Vayishlach: Face-ing Up

By EMILY LEVINE

*The following ideas are based on a conversation I had with David Marks.

A basic reading of the first two perakim in Parshat Vayishlach reveals an interesting pattern. The shoresh פ.נ.ה. (literally translated as face) is used a total of nine times. We first see this phrasing in the reasoning Ya’akov gives for the elaborate set of gifts he sends to his brother: “…For he reasoned, ‘If I propitiate (אכפרה פניו) with presents in advance, and then face him (אראה פניו), perhaps he will show me favor (ישא פני).’ And so the gift went on ahead (על פניו)…” (Gen. 32:21-22). Our narrative is then interrupted by the story of Ya’akov’s struggle with the “man” and subsequent name-change from Ya’akov to Yisrael. Ya’akov names the site of the encounter “Penuel” because he had seen God face to face, "פנים אל פנים" and survived. Just a few lines later we again come across this familiar term during Ya’akov’s actual reunion with his long-estranged brother. Ya’akov entreats Eisav to accept the gift, “for to see your face is like seeing the face of God” (33:10). The story then ends happily; both Ya’akov and Eisav continue on their separate ways, and Ya’akov arrives safely at his next destination, where he immediately settles in, "ויחן את פניהעיר" (33:18).

The language used in this story is clearly not coincidental. I would like to suggest that the repetitive references to panim, to face-to-face interactions, are brought to emphasize a shift in Ya’akov’s character. These face-to-face interactions Ya’akov has, represent a personal transformation, as he is converted from a man of trickery into a new man, ready to openly face his past.

Until this point, Ya’akov has been consistently involved in acts of deception. He tricks his brother twice, misleads his father, Yitzhak, and even his name has connotations of deception (see 27:36). Even leaving the country does nothing to change this condition. In Lavan’s house, too, Ya’akov is constantly surrounded by fraud and trickery. As Ya’akov now returns to Canaan, the realization begins to creep up on him that he finally has to face what he’s been running from for the past twenty two years. The first message he sends to his brother, while polite, is shadowed with self-confidence, self-importance, and perhaps, even a bit of arrogance. Ya’akov boasts of the great wealth he has acquired while abroad. 

Yet, when his messengers return to report Eisav’s approach, with an army of men behind him, Ya’akov is frightened and loses his original confidence. He strategizes, he prays, he sends gifts. And gifts. And gifts.  Ya’akov’s level of fear compels him to change his original approach. He is hit with the realization that maybe now is the time when he will be forced to confront Eisav head on, to fess up to the deception that has been lying untouched for over two decades. Ya’akov reasons, maybe if I send presents first, the honesty won’t be as painful. Here he brings up the idea of panim, of open discussion and confrontation, yet still doesn’t seem comfortable with the idea just yet. It is almost as though he stumbles over the words, the shoresh פ.נ.ה. appearing four times in the span of just a passuk and a half.

But now, Ya’akov meets God. After struggling all night with the “man,” the name Ya’akov is switched to Yisrael.  A name of deception is replaced by a name that has honesty and uprightness at its root (ישר). And what was it that caused this radical change? Ya’akov himself explains this to be a result of a face-to-face encounter with God himself. The awesome interaction manages to strip away the deception of Ya’akov and bring out the man who can openly confront his fears, the man who is Yisrael.

Now Ya’akov is prepared to meet his brother. The brothers embrace and weep, and Ya’akov explains to Eisav that “to see your face is like seeing the face of God” (33:10). The encounter with God clearly had a strong influence on Ya’akov. It allowed him the ability to meet his brother face-to-face, to interact with his brother in person and overcome the fears that had been haunting him these past twenty two years.

Ya’akov continues on in his journeys and arrives safely in Shechem (שלם, lit. whole). Rashi explains his safe arrival to be an overall state of well-being, in terms of health, riches and religious steadfastness. Ya’akov finally settles down,"ויחן את פני העיר" (33:18) - capable of facing his past and living up to his new identity of Yisrael.