Ilustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Midrash מִדְרָשׁ
When Esav sees Yaakov approaching with his family, Esav runs to greet him with a hug and a kiss.
וַיָּ֨רׇץ עֵשָׂ֤ו לִקְרָאתוֹ֙ וַֽיְחַבְּקֵ֔הוּ וַיִּפֹּ֥ל עַל־צַוָּארָ֖ו וַׄיִּׄשָּׁׄקֵ֑ׄהׄוּׄ וַיִּבְכּֽוּ׃
Esav ran to greet him, and hugged him; and he fell upon his neck and kissed him; and they cried.
In a Torah scroll, there are dots above the word וַׄיִּׄשָּׁׄקֵ֑ׄהׄוּׄ (va-yishakeihu, he kissed him). What is the purpose of these dots, and what can they teach us about Esav’s kiss?
This midrash, reflecting on both of these questions, offers two possibilities for how to understand this פָּסוּק (pasuk, verse):
אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן אֶלְעָזָר… מְלַמֵּד שֶׁנִּכְמְרוּ רַחֲמָיו בְּאוֹתָהּ הַשָּׁעָה וּנְשָׁקוֹ בְּכָל לִבּוֹ.
אָמַר לוֹ רַבִּי יַנַּאי אִם כֵּן לָמָּה נָקוּד עָלָיו, אֶלָּא מְלַמֵּד שֶׁלֹא בָּא לְנַשְּׁקוֹ אֶלָּא לְנָשְּׁכוֹ, וְנַעֲשָׂה צַוָּארוֹ שֶׁל אָבִינוּ יַעֲקֹב שֶׁל שַׁיִשׁ וְקָהוּ שִׁנָּיו שֶׁל אוֹתוֹ רָשָׁע, וּמַה תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר וַיִּבְכּוּ, אֶלָּא זֶה בּוֹכֶה עַל צַוָּארוֹ וְזֶה בּוֹכֶה עַל שִׁנָּיו.
Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said… This teaches that Esav felt compassion in that moment and kissed Yaakov with all his heart.
Rabbi Yannai said to him: If so, why is the word [וַׄיִּׄשָּׁׄקֵ֑ׄהׄוּׄ] dotted? Rather, it teaches that Esav came not to kiss (נשק, nashak) Yaakov, but to bite (נשך, nashakh) him. Our father Yaakov’s neck became marble and that wicked one’s [Esav’s] teeth were blunted (kahu shinav, sounds similar to va-yishakeihu). So why did the Torah say they cried? [Yaakov] cried because of his neck, and [Esav] cried because of his teeth.
According to Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar, the scene where the brothers kiss and cry teaches us that Esav had a change of heart (in a part of the midrash skipped above, he argues that we should ignore the dots over the word וַׄיִּׄשָּׁׄקֵ֑ׄהׄוּׄ). While Esav previously felt hatred towards Yaakov, he now felt warmly towards his brother and kissed him.
However, Rabbi Yannai reads the pasuk very differently. He understands that dots in וַׄיִּׄשָּׁׄקֵ֑ׄהׄוּׄ are a sign that Esav had very negative intentions when he went to “kiss” Yaakov. In his reading, Esav tried to harm Yaakov by biting him—and a miracle happened and Yaakov’s neck turned to marble.
- How do you understand this pasuk? Are there other hints in the parashah about whether Esav and Yaakov made peace with each other? Or perhaps one of them thought he made peace with his brother but the other one didn’t feel the same?
- What are the different ways of understanding why Yaakov and Esav cried?
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