In
verse 33/4 it says, " And Esau ran to meet him, and he embraced him, and fell on
his neck, and kissed him, and they wept." In the Torah, over the words "and
kissed him", VA-YISH-A-KAY-HU, each letter has a dot over it. A rare
occurrence in the Torah. By these dots the Torah is telling that some special
event is taking place. Rashi asks this question and brings a Braisa from the
Sifre to explain a difference of opinion as to what transpired when Esau kissed
Yacov. The Tanna Kamma is of the opinion that Esau hates (sone) Yacov, and that
it is an absolute law. He did not kiss him with a full heart. It was only a
physical external act, and Esau can never love Yacov. And every occasion that
you might think that Esau loves Yacov it is a fake , a trick, and only a
external act but not the real thing. This is what the dots are coming to tell
us.
On the other hand, in the Braisa of the Sifre, there is Rav Shimon Ben
Yochai. He says that even though the rule is Esau hates Yacov, at that moment
his heart was moved and he did kiss him with a full heart. In other words,
according to this opinion, Esau hates Yacov because of circumstances and if you
change the circumstances, as in this case where Yacov brought gifts and touched
his heart in other ways, it is possible for Esau to change. Esau hates Yacov
ordinarily, but if you really talk from the heart to the heart, there is the
capacity to change the hatred for a temporary moment.
When I heard this
little Torah from Rav David Goldstien, my chaver in the Diapora Yeshiva, I found
it odd and difficult to understand this second side of Rav Shimon Ben
Yochai.
Then I heard this story. There was a very learned Rabbi in the Camps. One day
while wearing Tefillin he was spotted by a Nazi guard. He ordered him " STOP,
TURN AROUND" In the split second that it took him to turn around, the Rabbi
made a decision to love the man he would confront with all his full heart. He
turned to look at his executioner,still with his tefillon in full view, and the
Nazi had mercy at that second and let him go. Complete unheard of , the Rabbi
should have been shot on the spot. What changed the situation ? It was the
love that was real from the heart of the Rabbi that had the power to move even
that Nazi. If you think about it, there are countless stories of similar
situations. What this shows me is that there really are two opinions on what
those dots mean on top of the word Kissed. If this second opion is true,
and if G-d forbid we encounter the Esau’s of our day, let us merit to change the
"law" if just for the moment.
Important Numbers
