VayishlachArtscroll p.170 | Haftarah p.1139Hertz p.122 | Haftarah p.135Soncino p.195 | Haftarah p.220

Volume 31No. 12

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In loving memory of Mordechai Avraham ben Nechemia

“Yaakov arrived intact at the city of Shechem which is in the Land of Cana’an, upon his arriving fromPaddan-aram, and he encamped before the city. He bought the parcel of land upon which he pitchedhis tent from the children of Chamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred kesitahs” (Bereishit 33:18-19).

24 November 2018 16 Kislev 5779

Shabbat ends London 4.53pmJerusalem 5.15pm

The city of Shechem, viewed from Mount Gerizim

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Sidrah Summary: Vayishlach

United Synagogue Daf HashavuaProduced by US Living & Learning together with the Rabbinical Council of the United SynagogueEditor: Rabbi Chaim Gross Editor-in-Chief: Rabbi Baruch Davis Editorial Team: Rabbi Daniel Sturgess, Rabbi Michael Laitner, Sharon RadleyAvailable also via email US website www.theus.org.uk ©United SynagogueTo sponsor Daf Hashavua please contact Danielle Fox on 020 8343 6261, or dfox@theus.org.ukIf you have any comments or questions regarding Daf Hashavua please email rabbigross@theus.org.uk

1st Aliya (Kohen) – Bereishit 32:4-13Yaakov sends angels to inform his brother Esavthat he is returning home, after decades away.Yaakov’s message offers Esav the chance tomake peace, but also conveys Yaakov’s ownstrength (Rashi). The angels return, warningYaakov that Esav is approaching with 400 men.Yaakov becomes afraid, divides his camp intotwo and prays to God for survival (see p.3article).

2nd Aliya (Levi) – 32:14-30Yaakov sends copious gifts to Esav, hoping toappease him. That night, Yaakov’s family crossesover the Yabok stream. Yaakov is left alone. He is attacked by ‘a man’, identified by the Midrashas the ministering angel of Esav. They wrestleuntil dawn. The ‘man’, unable to defeat Yaakov,nevertheless dislocates Yaakov’s hip. The ‘man’then tells Yaakov that his name will later changeto ‘Yisrael’ and blesses him.

3rd Aliya (Shlishi) – 32:31-33:5Yaakov’s injury is the source of the prohibition ofeating the sciatic nerve of an animal. As Esavapproaches, Yaakov bows to him seven times.Esav embraces and kisses Yaakov, and theyboth weep.

Question: Which word in this aliyah has six dotson top of it? Answer on bottom of page 6.

4th Aliya (Revi’i) – 33:6-33:20Each person in Yaakov’s family bows to Esav.Yaakov successfully urges Esav to accept thegifts that he had sent. Esav suggests that he and Yaakov travel together, but Yaakov politelydeclines. Esav departs for Seir and Yaakovdeparts for a place called Succot. Yaakov thentravels to Shechem.

5th Aliya (Chamishi) – 34:1-35:11Dinah is captured and violated by Shechem theson of Chamor, ruler of the town. Shechem falls

in love with Dinah and asks his father to secureher as his wife, whilst still holding Dinah captive.Yaakov’s sons are outraged. Chamor speaks tothem, suggesting that their two families unite inmarriage, as well as offering them trade and landprospects. Shechem offers a large dowry forDinah. Yaakov’s sons trick Chamor andShechem – they offer the Israelite girls only if allthe town’s males are circumcised. Chamor andShechem agree; all the men of the towncircumcise themselves. Three days later, whenthey are in great pain, Shimon and Levi kill themall, take Dinah back and plunder the town.Yaakov rebukes them.

God appears to Yaakov, telling him to go back toBeit El, where he originally built an altar whenescaping from Esav. As the angel had previouslyforetold, God changes Yaakov’s name to Yisrael.

Point to Consider: Why did Yaakov rebukeShimon and Levi? (see Rashi to 34:30)

6th Aliya (Shishi) – 35:12-36:19Rachel dies whilst giving birth to Binyamin andis buried in Beit Lechem. After Rachel’s death,Reuven, Leah’s son, moves his father’s bed outof Bilhah’s tent and into Leah’s (Rashi). Yitzchakdies, aged 180. He is buried by Esav and Yaakov.Esav’s descendants are listed.

7th Aliya (Shevi’i) – 36:20-36:43The Torah lists eight Edomite kings and theirorigins.

HaftarahThe Haftarah, according to the general UnitedSynagogue custom, is taken from the Book of Hoshea (ch. 11-12). The prophet refers toevents in Yaakov’s life, including his strugglewith the angel. Hoshea encourages the peopleto learn from Yaakov’s responses to thespiritual challenges he faced, so that they canbecome worthy of being his descendants.

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3In memory of Tzemach ben Yisrael

Tense Encounters by Rabbi Nick Kett, Assistant Rabbi, Bushey and District United Synagogue

Perhaps the most tenseconfrontation that we find inthe entire Chumash (HebrewBible) takes place in thisweek’s sidrah – Yaakov’sreunion with his brother Esav.The last time they had seeneach other was 36 years

previously, when Yaakov had managed toreceive the blessings which his father Yitzchakhad originally intended for Esav (see Rashi toBereishit 28:9). Under threat of death, at hisparents’ command, Yaakov fled into lengthyexile, during which time he married, fatheredmany children and accumulated great wealth inhis uncle Lavan’s home.

Yaakov was acutely aware that Esav would be harbouring resentment and anger, and Rashi(d. 1105), analysing the verses, writes that the Torah mentions three tactics that Yaakovadopted in preparation for his tense encounterwith his brother:

1. Gifts – he sent over 500 animals as gifts inan attempt to appease Esav.

2. Prayer – Yaakov asked God to save himfrom Esav, reminding Him of His previouspromises of shelter and care.

3. Preparing for War – Yaakov split hishousehold into two camps, so that onecould flee if the other would have to fightagainst Esav.

The Slonimer Rebbe (Rabbi Sholom NoachBerezovsky d. 2000) writes that we can learn from Yaakov’s strategies in relation to hisimpending confrontation with Esav and applythese tactics more broadly to the spiritualchallenges that we face:

1. One must be willing to invest time and evenmoney into overcoming those temptationswhich can create distance in our relationshipwith God. For example, volunteering in ourlocal community or another worthy causeoffers a readily available opportunity to

make such investments. Similarly, it can often take investments to help mend a broken or fractured relationship with other people, such as by sending a gift.

2. The power of prayer is oftenunderestimated. However, turning to God,asking for our needs to be met and placing our trust and our lives in His hands is just as important as any other strategy we may put in place.

Prayer has other benefits, beyond ourneeds. The daily prayers concentrate onthings that we might ordinarily not spendtime thinking about; the rebuilding ofJerusalem, the arrival of Mashiach (theMessiah) and the health and wellbeing ofothers. Our liturgy therefore guides us to expand our thinking, and to understand that God is the address for all issues. Thatitself equips us for challenges ahead.

3. The tests that we face – be it with others or with ourselves – may demand severalstrategies in order to succeed. We mayneed to ‘split our camp’ and tackle an issuein multiple ways. Whilst it is important tobelieve in ourselves, that we are capable ofbeing victorious and successful, back-upplans are also advisable.

In the end, Yaakov safely negotiated the perilous encounter with Esav. We hope that we will also succeed in our own challenges.Based on the teachings of Rabbi Berezovsky, that success may well be dependent on theastuteness of our strategies.

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4In memory of Moshe ben Avraham Zarach

Jewish Contemporary Ethics Part 10: The Written and OralTorah II by Rabbi Dr Moshe Freedman, New West End Synagogue

We have previouslydiscussed that the Torah isGod’s Divine wisdom,crystallised into a finiteform for mankind to studyand keep. In turn, studyingTorah and keeping mitzvotconnects each one of us to

our Creator, ensuring that our actions resonatewith His Divine moral vision for all humanity.

God’s wisdom is not exclusively relevant to theJewish people, but contains significance andapplicability to all humanity – Jews and non-Jewsalike. Indeed, the Torah contains a universaleducational and legal system known as the shevamitzvot bnei Noach, the seven Noachide laws.These laws, which are incumbent on all ofhumanity, require the establishment of legal andjudicial systems. Blasphemy, idolatry, murder,theft, and sexual immorality are prohibited, aswell as eating a limb torn off a living animal.

Yet it was not until ten generations after Noachthat the message of universal morality took hold.When Avraham departed from his homeland and left towards the Land of Cana’an, the Torahdescribes how he travelled with “the souls thatthey [Avraham and Sarah] had made in Charan”.Rashi (d. 1105) cites a Midrash, which explainsthat Avraham and Sarah had spread the conceptof monotheism and its theology of universalDivine morality and “brought [these individuals]under the wings of the Divine Presence”.

The historical importance of the Noachide lawsmust not be underestimated. The greatRenaissance jurists, such as Hugo Grotius (d. 1645) and John Selden (d. 1654) refer to themas the ‘law of all nations’ and ‘Natural Law’.

Today, according to a 2012 report by the Pew Research Center, entitled The GlobalReligious Landscape, the three Abrahamic faithsof Judaism, Christianity and Islam make up a

total of 57.3% of the world population. However,the non-Abrahamic faiths, such as Hinduism andBuddhism, who make up a further 22.1%, appearto be excluded from this universal message.

Nonetheless, Rabbi Menashe ben Israel (d. 1657), who corresponded directly with HugoGrotius regarding the nature of the Noachidelaws, asserts that Abrahamic monotheistic ethicshave become truly global. After Sarah passedaway, Avraham married Ketura and had moresons (see Bereishit 25:1) who were sent away to“the east” with gifts (ibid. 25:6). Rabbi Ben Israelexplains that the gifts were the gifts of knowledgeand “the east” refers to India, where Avraham’ssons disseminated his teachings. Theseteachings ultimately filtered into the Easternreligions which exist today. He notesastonishingly that the term ‘Brahman’ which inHinduism denotes the Ultimate Reality in theuniverse, is related to the word ‘Abrahamim’meaning the sons of Avraham.

Rabbi Menashe ben Israel’s point is that Avrahamand Sarah succeeded in globally disseminatingmonotheistic ethics. Although a contentiouspoint, many argue that even Western secular law is historically rooted in Torah values. TheJewish vision of an ethical utopia is not one of conformity to Jewish law, but one wherehumanity recognises God and adheres to Hisvision of universal ethics, for the greater good of all mankind.

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5In memory of Frida Mirel bat Chaim Simcha

A Dying Person’s Last Wishes by Dayan Elimelech Vanzetta, Rabbi of Ahavas Yisrael United Synagogue,Rabbinical and Halachic Administrator for US Burial

In 2016 Kees Veldboer, fromRotterdam (Netherlands), wonthe BBC’s Outlook AnnualAward for the incredible workof a charity he founded in2006, called The AmbulanceWish Foundation. It all startedwhen Mr Veldboer, an

ambulance driver, was called to transport MarioStefanutto, a terminally ill patient, from onehospital to another. After the patient had alreadybeen put on the stretcher, Mr Vedlboer wasinformed that the receiving hospital was not yetready to take in the patient. Mr Stefanutto saidthat he was not willing to go back to the hospitalwhere he had just spent three months. MrVeldboer then asked an impromptu question: “Isthere anywhere you would like to go in themeantime?”

Mr Stefanutto explained that he was a retiredseaman; he would love to have a chance to saygoodbye to Rotterdam harbour. For about anhour, the patient and the ambulance driverstayed on the harbour’s dockside. Mr Veldboerthen asked Mr Stefanutto another question:“Would you like to sail again?” After receiving apositive response, Mr Veldboer asked his boss ifhe could borrow an ambulance on his day off. Healso contacted a boat company. On the followingFriday, he picked up Mr Stefanutto from hishospital bed and took him sailing on those verywaters which had been such a major part of hislife.

This story piqued the interest of Rabbi YairHoffmann (a contemporary scholar in America)who correctly writes that actions like that of the ambulance driver clearly fulfil the mitzvah of ve’ahavtah lere’achah kamochah – love yourneighbour as yourself (Vayikra 19:18).

In addition, the Shulchan Aruch (Code of JewishLaw, w. 1563) states the obligation to fulfil a dyingperson’s wishes after their passing. We find twoclear examples of this in the Book of Bereishit.

Firstly, Yaakov instructs Yosef not to bury him inEgypt but rather to bury him with his forefathers,in their burial place in Cana’an (47:29-31).Secondly, several years later, Yosef himselfinstructed his descendants to carry his remainswith them for interment in the Land, which onlyhappened hundreds of year later, in the days ofMoshe, when God finally redeemed the Israelitesfrom Egyptian bondage.

At US Burial we are accustomed to dealing withthe wishes of people in their final days. We striveto maintain Jewish law and tradition whilst doing our utmost to accommodate people’s finalwishes.

What happens when it is not clear whethersomeone’s final wish conforms with halacha?What happens when it is clear that it evencontradicts it? Such situations arise from time to time and can cause bereaved families anguish, as they might feel torn betweenadhering to Jewish Law and fulfilling their lovedone’s wishes. US Burial has a wealth ofexperience in dealing with such scenarios withcare and understanding. We strive to provide the necessary guidance to all those who need it,so that even when it is not possible to fulfil a loved one’s last wish, our members will bereassured by the fact that they sought rabbinicguidance, and, by complying with that guidance,ultimately performed a true act of lovingkindnesstowards their departed loved ones.

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6In memory of David Yochanan ben Moshe

Willesden Jewish Cemetery’s War Memorial

The first recorded memorial stones in the Torah are the ‘tombstone’ for Rachel, as described in thisweek’s sidrah (Bereishit 35:20), and set up by Yaakov.

As we mark the 100th anniversary of the World War One armistice, it provides an opportune time tofocus on Jewish war memorials from World War One and other wars.

The first known Jewish national war memorial is at Willesden Jewish Cemetery, pictured below. It followed earlier memorials built in local communities, such as the Central, Hampstead, New West End and St John’s Wood Synagogues and complements additional memorials at Willesden and other US cemeteries, such as East Ham.

As we reflect on 100 years since the Armistice of World War One, such memorials provide apermanent recollection of those who fell in that conflict and others. May their memories be for a blessing.

Answer: vayishakehu ("and kissed him" - 33:4)

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