In the Footsteps of Avraham Avinu
We really should have begun our shiur with a more basic question: why does Yaakov stop in Shechem at all (parshia B)? Why doesn't he go directly from Succot to Bet-El or Hebron?

The answer lies in the obvious parallel between Yaakov's return to Canaan and Avraham Avinu's initial journey from Aram. He, too, first stopped in Shechem and built a mizbayach:

"And Avram passed through the land, to the place of Shechem ... and God appeared to Avram and said: 'I am giving this land to your offspring,' and he built there a mizbayach to the Lord who appeared to him." (12:6-7)
[Compare also 12:5 with 31:17-18!!]

In a very similar manner, Yaakov also makes Shechem his first stop, and he too builds there a mizbayach (see 33:18-20). However, in contrast to Avram, Yaakov also invests in some 'real-estate' - he buys a field (see 33:19). Soon we will explain why.

If Yaakov is indeed following in his grandfather's footsteps (as his arrival in Shechem suggests) then he too should continue directly to Bet-El, just as Avraham Avinu did (see 12:7-8). Of course, Yaakov had another reason to proceed directly to Bet-El - to fulfill his "neder." We would have then expected him to continue from Bet-El on to Hebron to see his parents.

Why then does he stay in Shechem? Just because he bought some 'real-estate?'

One could suggest exactly the opposite. Yaakov did not stay in Shechem! He stopped there only to build a mizbayach, thus thanking God for his safe arrival. [Read 33:18 ("shalem") and 33:20 ("Kel Elokei Yisrael") carefully!] He stayed there only briefly, purchasing a plot of land as an investment for the future. Immediately thereafter, he continued to Bet-El (parshia E), just as Avraham Avinu had, and just as Yaakov had promised in his "neder." (See Board #6.)

For some reason (which we will soon explain), the Torah records this part of his journey (E) only much later (in 35:9). [Note the "pey" before pasuk 9, which indicates the beginning of a new parshia.]:

"And God 'od' ['had already' or 'again?'] appeared unto Yaakov upon his arrival from Padan Aram, and blessed him ... then Yaakov set up a matzeyva at this site ... and called the name of this site Bet-El. Then they travelled towards Efrat [i.e. on the way toward Hebron], and Rachel gave birth with complications [and then died]..." (see 35:9-19)

Our claim is that this entire parshia (E - 35:9-22) actually took place immediately upon Yaakov's arrival from Padan Aram (as its opening pasuk suggests - compare with 33:18!), several years before the incident with Dena in Shechem (parshia C - 34:1-35:8).

A very strong proof to this claim may be drawn from the words of Yaakov himself (to Yosef) before his death:

"... when I was returning from Padan, Rachel died on the road, while still a long distance from Efrat, and I buried her on the way..." (see 48:7)

Yaakov himself states that Rachel died during his original journey from Padan to Eretz Canaan. He would not have spoken of her death (parshia E) as having occurred "when I was returning from Padan" if she died only after Yaakov had spent several years in Shechem (parshiyot B and C).

Furthermore, why did Yaakov travel from Bet-El southward, towards Efrat? Most likely, he was on the way home to his father in Hebron! In other words, Yaakov did return immediately to visit his father, just as we expected him to. (See Board #7.)

[For some reason, the Torah does not record the details of this encounter. But this question remains no matter how we explain the order of the parshiot, for only in the final summary psukim (i.e. 35:27-29) are we told that Yaakov had returned to Yitzchak, and even there it appears to be only for Yitzchak's burial. Obviously, Yaakov must have gone to visit his father much earlier.]