By Nina Pressman

So this week’s parsha is Vayishlach. Basically Jacob comes back to Caanan but is afraid of his bro, Esau. But they end up making peace! Then Jacob fights with an angel and his name gets changed to…..Israel!!!! Jacob’s daughter Dina is abducted but then saved when her brothers kill all the men in the city who are recovering from being circumcized. Rachel dies in childbirth, then Isaac dies. More full summary here.

This portion, as all of them do, have a lot to unpack. One interpretation (found here) I liked is about this parsha is the value of the struggle Jacob has with the angel that ends up fundamentally changing him- I mean he got a new name, that’s a big deal! I really appreciate the sentiment that each struggle we have- morally or otherwise, is what ends up shaping us as human beings. This is not to say that we need to be happy that we have had to deal with some of the things that have happened in our lives, but we can see the transformation as something that helps us become the people we are. I like to this about this idea because it helps me to get though some of my hard times- if I can see them as a part of shaping my future self that means I can see a future in which my current struggle is less painful.

This idea of a struggle as an essential part of the shaping of ones character can be applied to a movement as well. As we grapple with many questions as individuals, kvutzot, machanot, and as a movement as a whole, we move forward and grow as a movement. These ideological struggles are necessary for the growth of our movement- without them we couldn’t keep moving. And they, as with struggles in our own lives can sometimes include pain and loss when some of our chaverim decide that the movement may not be the place for them. This idea of struggle as an important aspect of growth is getting me excited for veida! Cant wait to join many of you in the struggle there!