After a 20-year exile in Harran, Jacob returns to the Holy Land and sends angel-emissaries to Esau in the hopes of reconciling, but his messengers report that his brother is on the warpath with 400 armed men. To pacify Esau, Jacob prepares for war, prays, and sends him a big gift of hundreds of heads of animals.
That night, Jacob transports his family and possessions across the Jabok River; nevertheless, he remains behind and faces the angel who represents Esau’s spirit, with whom he wrestles until morning. Jacob suffers a dislocated hip but defeats the supernatural entity, who bestows the name Israel on him, which means “he who triumphs against the divine.”
Jacob and Esau meet, hug, and kiss before splitting apart. Jacob buys land near Shechem, whose royal prince, also known as Shechem, kidnaps and rapes Jacob’s daughter Dina. Dina’s brothers Simeon and Levi avenge the deed by killing all male residents of the city after getting them to circumcise themselves.
Jacob continues his journey. Rachel dies while giving birth to her second son, Benjamin, and is buried near Bethlehem in a roadside burial. Because he interferes with his father’s marital life, Reuben loses his birthright. Jacob arrives in Hebron to see his father Isaac, who dies at the age of 180. Rebecca died prior to Jacob’s arrival.
The Parasha finishes with a thorough narrative of Esau’s wives, children, and grandchildren; family histories of the inhabitants of Seir, among whom Esau settled; and a list of the eight kings who ruled Edom, Esau’s and Seir’s descendants’ territory.
Genesis 32:4-36:43 comprise the parasha. The parasha contains the most amount of verses of any weekly Torah chapter in the Book of Genesis (Parasha Miketz has the most letters, Parasha Vayera has the most words, and Parasha Noah has an equal number of verses as Parashah Vayishlach). A Torah Scroll contains 7,458 Hebrew letters, 1,976 Hebrew words, 153 verses, and 237 lines (Sefer Torah). In November or December, Jews read it on the seventh Sabbath following Simchat Torah.
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