Jacob and Esau come together one final time to bury Isaac. They leave knowing that they have differences that cannot be bridged. The lesson is to know what we can agree on and what we cannot.

The reason for Rachel dying before her time was that she had stolen her father’s idols. She did it with the good intentions of stopping him from idolatry. The problem was that she stole them. Your intentions do not matter if your methods are wrong.

Simon and Levi destroy Schem for their sister’s honor. The reason the whole city had to destroyed was that all were complicit in the rape of their sister.

Jacob hides his daughter, Dina, from Esau because he knew that Esau would want her for sex. What he did not realize was that Dina had to power to civilize Esau. If Esau would have married Dina then he would have become a righteous man.

When Jacob and Esau meet, Jacob states that he was able to live in the house of Laban and keep all the mitzvot. Esau is amazed. Mentally he knows that it is possible, but he cannot control his urges while Jacob can.

Rachel steals her father’s idols since she does not want to be an idolator. Her intentions were good, but the act of stealing is wrong. This is why she was punished.

Jacob sees that he is becoming like Laban. He realizes that this is dangerous to his spiritual being. His solution is to escape from Laban and return to his parents, who will make sure that his moral compass is pointing true north.

Jacob, Rachel and Leah all have to struggle with their faith. Jacob in his dealings with his unscrupulous father-in-law. Leah with the fact that she is not loved by Jacob and Rachel with being barren. They all overcome their struggles due to their faith in God.

Each of the sons of Jacob are named and each name has a meaning. This is to teach us that each individual bring something to the table that is unique to them.