וַיִּשְׁלַח
Vayishlach/And He Sent
Genesis 32:3-36:43
HafTorah Obadiah 1:1-21
Brit Chadasha Matthew 26:36-46

    Jacob, the man, maneuvered his life as a man. In this Torah portion, however, his name is changed from Jacob, the man to Israel. Genesis 32:28,  becoming the namesake of a mighty nation. Vayishlach shows Jacob/Israel in a new way. 
     Vayishlach opens with Jacob’s fear of meeting his brother, Esau. Genesis 32:7-8 states: ‘In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. 8 He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape.” The fear was real as he was contemplating an attack from his brother. 
     Vayishlach also shows a conflict of good versus evil, light versus dark and flesh versus spirit. 
    In Genesis 33 Jacob/Israel and Esau meet. Esau’s toxic aggressiveness begins with his kiss, as it is taught that it was the kiss of death.  He wants to give the gifts back, journey with Jacob,thus intertwining his life with that of Jacob’s. This was an attempt to try and validate his authority over Jacob’s.  Finally, Esau wants to leave some of his people with Jacob, which Jacob declines.  Jacob doesn’t waiver and reveals the new character of strength towards the God of Israel. Jacob also shows servanthood, which is also an act of authority, for he gives to his brother, bowing, offering gifts and giving all credit to God.  ‘Please, take my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” So he urged him, and he took it.’ Genesis 33:11. Once again, Jacob gave and Esau took the gift, as in the red stew. At the end of chapter 33, Jacob erected an alter and called it ‘El Elohe Israel.’ 
     Jacob/Israel was wise enough to recognize the power struggle between him and his brother, and to keep his authority over Esau who tried unsuccessfully to command authority over Jacob. 
Proverbs 22:5 ‘Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;
He who guards his soul will be far from them.’ 
Ephesians 5:11 ‘And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.’ 
Proverbs 4:14-17 ‘Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evil. 15 Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn away from it and pass on.
16 For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; and their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall. 17 For they eat the bread of wickedness,
and drink the wine of violence.’
     In Genesis 33:18-20 Jacob buys land. ‘Having traveled from Paddan-Aram, Ya‘akov arrived safely at the city of Sh’khem, in Kena‘an, and set up camp near the city. 19 From the sons of Hamor Sh’khem’s father he bought for one hundred pieces of silver the parcel of land where he had pitched his tent. 20 There he put up an altar, which he called El-Elohei-Yisra’el [God, the God of Isra’el].’ (CJB}
    This parcel of land once Shechem is now Nablus, in the West Bank. The ruins of the ancient city, also known as Tel Balata are situated in the narrow valley between the mountains of Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal.  Light/good verses dark/evil. 
     In Genesis chapter 34 Dinah is defiled by Shechem, although he greatly desires her and asks for her to be his wife, yet Genesis 34:13-17 reveals the hearts of the sons and their plot. The men agree, not knowing the deceit behind the idea; Genesis 34:25-29.
     Jacob is greatly troubled regarding the violence and in Genesis 35 God tells him and his household to go to Bethel. In Genesis 35:2-4 we are told that Jacob tells his household to put away the foreign gods to purify the camp.  Verse 4 ‘So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.’ 
     These were small idols or images that families kept in their homes. An example is Rachel and her father’s idol which she stole, besides the many earrings, necklaces, and other jewelry pieces that were used as amulets or talismans for protection or good luck in ancient cultures. 
      In Genesis 35:18-20, after giving birth to Benjamin, Rachel dies and was buried on the way to Ephrath.  In Genesis 35:22 Reuben lies with his father’s concubine, ‘…and Israel heard about it.’ 
    Chapter 35 ends with the death of Isaac and chapter 36 contains the lineage of Esau stating: ‘Esau was the father of the Edomites.’ Genesis 36:43, which is the end of Vayishlach.
      In Genesis 35:9-11 Jacob is changed from a man Jacob to a nation, Israel. God introduces Jacob as Jacob and then reintroduces the prophecy of Israel. ‘Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. 10 And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel. 11 Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.’
    Jacob is new and changed, as we are new and changed stated in 2 Corinthians 5:16-19. In this verse, Paul exhorts us to leave the flesh, and states that we are reconciled to God by God through Yeshua. The purpose of reconciliation is to cause two groups to come together again, and a definition of reconciliation is to restore. One cannot reconcile with another or restore a relationship if there was never a relationship to begin with. Therefore, Paul is reminding us that we were once with God and His Word, but we broke off from God and assimilated into pagan cultures. 
    It is only through the Living Word, John 1:1 we reconcile back to God.      
     

 וַיִּשְׁלַח
 Vayishlach/And He Sent
Genesis 32:3-36:43
HafTorah Obadiah 1:1-21
Brit Chadasha Matthew 26:36-46
     
   The nation of Israel was named after the man Jacob.  On the surface, it doesn’t seem that he would be the most obvious choice of hero. He was surrounded by conflict: with his brother Esau, his father-in-law Laban, his wives, Leah and Rachel, and his children, whose sibling rivalry eventually brought the whole family into exile in Egypt. His life seems to have been a field of tension.
     But Vayishlach shows Jacob in a new way. The Torah portion begins with: ‘ Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4 He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my lord Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now. 5 I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.’” Genesis 32:3-5.
     As in the last Torah portion, we see character traits that expose strength, humility, and doubt. 
    In Genesis 32:7-12 he understands the consequences that may be approaching him. Because of the conflict between his brother, Esau, and himself, he experiences fear and distress, yet rationally thinks to protect his camp. Then in his human frailty, he reminds God of His promise. ‘You said to me…’ He follows that reminder with ‘I am afraid…’
     In our lives, we often surrender the battle before it is even fought. Maybe there would not even be a battle if we had simply reminded ourselves; which is what Jacob does here; that God is fighting the battles for us and with us.  Jacob reminds God a second time in verse 12, ‘But You have said…’
       Doubt, fear, strength, humility, and loyalty. That is what Jacob reveals to us. That is the epitome of our lives, of our faith.  Sometimes, we can fear, and doubt, as we live in obedience and love to the God we serve.  
    Jacob then sends gifts to Esau, in hopes of thwarting the attack and moves his family over the river, while he remains in wait. During the night he wrestles with a spirit and endures a dislocated hip, where his name and walk are changed forever. Some of the sages argue that the spirit was that of Esau, others believe it was the spirit of God, and others still Yeshua. The problem with the theory that it was the spirit of Esau, is that Jacob’s name was changed to Israel. Would the influence of Esau have the authority to change the name, direction, and complete future of a nation? 
     Genesis 32:28 describes; ‘Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” Genesis 35:1 alludes to the fact that it was God; ‘Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”  And Genesis 35:9; ‘After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. 10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.” So He named him Israel.'
     As this parsha continues, Jacob encounters Esau and Esau kisses Jacob’s neck. It is written in the Torah with 6 dots above the letters, alluding to the fact that it was an insincere kiss, ‘the kiss of death’, an incomplete kiss, and a kiss of retaliation. Genesis 33:4 ‘But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.’
      In Genesis chapter 34 Dinah is coveted and raped by Shechem and a deceitful plot of revenge ensues. Genesis 34:13-17 ‘Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob’s sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. 14 They said to them, “We can’t do such a thing; we can’t give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. 15 We will enter into an agreement with you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males. 16 Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We’ll settle among you and become one people with you. 17 But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we’ll take our sister and go.”      Genesis 34:25-29 completes the horrific scene with a painful revenge.
     Jacob continues on his journey, and in Genesis 35:1-5, God instructs Jacob; ‘…then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau…”
      At the end of Genesis 35, a great sadness and tragedy befalls Jacob. His beloved Rachel dies while giving birth to Benjamin, whom she had originally named, Ben-Oni. 
     Beyond the tower of Eder, Israel journeyed and pitched his tent. This was the place where Reuben lay with Bilhah, an event that would continue to haunt him, for it says, “and Israel heard about it…” Genesis 35:22.  Genesis 35 ends with the death of Isaac at the age of 180.  
     This Parshah concludes with an account of Esau’s wives, children, and grandchildren; the family histories of the people of Seir; among whom Esau settled; and a list of the eight kings who ruled Edom, the land of Esau’s and Seir’s descendants. 
     Vayishlach reveal the family puzzles that begot Jacob, complete with deceit, murder, rape, death, torment, extreme sadness, heavenly beings, names being changed, supernatural wrestling, and dismantling of ‘other gods’. 
     Jacob wrestled physically with God. Others in Scripture have wrestled spiritually. Abraham wrestled with God in prayer when he sought to find ten righteous people in Sodom. Moses wrestled with God when being called to go down to the land of Egypt and deliver his people from bondage and slavery.  Job wrestled with God as he sought an answer as to why all the afflictions had come upon him. Saul, Rabbi Shau’l wrestled with God when he was struck down by the blinding light on the road to Damascus.  Maybe even Yeshua wrestled with God, Matthew 26:39 as He prayed, ‘He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
    We read about Rachel and Leah in Genesis 30:1-8, as Rachel calls her relationship with Leah as ‘great wrestling’s.  Rabbi Shau’l mentions wrestling in Ephesians 6:12 when he speaks of taking up the armor of God, ‘For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.’
    We, too wrestle as we journey through this fleshly life. The word wrestle comes from the Hebrew word pathal which means “to struggle”. So, to wrestle with God really means to struggle with Him, but our wrestling is with ourselves.  The world is overpowering, and the enemy is cunning as he maneuvers around God’s people, ensnaring us with our wants and egos. Rabbi Shaul explains in Romans 7:18-20. ‘For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do.’
     God does not say to us, "There are no difficulties. You can avoid all the complexities of life, all the moral dilemmas." But rather, He is there for us and wants us to turn/ teshuva / to Him and make decisions in our lives according to Him.

Vayishlach/And He Sent
Genesis 32:3-36:43
HafTorah Obadiah 1:1-21
Brit Chadasha Matthew 26:36-46

    Worldly affairs, people, culture and customs morph myths into facts. Facts become obscure, while myths become the truth. The definition of a myth: “A myth is a genre of folklore or theology consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. For folklorists, historians, philosophers or theologians this is very different from the use of "myth" which simply meaning something that is not true. Instead, the truth value of a myth is not a defining criterion. Myths are often endorsed by secular and religious authorities and are closely linked to religion.” 
    As Torah observant believers in Yeshua, we rely on the Torah, the written word of God, to reveal and delete the myths in our lives.  We lean not on our own understanding: Proverbs 3:5-6, therefore trusting and cleaving to the truth: Psalm 119:160 and John 17:17. 
     Today, more than any other time, we are living in a world of myths to the degree of insanity. Good has become evil, and evil has been forced upon us as something good, something true and something proper. The myths of evil have morphed into a sense of logic, however unrealistic it truly is. 
    This Torah portion begins with very realistic emotions from Jacob. He was about to come face to face with his brother, Esau, whom Jacob had deceived, knowing that Esau had vowed to kill him. Jacob is responsible for his entire camp; servants, women, children and livestock, which he divides and separates before he encounters Esau and his men. 
    In Genesis 32:9-12 Jacob reminds God of His promise to him, meanwhile showing extreme humility regarding the gifts of kindness and prosperity that God has bestowed upon him. The Scripture in Genesis 32:7 states that Jacob was in distress and fearful. 
    In the rest of chapter 32, Jacob overcomes again as he wrestles with an unknown source. His name at that very moment is changed to Israel, Genesis 32:28. 
   The facts are that Jacob, as the man was in distress to encounter Esau. But moments later, he wrestles with the Messenger who changes his name to Israel after he overcomes and he is stronger for it. His name is changed to represent the land, the dust, the rocks, the water, the people, the Word, and the very ground of El Shaddai. No one else ever had their name changed to represent that piece of earth, the place that God chose, the place and the people of God. No one has ever been named Mr. Gaza, or Mr. United States. No man ever wrestled with The Messenger and had their name changed to Canada or Iraq or Palestine.  Except for the man Jacob, one of the three patriarchs, undeniable and factually had his name changed to Israel by the Creator of the Earth, YHWH. 
    In Genesis 33:4, the two brothers meet. It states that Esau embraced his brother and kissed him on the neck. However, that Hebrew word for kiss in the Torah has six dots above each Hebrew letter.  These dots represent the teeth marks of Esau: the hate and the evil towards his brother Jacob.  Esau made a vow to kill Jacob in Genesis 27:41, a vow which he never rescinded. 
    In Genesis 35, Dinah is assaulted by Shechem, a Hittite, who later claims he loved her, and asks for her to be his wife. Is rape a form of love? The Scroll of Yasher states that Shechem’s soul became ‘fixed upon Dinah’. It states that he seized her forcibly, violated her, then placed her in his house’.  Was this love or a trophy for Shechem.  Jacob sends twelve of his men to retrieve Dinah, but ‘Shechem drove them away and would not suffer them to come get Dinah, but Shechem was sitting with her kissing and embracing her before their eyes.’ The myth would be that he loved her, but we see from the Scroll of Yasher he was parading her in front of her family as his trophy. 
    In Genesis 34, God again reiterates the Name Israel: ‘Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. 10 And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel. 11 Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. 12 The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.” 13 Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him. 14 So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it. 15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.’ Genesis 35:9-15.
    Vayishlach ends with the history of Esau’s lineage. The very last sentence, Genesis 36:43, states that Esau was the father of the Edomites. 
   Some very popular myths from religions have been taken as the truth for centuries are:
    1. Yeshua was born in a barn and slept in a manger in the winter on December 25. Truth:  It was fall, Sukkot. December 25 was settled upon by Church officials at the end of the third century because they wanted the date to coincide with existing pagan festivals honoring Saturn (the Roman god of agriculture) and Mithra (the Persian god of light). Thus, making it easier to convince Rome’s pagan subjects to accept Christianity as the empire’s official religion. 
    2. The Christmas Tree represents the cross upon which Jesus was crucified, also a symbol of good will and love. Truth: The Christmas tree began as a pagan tradition as early as the fourth century C.E. European pagans were largely responsible for dressing their homes with the branches of evergreen fir trees in order to bring color and light into their dull winters. But pagans weren't the only people to do this. Romans also used the branches for decoration during the festival of Saturnalia, which took place from December 17 to December 23 in honor of the god, Saturn. During the time of Jeremiah, trees were decorated, which the prophet warns against in Jeremiah 10:1-5.
    3. Eve ate an apple. Truth: Genesis 3:6 states simply fruit, probably a pomegranate. 
    4. The Trinity. Truth: The word Trinity is never mentioned in Scripture.
    5. Love the sinner; hate the sin. Truth: This phrase is never mentioned in Scripture.
    6. The phrase “God won’t give you more than you can handle” is not in Scripture. Truth: In fact, in 
2 Corinthians 1:8 Paul states: ‘For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life.’ Paul goes on to say he lived because he didn’t trust in himself, but God who delivered him.
   7. Easter is the resurrection day of ‘Jesus’. Truth: Yeshua rose after the Sabbath, (Saturday Eve). Easter has roots in ancient pagan traditions that date back thousands of years. One central theme of Easter is rebirth and renewal. In ancient pagan traditions, the spring equinox was a time for celebrating the return of the sun and the renewal of life on earth. Many cultures held festivals and ceremonies to mark the arrival of spring, involving offerings to gods and goddesses associated with fertility, growth, and abundance.
    8. The Sabbath was changed to Sunday. Truth: several verses in the Brit Chadasha validate Shabbat. One such verse is Luke 4:16. Sunday was implemented by Constatine on March 7, 321 AD.
    9. The ‘Old Testament’ was done away with. Truth: the Tanakh is often quoted in the Brit Chadasha especially by Yeshua and Rabbi Shaul.
    10. Once saved, always saved. This quote is not in Scripture. Truth: John 3:15, 5:24, Romans 8:1, etc. state that Yeshua gives us eternal life. However, nothing can force us to separate ourselves from God except us. HaSatan suggested to Eve. He didn’t make her; she choose. The Book of Hebrews debunks this myth: Hebrews 6:4-6, 10:26-47, and Hebrews 10:38-39. 
    Myths can easily become the truth. Only through The Truth of Scripture can we debunk the myths and lies that may hold us captive.