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Parashat Vayishlach

Torah: Genesis 32:4 - 36:43

Haftarah: Obadiah 1:1-21 

Kislev 16, 5786 / December 5-6, 2025

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This d’var torah is offered in memory of my uncle, Daniel Flom, whose yahrzeit fell on Thursday, Kislev 14 (December 4). Y'hi zikhro liv'rakhah - may his memory be a blessing.

This d’var torah is offered in memory of my uncle, David Flom, whose yahrzeit falls this coming Thursday, Kislev 21 (December 11). Y'hi zikhro liv'rakhah - may his memory be a blessing.

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Lunch and Learn meets Mondays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. 

On December 8, and for the following week, we'll be learning about Hanukkah in the Talmud and Midrash.

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Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about our various programs and becoming a Member at: https://bnaihayim.org/ 
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'And he (the angel) said to him, "What is your name?" And he replied, "Jacob." And he (the angel) said, "No longer will it be said that your name is Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with man and have prevailed."' (Genesis 32:28-29)

When a person converts to Judaism, the final step is immersion in a mikvah. When the convert emerges, s/he is given a new name. It is a symbol of rebirth, by prevailing in a trial by water, if you will; or perhaps by symbolically emerging from the waters of the womb. The change of identity coincides with the change in status. But it occurs only after a lengthy period of study, practice and reflection, confronting the past and facing the future, a struggle with the self, with humans, and with the Divine.

Jacob Wrestling with the Angel (Gustave Doré - 1855)

How, then, was Jacob reborn? Other than the change of name, how did he become different? The answer, I think, lies not in the final struggle with the angel, a symbolic trial by combat, but rather in the vast change Jacob had undergone since he left his parents' house 22 years previously. He confronted himself, and no longer feared for his own safety, but for that of his wives and children. He faced down Laban and finally escaped from his clutches. He looked at God face to face, and asked for confirmation of the covenant with Abraham and Isaac. The wrestling match and the name change were the culmination of years of personal development, of discerning the ways of God and humanity.

Each of us is a Jacob. Each of us also has the potential to change, to grow, to become Israel, the one who wrestles with God and with humans and with the self. But we earn the change of name, the rebirth, only if we are prepared to engage in the necessary struggles to change ourselves and our world. It is not about resistance, but rather gaining knowledge and wisdom, acting in a purposeful way, and living a life of meaning.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom, DD (HC)

Rabbi Emeritus, Temple B'nai Hayim

"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"

Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”

BT Yevamot 88a

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