Vayishlach or Vayishlah ( — Hebrew for "and he sent," the first word of the parashah) is the eighth weekly Torah portion (, ) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. In the parashah, Jacob reconciles with Esau after wrestling with a "man." The prince Shechem rapes Dinah, whose brothers sack the city of Shechem in revenge. In the family's subsequent flight, Rachel gives birth to Benjamin and dies in childbirth. The parashah constitutes . The parashah has the most verses of any weekly Torah portion in the Book of Genesis (Parashat Miketz has the most letters, Parashat Vayeira has the most words, and Parashat Noach has an equal number of verses as Parashat Vayishlach). It is made up of 7,458 Hebrew letters, 1,976 Hebrew words, 153 verses, and 237 lines in a Torah Scroll (Sefer Torah). Jews read it the eighth Sabbath after Simchat Torah, in November or December. Readings In traditional Sabbath Torah reading, the parashah is divided into seven readings, or , aliyot. In the Masoretic Text of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), Parashat Vayishlach has six "open portion" (, ) divisions (roughly equivalent to a paragraph, often abbreviated with the Hebrew letter (peh)). The first open portion is further subdivided by two "closed portion" (, ) divisions (abbreviated with the Hebrew letter (samekh)). The first open portion spans the first four readings and part of the fifth reading. The two closed portion divisions occur in the fourth reading. The second and third open portion divides the fifth reading, and extends into the sixth. The fourth and fifth open portion divides the sixth reading and extends into the seventh. And the fifth and sixth open portion divisions divide the seventh reading. First reading — Genesis 32:4–13 In the first reading, Jacob sent a message to Esau in Edom that he had stayed with Laban until then, had oxen, donkeys, flocks, and servants, and hoped to find favor in Esau's sight. The messengers returned and greatly frightened Jacob with the report that Esau was coming to meet him with 400 men. Jacob divided his camp in two, reasoning that if Esau destroyed one of the two, then the other camp could escape. Jacob prayed to God, recalling that God had promised to return him whole to his country, noting his unworthiness for God's transformation of him from a poor man with just a staff to the leader of