Parashat Vayishlach — And he sent

וַיִּשְׁלַח

Torah portion 8 of 54 · Book of Genesis · pronounced vah-yish-LAKH

Vayishlach (וַיִּשְׁלַח) means "and he sent" — taken, as every parashah name is, from the portion's opening words in the Hebrew.

Next read: November 28, 2026 · then December 18, 2027

The Readings

What Happens in Vayishlach

Yaakov sends messengers ahead to Esav in Seir, and the report that returns turns his blood cold: your brother is coming to meet you, and four hundred men with him. Twenty years of wondering collapse into one night of dread. Yaakov does everything at once — splits his camp in two so that half might escape, prays the covenant promises back to God with unusual bareness (I am not worthy of the least of all the chesed... deliver me, please), and sends wave after wave of gifts ahead, hundreds of animals in droves, to appease his brother's face.

Then, having sent everything across the Yabbok, Yaakov is left alone — and a man wrestles with him until the breaking of the day. The mysterious opponent cannot prevail, touches Yaakov's hip socket so that it wrenches, and demands release; Yaakov, limping and clinging, answers with the line that names his whole life: I will not let you go unless you bless me. The blessing is a new name — no longer Yaakov, the heel-grabber, but Yisrael, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed. Yaakov names the place Peniel: I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. The sun rises on a man who limps for the rest of his days.

The dreaded meeting dissolves in an instant: Esav runs, embraces him, falls on his neck, and they weep. Yaakov presses his gift with words that echo the night before — I have seen your face, as one sees the face of God — and the brothers part in peace. But the land is not yet safe. At Shechem, Dinah is seized and violated by the prince of the city; her brothers answer deceitfully with the covenant sign itself, and Shimon and Levi put the weakened city to the sword — zeal that Yaakov will still be condemning on his deathbed. God commands the family back to Beit-El; Yaakov buries the foreign gods under the terebinth, and El Shaddai renews name and covenant: a nation and a company of nations, and kings from your body. On the road to Efrat, Rachel dies bringing forth Binyamin — Ben-Oni to her dying breath, son of my right hand to his father — and her pillar stands by the way to Bethlehem. Yitzchak dies at Hebron, old and full of days, and Esav and Yaakov bury him together. The portion closes with the generations of Esav: Edom, kings and chiefs, the brother-nation whose story will shadow Israel's to the end.

Main Themes

Wrestling with God until the blessing comes A new name and a changed walk Fear met by unexpected reconciliation Zeal without counsel at Shechem Return to Beit-El — back to first vows

Key Events

· Preparation and prayer before meeting Esav

· Wrestling at Peniel; Yaakov becomes Yisrael

· The reconciliation with Esav

· Dinah at Shechem and her brothers' revenge

· The return to Beit-El and the purging of idols

· Rachel dies bearing Binyamin; the death of Yitzchak

Key People

Yaakov / Yisrael Esav Dinah Shimon Levi Rachel Binyamin Yitzchak

Key Verses

← Parashat Vayetzei  ·  Parashat Vayeshev →

All 54 Torah portions → · Open the Torah Portion tool in Hebrew Explorer

Open Hebrew Explorer — 30+ free study tools →