Vayishlach
Encyclopedia
Vayishlach or Vayishlah is the eighth weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish
cycle of Torah reading
. It constitutes Genesis 32:4–36:43. Jews in the Diaspora
read it the eighth Sabbath
after Simchat Torah
, generally in late November or December.
In the parshah, Jacob
reconciles with Esau
after wrestling with a "man," the prince Shechem rapes Dinah
and her brothers sack the city of Shechem
in revenge, and in the family’s subsequent flight Rachel
gives birth to Benjamin
and dies in childbirth.
that he had stayed with Laban
until then, had oxen, donkeys, flocks, and servants, and hoped to find favor in Esau’s sight. The messengers returned and greatly frightened Jacob with the report that Esau was coming to meet him with 400 men. Jacob divided his camp in two, reasoning that if Esau destroyed one of the two, then the other camp could escape. Jacob prayed to God
, recalling that God had promised to return him whole to his country, noting his unworthiness for God’s transformation of him from a poor man with just a staff to the leader of two camps, and prayed God to deliver him from Esau, as God had promised Jacob good and to make his descendants as numerous as the sand of the sea. Jacob assembled a present of hundreds of goats, sheep, camels, cattle, and donkeys to appease Esau, and instructed his servants to deliver them to Esau in successive droves with the message that they were a present from his servant Jacob, who followed behind.
As the presents went before him, Jacob took his wives, handmaids, children, and belongings over the Jabbok River, and then remained behind that night alone. Jacob wrestled with a "man" until dawn, and when the man saw that he was not prevailing, he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh and strained it. The man asked Jacob to let him go, for the day was breaking, but Jacob would not let him go without a blessing. The man asked Jacob his name, and when Jacob replied “Jacob,” the man told him that his name would no more be Jacob, but Israel
, for he had striven with God and with men and prevailed. Jacob asked the man his name, but the man asked him why, and then blessed him. Jacob named the place Peniel
, saying that he had seen God face to face and lived. And at sunrise, Jacob limped from the injury to his thigh. Because of this, the Israelite
s do not eat the sinew of the vein that is the hollow of the thigh, because the man touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh.
When Jacob saw Esau coming with 400 men, he divided his family, putting the handmaids and their children foremost, Leah
and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph
at the back. Jacob went before them, and bowed to the ground seven times as he approached his brother. Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, and kissed him, and they wept. Esau asked who women and the children were, Jacob told him that they were his, and they all came to Esau and bowed down. Esau asked what Jacob meant by all the livestock, and Jacob told him that he sought Esau’s favor. Esau said that he had enough, but Jacob pressed him to accept his present saying that seeing Esau’s face was like seeing the face of God, and Esau took the gifts. Esau suggested that Jacob and he travel together, but Jacob asked that Esau allow Jacob’s party to travel more slowly, so as not to tax the young children and the flocks, until they came to Esau in Seir
. Esau offered to leave some of his men behind with Jacob, but Jacob declined. So Esau left for Seir, and Jacob left for Sukkot (meaning “booths”), where he built a house and made booths for his cattle, thus explaining the place’s name.
there, and called the place El-elohe-Israel.
When Dinah went out to see the daughters of the land, the prince of the land, Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite
, saw her and lay with her by force. Shechem loved Dinah and asked Hamor to arrange that he might marry her. Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled Dinah while Jacob’s sons were in the field, and Jacob held his peace until they returned. When Jacob’s sons heard, they came in from the field, and were grieved and very angry.
Hamor went out to Jacob and told him that Shechem longed for Dinah, and asked Jacob to give her to him for a wife, and to agree that their two people might intermarry and live and trade together. And Shechem offered to give Jacob and his sons whatever they wanted as a bride price
. Jacob’s sons answered with guile, saying that they could not give their sister to one not circumcised
, and said that they would consent only on the condition that every man of the town became circumcised, and then the two people might intermarry and live together; otherwise they would leave. Their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, and Shechem did so without delay, out of delight with Dinah.
Hamor and Shechem spoke to the men of the city in the city gate, saying that Jacob’s family were peaceable, and advocated letting them dwell in the land, trade, and intermarry. Hamor and Shechem reported that Jacob’s people would only do so on the condition that every man of the town was circumcised, and they argued that the men do so, for Jacob’s animals and wealth would add to the city’s wealth. And the men heeded Hamor and Shechem, and every man of the city underwent circumcision.
On the third day, when the men of the city were in pain, Jacob’s sons Simeon
and Levi
each took his sword, came upon the city with stealth, and killed all the men, including Hamor and Shechem, and took Dinah out of the city. Jacob’s sons looted the city, taking as booty their animals, their wealth, their wives, and their children. Jacob told Simeon and Levi that they had made him odious to the inhabitants of the land, who would gather together against him and destroyed their family. Simeon and Levi asked whether they were to allow someone to treat their sister as a prostitute
.
, and make an altar there to God, who had appeared to him there when he fled from Esau. Jacob told his household to put away their idols, change their garments, and purify themselves for the trip to Bethel, and they gave Jacob all their idols and earrings and Jacob buried them under the terebinth
by Shechem. A terror of God fell upon the nearby cities so that the people did not pursue Jacob, and they journeyed to Luz, built an altar, and called the place El-beth-el.
Rebekah's nurse Deborah
died, and they buried her below Beth-el under an oak they called Allon-bacuth.
And God appeared to Jacob again and blessed him, saying to him that his name would not be Jacob anymore, but Israel. And God told him to be fruitful and multiply, for nations and kings
would descend from him, and God would give Jacob and his descendants the land
that God gave to Abraham
and Isaac
. And Jacob set up a pillar of stone in the place, poured a drink-offering and oil on it, and called the place Bethel.
They left Bethel, and before they had come to Ephrath
, Rachel went into a difficult labor. The midwife
told her not to fear not, for this child would also be a son for her. And just before Rachel died, she named her son Ben-oni, but Jacob called him Benjamin. They buried Rachel on the road to Ephrath at Bethlehem
, and Jacob set up a pillar on her grave. And Israel journeyed beyond Migdal-eder.
While Israel dwelt in that land, Reuben
lay with Jacob’s concubine Bilhah
, and Israel heard of it.
The text then recounts Jacob’s children born to him in Padan-aram.
Jacob came to Isaac at Hebron
, Isaac died at the old age of 180, and Esau and Jacob buried him.
The text then recounts Esau’s children. Esau took his household, animals, and all his possessions that he had gathered in Canaan
and went to a land apart from Jacob, in Edom, for their substance was too great for them to dwell together. The text then recounts Esau’s descendants, the Edomites, among whom were Amalek
.
Hosea
part of the haftarah
for the parshah, interpreted Jacob’s encounter with the angel. says that Jacob by his strength strove with a godlike being. says that Jacob strove with an angel and prevailed, and that the angel wept and made supplication to Jacob. And further says that at Bethel Jacob found the angel, and spoke with him there.
to buy the cave of Machpelah
and adjoining land in the 50 shekels of silver that King David
paid Araunah
the Jebusite
for Araunah’s threshing floor, oxen, and wood in 2 Samuel
(but 1 Chronicles
reports cost 600 shekels of gold); and the 17 shekels of silver that Jeremiah
paid his cousin Hanamel for his field in Anathoth
in the land of Benjamin
in Jeremiah
questioned the wisdom of Jacob’s decision to contact Esau in Nahman ben Samuel compared the decision to waking a robber sleeping on a path to tell him of danger. The Rabbis envisioned that God asked Jacob: “Esau was going his own way, yet you sent to him?” (Genesis Rabba
h 75:1–3.)
The Rabbis of the Midrash deduced that the “messengers” of were angels. The Rabbis reasoned that if (as Genesis Rabbah 59:10 taught) an angel escorted Eliezer
, who was just a servant of the house, how much the more would angels have accompanied Jacob, who was the beloved of the house. Rabbi Hama ben Hanina reasoned that if five angels appeared to Hagar
, who was just Sarah
's handmaid, how much more would angels appear to Jacob. And Rabbi Jannai
reasoned that if three angels met Joseph (counting the three uses of “man” in ), and he was the youngest of the ancestors of the 12 tribes of Israel, how much more would angels meet Jacob, who was the father of all 12. (Genesis Rabbah 75:4.)
Judah haNasi
once directed Rabbi Afes to write a letter in Judah’s name to Emperor Antoninus. Rabbi Afes wrote: “From Judah the Prince to our Sovereign the Emperor Antoninus.” Judah read the letter, tore it up, and wrote: “From your servant Judah to our Sovereign the Emperor Antoninus.” Rabbi Afes remonstrated that Judah treated his honor too lightly. Judah replied that he was not better than his ancestor, who in sent a message saying: “Thus says your servant Jacob.” (Genesis Rabbah 75:5.)
Rabbi Jacob bar Idi pointed out a contradiction between God’s promise to protect Jacob in and Jacob’s fear in ; Rabbi Jacob explained that Jacob feared that some sin might cause him to lose the protection of God's promise. (Babylonian Talmud
Berakhot 4a, Sanhedrin 98b.)
Rabbi Eleazar
taught that Obadiah
hid 50 of 100 prophets of God in a cave in 1 Kings
because he learned the lesson of dividing his camp from Jacob’s actions in Rabbi Abbahu
, however, said that it was because the cave could hold only 50. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 39b, Taanit 20b.)
Rabbi Yannai taught that when people expose themselves to danger and are saved by miracles, it is deducted from their merits and so they end up with less merit to their credit. Rabbi Hanin cited to prove this, reading Jacob to say to God: “I am become diminished [that is, I have less merit to my credit] by reason of all the deeds of kindness and all the truth that You have shown to your servant.” (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 32a.)
Rabbi Hama ben Hanina taught that the “man” who wrestled with Jacob in was Esau’s guardian angel
, and that Jacob alluded to this when he told Esau in “Forasmuch as I have seen your face, as one sees the face of Elohim, and you were pleased with me.” (Genesis Rabbah 78:3.)
Chapter 7 of Tractate Chullin in the Mishnah
, Tosefta
, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the prohibition of the sinew of the hip (the sciatic nerve
, gid ha-nasheh) in (Mishnah Chullin 7:1–6; Tosefta Chullin 7:1–8; Babylonian Talmud Chullin 89b–103b.) The Mishnah taught that the prohibition against eating the sciatic nerve in is in force both within the Land of Israel and outside it, both during the existence of the Temple and after it, and with respect to both consecrated and unconsecrated animals. It applies to both domesticated and wild animals, and to both the right and the left hip. But it does not apply to birds, because they have no spoon-shaped hip as the muscles upon the hip bone (femur) of a bird lie flat and are not raised and convex like those of cattle. It also applies to a live fetus found in a slaughtered animal, although Rabbi Judah said that it does not apply to a fetus. And the live fetus’ fat is permitted. Rabbi Meir taught that one should not trust butchers to remove the sciatic nerve, but the Sages taught that one may trust butchers to remove the sciatic nerve as well as the fat that Leviticus and forbids. (Mishnah Chullin 7:1; Babylonian Talmud Chullin 89b.)
taught that wherever one finds the plain writing exceeding the dotted letters, one must interpret the plain writing. But if the dotted letters exceed the plain writing, one must interpret the dotted letters. In the plain writing equals in number the dotted letters, so Rabbi Simeon ben Eleazar taught that conveys that Esau kissed Jacob with all his heart. Rabbi Jannai replied that if this were so, there would be no reason for dots to appear over the word. Rabbi Jannai taught that the dots mean that Esau wished to bite Jacob, but that Jacob's neck turned to marble and Esau's teeth were blunted and loosened. Hence the words “and they wept” in reflect that Jacob wept because of his neck and Esau wept because of his teeth. Rabbi Abbahu
in Rabbi Johanan's
name adduced support for that conclusion from Song of Songs
which says: “Your neck is as a tower of ivory.” (Genesis Rabbah 78:9.)
Rabbi Haninah taught that Esau paid great attention to his parent (horo), his father, whom he supplied with meals, as reports, “Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his venison.” Rabbi Samuel the son of Rabbi Gedaliah concluded that God decided to reward Esau for this. When Jacob offered Esau gifts, Esau answered Jacob in “I have enough (רָב, rav); do not trouble yourself.” So God declared that with the same expression that Esau thus paid respect to Jacob, God would command Jacob’s descendants not to trouble Esau’s descendants, and thus God told the Israelites in Deuteronomy “You have circled this mountain (הָר, har) long enough (רַב, rav).” (Deuteronomy Rabbah
1:17.)
A Baraita
taught that if an idol worshiper asks a Jew where the Jew is going, the Jew should tell the idolater that the Jew is heading towards a place beyond the Jew’s actual destination, as Jacob told the wicked Esau. For in Jacob told Esau, “Until I come to my lord to Seir,” while records, “And Jacob journeyed to Succot.” (Babylonian Talmud Avodah Zarah 25b.) Reading the account in Rabbi Abbahu said that he searched the whole Scriptures and did not find that Jacob ever went to Esau at Seir. Rabbi Abbahu asked whether it was then possible that Jacob, the truthful, could have deceived Esau. Rabbi Abbahu concluded that Jacob would indeed come to Esau, in the Messianic era
, as Obadiah
reports, “And saviors shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau.” (Genesis Rabbah 78:14.)
taught in Rabbi Jose’s
name that Shechem was a place predestined for evil, for in Shechem Dinah was raped (as reported in ), Joseph’s brothers sold him (as reported in Dothan being near Shechem), and the united kingdom of Israel and Judah
was divided (as reported in ). (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 102a.)
In the heart is enticed. A midrash catalogued the wide range of additional capabilities of the heart reported in the Hebrew Bible. The heart speaks (Ecclesiastes
), sees , hears , walks , falls , stands (Ezekiel
), rejoices , cries (Lamentations
), is comforted (Isaiah
), is troubled , becomes hardened , grows faint , grieves , fears , can be broken , becomes proud , rebels , invents , cavils , overflows , devises , desires , goes astray , lusts (Numbers
), is refreshed , can be stolen , is humbled , errs , trembles , is awakened , loves , hates , envies , is searched , is rent (Joel
), meditates , is like a fire , is like a stone , turns in repentance , becomes hot , dies , melts (Joshua
), takes in words , is susceptible to fear , gives thanks , covets , becomes hard , makes merry (Judges
), acts deceitfully , speaks from out of itself , loves bribes , writes words , plans , receives commandments , acts with pride (Obadiah
), makes arrangements , and aggrandizes itself . (Ecclesiastes Rabbah
1:36.)
A Baraita
reported that some said that Job lived in the time of Jacob and married Dinah, finding the connection in the use of the same word with regard to Job’s wife in Job
“You speak as one of the impious women (נְּבָלוֹת, nebalot) speaks,” and with regard to Dinah in “Because he had committed a vile deed (נְבָלָה, nebalah) in Israel.” (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 15b.)
The Mishnah deduced from that the wound from a circumcision is still serious enough on the third day that one bathes a circumcised baby on that day even if it is the Sabbath. (Mishnah Shabbat 9:3, 19:3; Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 86a, 134b.)
says, "He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers." (Babylonian Talmud Chagigah 12a.)
A midrash taught that of four who made vows, two vowed and profited, and two vowed and lost. The Israelites vowed and profited in and Hannah
vowed and profited in Jephthah vowed and lost in and Jacob vowed in and lost (some say in the loss of Rachel in and some say in the disgrace of Dinah in for Jacob’s vow in was superfluous, as Jacob had already received God's promise, and therefore Jacob lost because of it). (Genesis Rabbah 70:3.)
Considering the consequences of Reuben’s infidelity with Jacob’s concubine Bilhah in Rabbi Eleazar contrasted Reuben’s magnanimity with Esau’s jealousy. As reports, Esau voluntarily sold his birthright, but as says, “Esau hated Jacob,” and as says, “And he said, ‘Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he has supplanted me these two times.’” In Reuben’s case, Joseph took Reuben’s birthright from him against his will, as reports, “for as much as he defiled his father’s couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph.” Nonetheless, Reuben was not jealous of Joseph, as reports, “And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand.” (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 7b.)
The Mishnah taught that the story of Reuben’s infidelity with Jacob’s concubine Bilhah in is read in the synagogue but not translated. (Mishnah Megillah 4:10; Babylonian Talmud Megillah 25a.)
and Abiram
’s enduring wickedness, in to teach Ahaz
’s enduring wickedness, in Esther
to teach Ahasuerus
’s enduring wickedness, in to teach Abraham
’s enduring righteousness, in Exodus to teach Moses
and Aaron
’s enduring righteousness, and in to teach David’s enduring humility. (Babylonian Talmud Megillah 11a.)
and Sefer ha-Chinuch
, there is one negative commandment
in the parshah:
(Maimonides. Mishneh Torah
, Negative Commandment 183. Cairo
, Egypt, 1170–1180. Reprinted in Maimonides. The Commandments: Sefer Ha-Mitzvoth of Maimonides. Translated by Charles B. Chavel, 2:180–81. London: Soncino Press, 1967. ISBN 0-900689-71-4. Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, 1:89–90. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1991. ISBN 0-87306-179-9.)
Haggadah
, in the concluding nirtzah section of the Seder
, in a reference to recounts how Israel struggled with an angel and overcame him at night. (Menachem Davis. The Interlinear Haggadah: The Passover Haggadah, with an Interlinear Translation, Instructions and Comments, 108. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2005. ISBN 1-57819-064-9. Joseph Tabory. JPS Commentary on the Haggadah: Historical Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, 123. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8276-0858-0.)
In the Blessing after Meals (Birkat Hamazon
), at the close of the fourth blessing (of thanks for God’s goodness), Jews allude to God’s blessing of the Patriarchs
described in 27:33, and 33:11. (Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals with an Interlinear Translation, 172. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-697-3. Reuven Hammer
. Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom
for Shabbat and Festivals, 342. New York: The Rabbinical Assembly, 2003. ISBN 0-916219-20-8.)
In the morning blessings (Birkot hashachar), before the first recitation of the Shema
, Jews refer to God’s changing of Jacob’s name to Israel in (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 212. Hammer, at 66.)
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
cycle of Torah reading
Torah reading
Torah reading is a Jewish religious ritual that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the Torah scroll from the ark, chanting the appropriate excerpt with special cantillation, and returning the scroll to...
. It constitutes Genesis 32:4–36:43. Jews in the Diaspora
Jewish diaspora
The Jewish diaspora is the English term used to describe the Galut גלות , or 'exile', of the Jews from the region of the Kingdom of Judah and Roman Iudaea and later emigration from wider Eretz Israel....
read it the eighth Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
after Simchat Torah
Simchat Torah
Simchat Torah or Simḥath Torah is a celebration marking the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle...
, generally in late November or December.
In the parshah, Jacob
Jacob
Jacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the...
reconciles with Esau
Esau
Esau , in the Hebrew Bible, is the oldest son of Isaac. He is mentioned in the Book of Genesis, and by the minor prophets, Obadiah and Malachi. The New Testament later references him in the Book of Romans and the Book of Hebrews....
after wrestling with a "man," the prince Shechem rapes Dinah
Dinah
According to the Hebrew Bible, Dinah was the daughter of Jacob, one of the patriarchs of the Israelites and Leah, his first wife. The episode of her abduction and violation by a Canaanite prince, and the subsequent vengeance of her brothers Simeon and Levi, commonly referred to as "The Rape of...
and her brothers sack the city of Shechem
Shechem
Shechem was a Canaanite city mentioned in the Amarna letters, and is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as an Israelite city of the tribe of Manasseh and the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel...
in revenge, and in the family’s subsequent flight Rachel
Rachel
Rachel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, is a prophet and the favorite wife of Jacob, one of the three Biblical Patriarchs, and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. She was the daughter of Laban and the younger sister of Leah, Jacob's first wife...
gives birth to Benjamin
Benjamin
Benjamin was the last-born of Jacob's twelve sons, and the second and last son of Rachel in Jewish, Christian and Islamic tradition. He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Benjamin. In the Biblical account, unlike Rachel's first son, Joseph, Benjamin was born in Canaan. He died in Egypt on...
and dies in childbirth.
Summary
Jacob’s reunion with Esau
Jacob sent a message to Esau in EdomEdom
Edom or Idumea was a historical region of the Southern Levant located south of Judea and the Dead Sea. It is mentioned in biblical records as a 1st millennium BC Iron Age kingdom of Edom, and in classical antiquity the cognate name Idumea was used to refer to a smaller area in the same region...
that he had stayed with Laban
Laban (Bible)
Laban is the son of Bethuel, brother of Rebekah and the father of Leah and Rachel and Bilhah and Zilpah as described in the Book of Genesis. As such he is brother-in-law to Isaac and both father-in-law and uncle to Jacob...
until then, had oxen, donkeys, flocks, and servants, and hoped to find favor in Esau’s sight. The messengers returned and greatly frightened Jacob with the report that Esau was coming to meet him with 400 men. Jacob divided his camp in two, reasoning that if Esau destroyed one of the two, then the other camp could escape. Jacob prayed to God
Names of God in Judaism
In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title; it represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relationship of God to the Jewish people and to the world. To demonstrate the sacredness of the names of God, and as a means of showing respect and reverence for...
, recalling that God had promised to return him whole to his country, noting his unworthiness for God’s transformation of him from a poor man with just a staff to the leader of two camps, and prayed God to deliver him from Esau, as God had promised Jacob good and to make his descendants as numerous as the sand of the sea. Jacob assembled a present of hundreds of goats, sheep, camels, cattle, and donkeys to appease Esau, and instructed his servants to deliver them to Esau in successive droves with the message that they were a present from his servant Jacob, who followed behind.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, for he had striven with God and with men and prevailed. Jacob asked the man his name, but the man asked him why, and then blessed him. Jacob named the place Peniel
Penuel
Penuel , also known as the "face of God", is a place not far from Succoth, on the east of the Jordan and north of the river Jabbok. It is also called "Peniel" by Jacob, meaning 'face of God', "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared." Here Jacob wrestled "with a man"...
, saying that he had seen God face to face and lived. And at sunrise, Jacob limped from the injury to his thigh. Because of this, the Israelite
Israelite
According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...
s do not eat the sinew of the vein that is the hollow of the thigh, because the man touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh.
When Jacob saw Esau coming with 400 men, he divided his family, putting the handmaids and their children foremost, Leah
Leah
Leah , as described in the Hebrew Bible, is the first of the two concurrent wives of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob and mother of six of sons whose descendants became the Twelve Tribes of Israel, along with at least one daughter, Dinah. She is the daughter of Laban and the older sister of Rachel, whom...
and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph
Joseph (Hebrew Bible)
Joseph is an important character in the Hebrew bible, where he connects the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Canaan to the subsequent story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt....
at the back. Jacob went before them, and bowed to the ground seven times as he approached his brother. Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, and kissed him, and they wept. Esau asked who women and the children were, Jacob told him that they were his, and they all came to Esau and bowed down. Esau asked what Jacob meant by all the livestock, and Jacob told him that he sought Esau’s favor. Esau said that he had enough, but Jacob pressed him to accept his present saying that seeing Esau’s face was like seeing the face of God, and Esau took the gifts. Esau suggested that Jacob and he travel together, but Jacob asked that Esau allow Jacob’s party to travel more slowly, so as not to tax the young children and the flocks, until they came to Esau in Seir
Seir
Seir . It is sometimes used as an alternative term for a goat, as in Seir La'Azazel .* Seir - "Prince" in Ancient Egyptian, a name used by the Egyptians to refer the god of the dead known to the Greeks as Osiris...
. Esau offered to leave some of his men behind with Jacob, but Jacob declined. So Esau left for Seir, and Jacob left for Sukkot (meaning “booths”), where he built a house and made booths for his cattle, thus explaining the place’s name.
The rape of Dinah
Jacob came to Shechem, where he bought a parcel of ground outside the city from the children of Hamor for a hundred pieces of money. Jacob erected an altarAltar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
there, and called the place El-elohe-Israel.
When Dinah went out to see the daughters of the land, the prince of the land, Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite
Hivites
The Hivites were one group of descendants of Canaan, son of Ham, according to the Table of Nations in .- History : does not list the Hivites as being in the land that was promised to the descendants of Abraham...
, saw her and lay with her by force. Shechem loved Dinah and asked Hamor to arrange that he might marry her. Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled Dinah while Jacob’s sons were in the field, and Jacob held his peace until they returned. When Jacob’s sons heard, they came in from the field, and were grieved and very angry.
Hamor went out to Jacob and told him that Shechem longed for Dinah, and asked Jacob to give her to him for a wife, and to agree that their two people might intermarry and live and trade together. And Shechem offered to give Jacob and his sons whatever they wanted as a bride price
Bride price
Bride price, also known as bride wealth, is an amount of money or property or wealth paid by the groom or his family to the parents of a woman upon the marriage of their daughter to the groom...
. Jacob’s sons answered with guile, saying that they could not give their sister to one not circumcised
Circumcision
Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....
, and said that they would consent only on the condition that every man of the town became circumcised, and then the two people might intermarry and live together; otherwise they would leave. Their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, and Shechem did so without delay, out of delight with Dinah.
Hamor and Shechem spoke to the men of the city in the city gate, saying that Jacob’s family were peaceable, and advocated letting them dwell in the land, trade, and intermarry. Hamor and Shechem reported that Jacob’s people would only do so on the condition that every man of the town was circumcised, and they argued that the men do so, for Jacob’s animals and wealth would add to the city’s wealth. And the men heeded Hamor and Shechem, and every man of the city underwent circumcision.
On the third day, when the men of the city were in pain, Jacob’s sons Simeon
Simeon (Hebrew Bible)
According to the Book of Genesis, Simeon was, the second son of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Simeon. However, some Biblical scholars view this as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an etiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite...
and Levi
Levi
Levi/Levy was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third son of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Levi ; however Peake's commentary suggests this as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite...
each took his sword, came upon the city with stealth, and killed all the men, including Hamor and Shechem, and took Dinah out of the city. Jacob’s sons looted the city, taking as booty their animals, their wealth, their wives, and their children. Jacob told Simeon and Levi that they had made him odious to the inhabitants of the land, who would gather together against him and destroyed their family. Simeon and Levi asked whether they were to allow someone to treat their sister as a prostitute
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
.
Jacob’s flight
God told Jacob to move to BethelBethel
Bethel was a border city described in the Hebrew Bible as being located between Benjamin and Ephraim...
, and make an altar there to God, who had appeared to him there when he fled from Esau. Jacob told his household to put away their idols, change their garments, and purify themselves for the trip to Bethel, and they gave Jacob all their idols and earrings and Jacob buried them under the terebinth
Pistacia palaestina
Pistacia palaestina is a tree or shrub common in the Levant region . It is called terebinth in English, a name also used for Pistacia terebinthus, a similar tree from the western Mediterranean Basin.-Description:...
by Shechem. A terror of God fell upon the nearby cities so that the people did not pursue Jacob, and they journeyed to Luz, built an altar, and called the place El-beth-el.
Rebekah's nurse Deborah
Deborah (Genesis)
Deborah is the name of the nurse of Rebeccah . She is first mentioned by name in the Torah when she dies in a place called Alon Bachot, and is buried by Jacob, who is returning with his large family to Canaan....
died, and they buried her below Beth-el under an oak they called Allon-bacuth.
And God appeared to Jacob again and blessed him, saying to him that his name would not be Jacob anymore, but Israel. And God told him to be fruitful and multiply, for nations and kings
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
would descend from him, and God would give Jacob and his descendants the land
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
that God gave to Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
and Isaac
Isaac
Isaac as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the only son Abraham had with his wife Sarah, and was the father of Jacob and Esau. Isaac was one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites...
. And Jacob set up a pillar of stone in the place, poured a drink-offering and oil on it, and called the place Bethel.
They left Bethel, and before they had come to Ephrath
Ephrath
Ephrath or Ephratah is the name of a Biblical place.The first mention of Ephrath occurs in Genesis, in reference to where Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin and is buried on the road from Bethel...
, Rachel went into a difficult labor. The midwife
Midwifery
Midwifery is a health care profession in which providers offer care to childbearing women during pregnancy, labour and birth, and during the postpartum period. They also help care for the newborn and assist the mother with breastfeeding....
told her not to fear not, for this child would also be a son for her. And just before Rachel died, she named her son Ben-oni, but Jacob called him Benjamin. They buried Rachel on the road to Ephrath at Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
, and Jacob set up a pillar on her grave. And Israel journeyed beyond Migdal-eder.
While Israel dwelt in that land, Reuben
Reuben (Bible)
According to the Book of Genesis, Reuben or Re'uven was the first and eldest son of Jacob with Leah. He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Reuben.-Etymology:...
lay with Jacob’s concubine Bilhah
Bilhah
In the Book of Genesis, Bilhah is Rachel's handmaid who becomes a wife of Jacob and bears him two sons, Dan and Naphtali....
, and Israel heard of it.
The text then recounts Jacob’s children born to him in Padan-aram.
Jacob came to Isaac at Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
, Isaac died at the old age of 180, and Esau and Jacob buried him.
The text then recounts Esau’s children. Esau took his household, animals, and all his possessions that he had gathered in Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
and went to a land apart from Jacob, in Edom, for their substance was too great for them to dwell together. The text then recounts Esau’s descendants, the Edomites, among whom were Amalek
Amalek
The Amalekites are a people mentioned a number of times in the Hebrew Bible. They are considered to be descended from an ancestor Amalek....
.
Genesis chapter 32
The force of 400 men that Esau brought with him to meet Jacob in exceeded the 318 men with whom Abraham defeated four kings and rescued Lot inHosea
Book of Hosea
The Book of Hosea is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. It stands first in order among what are known as the twelve Minor Prophets.-Background and Content:...
part of the haftarah
Haftarah
The haftarah or haftoroh is a series of selections from the books of Nevi'im of the Hebrew Bible that is publicly read in synagogue as part of Jewish religious practice...
for the parshah, interpreted Jacob’s encounter with the angel. says that Jacob by his strength strove with a godlike being. says that Jacob strove with an angel and prevailed, and that the angel wept and made supplication to Jacob. And further says that at Bethel Jacob found the angel, and spoke with him there.
Genesis chapter 33
The 100 pieces of silver that Jacob paid the children of Hamor for the parcel of ground where he had spread his tent outside the city of Shechem in compares with the 400 shekels of silver that Abraham paid Ephron the HittiteBiblical Hittites
The Hittites and children of Heth are a people or peoples mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. They are listed in Book of Genesis as second of the twelve Canaanite nations, descended from one Heth...
to buy the cave of Machpelah
Cave of the Patriarchs
The Cave of the Patriarchs or the Cave of Machpelah , is known by Muslims as the Sanctuary of Abraham or Ibrahimi Mosque ....
and adjoining land in the 50 shekels of silver that King David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
paid Araunah
Araunah
Araunah was a Jebusite who was mentioned in the Books of Samuel who owned the threshing floor on the summit of Mount Moriah that David purchased and used as the site for assembling an altar to God. The Scholar renders his name as Arunah....
the Jebusite
Jebusite
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Jebusites were a Canaanite tribe who inhabited and built Jerusalem prior to its conquest by King David; the Books of Kings state that Jerusalem was known as Jebus prior to this event...
for Araunah’s threshing floor, oxen, and wood in 2 Samuel
Books of Samuel
The Books of Samuel in the Jewish bible are part of the Former Prophets, , a theological history of the Israelites affirming and explaining the Torah under the guidance of the prophets.Samuel begins by telling how the prophet Samuel is chosen by...
(but 1 Chronicles
Books of Chronicles
The Books of Chronicles are part of the Hebrew Bible. In the Masoretic Text, it appears as the first or last book of the Ketuvim . Chronicles largely parallels the Davidic narratives in the Books of Samuel and the Books of Kings...
reports cost 600 shekels of gold); and the 17 shekels of silver that Jeremiah
Jeremiah
Jeremiah Hebrew：יִרְמְיָה , Modern Hebrew:Yirməyāhū, IPA: jirməˈjaːhu, Tiberian:Yirmĭyahu, Greek:Ἰερεμίας), meaning "Yahweh exalts", or called the "Weeping prophet" was one of the main prophets of the Hebrew Bible...
paid his cousin Hanamel for his field in Anathoth
Anathoth
Anathoth - the name of one of the cities given to "the children of Aaron" , in the tribe of Benjamin . Since the Israelites often did not change the names of the towns they found in Canaan, the name of this town may be derived from a Canaanite goddess, ‘Anat...
in the land of Benjamin
Tribe of Benjamin
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Benjamin בִּנְיָמִין was one of the Tribes of Israel.From after the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c. 1050 BCE, the Tribe of Benjamin was a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes...
in Jeremiah
Book of Jeremiah
The Book of Jeremiah is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the book of Isaiah and preceding Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve....
Genesis chapter 35
The report of that Reuben lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard of it, is echoed in when Jacob recalled the incident and deprived Reuben of the blessing of the firstborn, because he went up on Jacob’s bed and defiled it.Genesis chapter 32
The Rabbis of the MidrashMidrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
questioned the wisdom of Jacob’s decision to contact Esau in Nahman ben Samuel compared the decision to waking a robber sleeping on a path to tell him of danger. The Rabbis envisioned that God asked Jacob: “Esau was going his own way, yet you sent to him?” (Genesis Rabba
Genesis Rabba
Genesis Rabba is a religious text from Judaism's classical period. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletical interpretations of the Book of Genesis ....
h 75:1–3.)
The Rabbis of the Midrash deduced that the “messengers” of were angels. The Rabbis reasoned that if (as Genesis Rabbah 59:10 taught) an angel escorted Eliezer
Eliezer
For the mathematician and Tamil activist see C.J. Eliezer; for the AI researcher and writer on rationality see Eliezer Yudkowsky; for the Levite priest of the Hebrew Bible, see Eleazar...
, who was just a servant of the house, how much the more would angels have accompanied Jacob, who was the beloved of the house. Rabbi Hama ben Hanina reasoned that if five angels appeared to Hagar
Hagar (Bible)
Hagar , according to the Abrahamic faiths, was the second wife of Abraham, and the mother of his first son, Ishmael. Her story is recorded in the Book of Genesis, mentioned in Hadith, and alluded to in the Qur'an...
, who was just Sarah
Sarah
Sarah or Sara was the wife of Abraham and the mother of Isaac as described in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. Her name was originally Sarai...
's handmaid, how much more would angels appear to Jacob. And Rabbi Jannai
Rabbi Yannai
R. Yannai was a Jewish sage, living during the first half of the 3d Century, and of the first generation of the Amora sages of the Land of Israel. He was a disciple of R. Judah haNasi - the sealer of the Mishnah. R...
reasoned that if three angels met Joseph (counting the three uses of “man” in ), and he was the youngest of the ancestors of the 12 tribes of Israel, how much more would angels meet Jacob, who was the father of all 12. (Genesis Rabbah 75:4.)
Judah haNasi
Judah haNasi
Judah the Prince, or Judah I, also known as Rebbi or Rabbeinu HaKadosh , was a 2nd-century CE rabbi and chief redactor and editor of the Mishnah. He was a key leader of the Jewish community during the Roman occupation of Judea . He was of the Davidic line, the royal line of King David, hence the...
once directed Rabbi Afes to write a letter in Judah’s name to Emperor Antoninus. Rabbi Afes wrote: “From Judah the Prince to our Sovereign the Emperor Antoninus.” Judah read the letter, tore it up, and wrote: “From your servant Judah to our Sovereign the Emperor Antoninus.” Rabbi Afes remonstrated that Judah treated his honor too lightly. Judah replied that he was not better than his ancestor, who in sent a message saying: “Thus says your servant Jacob.” (Genesis Rabbah 75:5.)
Rabbi Jacob bar Idi pointed out a contradiction between God’s promise to protect Jacob in and Jacob’s fear in ; Rabbi Jacob explained that Jacob feared that some sin might cause him to lose the protection of God's promise. (Babylonian Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
Berakhot 4a, Sanhedrin 98b.)
Rabbi Eleazar
Eleazar ben Pedat
Eleazar ben Pedat was a Jewish Talmudist, known as an amora, in the Land of Israel, of the 4th generation . He was his father's pupil and the assistant lecturer of R. Assi...
taught that Obadiah
Obadiah
Obadiah is a Biblical theophorical name, meaning "servant of Yahweh" or "worshipper of Yahweh." It is related to "Abdeel", "servant of God", which is also cognate to the Arabic name "Abdullah". Turkish name Abdil or Abdi. The form of Obadiah's name used in the Septuagint is Obdios; in Latin it is...
hid 50 of 100 prophets of God in a cave in 1 Kings
Books of Kings
The Book of Kings presents a narrative history of ancient Israel and Judah from the death of David to the release of his successor Jehoiachin from imprisonment in Babylon, a period of some 400 years...
because he learned the lesson of dividing his camp from Jacob’s actions in Rabbi Abbahu
Abbahu
Abbahu was a Jewish Talmudist, known as an amora, who lived in the Land of Israel, of the 3rd amoraic generation , sometimes cited as R. Abbahu of Caesarea . His rabbinic education was acquired mainly at Tiberias, in the academy presided over by R. Johanan, with whom his relations were almost...
, however, said that it was because the cave could hold only 50. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 39b, Taanit 20b.)
Rabbi Yannai taught that when people expose themselves to danger and are saved by miracles, it is deducted from their merits and so they end up with less merit to their credit. Rabbi Hanin cited to prove this, reading Jacob to say to God: “I am become diminished [that is, I have less merit to my credit] by reason of all the deeds of kindness and all the truth that You have shown to your servant.” (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 32a.)
Rabbi Hama ben Hanina taught that the “man” who wrestled with Jacob in was Esau’s guardian angel
Guardian angel
A guardian angel is an angel assigned to protect and guide a particular person or group. Belief in guardian angels can be traced throughout all antiquity...
, and that Jacob alluded to this when he told Esau in “Forasmuch as I have seen your face, as one sees the face of Elohim, and you were pleased with me.” (Genesis Rabbah 78:3.)
Chapter 7 of Tractate Chullin in the Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
, Tosefta
Tosefta
The Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...
, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the prohibition of the sinew of the hip (the sciatic nerve
Sciatic nerve
The sciatic nerve is a large nerve fiber in humans and other animals. It begins in the lower back and runs through the buttock and down the lower limb...
, gid ha-nasheh) in (Mishnah Chullin 7:1–6; Tosefta Chullin 7:1–8; Babylonian Talmud Chullin 89b–103b.) The Mishnah taught that the prohibition against eating the sciatic nerve in is in force both within the Land of Israel and outside it, both during the existence of the Temple and after it, and with respect to both consecrated and unconsecrated animals. It applies to both domesticated and wild animals, and to both the right and the left hip. But it does not apply to birds, because they have no spoon-shaped hip as the muscles upon the hip bone (femur) of a bird lie flat and are not raised and convex like those of cattle. It also applies to a live fetus found in a slaughtered animal, although Rabbi Judah said that it does not apply to a fetus. And the live fetus’ fat is permitted. Rabbi Meir taught that one should not trust butchers to remove the sciatic nerve, but the Sages taught that one may trust butchers to remove the sciatic nerve as well as the fat that Leviticus and forbids. (Mishnah Chullin 7:1; Babylonian Talmud Chullin 89b.)
Genesis chapter 33
A midrash noted that dots appear above the word “and kissed him” (וַיִּשָּׁקֵהוּ, vayishakeihu) in Rabbi Simeon ben EleazarSimeon ben Eleazar
Simeon ben Eleazar was a Jewish Tanna sage of the fourth generation, and one of Rabbi Meir's disciples. He is cited in the Mishnah merely few times, but on the Tosefta and Baraitas' portions that are quoted in the Talmud his name is mentioned many times...
taught that wherever one finds the plain writing exceeding the dotted letters, one must interpret the plain writing. But if the dotted letters exceed the plain writing, one must interpret the dotted letters. In the plain writing equals in number the dotted letters, so Rabbi Simeon ben Eleazar taught that conveys that Esau kissed Jacob with all his heart. Rabbi Jannai replied that if this were so, there would be no reason for dots to appear over the word. Rabbi Jannai taught that the dots mean that Esau wished to bite Jacob, but that Jacob's neck turned to marble and Esau's teeth were blunted and loosened. Hence the words “and they wept” in reflect that Jacob wept because of his neck and Esau wept because of his teeth. Rabbi Abbahu
Abbahu
Abbahu was a Jewish Talmudist, known as an amora, who lived in the Land of Israel, of the 3rd amoraic generation , sometimes cited as R. Abbahu of Caesarea . His rabbinic education was acquired mainly at Tiberias, in the academy presided over by R. Johanan, with whom his relations were almost...
in Rabbi Johanan's
Yochanan bar Nafcha
Rabbi Yochanan ;...
name adduced support for that conclusion from Song of Songs
Song of songs
Song of Songs, also known as the Song of Solomon, is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. It may also refer to:In music:* Song of songs , the debut album by David and the Giants* A generic term for medleysPlays...
which says: “Your neck is as a tower of ivory.” (Genesis Rabbah 78:9.)
Rabbi Haninah taught that Esau paid great attention to his parent (horo), his father, whom he supplied with meals, as reports, “Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his venison.” Rabbi Samuel the son of Rabbi Gedaliah concluded that God decided to reward Esau for this. When Jacob offered Esau gifts, Esau answered Jacob in “I have enough (רָב, rav); do not trouble yourself.” So God declared that with the same expression that Esau thus paid respect to Jacob, God would command Jacob’s descendants not to trouble Esau’s descendants, and thus God told the Israelites in Deuteronomy “You have circled this mountain (הָר, har) long enough (רַב, rav).” (Deuteronomy Rabbah
Deuteronomy Rabbah
Deuteronomy Rabbah is an aggadic midrash or homiletic commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy. Unlike Bereshit Rabbah, the Midrash to Deuteronomy which has been included in the collection of the Midrash Rabbot in the ordinary editions does not contain running commentaries on the text of the Bible,...
1:17.)
A Baraita
Baraita
Baraita designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. "Baraita" thus refers to teachings "outside" of the six orders of the Mishnah...
taught that if an idol worshiper asks a Jew where the Jew is going, the Jew should tell the idolater that the Jew is heading towards a place beyond the Jew’s actual destination, as Jacob told the wicked Esau. For in Jacob told Esau, “Until I come to my lord to Seir,” while records, “And Jacob journeyed to Succot.” (Babylonian Talmud Avodah Zarah 25b.) Reading the account in Rabbi Abbahu said that he searched the whole Scriptures and did not find that Jacob ever went to Esau at Seir. Rabbi Abbahu asked whether it was then possible that Jacob, the truthful, could have deceived Esau. Rabbi Abbahu concluded that Jacob would indeed come to Esau, in the Messianic era
Messianic Age
Messianic Age is a theological term referring to a future time of universal peace and brotherhood on the earth, without crime, war and poverty. Many religions believe that there will be such an age; some refer to it as the "Kingdom of God" or the "World to Come".- Terminology: "messianic" and...
, as Obadiah
Book of Obadiah
The canonical Book of Obadiah is an oracle concerning the divine judgment of Edom and the restoration of Israel. The text consists of a single chapter, divided into 21 verses, making it the shortest book in the Hebrew Bible....
reports, “And saviors shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau.” (Genesis Rabbah 78:14.)
Genesis chapter 34
A TannaTannaim
The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...
taught in Rabbi Jose’s
Jose ben Halafta
Rabbi Jose ben Halafta or Yose ben Halafta was a Tanna of the fourth generation . Jose was a student of Rabbi Akiba and was regarded as one of the foremost scholars of halakha and aggadah of his day...
name that Shechem was a place predestined for evil, for in Shechem Dinah was raped (as reported in ), Joseph’s brothers sold him (as reported in Dothan being near Shechem), and the united kingdom of Israel and Judah
United Monarchy
According to Biblical tradition, the united Kingdom of Israel was a kingdom that existed in the Land of Israel, a period referred to by scholars as the United Monarchy. Biblical historians date the kingdom from c. 1020 BCE to c...
was divided (as reported in ). (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 102a.)
Ecclesiastes
The Book of Ecclesiastes, called , is a book of the Hebrew Bible. The English name derives from the Greek translation of the Hebrew title.The main speaker in the book, identified by the name or title Qoheleth , introduces himself as "son of David, king in Jerusalem." The work consists of personal...
), sees , hears , walks , falls , stands (Ezekiel
Book of Ezekiel
The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and preceding the Book of the Twelve....
), rejoices , cries (Lamentations
Book of Lamentations
The Book of Lamentations ) is a poetic book of the Hebrew Bible composed by the Jewish prophet Jeremiah. It mourns the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple in the 6th Century BCE....
), is comforted (Isaiah
Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, preceding the books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and the Book of the Twelve...
), is troubled , becomes hardened , grows faint , grieves , fears , can be broken , becomes proud , rebels , invents , cavils , overflows , devises , desires , goes astray , lusts (Numbers
Book of Numbers
The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch....
), is refreshed , can be stolen , is humbled , errs , trembles , is awakened , loves , hates , envies , is searched , is rent (Joel
Book of Joel
The Book of Joel is part of the Hebrew Bible. Joel is part of a group of twelve prophetic books known as the Minor Prophets or simply as The Twelve; the distinction 'minor' indicates the short length of the text in relation to the larger prophetic texts known as the "Major Prophets".-Content:After...
), meditates , is like a fire , is like a stone , turns in repentance , becomes hot , dies , melts (Joshua
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land....
), takes in words , is susceptible to fear , gives thanks , covets , becomes hard , makes merry (Judges
Book of Judges
The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its title describes its contents: it contains the history of Biblical judges, divinely inspired prophets whose direct knowledge of Yahweh allows them to act as decision-makers for the Israelites, as...
), acts deceitfully , speaks from out of itself , loves bribes , writes words , plans , receives commandments , acts with pride (Obadiah
Book of Obadiah
The canonical Book of Obadiah is an oracle concerning the divine judgment of Edom and the restoration of Israel. The text consists of a single chapter, divided into 21 verses, making it the shortest book in the Hebrew Bible....
), makes arrangements , and aggrandizes itself . (Ecclesiastes Rabbah
Ecclesiastes Rabbah
Ecclesiastes Rabbah or Kohelet Rabbah is an haggadic commentary on Ecclesiastes, included in the collection of the Midrash Rabbot. It follows the Biblical book verse by verse, only a few verses remaining without comment. In the list of the old sedarim for the Bible four sedarim are assigned to...
1:36.)
A Baraita
Baraita
Baraita designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. "Baraita" thus refers to teachings "outside" of the six orders of the Mishnah...
reported that some said that Job lived in the time of Jacob and married Dinah, finding the connection in the use of the same word with regard to Job’s wife in Job
Book of Job
The Book of Job , commonly referred to simply as Job, is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. It relates the story of Job, his trials at the hands of Satan, his discussions with friends on the origins and nature of his suffering, his challenge to God, and finally a response from God. The book is a...
“You speak as one of the impious women (נְּבָלוֹת, nebalot) speaks,” and with regard to Dinah in “Because he had committed a vile deed (נְבָלָה, nebalah) in Israel.” (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 15b.)
The Mishnah deduced from that the wound from a circumcision is still serious enough on the third day that one bathes a circumcised baby on that day even if it is the Sabbath. (Mishnah Shabbat 9:3, 19:3; Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 86a, 134b.)
Genesis chapter 35
Resh Lakish taught that the words "I am God Almighty" (אֵל שַׁדַּי, El Shaddai) in mean, "I am He Who said to the world: ‘Enough!’" (דַּי, Dai). Resh Lakish taught that when God created the sea, it went on expanding, until God rebuked it and caused it to dry up, as NahumBook of Nahum
The book of Nahum is the seventh book of the 12 minor prophets of the Hebrew Bible. It is attributed to the prophet Nahum, and was probably written in Jerusalem in the 8th century BC.-Background:...
says, "He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers." (Babylonian Talmud Chagigah 12a.)
A midrash taught that of four who made vows, two vowed and profited, and two vowed and lost. The Israelites vowed and profited in and Hannah
Hannah (Bible)
Hannah is the wife of Elkanah mentioned in the Books of Samuel. According to the Hebrew Bible she was the mother of Samuel...
vowed and profited in Jephthah vowed and lost in and Jacob vowed in and lost (some say in the loss of Rachel in and some say in the disgrace of Dinah in for Jacob’s vow in was superfluous, as Jacob had already received God's promise, and therefore Jacob lost because of it). (Genesis Rabbah 70:3.)
Considering the consequences of Reuben’s infidelity with Jacob’s concubine Bilhah in Rabbi Eleazar contrasted Reuben’s magnanimity with Esau’s jealousy. As reports, Esau voluntarily sold his birthright, but as says, “Esau hated Jacob,” and as says, “And he said, ‘Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he has supplanted me these two times.’” In Reuben’s case, Joseph took Reuben’s birthright from him against his will, as reports, “for as much as he defiled his father’s couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph.” Nonetheless, Reuben was not jealous of Joseph, as reports, “And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand.” (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 7b.)
The Mishnah taught that the story of Reuben’s infidelity with Jacob’s concubine Bilhah in is read in the synagogue but not translated. (Mishnah Megillah 4:10; Babylonian Talmud Megillah 25a.)
Genesis chapter 36
The Gemara taught that the use of the pronoun “he (hu)” in an introduction, as in the words “this is (hu) Esau” in signifies that he was the same in his wickedness from the beginning to the end. Similar uses appear in to teach DathanDathan
Dathan was an Israelite mentioned in the Old Testament as a participant of the Exodus.He was a son of Eliab, the son of Pallu, the son of Reuben. Together with his brother Abiram, the Levite Korah and others, he rebelled against Moses and Aaron...
and Abiram
Abiram
Abiram, also spelled Abiron, |father]] is exalted") is the name of two people in the Old Testament. One was the son of Eliab, who, along with his brother Dathan, joined Korah in the conspiracy against Moses and Aaron. He and all the conspirators, with their families and possessions, were swallowed...
’s enduring wickedness, in to teach Ahaz
Ahaz
Ahaz was king of Judah, and the son and successor of Jotham. He is one of the kings mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew....
’s enduring wickedness, in Esther
Book of Esther
The Book of Esther is a book in the Ketuvim , the third section of the Jewish Tanakh and is part of the Christian Old Testament. The Book of Esther or the Megillah is the basis for the Jewish celebration of Purim...
to teach Ahasuerus
Ahasuerus
Ahasuerus is a name used several times in the Hebrew Bible, as well as related legends and Apocrypha. This name is applied in the Hebrew Scriptures to three rulers...
’s enduring wickedness, in to teach Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
’s enduring righteousness, in Exodus to teach Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
and Aaron
Aaron
In the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, Aaron : Ααρών ), who is often called "'Aaron the Priest"' and once Aaron the Levite , was the older brother of Moses, and a prophet of God. He represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Israelites...
’s enduring righteousness, and in to teach David’s enduring humility. (Babylonian Talmud Megillah 11a.)
Commandment
According to MaimonidesMaimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
and Sefer ha-Chinuch
Sefer ha-Chinuch
The Sefer ha-Chinuch , often simply "the Chinuch" is a work which systematically discusses the 613 commandments of the Torah. It was published anonymously in 13th century Spain...
, there is one negative commandment
Mitzvah
The primary meaning of the Hebrew word refers to precepts and commandments as commanded by God...
in the parshah:
- Not to eat the sinew of the thigh (gid ha-nasheh).
(Maimonides. Mishneh Torah
Mishneh Torah
The Mishneh Torah subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka is a code of Jewish religious law authored by Maimonides , one of history's foremost rabbis...
, Negative Commandment 183. Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt, 1170–1180. Reprinted in Maimonides. The Commandments: Sefer Ha-Mitzvoth of Maimonides. Translated by Charles B. Chavel, 2:180–81. London: Soncino Press, 1967. ISBN 0-900689-71-4. Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, 1:89–90. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1991. ISBN 0-87306-179-9.)
Haftarah
The haftarah for the parshah is:- for Ashkenazi JewsAshkenazi JewsAshkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
: or - for Sephardi JewsSephardi JewsSephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
:
In the liturgy
The PassoverPassover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
Haggadah
Haggadah of Pesach
The Haggadah is a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. Reading the Haggadah at the Seder table is a fulfillment of the Scriptural commandment to each Jew to "tell your son" of the Jewish liberation from slavery in Egypt as described in the Book of Exodus in the Torah...
, in the concluding nirtzah section of the Seder
Passover Seder
The Passover Seder is a Jewish ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted on the evenings of the 14th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, and on the 15th by traditionally observant Jews living outside Israel. This corresponds to late March or April in...
, in a reference to recounts how Israel struggled with an angel and overcame him at night. (Menachem Davis. The Interlinear Haggadah: The Passover Haggadah, with an Interlinear Translation, Instructions and Comments, 108. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2005. ISBN 1-57819-064-9. Joseph Tabory. JPS Commentary on the Haggadah: Historical Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, 123. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8276-0858-0.)
In the Blessing after Meals (Birkat Hamazon
Birkat Hamazon
Birkat Hamazon or Birkath Hammazon, , known in English as the Grace After Meals, , is a set of Hebrew blessings that Jewish Law prescribes following a meal that includes bread or matzoh made from one or all of wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt...
), at the close of the fourth blessing (of thanks for God’s goodness), Jews allude to God’s blessing of the Patriarchs
Patriarchs (Bible)
The Patriarchs of the Bible, when narrowly defined, are Abraham, the ancestor of all the Abrahamic nations; his son Isaac, the ancestor of the nations surrounding Israel/Judah; and Isaac's son Jacob, also named Israel, the ancestor of the Israelites...
described in 27:33, and 33:11. (Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals with an Interlinear Translation, 172. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-697-3. Reuven Hammer
Reuven Hammer
Reuven Hammer is a Conservative Jewish rabbi, scholar of Jewish liturgy, author and lecturer. He is a founder of the Masorti movement in Israel and a past president of the International Rabbinical Assembly. He served many years as head of the Masorti Beth Din in Israel...
. Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom
Siddur Sim Shalom
Siddur Sim Shalom may refer to any siddur in a family of siddurim, Jewish prayerbooks, and related commentaries on these siddurim, published by the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism....
for Shabbat and Festivals, 342. New York: The Rabbinical Assembly, 2003. ISBN 0-916219-20-8.)
In the morning blessings (Birkot hashachar), before the first recitation of the Shema
Shema Yisrael
Shema Yisrael are the first two words of a section of the Torah that is a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services...
, Jews refer to God’s changing of Jacob’s name to Israel in (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 212. Hammer, at 66.)
Biblical
(be fruitful and multiply); 9:1, 7; (be fruitful and multiply); 48:7 (Rachel’s death). (31:15 in NJPS) (site of Rachel’s death).Classical rabbinic
- MishnahMishnahThe Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
: Shabbat 9:3, 19:3; Megillah 4:10; Chullin 7:1–6. Land of Israel, circa 200 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Mishnah: A New Translation. Translated by Jacob NeusnerJacob NeusnerJacob Neusner is an American academic scholar of Judaism who lives in Rhinebeck, New York.-Biography:Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Neusner was educated at Harvard University, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America , the University of Oxford, and Columbia University.Neusner is often celebrated...
, 190, 202, 323, 778–80. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4. - ToseftaToseftaThe Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...
: Berakhot 1:10, 4:16; Bikkurim 2:2; Megillah 3:35; Avodah Zarah 3:4; Chullin 7:1–8. Land of Israel, circa 300 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Tosefta: Translated from the Hebrew, with a New Introduction. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 1:6, 26, 348, 652; 2:1269, 1393–95. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 2002. ISBN 1-56563-642-2. - Jerusalem TalmudJerusalem TalmudThe Jerusalem Talmud, talmud meaning "instruction", "learning", , is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the 2nd-century Mishnah which was compiled in the Land of Israel during the 4th-5th century. The voluminous text is also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud de-Eretz Yisrael...
: Berakhot 17b, 83a, 84b; Sheviit 72a; Orlah 34a. Land of Israel, circa 400 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Yerushalmi. Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, vols. 1, 2, 6b, 12. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2005–2008. - Genesis RabbaGenesis RabbaGenesis Rabba is a religious text from Judaism's classical period. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletical interpretations of the Book of Genesis ....
h 75:1–83:5. Land of Israel, 5th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Genesis. Translated by H. Freedman and Maurice Simon. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2.
- Babylonian TalmudTalmudThe Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
: Berakhot 4a, 12b; Shabbat 32a, 33b, 55b, 85a, 86a, 134b; Eruvin 53a; Pesachim 7b, 22a, 47b, 54a, 83b, 118b, 119b; Yoma 77b; Sukkah 5b, 39a; Beitzah 12a; Rosh Hashanah 26a; Taanit 20b, 27b; Megillah 11a, 17a, 18a, 21b, 25a–b; Chagigah 5b; Yevamot 65b; Nedarim 31b; Nazir 23a; Sotah 22b, 36b, 41b; Kiddushin 21b, 55a; Bava Kamma 41a, 92a; Bava Metzia 86b; Bava Batra 15b, 74b, 115b–16a, 123b; Sanhedrin 39b, 56a, 59a, 82b, 94a, 98b, 99b, 102a; Makkot 7b, 11a–b, 21b; Avodah Zarah 8b, 11b, 25b; Horayot 10b, 12a; Chullin 7b, 69a, 89b–103b, 134b, 137b; Keritot 21a; Niddah 63a. Babylonia, 6th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Bavli. Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 vols. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.
Medieval
- Solomon ibn GabirolSolomon ibn GabirolSolomon ibn Gabirol, also Solomon ben Judah , was an Andalucian Hebrew poet and Jewish philosopher with a Neoplatonic bent. He was born in Málaga about 1021; died about 1058 in Valencia.-Biography:...
. A Crown for the King, 36:488–89. Spain, 11th Century. Translated by David R. Slavitt, 66–67. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-19-511962-2. - RashiRashiShlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
. Commentary. Genesis 32–36. TroyesTroyesTroyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
, France, late 11th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Rashi. The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated. Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, 1:359–407. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1995. ISBN 0-89906-026-9.
- ZoharZoharThe Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on Mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology...
1:165b–79a. Spain, late 13th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., The Zohar. Translated by Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon. 5 vols. London: Soncino Press, 1934.
Modern
- Johann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
. Letter to Sara von Grothuss. 1812. Quoted in Solomon Goldman. In the Beginning, 634. Harper, 1949. (“This foolish Dinah who runs about in the land.”) - RumpelstiltskinRumpelstiltskinRumpelstiltskin is the eponymous character and protagonist of a fairy tale which originated in Germany . The tale was collected by the Brothers Grimm, who first published it in the 1812 edition of Children's and Household Tales...
. (power of a true nameTrue nameA true name is a name of a thing or being that expresses, or is somehow identical with, its true nature. The notion that language, or some specific sacred language, refers to things by their true names has been central to philosophical and grammatical study as well as various traditions of magic,...
). In Jacob GrimmJacob GrimmJacob Ludwig Carl Grimm was a German philologist, jurist and mythologist. He is best known as the discoverer of Grimm's Law, the author of the monumental Deutsches Wörterbuch, the author of Deutsche Mythologie and, more popularly, as one of the Brothers Grimm, as the editor of Grimm's Fairy...
& Wilhelm GrimmWilhelm GrimmWilhelm Carl Grimm was a German author, the younger of the Brothers Grimm.-Life and work:...
. Children's and Household Tales. Germany, 1812. Reprinted in, e.g., The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. Edited by Lily Owens, 203-06. New York: Gramercy Books, 2006. ISBN 0-517-09293-X. - Emily DickinsonEmily DickinsonEmily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
. Poem 59 (A little East of Jordan,). Circa 1859. In The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Edited by Thomas H. Johnson, 31. New York: Little, Brown & Co., 1960. ISBN 0-316-18414-4. - Abraham Isaac KookAbraham Isaac KookAbraham Isaac Kook was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate for Palestine, the founder of the Religious Zionist Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, Jewish thinker, Halachist, Kabbalist and a renowned Torah scholar...
. The Lights of Penitence, 14:40. 1925. Reprinted in Abraham Isaac Kook: the Lights of Penitence, the Moral Principles, Lights of Holiness, Essays, Letters, and Poems. Translated by Ben Zion BokserBen Zion Bokser-Biography:Bokser was born in Lubomi, Poland, and emigrated to the United States at the age of 13 in 1920. He attended City College of New York and Rabbi Isaac Elhanan Theological Seminary, followed by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Columbia University...
, 111. Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press 1978. ISBN 0-8091-2159-X. - Irving Fineman. Jacob, An Autobiograhical Novel. New York: Random House, 1941.
- Thomas MannThomas MannThomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
. Joseph and His BrothersJoseph and His BrothersJoseph and His Brothers is a four-part novel by Thomas Mann, written over the course of 16 years. Mann retells the familiar stories of Genesis, from Jacob to Joseph , setting it in the historical context of the Amarna Period...
. Translated by John E. WoodsJohn E. WoodsJohn E. Woods is a translator who specializes in translating German literature, since about 1978. His work includes much of the fictional prose of Arno Schmidt and the works of contemporary authors such as Ingo Schulze and Christoph Ransmayr...
, 51–53, 64–65, 69–73, 77, 84–85, 100–03, 112–51, 155–56, 239, 294, 303–14, 326, 335, 399–400, 402–04, 426–27, 429, 432, 438, 446, 454, 491, 500–01, 507, 515, 563, 805, 917. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-4001-9. Originally published as Joseph und seine Brüder. Stockholm: Bermann-Fischer Verlag, 1943. - Elie WieselElie WieselSir Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel KBE; born September 30, 1928) is a Hungarian-born Jewish-American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He is the author of 57 books, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz, Buna, and...
. “And Jacob Fought the Angel.” In Messengers of God: Biblical Portraits & Legends, 103–38. New York: Random House, 1976. ISBN 0-394-49740-6. - Pat SchneiderPat SchneiderPat Schneider is an American writer, poet and editor.-Biography:Schneider was educated at Central College in Missouri, and earned her MA from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. In 1979 she became a graduate of the MFA Program for Poets & Writers at the University of...
Welcoming Angels. In Long Way Home: Poems, 90. Amherst, Mass.: Amherst Writers and Artists Press, 1993. ISBN 0-941895-11-4. - Aaron WildavskyAaron WildavskyAaron Wildavsky was an American political scientist known for his pioneering work in public policy, government budgeting, and risk management....
. Assimilation versus Separation: Joseph the Administrator and the Politics of Religion in Biblical Israel, 6, 27–28. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 1993. ISBN 1-56000-081-3. - Anita DiamantAnita DiamantAnita Diamant is an American author of fiction and non-fiction books. She is best known for her novel, The Red Tent, a New York Times best seller...
. The Red TentThe Red TentThe Red Tent is a novel by Anita Diamant, published in 1997 by Wyatt Books for St. Martin's Press. It is a first-person narrative that tells the story of Dinah, daughter of Jacob and sister of Joseph, a talented midwife and proto-feminist. She is a minor character in the Bible, but the author has...
. St. Martin's Press, 1997. ISBN 0-312-16978-7. - Adele ReinhartzAdele ReinhartzAdele Reinhartz is a Canadian academic and a specialist in the history and literature of Christianity and Judaism in the Greco-Roman period, the Gospel of John, early Jewish-Christian relations, literary criticism including feminist literary criticism, feminist exegesis, and the impact of the Bible...
. “Why Ask My Name?” Anonymity and Identity in Biblical Narrative. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-19-509970-2. - Victor Hurowitz. “Whose Earrings Did Jacob Bury?” Bible ReviewBible ReviewBible Review was a publication that sought to connect the academic study of the Bible to a broad general audience. Covering both the Old and New Testaments, Bible Review presented critical and historical interpretations of biblical texts, and “reader-friendly Biblical scholarship” from 1985 to...
17 (4) (Aug. 2001): 31–33, 54. - William H.C. Propp. “Exorcising Demons.” Bible Review 20 (5) (Oct. 2004): 14–21, 47.
- Suzanne A. Brody. “Deborah” and “Encountering Dinah.” In Dancing in the White Spaces: The Yearly Torah Cycle and More Poems, 69–70. Shelbyville, Kentucky: Wasteland Press, 2007. ISBN 1-60047-112-9.
- Esther JungreisEsther JungreisEsther Jungreis is the founder of the international Hineni movement in America. A Holocaust survivor, she has made it her life's mission to bring back Jews to Orthodox Judaism.-Biography:...
. Life Is a Test, 80–81. Brooklyn: Shaar Press, 2007. ISBN 1-4226-0609-0. - Edward M. KennedyTed KennedyEdward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
. True Compass, 58. New York: Twelve, 2009. ISBN 978-0-446-53925-8. (“Dad took precautions in booking several of us on two different ships, not wishing to lose all of us in a torpedo attack by one of the U-boats that now prowled the North Atlantic’s depths.”)
Texts
Commentaries
- Academy for Jewish Religion, California
- Academy for Jewish Religion, New York
- American Jewish University
- Bar-Ilan University
- Chabad.org
- Department for Jewish Zionist Education
- eparsha.com
- Jewish Theological Seminary
- Miriam Aflalo
- Orthodox Union
- Parshah Parts
- Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld
- Reconstructionist Judaism
- Sephardic Institute
- Tanach Study Center
- Torah.org
- Union for Reform Judaism
- United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth
- United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism