VaYishlach:

Genesis 32:4-36:43.

OVERVIEW

Returning home, Jacob sends angelic messengers to appease his brother Esau. The messengers return, telling Jacob that Esau is approaching with an army of 400. Jacob takes the strategic precautions of dividing the camps, praying for assistance, and sending tribute to mollify Esau. That night, Jacob is left alone and wrestles with the Angel of Esau. Jacob emerges victorious but is left with an injured sinew in his thigh (which is the reason that it is forbidden to eat the sciatic nerve of a kosher animal). The angel tells him that his name in the future will be "Yisrael," signifying that he has prevailed against man (Lavan) and the supernatural (the angel). Jacob and Esau meet and are reconciled, but Jacob, still fearful of his brother, rejects Esau's offer that they should dwell together. Shechem, a Caananite prince, abducts and violates Dina, Jacob's daughter. In return for Dina's hand in marriage, the prince and his father suggest that Jacob and his family intermarry and enjoy the fruits of Caananite prosperity. Jacob's sons trick Shechem and his father by feigning agreement -- however, they stipulate that all the males of the city must undergo bris mila (circumcision). Shimon and Levi, two of Dina's brothers, enter the town and execute all the males who were weakened by the circumcision. This action is justified by the city's tacit complicity in the abduction of their sister. Hashem commands Jacob to go to Beis-El and build an altar. His mother Rebecca's nurse, Devorah, dies and is buried below Beis-El. Hashem appears again to Jacob, blesses him and changes his name to Israel. While traveling, Rachel goes into labor and gives birth to Binyamin, the twelfth of the tribes of Israel. She dies in childbirth and is buried on the Beis Lechem Road. Jacob builds a monument to her. Isaac passes away at the age of 180 and is buried by his sons. The Parsha concludes by listing Esau's descendants.

Overview courtesy of Rabbis Newman and Sinclair, Ohr Somayach