Skip to main content

Parsha Poem: Vayishlach / וַיִּשְׁלַח

בראשית / Bereishit / Bereishis / Genesis 32:4-36:43

Printable PDF version here.
Parsha narrative overview here.
Copywork sheet available here.

 

image We know that Yaakov was wise above allimage

When his brother Eisav was coming to call

He did all he could,

And it all turned out good,

For his family survived, didn’t fall.

In Vayishlach, this week’s Torah reading,

Three lessons we ought to be heeding

Three steps Yaakov took,

So let’s take a good look

At this lesson we all could be needing.

image 

 Vayishlach means Yaakov sent out a crew

To tell Eisav “I’m coming back to see you,”

But they said “Eisav’s strong,

With an army along.”

Marching with hundreds of soldiers; it’s true.

image Yaakov knew first he had to get ready

Plan a strategy sturdy and steady

He split up his camp

Like a smart army champ

So he knew they’d be safer already.

 But a second plan’s much more secure

So to show he was rich and mature

He sent Eisav some goats

To win over his votes

And his family’s own safety imageensure.

Finally, lastly, as Yaakov knew well,

We’re only safe when Hashem comes to dwell.

Please save me, he cried,

And my children please guide,

Like Avraham, we’ll listen and never rebel.

And it worked!  Yaakov’s  wishes all came about,

Eisav came with a hug: a kiss, not a shout,

But which of the three

Led to victory -

imageIs the thing that you’re asking, no doubt.

Did the prayer or gifts or his planning for war

Win Yaakov his peace and love and much more?

Which one of the three?

Just please don’t ask me;

That’s a question you’ll just have to go and explore…!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

לימודי קודש/Limudei Kodesh Copywork & Activity Printables

Welcome to my Limudei Kodesh / Jewish Studies copywork and activity printables page.  As of June 2013, I am slowly but surely moving all my printables over to 4shared because Google Docs / Drive is just too flaky for me. What you’ll find here: Weekly Parsha Copywork More Parsha Activities More Chumash / Tanach Activities Yom Tov Copywork & Activities Tefillah Copywork Pirkei Avos / Pirkei Avot Jewish Preschool Resources Other printables! For General Studies printables and activities, including Hebrew-English science resources and more, click here . For Miscellaneous homeschool helps and printables, click here . If you use any of my worksheets, activities or printables, please leave a comment or email me at Jay3fer “at” gmail “dot” com, to link to your blog, to tell me what you’re doing with it, or just to say hi!  If you want to use them in a school, camp or co-op setting, please email me (remove the X’s) for rates. If you just want to say Thank You, here’s a

Hebrew/ עברית & English General Studies Printables

For Jewish Studies, including weekly parsha resources and copywork, click here . If you use any of my worksheets, activities or printables, please leave a comment or email me at Jay3fer “at” gmail “dot” com, to link to your blog, to tell me what you’re doing with it, or just to say hi!  If you want to use them in a school, camp or co-op setting, please email me (remove the X’s) for rates. If you enjoy these resources, please consider buying my weekly parsha book, The Family Torah :  the story of the Torah, written to be read aloud – or any of my other wonderful Jewish books for kids and families . English Worksheets & Printables: (For Hebrew, click here ) Science :  Plants, Animals, Human Body Math   Ambleside :  Composers, Artists History Geography Language & Literature     Science General Poems for Elemental Science .  Original Poems written by ME, because the ones that came with Elemental Science were so awful.  Three pages are included:  one page with two po

Are Jews an "underrepresented community" in children’s publishing?

I applied for a writing award yesterday. I'm not going to get it, but that's not what I wanted to share with you. Here's what I wanted to share. This box:   I stared at this box for a long, long time. And then I decided not to check it. Even though I believe people like me truly are underrepresented, we probably wouldn’t fit the definition in other people's minds. Why? Well, because we're European. Because we are white. Because as everybody knows, Jews control the media. (do we???) If anything, some people say, Jews are over -represented in publishing. And yet. Some definitions are careful not to include people like me. Like this random definition from the State of California which defines underrepresented for some very specific business purposes as: "an individual who self-identifies as Black, African American, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Alaska Native, or who self-identi