Seventy Gates of Vayishlach: Walking as a Living Sefer Torah from Chesed to Malchut
This is a seventy-part map of Parashat Vayishlach, based on the entire arc of Yaakov’s return and transformation in Bereishit 32:4–36:43: his fear and tefillah before meeting Esav, the night of wrestling and the name “Yisrael,” the encounter with Esav, the story of Dinah and Shechem, the deaths of Rivkah’s nurse and Rachel, and the genealogies of Esav in Se’ir. Each teaching is framed as one of seventy sefirah-be’sefirah middot—ten inner facets (Keter through Malchut) within each of the seven lower middot from Chesed through Malchut—in the pattern of “X sheb’Y,” that is, “X within Y” (Chesed within Chesed, Gevurah within Chesed, and so on), so that the Parashah is read through the inner structure of the Tree of Life, “sefirah within sefirah.” What you are looking at is not a commentary in the usual sense, but a ladder of practical, inner-oriented hashkafah, arranging the emet of Vayishlach into seventy concrete ways of living as a walking Sefer Torah, a moving tefillah, a living meditation of bitul and Yichud HaShem in the world.
🕯️ Vayishlach Through the Seventy Middot
1. Keter sheb’Chesed – When I “send messengers ahead” (Bereishit 32:4), I am sending light into the parts of my life that feel like Esav; the first kindness is to acknowledge that even the brother who frightens me is still my brother.
2. Chochmah sheb’Chesed – Before I speak to another, I speak to HaShem; Yaakov’s tefillah, “Katonti mikol hachasadim – I am small from all the kindnesses” (Bereishit 32:11), teaches me that true chesed begins in the wisdom of knowing I deserve nothing and receive everything.
3. Binah sheb’Chesed – Splitting the camp (Bereishit 32:8) is not lack of trust but compassionate understanding that love sometimes protects by creating space, so that if one side falls, the other can live and rebuild.
4. Chesed sheb’Chesed – The gifts that Yaakov sends to Esav (Bereishit 32:14–16) remind me that when I fear someone, I can sweeten the judgment by proactively surrounding our meeting with generosity instead of waiting for conflict to erupt.
5. Gevurah sheb’Chesed – Chesed without boundaries becomes self-betrayal; Yaakov bows seven times (Bereishit 33:3) yet refuses to walk side-by-side with Esav to Se’ir (Bereishit 33:12–14), teaching that I may honor another’s presence while firmly declining their path.
6. Tiferet sheb’Chesed – The order of Yaakov’s approach—first gifts, then tefillah, then physical readiness—shows me that balance in kindness is beauty: I pour love into the world, I root it in prayer, and I also prepare responsibly for what may come.
7. Netzach sheb’Chesed – Even if the “Esav” in my story never fully changes, I do not abandon my commitment to chesed; enduring kindness is the victory that refuses to let hatred define the relationship.
8. Hod sheb’Chesed – When I say “I am unworthy” of all the kindness (Bereishit 32:11), I am not erasing myself but polishing my vessel; humble gratitude is the hidden radiance that allows chesed to keep flowing without becoming ego.
9. Yesod sheb’Chesed – The words Yaakov sends to Esav—“Im Lavan garti – I have sojourned with Lavan” (Bereishit 32:5)—teach me that genuine connection begins when I honestly reveal where I have really been, even if my past is tangled.
10. Malchut sheb’Chesed – Bowing before Esav while carrying the promise of Yisrael (Bereishit 33:3) shows me how chesed appears in action: I may externally yield, yet inwardly remain a living Sefer Torah, rooted in HaShem’s covenant.
11. Keter sheb’Gevurah – “Vayira Yaakov me’od vayetzer lo – Yaakov was very afraid and it distressed him” (Bereishit 32:8) teaches that the highest gevurah is not to deny fear but to feel it fully while choosing not to run from the mission HaShem set for me.
12. Chochmah sheb’Gevurah – The wisdom within gevurah is knowing which battles are internal; Yaakov prepares for Esav with strategy, but the real war is with his own panic, which he subdues through tefillah before a sword is ever drawn.
13. Binah sheb’Gevurah – Dividing the camp into “two camps” (Bereishit 32:8) mirrors my inner split between trust and anxiety; understanding this division allows me to guide both sides back toward serving HaShem rather than fighting each other.
14. Chesed sheb’Gevurah – Sometimes the kindest thing I can do for my soul is to say “no”; refusing Esav’s companionship (Bereishit 33:12–14) is gevurah that protects the fragile unfolding of my inner Yaakov from being swallowed by Edom.
15. Gevurah sheb’Gevurah – “Vayehi li shor vachamor – I have ox and donkey” (Bereishit 32:6) hints that my animal drives must be harnessed; discipline is not hatred of the body, but firm guidance so that the beast serves the covenant instead of ruling it.
16. Tiferet sheb’Gevurah – Beautiful gevurah is when I correct without humiliating; like Yaakov who confronts danger without cursing Esav, I can take strong action while guarding the dignity of the other, even when they threaten me.
17. Netzach sheb’Gevurah – Enduring gevurah is the willingness to hold the line over time; it is not one loud act of strength, but countless quiet refusals to compromise my soul’s truth.
18. Hod sheb’Gevurah – When I admit, “I am afraid,” but still walk toward the brother who once vowed to kill me, my confession becomes my splendor; gevurah shines when I stop pretending to be fearless and move anyway.
19. Yesod sheb’Gevurah – True foundation is built when I channel my intensity through honesty; the more clean and truthful my motives, the more my gevurah connects instead of isolating.
20. Malchut sheb’Gevurah – Every boundary I set becomes a decree in my inner kingdom; if I rule myself with holy gevurah, my words and habits engrave a sovereign malchut that serves HaShem rather than my impulses.
21. Keter sheb’Tiferet – The mysterious “ish” who wrestles with Yaakov (Bereishit 32:25–29) is the crown of harmony: the encounter where my higher self demands that I stop living as “Yaakov the heel” and begin to live as “Yisrael – the one who wrestles his way toward HaShem.”
22. Chochmah sheb’Tiferet – “Vayivater Yaakov levado – Yaakov remained alone” (Bereishit 32:25) reveals that the wisdom of beauty is cultivated in aloneness; when all noise falls away, I can finally see what in me is still wrestling with HaShem’s will.
23. Binah sheb’Tiferet – The name “Yisrael” (Bereishit 32:29) teaches that my understanding of self is not fixed; as I grapple with HaShem, I am invited to re-interpret my entire story as a movement from fleeing myself to returning to my true self.
24. Chesed sheb’Tiferet – Yaakov embraces Esav (Bereishit 33:4) not as a naïve dreamer but as one who already fought his inner “Esav” all night; once I make peace with my own shadows, I can hug even the parts of reality that once terrified me.
25. Gevurah sheb’Tiferet – The tears of Yaakov and Esav (Bereishit 33:4) show that harmony is not softness alone; it is the courage to feel the full pain of what was almost destroyed and still choose not to reignite old hatred.
26. Tiferet sheb’Tiferet – To live as “a walking prayer” is to let every step be a weaving of above and below; Yaakov, limping in the dawn light, turns even his wound into a line of tefillah written into the earth.
27. Netzach sheb’Tiferet – The victory of beauty is that after being renamed Yisrael, Yaakov still introduces himself as “your servant Yaakov” (Bereishit 32:19; 33:5); enduring harmony holds both my heavenly name and my humble posture together.
28. Hod sheb’Tiferet – The limp (Bereishit 32:32) becomes Yaakov’s badge of splendor; the places where I was struck in the struggle become my most radiant testimony that HaShem did not abandon me in the night.
29. Yesod sheb’Tiferet – When I let my body remember the struggle—like Yaakov’s thigh that never walks the same—my physical self becomes a foundation stone that keeps me from returning to the old illusions.
30. Malchut sheb’Tiferet – The prohibition on eating the sciatic nerve (Bereishit 32:33) turns a personal wound into a national practice; every time I refrain, I embody in action that our people remembers the night we became Yisrael.
31. Keter sheb’Netzach – The struggle “until the break of dawn” (Bereishit 32:25) teaches that the crown of victory is simply not letting go of HaShem, even when I am too exhausted to do anything but cling.
32. Chochmah sheb’Netzach – Yaakov’s insistence, “I will not let You go unless You bless me” (Bereishit 32:27), is the wisdom that knows when to hold on; sometimes the only way forward is to refuse to release the very Hand that is wrestling me.
33. Binah sheb’Netzach – Every delay in redemption, every long night, is itself part of the education of my soul; understanding that the process is not wasted time keeps me in the fight until dawn.
34. Chesed sheb’Netzach – When I keep returning to tefillah day after day, even when my heart is dry, my persistence becomes a gift I offer to HaShem: the chesed of not giving up on the relationship.
35. Gevurah sheb’Netzach – To keep going, I must cut away habits that drain my strength; endurance is fed by disciplined refusal to leak my life into distractions that numb my awareness of HaShem.
36. Tiferet sheb’Netzach – The beauty of victory is not crushing my opponent but revealing that there was only one Will guiding both sides; the ish who blesses Yaakov shows that the adversary was always an agent of my becoming.
37. Netzach sheb’Netzach – Each time I rise after a fall, I engrave a new path in my soul; over years, the repeated choice to stand again becomes my personal “title” of Yisrael.
38. Hod sheb’Netzach – Admitting how many times I almost gave up fills my endurance with humility; I do not boast in my strength, I marvel that HaShem carried me through the countless moments I thought it was over.
39. Yesod sheb’Netzach – When my commitments outlast my moods, my word becomes a foundation others can lean on; the victory of Yesod is that what I promise in clarity I still live in confusion.
40. Malchut sheb’Netzach – The final form of victory is simple: I am still here, still trying to live as a Sefer Torah in motion; my very continued presence in avodat HaShem is a royal decree written in my footsteps.
41. Keter sheb’Hod – After surviving Esav, Yaakov builds an altar and calls it “Kel Elokei Yisrael” (Bereishit 33:20); the crown of gratitude is to name HaShem as the true One who carried me, instead of secretly crediting my own cleverness.
42. Chochmah sheb’Hod – The wisdom of hod is knowing that every narrow escape demands thanksgiving; when I ignore daily salvations, I close the gate through which greater salvations wish to flow.
43. Binah sheb’Hod – Dinah’s story (Bereishit 34) teaches me that when hod—modesty, dignity, inner splendor—is violated, souls shatter; I must understand how precious my own and others’ inner honor really is.
44. Chesed sheb’Hod – Comforting those whose hod has been wounded is a supreme chesed; I do not minimize their pain, I stand beside them and help them rebuild the sense that their soul still shines.
45. Gevurah sheb’Hod – Shimon and Levi’s anger (Bereishit 34:25) warns me that outrage over desecrated dignity must be held within halachic gevurah; otherwise, my sense of justice can itself become another violence.
46. Tiferet sheb’Hod – When I respond to humiliation by turning more deeply to HaShem rather than to revenge, I weave beauty out of shame; my broken places become altars of thanksgiving instead of altars of bitterness.
47. Netzach sheb’Hod – Continual gratitude, even for small things, slowly outlives the memory of old disgraces; over time, what endures in my heart is not what was done to me, but how HaShem kept lifting me anyway.
48. Hod sheb’Hod – To whisper “Modeh ani – I thank You” every morning is to clothe myself anew in hod; even when my life feels stained, that first sentence of the day wraps my soul again in its original splendor.
49. Yesod sheb’Hod – Honest acknowledgment of my mistakes without self-erasure builds a strong foundation; by saying, “I failed, but my tzelem Elokim remains intact,” I protect my hod from crumbling.
50. Malchut sheb’Hod – When gratitude no longer depends on circumstances but becomes my default stance, it rules my inner kingdom; then every event in my life is received as another word in HaShem’s ongoing praise.
51. Keter sheb’Yesod – The covenant of brit milah, implied in the sin of Shechem and the deceit of his forced circumcision (Bereishit 34:13–24), reveals that the crown of Yesod is using sexuality only as HaShem’s covenantal channel, never as a tool of power.
52. Chochmah sheb’Yesod – The wisdom of Yesod is to see that intimacy is always spiritual, never “just physical”; every union writes letters into the Sefer Torah of reality, either clarifying or smudging the Name of HaShem in my life.
53. Binah sheb’Yesod – When I reflect on where and how I connect—emotionally, physically, digitally—I begin to understand the deep patterns shaping my soul; conscious relationships carve holy pathways in my inner worlds.
54. Chesed sheb’Yesod – Covenant-rooted connection is chesed expressed through presence; I offer my attention, loyalty, and care as a sanctuary where another image of HaShem can safely dwell.
55. Gevurah sheb’Yesod – Guarding my eyes, speech, and boundaries is gevurah that protects Yesod; every “no” to cheap connection is a “yes” to deeper, truer bonding.
56. Tiferet sheb’Yesod – Harmonious Yesod is when my inner world matches my outer relationships; what I promise, I live; what I reveal, I am; my foundations are clear and beautiful, without hidden cracks.
57. Netzach sheb’Yesod – Even after failures in the area of Yesod, I do not surrender; persistent teshuvah transforms repeated falls into the very ladder by which I climb back to HaShem.
58. Hod sheb’Yesod – Confessing my misuses of connection, without excuses, restores splendor to Yesod; the humility to say “I was wrong” opens the gate for HaShem to rewrite my story.
59. Yesod sheb’Yesod – When my core relationships are aligned with Torah, they become a living conduit through which HaShem’s shefa flows; my home, my friendships, my community become channels of blessing for many worlds.
60. Malchut sheb’Yesod – The way I build my family, my home, my hidden life, embodies my inner foundations; in the quiet routines of my house, the heart of Knesset Yisrael is either strengthened or weakened.
61. Keter sheb’Malchut – Rachel’s death “on the way” (Bereishit 35:19) hints that the crown of Malchut is often carried in tears; the Shechinah chooses to dwell with her children in exile, and Malchut receives its keter precisely by refusing to abandon them.
62. Chochmah sheb’Malchut – Yaakov sets a monument on Rachel’s grave “until this day” (Bereishit 35:20); wise kingship remembers its losses, using them as markers that guide future generations along the path.
63. Binah sheb’Malchut – The listing of Esav’s chiefs and kings in Se’ir (Bereishit 36) teaches that not every apparent sovereignty is eternal; understanding the rise and fall of Edomite power helps me see that only Malchut Shamayim truly endures.
64. Chesed sheb’Malchut – To rule in kindness is to make my life a hospitable dwelling for others; my table, my schedule, my listening become the palace where the hearts of HaShem’s children can rest.
65. Gevurah sheb’Malchut – When I restrain my tongue, my anger, and my impulses, I am acting as a king over myself; malchut begins where I no longer let every urge issue royal decrees.
66. Tiferet sheb’Malchut – A beautiful kingdom is one in which every law, habit, and pattern reflects the harmony of Torah; my daily routines become a choreography of mitzvot that reveal HaShem’s compassion in time and space.
67. Netzach sheb’Malchut – Even in long exile, Malchut Yisrael persists as a hidden line; every Jew who insists on living as a walking Sefer Torah adds another day to the eternal reign of HaShem in the world.
68. Hod sheb’Malchut – When the knowledge of HaShem begins to “fill the earth as waters cover the sea” (Yeshayahu 11:9), Malchut will shine with hod; but even now, every small public kiddush HaShem is a glimmer of that future splendor.
69. Yesod sheb’Malchut – Malchut stands securely when it is rooted in nun sha’arei binah—the fifty gates of understanding; the more deeply the king is anchored in inner wisdom and teshuvah, the more safely the people can stand upon him.
70. Malchut sheb’Malchut – To live as “the walking prayer, the living meditation in motion” is to let every act of my malchut—speech, money, time, body—express bitul toward Yichud HaShem, until my small kingdom becomes a clear mirror of His.