Parasha Guide » Va'yishlach

Genesis 32:3-36 Jacob has not yet reconciled with his brother Esau.  In this parsha, Jacob is chosen by God and is renamed “Israel” or one who struggles with God.

32:25 “Jacob was left alone.  And a figure wrestled with him until the break of dawn.  When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he wrenched Jacob’s hip at its socket, so that the socket of his hip was strained as he wrestled with him.”

The intense interaction between Jacob and the divine being is one of the most memorable stories in the Torah.  After a spiritual struggle, Jacob is left with a physical reminder of that special moment.

When hunger is extreme, the body shows physical signs of starvation.  However, everyday, people who are hungry, go through their life with no external sign of their suffering. The issue of anonymity and hunger is significant.  Programs like food-stamps use the most current technology to shield users from embarrassment.  Further, food banks are often set up to have the feel of a grocery store even offering clients the opportunity to choose certain essentials.  So while we protect community members from embarrassment, sometimes anonymity makes hunger impossible to detect. In the past decade, we see a new class of people, the “working poor”.  Two-thirds of the children growing up in poverty in the United States have one or more parents who works, and one-third have a parent working full-time, year round.  We would assume that working parents could provide for their children, but sadly this is not the case.

Investigate new initiatives of welfare reform and consider wages for people like the working poor.  How can these programs adapt to help those who are working who still are in need?

Compare the minimum wage with a “living wage”.  What is the dissonance between the two?