Parashas Vayishlach

The Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Vayishlach . This Parsha focuses on Yaakov and Eisav and begins with a ' Vav ' as ' Va, ' which means ' And , ' and a Sedra that starts with a " Va , " - " And , " can show as so many Parshas in The Holy Torah do , that each Parsha continues from the Parsha before It and that Torah Continues Eternally From Creation to The End Of Days And Beyond Eternally . The Haftorah for this Parsha is from Obadiah 1 : 1 - 21 Wherein , HaShem Gives the Prophet Obadiah prophecies of the future of Edom , which relates to the Parsha that also speaks of Eisav Edom . Obadiah himself was originally from Edom and he became a very righteous proselyte to Judaism and a very holy man . Those who come to HaShem , are HaShem's Special Jewels and Treasures . May the whole World come to HaShem and shine and sparkle , bringing Creation back to HaShem's Beautiful Light .

Our Parsha this Shabbos begins with Yaakov returning home and preparing to face his brother Eisav . Yaakov " Vayishlach " - " Sends " Malachim - Angels to Eisav his brother with a message saying that Yaakov had stayed with Lavan , who was a swindler and an evil man filled with Tum'a Impurity and had overcome him , as a message to Eisav that he , Yaakov could overcome Eisav . Also , that Yaakov is sending gifts to Eisav in peace . Yaakov was so holy That HaShem Had Given Yaakov power to command Malachim - Angels . The Malachim returned to Yaakov to tell him that Eisav was headed to meet Yaakov with four hundred men , thus suggesting that Eisav was not intending peace . So Yaakov prepared in three ways to meet the threat , which was by Tefillah Prayer , Appeasement of the enemy and failing appeasement , Yaakov prepared for War .

Yaakov leading in front , separated the droves , putting Bilhah and Zilpah and their children of his in front , walking behind him , then Leah and her children that she had with Yaakov and then Rachel , shielded by the holy Spirituality of Yosef last . Each were carrying under their cloak a sword . Yaakov separated each drove , so should Eisav smite one drove Chas Ve Shalom , the others could escape .

They reached the ford of the Jabbok and Yaakov had his family go over with his animals and his possessions . When he returned back over the Jabbok to get the rest of his things , a man was there with flocks . The man asked Yaakov to help him with his things and for that help , the man would also help Yaakov , even though there were just a few jugs left for Yaakov , but kind Yaakov offered help and took some of the man's things across . When Yaakov came back to help the man with the rest , those things that Yaakov had already carried over , had returned . And so , Yaakov carried on through the night carrying the man's things , just to have some of them return and more appear .

Yaakov asked the man if he was a magician or an evil spirit and a fight broke out . The man attacked Yaakov and they fought till dawn , with dust rising from Earth to Heaven . Yaakov being extremely strong , over-powered and beat the man , but Yaakov himself was injured on his hip-socket and so today , we Jews remove this part when eating basar - meat , this part is called the Gid Hanashe . This is indicative of our history , that through time , the nations have tried to harm us , but we have and will always survive By The Saving Help Of HaShem , though we will be hurt and injured and suffer through this time of Galus Exile .

This man that Yaakov encountered was an Angel . The Angel Samael , the Angel of Eisav Amalek . Yaakov prevailed , as will we Jews prevail at The End Of Days .

When dawn broke , it became one of the Time - Watches that Malachim Angels sing Shira - Songs to HaShem and it became this Angel's time and first opportunity to sing Shira and so , the Malach Angel asked Yaakov to let him go . Yaakov said he would only let him go if the Angel Blessed him , thus an acknowledgement of the Blessing to Yaakov over his brother Eisav . The Angel did so and so was Yaakov then called Yisrael . The Angel , obviously unable to get back up in time , started to sing Shira from the Earth .

Yaakov called the Place " Peniel " which means " Face Of G-D , " for it is Toward HaShem that Yaakov turns and thus did Yaakov start in history the ability for us to destroy Amalek and bring on The End Of Days , where we will have Closeness With HaShem , as if Yaakov saw The Holy Shechinah Face to Face In Love And Closeness And Holiness With HaShem .

HaShem Caused the " Sun To Rise " as it says , which meant That HaShem Sent A Special Light From the Beginning Of Creation , To Help Heal Yaakov . Yaakov and his family continued on their way and so , met up with Eisav and his four hundred men .

Yaakov hid his daughter Dinah , which our Rabbis say was wrong as she , being so holy , might have had an effect on Eisav and so , was one of the reasons for what happened with regards to her in this Parsha . Yaakov bowed seven times to the ground , in actuality , bowing not directly to his brother , but To HaShem's Shechinah and allowed himself to call his brother master and " adoni " and because of this , HaShem , Who Did Not Want us to humble ourselves to Edom , made sure that Eisav would have that many rulers in number to the amount of times Yaakov called his brother by that title , before Israel as a nation , had a king .

The Midrash describes how Eisav tried to keep overcoming his brother , but the meeting between the two ended up peacefully . Yaakov said he would meet Eisav at a later date at Seir and our Rabbonim take this as a future prophecy . Seir belongs to Eisav . There are other Rabbinical opinions that say that Eisav was actually very friendly and nice to his brother Yaakov at this meeting . The two then separated .

Yaakov arrived in Shechem and bought a parcel of land and set up an altar there . Yaakov had not tithed To HaShem yet , as he had said he would and so is this one of the reasons for his trials and his record constantly being brought up To HaShem for scrutiny . So the next trial came upon the family .

The Parsha says that Dinah " the daughter of Leah " went out to look at a market festival of the Shechemites . We note how Dinah is mentioned here specifically as " the daughter of Leah , " for she , as her Mother Leah , liked to " Go out " as we were told, when in Torah earlier , Leah had gone out in the incident of the Dudaim . This teaches us how our men and women must be modest and keep to ourselves and not display ourselves , but have Tznius , not that Leah Chas Ve Shalom did not display Tznius , for she did have Tznius and was a modest person , but the act of going out can also be an immodest action depending on how one carries oneself in public rather than remaining modest to one's own surroundings and keeping to one's own quiet humble ways even in public , for even going out and not keeping oneself in a modest humble way in public with others around us , can also be a slight lack of modesty .

Shechem , the son of the king in the land where they were staying , saw Dinah when she ' went out ' from her family to look over the daughters of the land at the festival . Shechem desired her and took her by coercive force and raped her . He spoke to his father and asked his father Hamor to get her for him as a wife . When Yaakov's sons heard , they were outraged . They agreed on condition that Shechem has its men circumcised . Yaakov's sons reasoned that all Creation is to live by the Seven Noachide Laws and that seeing as Shechem had broken them by robbery of stealing their sister by force and that the town had not set up a court to judge the crime , they were all guilty of breaking Laws of the Seven Noachide Laws . As Midrash Bereishis Says by Rabbi Weissman , a man called Chedkam and his sons were angry at the idea of the town having to be circumcised and they threatened murder to all those who went through with it . Members of the town persuaded them to wait and after they had been circumcised , they would rob and kill Yaakov and his family and take all that was theirs . This is hinted at in The Holy Torah Words in this Parsha , where the townspeople were persuaded with the king Shechem's words that about Yaakov's livestock and possessions and animals , " will they not be ours ? " Dinah managed to get word to Yaakov and the sons Shimon and Levi at the age of thirteen , on the third day after the Shechemites had circumcised themselves , that the Shechemites were planning to attack Yaakov's family and these two sons of Yaakov , set upon the town and killed all the males and took back Dinah their sister , who by now was carrying within her , a daughter who later was born and was named Asenath , who married Yosef in Egypt .

Yaakov was angry at their anger and feared reprisals , which did take place , for the nations around them got together and attacked Yaakov and his family . HaShem Saved them With massive dust storms and Yaakov and his family escaped unharmed . We are also told how , after Yaakov and Eisav parted , they did attack Yaakov and his family , but ended up dispersing , as they were beaten and Eisav was injured .

HaShem Appeared To Yaakov And Told him to go to Beth-El Luz and make an Altar there and fulfil his promise of Tithes . Yaakov rid themselves of all the idols that were carried and only taken as spoils by the foreign people that followed them from Shechem and the idols were left under the Terebinth near Shechem , in the ground .

Torah then tells us that Devorah , Rivka's wet-nurse passed away . She was very close to Rivka , Yaakov's Mother and that she was buried in a place Yaakov called " Allon - Bachus " - " Bachus " ( this word is in the plural ) means ' Weeping . ' This part is put in here In The Holy Torah to tell us that at that very moment , Rivka , Yaakov's Holy Beloved Ima had also passed away , but it is not directly mentioned here , for no one was there at the time as a close family relative to bury Rivka , except Eisav , whom Rivka would not have wanted to bury her and that all would say she mothered such a Rasha - Bad Evil Person and so , she was buried quietly , for Yitzchak was blind and Yaakov was still on his way to her . This is why the word Allon - Bachus is in the plural , for the double weeping of Rivka and Devorah . Thus after Yaakov left so many years ago , he never got to see his Holy Beloved Ima again and it was Devorah who had just come to meet them as they were on their way back to see Yitzchak and Rivka .

HaShem Then Renames Yaakov Yisrael and Yaakov set up a pillar Where HaShem Blessed him and called the place Where HaShem Had Spoken To him " Beth - El , " which actually means , " House Of G-D . " Ramban Nachmanides Rabbi Moshe Ben Nachman teaches that it was called this for it is truthfully and properly A House Of G-D And There The Divine Presence Will Ever Be .

They journeyed from there toward Ephrath and it was there that Rachel went into labour . It is at this time when a woman is in labour when Satan scrutinizes a woman's account and so , it was remembered Yaakov's words that whoever has the teraphim will die and so , as she was giving birth to Binyamin , whom she actually called " Ben-Oni " - " Son of my Mourning , " that she passed away and Yaakov called him " Binyamin " - " Son of my right hand , " so as to give him a positive name and destiny . And so was she buried on the road to Ephrath Beis-Lechem , not in the Cave of Machpelah as the Fore-Fathers and Fore-Mothers were , as she would in the future , when our exiles were passing this exact place going into Bavel under Nebuchadnezzar , that she prayed for us To HaShem And HaShem Listened To her prayer , for it would be there , that they would walk past on the way . HaShem Would Acknowledge her prayer because as she was prepared to stand aside and not be angry at her sister marrying Yaakov , So Could HaShem Please Put Aside His Anger At some of us that followed Avodah Zorah Worthless Idols , that caused us to go into exile . Yaakov set up a monument there at her burial place , which is still there to visit today . According to Rabbonim in Sifre ' Rachel died in the portion of Benjamin , ' for it was in the future portion given to the Tribe of Benjamin that Rachel Immeinu was buried , in the portion of the very son that she had just given birth to when she passed on .

Torah then relates the Aveirah done by Reuvein . This has to be understood in its Hebrew depth . Not that Reuvein Chas Ve Shalom , lay with his Father's wife , but that in each of his Father's Wives tents , was A Couch For The Shechinah Of HaShem , so Yaakov would know which Tent to go into when conceiving the Twelve Tribes and that when Rachel passed away , Yaakov moved his Couch into Bilhah's tent and Reuvein , standing up for his Mother Leah , moved it out and into his Mother Leah's tent , so that his Father should not slight his Mother . We know that Reuvein did not commit an Aveirah , Chas Ve Shalom , with his Father's wife , for the very next verse says , " The sons of Yaakov were twelve , " suggesting that they were all worthy of being part of the Twelve Tribes and were all Torah Keeping not to break Torah Laws and so this is what really happened , for seeing as Reuvein , as all the others then were Tzaddikim , the punishment for even a slight Aveirah , is great and Reuvein lost his first born right and so , spent every moment praying To HaShem day and night for forgiveness .

Even at the end of Yaakov's life , Yaakov still Blessed Reuvein as holy , so Reuvein's action was never one of taking his Father's wife , Chas Ve Shalom , but interfering with The Couch Of The Shechinah and his Father's couch .

Torah then tells us that Yaakov finally came to Yitzchak his Father , not Rivka , for she had passed away . We are told that Yitzchak passed away at 180 years of age , which was the same year ( according to Midrash Bereishis Says , by Rabbi Weissman ) , that Yosef was released from prison in Egypt . Yaakov and Eisav buried their very Holy Father Yitzchak in the Cave of Machpelah Chevron near Mamre .

The Torah then goes into the line of Eisav and his wives . We note a lot of incest and intermarriage among Eisav's family . We also note how their arrogance had them calling themselves ' chiefs ' and how the chiefs did not live that long as chiefs , for murder was and is rampant in Eisav's line . Out of Eliphaz , son of Eisav , came Amalek , our enemy who tries to kill us through time , among others . Magdiel , that is mentioned came down to Rome . We are repeatedly told here how Eisav is the father of Edom . So the Parsha ends .

The Sedra is called " Vayishlach , " which means " Sent , " where Yaakov sent Malachim Angels ahead of him to his brother Eisav . The whole idea of sending and being An Emissary For HaShem , Takes Great Holiness . It is not always an easy path to travel , as we note with Yaakov's life and trials . We often wonder what exactly is an Angel . If one looks closely at the phrasing of the first three words of this Parsha , " Vayishlach Yaakov Mal'achim " and we read these words in another context , it can almost appear as if saying , ' And Yaakov was sent as an angel . ' The " Vayi " part of the word " Vayishlach , " can be put also as ' And He , HaShem , Sent , ' as if saying , ' And He HaShem Sent Yaakov , as an Emissary . ' So what is an Angel ? An Emissary Of HaShem . So we all can be Emissaries Of HaShem if we choose . If we keep HaShem's Commandments In HaShem's Holy Torah . We all can be like Angels , Working For HaShem and not for ourselves . No doubt that real Angels are Spiritual Entities . Even their negative spiritual counterparts , some of them have been Angels too and they do a job to bring about Faithfulness To HaShem , to test our true following of HaShem Only , above our own wants and desires . So to be like an Angel , is to be An Emissary For HaShem , working solely For HaShem and not for ourselves , just as Yaakov did his whole entire life , so no wonder Yaakov could , with this opinion just mentioned , be referred to as one .

HaShem Sends us all out As His Angels and Emissaries , To Do His Bidding and make Creation , A Place Of Holiness Where HaShem Can Dwell Among us . So we all need to make Creation A Place Of Holiness , As HaShem Intended , so that each of us can be HaShem's Emissaries , to use our lives In HaShem's Service to bring all around us To HaShem . We are all HaShem's Shaliachs Shluchim , like Angels , working to make all things Holy . But how do we start ? We start with ourselves , for the best way to teach , is through being a holy example to others and to all those around us .

The Angel That HaShem Sends , is not to be asked for a name , For It Is HaShem Who Is Important And The Sender Of The Message , thus the messenger is The Hand Of HaShem . The same is with us . To get Close To HaShem Is Very Beautiful , but not just to be done for ourselves . What is Most Important , is to be a Messenger , An Emissary Of And For HaShem , The One Above . This Is The Way To Be With HaShem . To be The Hand Of HaShem's Sending , in all that we do . We are HaShem's Emissaries . The World around us has forgotten this and so , it sadly goes its own wrong way . This is why the World is in such a bad shape and is suffering so . The way to stop the suffering and change the World to The Sweet And Bright Welcoming Of HaShem , is to change ourselves and do our tasks as Creations Of HaShem , As HaShem's Emissaries , not working for our own wishes and wants and desires , But For HaShem , Following HaShem And Doing As HaShem Tells us To Do , starting with ourselves and working outwards . This will bring the Creation to where it is supposed to be and the World will improve .

So stand up right now and say To HaShem that from now on , you will be His Emissary Angel , Working Only For Him , Doing All That HaShem Tells you To Do In HaShem's Holy Torah And Being HaShem's Emissary to all Of HaShem's Beautiful Creation around you . Let us all make this World , HaShem's Delight , As HaShem Created It And Be True And Faithful Shaliachs To And Of HaShem HaKadosh Baruch Hu HaShem The Holy One Blessed Be He .

I wish Forever Most Eternally Beloved HaShem With Utmost Love And Faithfulness , A Truly Special And Beautiful Shabbos Kodesh With So Much Forever Eternal Sweet Love and to all of my fellow Jews and to all of Creation , HaShem's Special Emissaries , A Truly Special and Beautiful Shabbos Kodesh with love .