Torah 101-Vayishlach

I.

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEKS STUDY QUESTIONS (from

Vayetze)

1) Question for Genesis 28:10-29:35:

Where do we see a clue for both remembering where Jacob has been and predicting
where he will go hidden in the meanings of place names?
VAYETZE YAAKOV MI-BE-ER SHAVA VAYELECH CHARANAH (28:10) =
Jacob departed from Beer Sheva and went towards Haran. Beer-Sheva means well of
the oath (or seven) and Haran means crossroads. Given what is about to happen in
the story, it seems to hint that Jacob is going away from the oath of protection (from
Abraham) because he betrayed his brother Esau and is entering a crossroads in his
life where others will deceive him as well.
2) Question for Genesis 30:
Where do we see the first of three miracles done by Jacob and what are the only other
examples for those miracles in terms of who else did them? Bonus points for getting
the other two which are NOT in this chapter!
The first miracle was changing the DNA of the livestock. There does not appear to be
a scientific explanation for this miracle, which of course is just fine by me. Many
Rabbis who otherwise hate the concept of mysticism will accept, on the plain
meaning of the text here that a pure miracle did happen and Jacob is said to have
manipulated high spiritual forces that actually changed the DNA of the animals. If
so, it is a miracle that is never repeated again and has no parallel save what Abba
YHWH did of course in Genesis 1.
The second miracle was here and it was actually an unintended curse:
IM ASHER TIMTSA ET-ELOHEYCHA LO YICHYEH NEGED ACHEYNU
HAKER LECHA MAH IMADI VEKACH LACH VELO YADA YAAKOV KI
RACHEL GENAVATAM (31:32) = (Jacob said): If you find your gods with anyone
here, let them not live! Let all our close relatives be witnesses! See if there is
anything belonging to you and take it back. And Jacob did not know that Rachel had
stolen them. This may be one reason why Rachel was punished, according to her own
husbands curse, closing up her womb and having her eventually die in childbirth. If
that interpretation is right it may be the second indication is this parsha thus far of
Jacob having some extremely powerful spiritual gifts. Yshua did this to a fig tree but
Peter did this to a magician and lying married couple.
The third miracle is here:
1|Page

While Jacob was going on his way, angels of God encountered him, 3 and on seeing
them he said, 'This is God's camp,' and he named the place Mahanaim. 4 Jacob sent
messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in Seir, the open country of Edom, 5
with these instructions, 'Say this to my lord Esau, "Here is the message of your
servant Jacob: I have been staying with Laban and have been delayed there until now,
6
and I own oxen, beasts of burden and flocks, and men and women slaves. I send
news of this to my lord in the hope of winning your favor." ' (Genesis 32:2-6 NJB)
There seems to be no attempt to distinguish between the Messengers (angels) that
appear before Jacob and the messengers he sends to Esau. If they are the same
group, then this is the only human being other than Yshua who actually had the
power to command angels!
3) Question for Genesis 31:1-32:2
What special title for Abba YHWH is used here that is no longer valid for us to use
today?
In Genesis 31:42 Jacob refers to PAQAD YITZKHAK or the Fear/Dread of Isaac
as a title for Abba YHWH. This is done because Isaac is still alive, or he would have
called him the ELOHIM OF ISAAC if Isaac were dead, just as he calls Him the
Elohim of Abraham (also Genesis 31:42) since Abraham is dead! So since for us all
of the patriarchs are of course dead, we cannot properly call Abba YHWH the Dread
of Isaac.

4) Haftorah Question of the Week: Hosea 12:13-14:10

What is the calendar secret Hosea refers to in this Haftorah portion?
Hosea shows how the calendar year must be solar by describing the entire agricultural
cycle:
I will be like the dew to Israel; He will blossom like the lily, And he will 1take root
like the cedars of Lebanon. His shoots will sprout, and his beauty will be like the
olive tree And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon. Those who live in his
shadow Will again raise grain, And they will blossom like the vine. His renown will
be like the wine of Lebanon. (Hosea 14:5-7 NAU)
The dew and the early blooming of the lily relate to spring, after which other plants
sprout, the olives come out in summer and the grapes are pressed into wine at the end
of summer.

2|Page

II.

QUESTIONS FOR THIS TORAH PORTION (Vayishlach)

Please NOTE:

For clarity and time constraints, if I elect to not read the whole parsha (which
is the case this week) I may still ask questions relating to the portions I did not
read!

5) Question for Genesis 32:3-33:20:

How does one detail in this section also help us date the book of Jobs creation, at
least in a general sense?
6) Question for Genesis 34:1-35:29:
The Torah here says, No longer will you be called Jacob but Israel. So, did Jacob
actually lose his current name or did he simply get Israel as an additional name?
7) Question for Genesis 36:
According to Jewish tradition, the ancestor of the Romans is listed here. Who is this
ancestor?
8) Haftorah Question of the Week: Hosea 11:7-12:12; Obadiah 1:1-21
How is a line from one of these double portions linked to a current sect of Judaism
and an assembly mentioned in the book of Revelation?
9) Renewed Covenant Commentary: 1 Corinthians 5:1-13
1 Corinthians 5:4
17) And that "name" is the same as YHWH's (Joh_17:11) and means "YHWH is
salvation." Once the basic understanding is in place of how all this comes from Him,
it is acceptable to gather it all together and declare this affirmation of faith in YHWH
and give thanks to His Son.
1 Corinthians 5:7
18) The word for "leaven" here is makhmae, the cognate in Hebrew of which is
chometz. Therefore, Rav Shaul is teaching the Corinthians by using Passover
imagery, by commanding them to purge the chometz from the house of their hearts,
so that they can be sanctified. Of course, the rest of this verse and the next proves
this interpretation.

3|Page

19) Some suggest this verse means that Yshua had to be killed on the 14th of
Abib/Nisan, at the time the Passover lamb was killed for the evening sacrifice;
however that is contradictory with Gospel accounts. The Last Supper was a
Passover seder, from late in the afternoon on the 14th to the early (dark) hours of the
15th. As for the symmetry of the Paschal sacrifice and the crucifixion, this too falls
apart upon closer scrutiny. For the Passover lamb, its pain is fleeting as it is
humanely and quickly dispatched with a single slit of the throat. How does this
compare to six hours on a torture stake then? A much closer parallel is that Yshua
suffers the next afternoon, the 15th of Abib, Chag haMatzah (Feast of Unleavened
Bread) on the day that two young bulls, a ram and seven yearling lambs, without
blemish were offered in the Temple (Num_28:17-19).
1 Corinthians 5:11
20) Breaking of bread, of course, is a timeworn Middle Eastern custom that is done
only with family and friends. If you cannot eat with someone (as Peter tried to
separate himself in Gal_2:13), then you cannot associate with them at all. If the
sinner was out of the assembly, you were not permitted to persecute them. However,
you could, and in fact you must, demand that such a person put away detestable
habits if they are to join the assembly and partake of the communal and havdilah
meals that Y'shua and his disciples enjoyed.

4|Page