Vayishlach: The Bizarre Prohibition against Eating the Thigh Muscle

There is a wide range of dietary laws in the Torah including a list of the permitted and forbidden animals, the prohibition against “boiling a kid in its mother’s milk” from which the Rabbis derive the prohibition against mixing meat and milk, and numerous others. However, there is only one such law that appears in the book of Genesis and it is very bizarre, indeed. To understand it, we must examine the context in which it appears.

After stealing the blessing from his brother Esau, Jacob was forced to flee to avoid his brother’s wrath and desire for vengeance. Twenty years later, Jacob returned to face Esau but he did not know what to expect. Thus, he took a series of precautionary measures: He gathered intelligence and divided the people with him into two camps so that if Esau is to attack one the other can escape, he implored God for assistance, and he sent messengers to Esau with lavish gifts as a sign of appeasement and reconciliation.

Before his encounter with Esau, however, Jacob sent his family across the ford of Jabbok along with their possessions. Now, all alone in the dead of night, a mysterious unnamed man—later identified as a divine being—appeared and wrestled with him until the break of dawn (I’m not quite sure how a wrestling match could last that long). When Jacob finally gained the upper hand, the attacker, in a desperate attempt to disengage himself from Jacob’s grip, injured Jacob in his hip-socket. Nevertheless, Jacob refused to let his attacker go until he blessed him, at which point the latter changed the former’s name from Jacob to “Israel” (Yisrael) “for you have striven with beings divine and human, and have prevailed (sarita)” (Genesis 32:29). The story then concludes with the following dietary restriction, “That is why the children of Israel to this day do not eat the thigh muscle that is on the socket of the hip, since Jacob’s hip-socket was wrenched at the thigh muscle” (Genesis 32:33).

While this human-divine encounter is one of the most enigmatic stories in all of the Torah, and the commentaries, both ancient and modern, have tried to grapple with its meaning and significance, my goal is to understand the bizarre prohibition against the eating of the thigh muscle. In doing so, I would like to share four approaches and show the relevance of each to our lives today.

The Rashbam (Samuel ben Meir, Troyes, c. 1085 – c. 1158), offers two explanations. He says, first, that the prohibition is meant to remind us of Jacob’s heroism in fending off the attacker and, second, to remind us that, although Jacob was injured, God intervened to prevent his death. Both of these explanations assume that the events of that night were praiseworthy.

The Chizkuni (Hezekiah ben Manoah, France, mid-13th century), on the other hand, sees this prohibition as a reflection of the moral shortcomings of Jacob’s contemporaries and as a form of punishment. Jacob, he avers, was surrounded by men of might, and yet they allowed Jacob to remain alone rather than accompany him and offer assistance should such a need arise. His injury is therefore, a blight on their character, and the prohibition serves to remind all future generations of our responsibility toward one another.

Finally, based on the words “That is why the children of Israel to this day do not eat…” the Radak (David Kimhi, Provence, 1160–1235) contends that the prohibition was not instituted by God but by the people themselves as a sign of respect for their forefather Jacob, and out of sympathy for the injury that he suffered.

I believe that each of these approaches teaches an important lesson that should resonate with us today. First, in light of the Chizkuni, we should never allow our brothers and sisters to face difficult and challenging circumstances alone. Thus, we must do everything we can to help the bereaved families, the families whose husbands and fathers have been serving in the reserves for months at a time, the tens of thousands who have been forced to evacuate their homes, and the families of the hostages who have been experiencing a living hell for the past 14 months.

Second, in accordance with the Rashbam, when faced with adversity and threats, we must be willing to put our lives on the line and fight heroically, despite the risks and the dangers. Thus, we must take pride in our soldiers today who have been a living example of selflessness and bravery, and we must insist that those who can must assume their fair share in the defense of this country. And when we are victorious on the battlefield, we shouldn’t merely pat ourselves on the back and attribute our successes to “My own power and the might of my own hand” but also give thanks to “God who gives you the power” (Deuteronomy 8:17).

Finally, in the spirit of the Radak, no matter how successful we are, we must never forget the price that we have had to pay in terms of the loss of life of our soldiers. It is, therefore, incumbent upon us to display our utmost sympathy and support for their families and bestow upon them the highest honors.  For it is due to their efforts and heroism that we have a state named after our forefather Israel, one that will, hopefully, continue to be ours into the future and for all eternity.