumcision, which was introduced into Abraham’s family to symbolize brotherhood with his neighbors who practiced it (and it is in this way that the people of Shechem embrace it), has, in the space of two generations, turned into a rationale by Jacob’s sons for the hatred of others who don’t practice it.
The vengeance against Shechem is condemned by God and Jacob as resulting from Jacob’s family’s idolatry. It is for Jacob’s recognition that reliance on human violence instead of God is idolatry, that God grants him the name Israel and renews the covenant with him. The land that Jacob acquired around Shechem has been, at least temporarily, lost to Jacob’s family as a result of the family’s transgression.
God prevents others from taking vengeance against Jacob’s family just has he prevented others from taking vengeance against Cain.
Reuben and Bilhah
Reuben repeats Ham’s transgression. The Torah is again showing us that any tendencies towards violence or domination that Israel attributes to the Canaanites are equally present in Israel.
Reconciliation with Esau
Jacob has taught his family and his servants that Esau is a violent man to be feared. Jacob’s messengers clothe Esau in their preconceived notions of him and report back to Jacob that Esau is approaching with 400 men. Jacob divides his camp in fear and prays to God for deliverance.
When Jacob had the vision of the stairway at Bethel he promised God a tithe. Jacob felt justified in promising a tithe to God instead of seeking reconciliation with his brother as justice demanded. In our first signal that Jacob is changing, he now prepares a sacrificial offering to his brother Esau.
Perhaps Jacob’s wrestling with God’s messenger is symbolic of Jacob coming to terms with what God expects of him (reconciliation not ritual) or, perhaps, since the encounter is violent, Jacob is coming to terms with his own violent tendencies that he has projected onto his brother Esau.
Perhaps Jacob’s encounter with the messenger of God and his reconciliation with his brother are analogous to Abraham’s near sacrifice of Isaac. Abraham is tested by God to come to terms with the fact that the covenant is continued through spiritual and moral progeny which might not be the same as biological progeny. Only when Abraham accepts this is he allowed to keep his son. Jacob’s focus, up to this point, on birthright, blessing, and prosperity is analogous to Abraham’s focus on having a son, in that all of these things benefit Jacob’s biological progeny. Jacob is now prepared to give these things up and it is through this willingness to sacrifice that Jacob gains his family back. Two story elements that support this view are that Jacob separates himself from his family before his encounter with the divine and the wrenching of Jacob’s hip socket could be a veiled reference to injured sexual organs. Both episodes are followed by the purchasing of land in Canaan. Israel is to acquire land in Canaan as a result of spiritual growth and good deeds, not through conquest.
Jacob sees Esau with 400 men and they embrace and kiss. The story has the most kick to it if the question “Who are these with you?” is said by Jacob as the kiss dispels his illusions and he finally sees Esau for who he is. Esau’s answer, “The children with whom God has favored your servant,” is the punch line to the entire encounter. Esau is with his wives and children just as Jacob is. Jacob saw 400 men because Jacob deceived himself.
The rape of Dinah and Shechem
After Abraham acquires land from the Hittites (Canaanites), his racism prevents him from allowing his son to marry a Canaanite. There is nothing attributed to God that would prevent such a union. The racism continues into the next generation as Isaac is bitter that his son Esau married two Hittite women. Although it skips Esau, racism is present in Jacob and his sons, and it leads Simeon and Levi to commit idolatry, and transgress the boundaries between heaven and earth by taking vengeance into their own hands, which is reserved for God alone.
Since the Torah has just shown us that we tend to project our own tendencies for violence onto our enemies, we must question the accusation that Dinah was raped, as is beautifully done in the midrash “The Red Tent.” The story of the rape of Shechem by Simeon, Levi, and their brothers, could be an indictment of Israel’s slaughter of the men of Edom at the time of the united Kingdom.
Circumcision, which was introduced into Abraham’s family to symbolize brotherhood with his neighbors who practiced it (and it is in this way that the people of Shechem embrace it), has, in the space of two generations, turned into a rationale by Jacob’s sons for the hatred of others who don’t practice it.
The vengeance against Shechem is condemned by God and Jacob as resulting from Jacob’s family’s idolatry. It is for Jacob’s recognition that reliance on human violence instead of God is idolatry, that God grants him the name Israel and renews the covenant with him. The land that Jacob acquired around Shechem has been, at least temporarily, lost to Jacob’s family as a result of the family’s transgression.
God prevents others from taking vengeance against Jacob’s family just has he prevented others from taking vengeance against Cain.
Reuben and Bilhah
Reuben repeats Ham’s transgression. The Torah is again showing us that any tendencies towards violence or domination that Israel attributes to the Canaanites are equally present in Israel.
posted by ross at 9:44 PM
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