Parshat Vayishlach
Parshat Vayishlach is written on 237 lines in a Sefer Torah, ranking 11th. It is made up of 9 parshiyot – 6 petuchot and 3 setumot.
With 153 pesukim, it ranks 4th in the Torah and first in Sefer Bereishit, tied with Parshat Noach. But Vayishlach has more words and letters – 1,976 words and 7,458 letters – and ranks 6th in the Torah and 4th in Sefer Bereishit in both categories. The drop in rank for words and letters is due to its pesukim being well below average in number of words and letters (but not as low as Noach). In other words, Vayishlach has many – but relatively short – pesukim.
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There are 12 sedras in the Book of Bereishit; only three of them contain one mitzvah each:
Parshat Bereishit has the positive mitzvah to “Be fruitful and multiply.”
Parshat Lech Lecha has the positive mitzvah of Brit Milah.
Parshat Vayishlach has one prohibition – the first of the 365 in the Torah and the only prohibition (Lo Taasei) in Sefer Bereishit: Gid HaNasheh.
The perennial battle between Eisav and Yaakov, which the battle in our sedra between Yaakov and the Sar shel Eisav typifies, is “commemorated” by the prohibition of Gid HaNasheh. Even though the Torah introduces this mitzvah in the context of the story here in Bereishit, the mitzvah is part of the Revelation at Sinai, as if the Torah would have later said: “And G-d spoke to Moshe saying, ‘Command the People not to eat the Gid HaNasheh…” (or words to that effect).
The Gid HaNasheh is the sciatic nerve; in humans, it is the largest nerve in the body, running from the lower back down the back of each leg to the foot. It controls muscles in the back of the thigh, knee, and lower leg, and provides sensation to the back of the thigh, lower leg, and sole of the foot.
Removal of the Gid and its innervating branches in the thigh and leg of the animal, as well as the fats and flesh in the area, is required – and difficult. Further problems result from blood vessels that must be removed from that part of the animal’s body. The process of removing the Gid and other vessels is known as nikur in Hebrew or treibering in Yiddish/English. It is, in most cases, not economically feasible to remove the Gid. Instead, the whole hind section of the animal is generally sold as non-kosher (thereby removing the Gid from the rest of the animal’s body). This is the common practice in the U.S. In Israel, however, where there is not such a readily available non-kosher market, nikur is more common. This means that some fancy hind cuts of meat can (and might) be available to the kosher consumer in Israel (a perk of aliyah?), such as tenderloin, sirloin, porterhouse, and T-bone.
The Rambam in his commentary on the Mishna emphasizes the point that this mitzvah is part of the Revelation at Sinai and not the result of a family decision following the episode of Yaakov’s battle with the Sar shel Eisav, as might be misunderstood from 32:33 – “Therefore, the Children of Israel may not eat the displaced tendon, which is on the socket of the hip, until this day, for he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip, in the hip sinew.”
The Mishna in Chulin (7:6) presents a dispute as to whether the prohibition of Gid HaNasheh applies only to kosher mammals or to non-kosher ones as well. Rabbi Yehuda – whose opinion we do not accept – says that the mitzvah also applies to non-kosher animals because at the time of the event recorded in Vayishlach, there was not yet a prohibition of eating meat of non-kosher animals. Since the prohibition of the Gid predates Sinai, says Rabbi Yehuda, it would apply to non-kosher animals too. The Tana Kama, in maintaining that the prohibition applies only to kosher animals, stresses the point – which the Rambam declares a major principle of Torah Law – that the issur of the Gid is part of the body of mitzvot from Matan Torah, and was placed in Vayishlach to give it the context of the story, so that we will always remember that although we face many attacks from the Eisavs of the world throughout the generations, and though we are often bloodied by those attacks, we will always survive them and continue until (and beyond) the “rising of the sun of Mashiach” and the complete geulah, when our troubles with Eisav will end. Bimheira v’yameinu…
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An interesting number pops up in the report of the angels (or human messengers – a matter of dispute) about Eisav approaching with 400 men.
Anything special about 400? It is the numeric value of the letter Tav, the final letter of the alef–bet. As such, it might be taken to mean “a lot.” Eisav was approaching with a large entourage.
Where else does 400 show up? Avraham paid Efron 400 silver shekels for Machpeilah. A large sum of money.
Our sojourn in Egypt was prophesied to be 400 years. A long period of time. (Our actual time in Egypt was 210 years; the 400 years start from the birth of Yitzchak.)
There are several 400s elsewhere in Tanach; without specifying them all here, suffice it to say that this number can be seen as expressing a large quantity.
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Although this column of mine is called “Torah by the Numbers,” the real master of numbers in the Torah is the Baal HaTurim. Here is an amazing observation of his.
The Baal HaTurim points out that there are two pesukim in the Torah in which every word ends with a Mem sofit (final Mem). The first is here in Vayishlach (32:15, eight words: “Izim matayim utyashim esrim r’cheilim matayim v’eilim esrim”), referring to the number of animals Yaakov prepared as tribute to Esav before their meeting. The second is in Bamidbar (29:33, seven words: “Uminchatam v’niskeihem laparim la-eilim v’lak’vasim b’misparam k’mishpatam”), referring to the flour-oil offering with wine of libation brought with the animal sacrifices on Sukkot.
Is there a connection?
The Baal HaTurim shares an amazing calculation with us. Yaakov sent 550 animals as an appeasement to Eisav, even though G-d had assured him that He would protect him.
Add them up: 200 female goats + 20 male goats + 200 ewes + 20 rams + 30 camels (commentaries dispute the number of camels; what works for this count is the opinion that there was a total of 30 camels – 20 female (nursing camels) and 10 male, just like the donkeys) + 40 cows + 10 bulls + 20 jennies (female donkeys) + 10 jacks (male donkeys). That comes to 550.
Yaakov’s descendants were destined to offer 550 animals per year as Musaf sacrifices.
My breakdown of this number is as follows:
There are years with 50, 51, 54, or 55 Shabbatot; thus, Shabbat Mussaf with two lambs will total 100-110 animals per year.
There can be 12 or 13 Rashei Chodesh; the total sacrifices for Rosh Chodesh – 2 bulls, 1 ram, 7 lambs, and 1 goat each month – add another 132 or 143.
Chagim are the same for all years: Each day of Pesach requires 2 bulls, 1 ram, 7 lambs, and 1 goat – that’s 11 animals times seven days of the chag, for a total of 77 animals. Shavuot has the same Mussaf as Pesach, so add another 11 animals. (Shavuot has additional korbanot that accompanied the Sh’tei Halechem, the Two Breads, but here we are counting only Mussaf offerings.) Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur each have a Mussaf of 1 bull, 1 ram, 7 lambs, and 1 goat. That’s another 20 (10 + 10) animals. (Yom Kippur has other korbanot, but again, we are counting only the Mussaf offerings.) On each day of the seven days of Sukkot, there are 2 rams (14 total), 14 lambs (98 total), 1 goat (7 total), and a total of 70 parim (bulls). That’s 189 animals. Shemini Atzeret is the same as Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur – 1 bull, 1 ram, 7 lambs, and 1 goat – 10 animals total. Thus, the animals brought for Mussaf of the chagim are: 77 + 11 + 10 + 10 + 189 + 10 = total 307.
Adding to that the Shabbat and Rosh Chodesh sacrifices brings us to a total for the year ranging from 539 to 560, with an average somewhere around 550 – just as the Baal HaTurim says.
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Yaakov and family camp near the city of Shechem, and he purchases a portion of the field where he pitched his tents from Chamor, father of Shechem, for 100 k’sita.
What’s a k’sita? No surprise that there are different opinions.
According to Rabi Akiva in Gemara Rosh Hashanah (26a), it might be a unit of gold or silver. The consensus is that we don’t know exactly what a k’sita was; however, it was a considerable and respectful sum for the purchase of the second foothold in the future Eretz Yisrael. (The first was Avraham’s purchase of Me’arat HaMachpeilah.)
Some commentaries say it might have been a unit of sheep or a number of lamb-shaped pieces of metal, which predated actual coinage.
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Let’s wrap up this week’s column with a Gematria Match (GM).
Hashem reiterates His promise to the Avot in Bereishit 35:12 – “V’et Ha’Aretz…” – And the land that I gave to Avraham and to Yitzchak, I will give to you and to your seed after you will I give the land.
The numerical value of this pasuk is 4,862. Only one other pasuk in Tanach shares this gematria. Nechemiya 1:8: “Zechor na et hadavar…” – Remember now the word that You commanded Moshe, Your servant, saying, “If you deal treacherously, I shall scatter you among the nations.”
What an important reminder and a poignant counterpoint to our pasuk from this week’s sedra. Our hold on Eretz Yisrael depends upon our faithfulness to G-d and His Torah.
Shabbat Shalom.
P.S. Wait, you say – we’re halfway through the month of Kislev and there is nothing about Chanukah in this week’s column?
Point taken. Here’s one of the GMs I have found related to Chanukah.
Let’s take the first line of the Ma’oz Tzur stanza that deals with Chanukah: “Y’vanim nikb’tzu alai azai bimei Chashmanim…” – The Greeks gathered against me then, in the days of the Chashmona’im.
The regular gematria of this line is 1,002. No interesting matches pop up. But there are different methods of calculating numeric value. One such method is called AL-BAM, in which alef corresponds to lamed, bet to mem, gimel to nun, and so on. AL–BAM gematria is based on taking the first 11 letters of the alef–bet and matching them with the second set of 11 letters. The values that result are: Alef = 30, Bet = 40, Gimel = 50, Dalet = 60… Lamed = 1, Mem = 2, Nun = 3, Samach = 4… and so on.
The AL–BAM gematria of “Y’vanim nikb’tzu…” is 2,608.
One of the pesukim that has a regular gimatriya of 2,608 is Shemot 15:11, part of Shirat HaYam in Parshat Beshalach: “Mi kamocha ba-eilim Hashem…” – Who is like You among the powerful, Hashem? Who is like You, powerful in the holy place? Too awesome for praises, performing wonders!
Now we have a connection between “The Greeks gathered against me” and those who fought them – the Macabim. MACABI is, of course, the acronym of “Mi Kamocha Ba-Eilim Hashem.”
So, Shabbat Shalom, again – and an early Chanuka Same’ach!