In this week’s reading, Vayishlach, our Torah Treat tells the tale of Yaakov crossing the river with his wives, his children and all of their belongings. Yaakov crosses the river and is met by his brother Esav. There were a lot of characters involved, and the “little hands” in this house had a great time re-enacting this story.
In the beginning of this week’s Torah reading, the man/angel that Yaakov wrestles with informs him “Your name will no longer be Yaakov, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.” This project illuminates the meaning of the Hebrew names in your family.
What does it take to get recorded in the Bible? How does one get his or her name into this eternal book of history, lessons and law of the Jewish People? Although we are never told the names of Noah’s wife, Lot’s wife, or Aharon’s wife, we ARE told the name of the wet-nurse that Rebecca had, the woman who helped raise Jacob. Her name was Devorah, and her death is told to us in Chapter 35, verse 8. She was buried in Beit-El, under a big tree (maybe a famous landmark) and that tree was called “The tree of weeping” forever after!
This is an exciting and sad week for Yaakov, while he is reunited with his long lost brother and has a birth of his final son, he also loses loved ones.
This week we’re watching Jacob wrestle the angel and win! What comes next is a law against eating the sinew on a leg? We’re talking about how the two are connected.
