Vayishlach

[30] In the continuation of the reading, Jacob came to Shechem, where he bought a parcel of ground outside the city from the children of Hamor for a hundred pieces of money.

[51] A terror of God fell upon the nearby cities so that the people did not pursue Jacob, and they journeyed to Luz, built an altar, and called the place El-beth-el.

[67] Esau took his household, animals, and all his possessions that he had gathered in Canaan and went to a land apart from Jacob, in Edom, for their substance was too great for them to dwell together.

[79] The parashah is discussed in these rabbinic sources from the era of the Mishnah and the Talmud:[80] The Rabbis of the midrash questioned the wisdom of Jacob's decision to contact Esau in Genesis 32:4.

[85] Rabbi Eleazar taught that Obadiah hid 50 of 100 prophets of God in a cave in 1 Kings 18:4 because he learned the lesson of dividing his camp from Jacob's actions in Genesis 32:8–9.

Rabbi Hanin cited Genesis 32:11 to prove this, reading Jacob to say to God: "I am become diminished [that is, I have less merit to my credit] by reason of all the deeds of kindness and all the truth that You have shown to your servant.

Serah told the elders that Moses was the one who would redeem Israel from Egypt, for she heard (in the words of Exodus 3:16), "I have surely visited (פָּקֹד פָּקַדְתִּי‎, pakod pakadeti) you."

(According to this view, Jacob regarded the other as a scholar and took his place at the other's left hand and so was injured in his right thigh, the side nearest to the other.)

[97] Reading Genesis 32:27, "And he said: 'Let me go, for the day breaks,'" the Gemara told that Jacob asked his adversary whether he was a thief or a rogue that he was afraid of the morning.

[100] Chapter 7 of Tractate Chullin in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the prohibition of the sinew of the hip (the sciatic nerve, gid ha-nasheh) in Genesis 32:33.

[101] The Mishnah taught that the prohibition against eating the sciatic nerve in Genesis 32:33 is in force both within the Land of Israel and outside it, both during the existence of the Temple and after it, and with respect to both consecrated and unconsecrated animals.

[104] But Abahu taught that the Mishnah allowed a Jew to benefit only from the sciatic nerve of an animal that was not slaughtered according to the procedure prescribed by the Torah.

[117] The heart speaks,[118] sees,[118] hears,[119] walks,[120] falls,[121] stands,[122] rejoices,[123] cries,[124] is comforted,[125] is troubled,[126] becomes hardened,[127] grows faint,[128] grieves,[129] fears,[130] can be broken,[131] becomes proud,[132] rebels,[133] invents,[134] cavils,[135] overflows,[136] devises,[137] desires,[138] goes astray,[139] lusts,[140] is refreshed,[141] can be stolen,[142] is humbled,[143] errs,[144] trembles,[145] is awakened,[146] loves,[147] hates,[148] envies,[149] is searched,[150] is rent,[151] meditates,[152] is like a fire,[153] is like a stone,[154] turns in repentance,[155] becomes hot,[156] dies,[157] melts,[158] takes in words,[159] is susceptible to fear,[160] gives thanks,[161] covets,[162] becomes hard,[163] makes merry,[164] acts deceitfully,[165] speaks from out of itself,[166] loves bribes,[167] writes words,[168] plans,[169] receives commandments,[170] acts with pride,[171] makes arrangements,[172] and aggrandizes itself.

"[179] Rabbi Samuel bar Nahman interpreted the report of Genesis 35:8 that "Deborah, Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried below Beth-el under the oak; and the name of it was called Allon-bacuth (אַלּוֹן בָּכוּת‎)."

Rabbi Samuel bar Nahman deduced from this that while Jacob was mourning for Deborah, word reached him that his mother Rebekah had died.

Rabbi Jose bar Hanina taught that because they took her bier out at night, Scripture does not openly describe her death, but only alludes to it in Genesis 35:8.

Rabban Gamaliel interpreted: "You meditated (פ‎, pillaltah) to be saved from sin, you supplicated (ח‎, haltah), your prayer shone forth (ז‎, zarhah)."

Rava (or others say Rabbi Jeremiah bar Abba) interpreted: "You remembered (ז‎, zakarta) the penalty of the crime, you were grievously sick (ח‎, halita) through defying lust, you held aloof (פ‎, pirashta) from sinning.

[194] The Mishnah taught that the story of Reuben's infidelity with Jacob's concubine Bilhah in Genesis 35:22 is read in the synagogue but not translated.

[196] Expanding on Genesis 35:27, the Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer told that Jacob took his sons, grandsons, and wives, and went to Kiryat Arba to be near Isaac.

So Esau took Isaac's wealth and gave Jacob the land of Israel and the Cave of Machpelah, and they wrote a perpetual deed between them.

[210] Rashi explained Genesis 35:10, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob (יַעֲקֹב‎)," to intimate a change from an expression of a man who comes with stealth and guile (עָקְבָה‎, akvah) to Israel (יִשְׂרָאֵל‎), a term denoting a prince (שַׂר‎, sar) and a chief.

[215] Nahum Sarna reported that modern scholars deduce from the Genesis listings of Jacob's sons the evolution of the league of Israelite tribes.

Kselman suggested that at an earlier level of the story, the opponent may have been some Canaanite god attempting to keep Jacob from entering the land.

[221] Ephraim Speiser read the eerie encounter at Penuel in Genesis 32:25–33 to teach that no one may grasp God's complete design, which remains reasonable and just no matter who the chosen agent may be at any given point.

[222] Tamar Elad-Appelbaum read the words of Genesis 33:14, "As for me, I will travel slowly," to teach that the proper way to live consists of self-restraint and deliberation.

Kugel reported that some modern interpreters deduced that the editor responsible for inserting the Dinah story in Genesis was particularly connected with Deuteronomy or at least familiar with its laws.

These interpreters concluded that the Dinah story was a late addition, inserted to account for Jacob's otherwise referentless allusion to the violent tempers of Simeon and Levi in Genesis 49:5–7 by importing and only slightly modified an originally unrelated tale, probably situated during the time of the Judges.

[225] According to Maimonides and Sefer ha-Chinuch, there is one negative commandment in the parashah:[226] The Passover Haggadah, in the concluding nirtzah section of the Seder, in a reference to Genesis 32:23–30, recounts how Israel struggled with an angel and overcame him at night.

[228] In the morning blessings (Birkot hashachar), before the first recitation of the Shema, Jews refer to God's changing of Jacob's name to Israel in Genesis 35:10.