Parshas Vayishlach 5779

Who Fought with Yaakov?

The Torah writes (Genesis 32:25):

Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.

Sforno explains that this was an angel:

This was the work of an angel at the instigation of G’d (that is why he is called איש)

We find similarly in Tanach (Hosea 12:5):

He strove with an angel and prevailed— The other had to weep and implore him. At Bethel [Jacob] would meet him, There to commune with him.

Rashi (ibid) writes:

Our Rabbis of blessed memory explained that he was Esau’s guardian angel (Genesis Rabbah 77:3)

Kli Yakar explains that this was the angel Samael

Targum Jonathan explains that this was the angel Michoel

Radak explains this was Gavriel:

the same type of איש as in Joshua 5,13, i.e. an angel. This was the angel Gavriel, described as איש par excellence in Daniel 9,21. The reason why these angels are called איש is because they appear to the people with whom they converse in human guise. The types of angels who speak with man are referred to as איש, as they appear either in a vision or while the person to whom they appear is fully awake.

Parshas Vayishlach 5778

Isaac's Burial vs Abraham's Burial

The Torah writes (Genesis 35:28-29) about Isaac's burial, with Esau being first:

Isaac was a hundred and eighty years old when he breathed his last and died. He was gathered to his kin in ripe old age; and he was buried by his sons Esau and Jacob.

Earlier, the Torah writes (Genesis 25:7-10) about Abraham's burial, with Isaac being first:

This was the total span of Abraham’s life: one hundred and seventy-five years. And Abraham breathed his last, dying at a good ripe age, old and contented; and he was gathered to his kin. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre, the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites; there Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife.

Rashi (ibid) comments:

ISAAC AND ISHMAEL — From this we gather that Ishmael repented of his evil ways (cf. Bava Batra 16b) and yielded the precedence to Isaac. This is what is meant by the “good old age” mentioned in connection with Abraham (Genesis Rabbah 38:12).

Therefore, there are two indications that Ishmael repented: one is that Ishmael gave preference to Isaac, and that it says "good old age".

However, here we find that Esau comes first. There are several reasons for that.

Radak (also mentioned by Bechor Shor, Chizkuni, Ibn Ezra and Rashbam):

Esau is mentioned first, seeing that he was the firstborn although he had sold his birthright to Yaakov.

and

Moreover, Yaakov had been in the habit of according the honour due to a firstborn to Esau, ever since the two had made peace between themselves.

and

On the other hand, when describing the funreal of Avraham, the Torah names Yitzchok first, seeing that Yitzchok had been the son by the major wife of Avraham, Sarah, whereas Yishmael had only been the son of the servant maid (25,9)

The Alshich explains somewhat differently:

And the fact that it doesn't mention "good old age" like it does by Abraham, is because he was buried by Esau who was wicked, unlike Abraham where Ishmael repented. And a hint to the fact that he did not repent, is the fact that it doesn't say "Jacob and Esau" like it does by Ishmael who repented and gave honor to Isaac. By Esau on the other hand, he did not honor Jacob and that's why it says "Esau and Jacob". And this is the meaning of what the Talmud writes (B"B 14)

Bela and Bilaam

The Torah writes (Genesis 36:32):

Bela son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah.

Sefer Tziuni (ibid) writes:

He was Bilaam the son of Beor

The Ibn Ezra (ibid), however, disagrees:

This is not Bilaam, and Bilaam is also not the same as Laban the Aramean, however he may have been a sorcerer like the other one for nothing falls to the earth from the words of our Rabbis. And also Bela was an Edomite, while Bilaam was an Aramean

This is referring to the Talmud (Sanhedrin 105a):

We learned in a Braisa that Beor was the same person as Cushan-Rishasaim and the same person as Laban the Aramean

Parshas Vayishlach 5777

Humans or Angels?

The Torah writes (Genesis 32:4):

Jacob sent messengers ahead to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom

Rashi (ibid) explains:

AND JACOB SENT MESSENGERS — actual angels

Rashi's source is the Midrash (Genesis Rabbah 75:4):

Messengers - these were of human flesh and blood and the Rabbis learned that these were actual angels

(Josh Waxman's parshablog explains the disagreement further and also links to Sefer haYashar that says these were Laban's messengers trying to provoke Esau)

Why Was Jacob Left Alone?

The Torah writes (Genesis 32:23-25):

That same night he arose, and taking his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven children, he crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After taking them across the stream, he sent across all his possessions. Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.

Radak (ibid) writes:

after having transferred the children, wives, etc, he transferred his property, inert objects, the animals having swum across. After he had safely seen to it that everything had crossed he remained solitary on the far bank to check if anything had been left behind inadvertently. Our sages in Chulin 91 explain that the righteous who are so concerned with not laying claim to anything which is not absolutely theirs, are also careful not to waste any hard earned acquisitions, even if small.

However, the Rashbam (ibid) disagrees:

after he had transferred all his belongings to the other side of the river, so that the only one still to be brought across was he himself. The reason that he wanted to cross only after everyone else had already crossed was that he intended to flee in a different direction so as to avoid a face to face encounter with Esau. An angel engaged him in a physical fight, his purpose being to prevent Yaakov from fleeing. Only in this way could G’d’s promise to Yaakov that Esau would not harm him be fulfilled.

Esau, the Vampire

The Torah writes (Genesis 33:4):

Esau ran to greet him. He embraced him and, falling on his neck, he kissed him; and they wept.

Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer (37:1) writes:

When he came back to the Land of Canaan, Esau came to him from Mt. Seir in extreme anger to kill him ... Esau said that I will kill Jacob with my teeth and my mouth and will suck out his blood as it says "and he ran to kiss him", don't read it as kiss but as bite but Jacob's neck became as hard as marble and Esau struck his teeth on it...

(Midrashim also discuss that Esau was born with teeth - see also Rabbi Nosson Slifkin's post)

(See also our post last year about Benjamin being a werewolf)

Parshas Vayishlach 5776

Was Shechem a City?

The Torah writes (Genesis 33:18-19):

And Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram; and encamped before the city. And he bought the parcel of ground, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of money.

The Torah writes earlier (Genesis 12:6):

And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem, unto the terebinth of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land

 The Ramban (ibid) writes:

This was the city of Shechem  and that was the name of that place. And Shechem the son of Hamor was named after the city.

Ibn Ezra (ibid) writes that at the time of Abraham, the city did not exist yet:

Moses called it by that name, for Shechem did not yet exist in the days of Abraham

The Rashbam (Genesis 33:18) says its name was not Shechem:

ויבא יעקב שלם, to the city named Shalem. The construction is similar to ותבאנה בית לחם, “they arrived at Bet Lechem.” (Ruth 1:19)

עיר שכם, the city of Shechem (who subsequently raped Dinah) The description parallels Numbers 21:26 where Cheshbon is described as the city of Sichon, King of the Emorites. Anyone who explains Shechem as being the name of the city errs. We do not find anywhere that a city is described in such terms, i.e. as עיר ציון, or as עיר ירושלים. Invariably such cities are described with the appropriate definitive article ה i.e. as the word העיר following the name of the city in question. Even assuming that the city under discussion was Shechem, the town may have been renamed in commemoration of the heroism displayed by the sons of Yaakov.

According to this opinion, this would be the city of Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18):

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine; and he was priest of God the Most High.

(see also our earlier post discussing that Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim surround Shechem; see also Josh Waxman's parshablog)

The Tree of Shechem

The Torah writes (Genesis 35:4):

And they gave unto Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth which was by Shechem.

Tosfos (Chullin 6a) says that this terebinth tree was on Mt. Gerizim:

"Rav Nachman bar Yitzhak said: They [i.e. the Samaritans] found an image of a dove on top of Mt. Gerizim and they worshipped it" - in the Midrash it says that these were the idols that Jacob hid under the oak on the mountain in Shechem

The Rashbam (Genesis 49:10) explains that this was a famous tree:

There was open space at Shechem around the famous oak located near Shechem. At that location a mass rally could be held easily. The people would pay homage to the Sanctuary in Shiloh from that vantage point, as it was in their line of vision.

Ibn Ezra (Genesis 12:6) writes similarly:

Alon - like an terebinth, and these are trees and some people say it means "field"

The Radak (Genesis 12:6) disagrees:

אלון is the name of a plain

(see also our previous post,see also Shadal ibid)

Benjamin, the Werewolf

The Torah writes (Genesis 35:17-18):

And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the mid-wife said unto her: ‘Fear not; for this also is a son for thee.’ And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing—for she died—that she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.

Rabbeinu Ephraim (Genesis 49:27) writes:

There is a certain wolf called a Loup Garou and this is a human being that can change into a wolf ... and thus Benjamin ate his mother for she died from him

and earlier (Genesis 44:29) (also cited in Tosfos haShalem al haTorah [44:22]:

For Benjamin was a wolf that preyed, and sometimes he attacked people. When it was time for him to change into a wolf, as long as he lived with his father, his father provided medicine for him and he did not change [into a wolf]. Therefore it says that "lest he will leave his father and will die" meaning that if he separates from his father he will turn into a wolf, and prey on people, and then anyone who finds him will kill him

There is also a Rashi (Job 5:23) that mentions werewolves (as cited by Dr. Marc Shapiro):

"And the beasts of the field" - this is garove in French

Sefer Lazei Rashi (4208) explains:

Garove - taken from German "werewolf" - from the stories of people who turn into wolves

(See further discussion by R' Natan Slifkin)

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