Genesis 32:4-36:43 | Hosea 11:7-12:12 (Ashkenazim) | Obadiah 1:1-21 (Sephardim) | Mark 1:29-45

This week's edition of The Set Table contains:

Questions and Commentary on Shabbat Vayyishlach
Chayyei Yeshua - A Devotional Commentary on the Besora Reading
Looking Ahead

Questions & Commentary on Parashat Vayyishlach

1. In this week's parasha, Jacob's encounter a "man" whom he wrestles with all night in order to secure God's blessing. At the close of this incident we read "And the sun rose for him [Jacob]" (Genesis 32:21). How can it be said that sun rose just "for him"? Did not the sun rise for the benefit of all? What can we learn from this? How is this passage connected to Chanukka and the Messianic redemption? 

Rabbi Jason Sobel

As a result of his divine encounter, Jacob was seriously wounded and was in need of healing. Therefore, according to Jewish tradition, the LORD miraculously caused the sun to rise prematurely upon Jacob so that he might be healed in preparation for his encounter with Esau.  

But how could an early sunrise, as miraculous as it might be, bring about a special healing for Jacob? According to our sages, this was no ordinary light that rose for Jacob; it was the Or Hagganuz, the primordial divine light of creation that originally lit up the world.  Adam and Eve initially basked in this supernal light for three days until the LORD hid it due to the sinfulness of humanity.  

How is this light connected to Jacob's healing, Chanukka, and the final redemption? In part, the answer to these questions is found in the numerical value of the Hebrew word lo which literally means "for him." In Hebrew, every letter has a numerical value assigned to it. The numerical value of  "to him" is 36 (lamed = 30, and vav = 6), which is the exact number of day light hours that Adam and Eve experienced the special light of creation. 

In addition, the concept of light appears exactly 36 times in the Torah (Rokayach). Thus the numerical value of lo "for him" alludes to fact that it was the Or Hagganuz, the primordial divine Light that the LORD used to bring healing to Jacob.  

Jewish tradition also connects this special light with the Messiah:  

What special divine light are the Jewish people yearning for? For the light of Messiah, as it is written, "And God saw the light that it is good." This teaches us that God foresaw Messiah and his activities even before the creation of the world.

    Pesiqta Rabbati 37 

R. Abba said: "And the light dwells with him" alludes to the royal Messiah.

    Genesis Rabba 1:6  

It is even taught that the name of Messiah is connected to both the continued existence of the sun and to light itself as Midrash Rabba states: 

What is the name of the Messiah? In the house of R. Yannai they said "YINNON is his name, for it is written, ‘May his name be continued (yinnon) as long as the sun' (Psalm 72:17)."  R. Biva said "NEHIRA [‘Light'] is his name, for it is written, ‘And the light [nehora] dwelleth with him' (Daniel 2:22), and it is spelled nehira." (Lamentations Rabba 1:51 on Lamentations 1:16) 

The Brit Chadasha stands in agreement with these texts and elaborates even further:  

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it . . . That was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

    John 1:4-9 

Then Yeshua spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

    John 8:12 

Based upon these texts it is more than reasonable to conclude that Messiah is both the source of this special light and the one who will bring it forth again in the Messianic Age (see Revelation 21), so that all might bask in the Lord's divine light, thereby finding healing and blessing like Jacob.  

2. Why does the parasha begin with the word Vayyishlach, and what is the significance of Jacob's struggle? 

Joshua Brumbach

This week's parasha continues a theme we saw in last week's parasha, Vayyetze, which began and ended with the mentioning of angels. So too our parasha continues in the same vein. The previous parasha ends with Jacob being met by angels, leading him to call the place Machanayim - as it was the encampment of God.  Immediately this week's parasha begins with the next verse (Genesis 32:4), with the word vayyishlach, with Jacob sending forth those messengers.   

Since the word malachim can mean both human messengers and angles, the rabbis understand this verse to refer to the angels in the previous verse. Therefore, Jacob sends forth both physical and angelic messengers from the camp ahead of him to prepare for meeting Esau. There is a spiritual and physical preparation. However, in between these two events, a mysterious encounter occurs. In the middle of the night Jacob crosses the Yabok River and is left alone. A mysterious being comes and wrestles with Jacob until day break, at which time this mysterious figure blesses Jacob, and gives him the name Israel, "for you have wrestled with God and man and have prevailed" (Genesis 32:29).  

In ancient Near Eastern understanding, the crossing of a river was a symbol of new beginnings and a new start - a sort of rebirth. That is why there is a purposeful connection with the name of the river (Yabok) and the word vayye‘aveq "to wrestle, struggle". It was here, at the river of a new beginning in Jacob's life that he also received a new name and a new identity, Israel. This was a test of Jacob and a preparation for a new beginning in his life: to go from being Jacob to becoming Israel - the father of the twelve tribes and a great patriarch of the Jewish people.  It was a physical and spiritual preparation. 

Although Rashi and other sages identify this mysterious figure as the angel of Esav, there has always also been an understanding of this figure also being more than just an angel. A clue to this is in the Hebrew itself. Not only does it mention that he struggles "with God and with man," but his name is changed to Israel. The definition of "Israel" is "to wrestle/struggle with God". Although you can argue that it may just be figuratively, there are two more hints in the text.   

Jacob asks this being's name, and the being's response is interesting, "Why are you asking my name?" Alone it does not mean anything. However, when one understands that the sacred name of God is often referred to "as the name that no one knows," and the reverence given to the name of God in Jewish understanding, the reference should be obvious. The last clue that this is more than just an angel is in the name Jacob gives to the place afterwards. He calls the place Peniel - the face of God - "because I have seen God face to face, yet my life is spared" (Genesis 32:31). 

Mark 1:29-45 - Desolation and the Miracle

Benjamin Ehrenfeld

Much of the work of Messiah as presented to us in the Besorot has to do with overturning forces that keep the body and soul imprisoned. In fact, it is this very overturning, that threatened all establishments - Yeshua's radical invasion of governments, homes, bodies, souls, and hearts.

This work is very much the work of the LORD of the Exodus. However, before any Promised Land is given to the nation of slaves coming out of Egypt, they are called to the Desert (Exodus 5:1). They are called away from the cacophony of an empire in love with the sound of its own sin. Moses prays to the LORD "outside of the city" (see Exodus 9:33). In fact, all of his encounters with the LORD are away from the presence of Pharaoh. This is the need for the silence that comes from desolation.  

There is another aspect of this desolation. It is the beginning of fear of God. Before a connection characterized by love was established, there was fear and apprehensiveness. This apprehensiveness is also a desolate place from which the power of God can become manifest. 

The LORD begins to become known in the desolate places, to those who will heed the call, to those who will carry the Presence into "society". Nothing established is left safe. Tolerance of oppression, pain, fear, god's made by the hands of man, and empires "creating of worlds" (see Rashi's commentary on Genesis 3:5) are all obliterated by the LORD's defibrillator for creation: the miracle. 

Fast-forward to Yeshua in this week's portion, which begins with Yeshua casting out the illness of Shimon's mother-in-law. This doesn't happen publicly. It happens in the privacy of a home, in the presence of few. Then, it is not until the beginning of night that he heals many people's illnesses and cast out their demons. Finally, he keeps the demons from revealing his identity (see Mark 1:29-34). Mark is showing us that Yeshua was keeping much of his power and identity veiled. The desolation of the not-yet-fully-revealed needed to be maintained. 

The mystery of the power of God can be a frightening thing. It is secretive yet penetrating. It is something less than welcomed by crowds. It is something that necessitates the retreat of its bearer before it can become manifest publicly: "Early in the morning while it was still like night, he got up and went to a desolate place, and there he prayed" (The New Covenant, Barnstone). 

After healing the leper in the following section, Yeshua specifically instructs him to keep quiet about the miracle, but the man does not listen. What follows is what the NIV so poignantly translates as Yeshua "stayed outside in lonely places" (Mark 1:45). 

Every mother feels her birthing pains alone, and these pains are the antithesis to the joy that results from them. The birthing pains of the miracle, and of its agent, are desolation and loneliness. This may be necessary because, only in desolation can we learn to need God fully. Our joy is that it doesn't end with desolation. It ends with the entering of a home, the becoming a people, the becoming a kingdom, and the conquering of death!

NEXT WEEK'S READINGS - PARASHAT VAYYESHEV

Genesis 37:1-40:23
Amos 2:6-3:8
Colossians 1:15-20