Shabbat Table Topics – Parashat Vayishlach/0/en

Shabbat Table Topics – Parashat Vayishlach

Shimon and Levi on Trial

How do you evaluate Shimon and Levi's slaughter of the city of Shekhem?  Should their actions be justified as an appropriate avenging of their sister's honor or be condemned as overly harsh and cruel?

• With which of the above do you agree?  See Sin and Slaughter of Shekhem and debate the various possibilities at your Shabbat table.
• The story raises the question of the relative benefits of policies of restraint versus active deterrence, the morality of collective punishment versus targeted killings, and the appropriate response to the use of human shields. Discuss these issues with your family as they relate both to the actions of the brothers and to contemporary controversies.

Esav: Friend or Foe?

Parashat Vayishlach opens with Yaakov fearful that Esav is coming to attack with 400 men. When the two actually reunite, however, Esav greets him with a  hug and kiss.  Was the change of heart the result of Yaakov's efforts at appeasement, or is it possible that Yaakov's original evaluation of Esav's intent was erroneous and that Esav had already forgiven his brother?  What is it that enables people to forgive and forget?

• Compare RadakBereshit 33:4About R. David Kimchi and RashbamBereshit 32:7-8About R. Shemuel b. Meir's approaches.  With whom do you agree?
• Rashbam claims that not only was Yaakov's fear of his brother unwarranted, but that his attempts to flee were punished.  What textual support can you bring for such a position? See Wrestling With Angels and Men.
• Rashbam is consistent throughout his commentary on Bereshit in viewing Esav as a neutral, rather than wicked, figure. Do you agree with such a portrait, or do you find the evil Esav of the Midrash to be a more accurate depiction?  How much of the Midrashic portrait is rooted in the text, and how much is the result of polemical considerations and the association between Edom, Rome and the Church? See A Portrait of Esav for elaboration.

Wrestling with Angels and Men

One of the highlights of Parashat Vayishlach is Yaakov's wrestling match with the enigmatic "איש".  Was Yaakov's assailant a person or an angel?  On one hand, he is called a "man" rather than a "מַלְאָךְ", suggesting that he was human.¹  Yet, Yaakov refers to him using the term "אֱלֹהִים", implying that he was some sort of Divine being.² 

• What other evidence can you bring to support either position?³
• If the assailant was a celestial being, was he Divinely dispatched or acting on his own?  If the former, why would Hashem send a messenger to hurt Yaakov?  If the latter, and the angel was acting in Esav's, rather than Yaakov's, best interests,⁴ does this imply that angels have free will?
• Explore various understandings of the episode in Wrestling With Angels and Men. What can you glean from each commentator regarding their personal beliefs about angels?

Might There be a "Plan B"?

Often, we assume that Tanakh's characters always follow through on their original plans, and we do not consider the possibility that intervening events might affect their decisions, leading them to a "Plan B".  Conversely, the "omniscient reader", knowing the end of the story, often forgets that this was not necessarily the only possible scenario, and that Biblical characters might be acting according to a different set of assumptions.  In both sets of cases, positing a change in plan might explain otherwise difficult aspects of the narrative.

• A case in point might be Yaakov's Dividing of his Camp.  He speaks about doing so in Chapter 32, yet in Chapter 33 there is no evidence of two distinct camps. To explain the apparent contradiction, R. Avraham b. HaRambam asserts that intervening events caused Yaakov to actively change his mind, while Rashbam and Abarbanel suggests that changed circumstances prevented him from acting as he had anticipated.
• Challenge your family to think of other cases in Tanakh in which positing a change in plan could solve textual difficulties or shed new light on a story.⁵ 

¹ Note, though, that when referencing our story, Hoshea 12:4-5 calls Yaakov's attacker a "מַלְאָךְ". However, in Tanakh, the word "מַלְאָךְ" can connote either a human emissary or a celestial angel.

² See also Avraham's Guests – Angels or Men? where the same question is raised.  Compare the approaches of commentators there to their positions here.  Are they all consistent?

³ Rambam, and others in his wake, suggest a middle possibility, claiming that Yaakov saw an angel, but only in a prophetic dream. How do you think they might understand Yaakov's ensuing limp?  See RalbagBereshit Beur HaParashah 32:33About R. Levi b. Gershom for two possible solutions.

⁴ See Rashi Bereshit 32:25About R. Shelomo Yitzchakiwho identifies the attacker withe guardian angel of Esav.

⁵ See Sefer Yehoshua – Evolving Plans for several examples throughout Sefer Yehoshua.