{"id":38749,"date":"2018-08-27T06:42:25","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T03:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=38749"},"modified":"2022-03-21T17:03:07","modified_gmt":"2022-03-21T15:03:07","slug":"yes-it-was-a-kiss-take-it-from-me-im-a-twin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/yes-it-was-a-kiss-take-it-from-me-im-a-twin\/","title":{"rendered":"Yes – It Was a Kiss (Take it From Me – I\u2019m a Twin)"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[486,459,490,381,363],"acf":{"old_id":"38749","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":37631,"related_cahpter":"33","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Despite the twins\u2019 estrangement, or maybe because of it, there is relief in seeing each other again after 20 years apart","content":"

As an identical twin, it\u2019s difficult for me to read the reunion of twins Jacob and Esau without personalizing their reconciliation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The kiss they share in Genesis 33:4 was interpreted by the sages as likely violent; it was surmised that Esau <\/span>bit<\/span><\/i> Jacob instead of kissed him. \u00a0The kiss is suspect thanks to the Torah\u2019s unusual dots above the word \u201cva-yisha-kehu<\/em>\u201d (\u201che kissed him\u201d). These markings signal something jarring or amiss. An alternative rabbinic take is that Esau did indeed kiss his brother, but the dots convey it wasn\u2019t done \u201cwholeheartedly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Having seen first-hand the unmatched intimacy of twinship\u2014 the effortless shorthand between those of us who started life together in cramped darkness \u2014 I believe this biblical reunion is loving, not vindictive. \u00a0Despite the twins\u2019 estrangement, or maybe because of it, there is relief in seeing each other again after 20 years apart.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEsau ran to greet him. He embraced him and, falling on his neck, he kissed him; and they wept.\u201d (Genesis 33:4)<\/span><\/p>\n

When I was researching my second book, \u201cOne and the Same,\u201d about every aspect of twin science and psychology, I interviewed a physician who specializes in photographing twins. \u00a0Dr. David Teplica described standing over a bassinet waiting to capture newborns in their earliest moments \u2014reunited after the brief separation of delivery. Their first, instantaneous, impulsive act was to suck each other\u2019s faces. \u00a0Like intuitive magnets, they latched on as soon as they could.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jacob had betrayed Esau and worried he\u2019d arrived to take revenge. \u00a0But instead, his brother runs to touch him as if it\u2019s all he\u2019s been waiting for. Twins ultimately forgive.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cover art: Jacob\u00a0Steinhardt, Jacob and Esau<\/em>, woodcut, 1950, courtesy of Yosefa Bar-On Steinhardt.<\/p>\n","image":{"ID":49397,"id":49397,"title":"dt2-Jacob Steinhardt, Jacob and Esau","filename":"dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/esau-is-not-rejected\/dt2-jacob-steinhardt-jacob-and-esau\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"dt2-jacob-steinhardt-jacob-and-esau","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":49383,"date":"2019-02-13 16:55:44","modified":"2022-04-10 11:21:57","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":500,"height":394,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau-300x236.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":236,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","medium_large-width":500,"medium_large-height":394,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","large-width":500,"large-height":394,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","1536x1536-width":500,"1536x1536-height":394,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","2048x2048-width":500,"2048x2048-height":394,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","post_full_size-width":500,"post_full_size-height":394,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","home_baner-width":500,"home_baner-height":394}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"Three Views on Esau's Kiss - 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