{"id":38753,"date":"2018-08-27T06:57:26","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T03:57:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=38753"},"modified":"2022-03-21T17:10:53","modified_gmt":"2022-03-21T15:10:53","slug":"was-it-a-dance-of-love-or-something-else","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/was-it-a-dance-of-love-or-something-else\/","title":{"rendered":"Was it a Dance of Love – Or Something Else?"},"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":[486,490,363],"acf":{"old_id":"38753","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":38552,"related_cahpter":"33","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"That all depends on whether you\u2019re a pessimist or an optimist","content":"

In Chapter 33, one of the rare literary phenomena in the Bible is hiding. Over one word there are several dots. This phenomenon, called by scholars \u201cPuncta extraordinaria,\u201d is found, in ten places in the Bible, one of which is in our Chapter (Genesis 33:4): \u201cEsau ran to greet him. He embraced him and, falling on his neck, he kissed him; and they wept.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Above the Hebrew word for \u201che kissed him,\u201d Torah scrolls have six dots.<\/span><\/p>\n

This dotted word is the heart of the drama that took place in the renewed meeting between Jacob and Esau after twenty years of being disconnected from each other. Everything before this verse and this word describe Jacob’s preparations for the encounter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then comes the decisive moment. They approach slowly. Jacob bows but Esau runs toward him with a hug and a kiss full of relief. All the suspense that has accumulated breaks down into these two twins crying as they once again wrap themselves around each other in a strong embrace. However, the rabbis of the Mishnaic period looked at the dots above the Hebrew word for \u201che kissed him\u201d and understood that these dots invite the reader to take a fresh look beyond the plain sense of the words (Sifre 69, as quoted by Rashi on Genesis 33:4):<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDots are placed above the letters of the Hebrew word for \u201che kissed him\u201d…to teach that he did not kiss him wholeheartedly, whereas Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said: Is it not well-known as <\/span>halacha<\/span><\/i> (Jewish law) that Esau hated Jacob? But at that moment his pity was really aroused and he kissed him wholeheartedly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There are two positions here. The first position completely undermines the relationship that reconnects the two brothers. Esau is the deceitful one, and his kiss is a deceiving kiss. In contrast to this pessimistic view, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai says that “it is known that Esau hated Jacob” but here in an exceptional and unique manner he kissed wholeheartedly.<\/span><\/p>\n

The argument between these rabbis focuses on the interpretation of the text, but there is no argument between them that “Esau hates Jacob.” It is clear that these words of the rabbis, written after the days of the destruction of Hadrian’s decrees, do not speak only of the biblical Esau and Jacob, but rather and mainly of Esau and Jacob as symbols of Gentiles and Jews. This is how these words were understood throughout the generations. The hatred of the Gentiles for Jews is well established and is not going to change. This pessimistic position became a fact whose power is as fixed and complete as Jewish law, the word the midrash uses (\u201chalacha\u201d) to describe how well known Esau\u2019s hatred is of Jacob.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scholars sought to challenge the validity of the use of the word \u201chalacha\u201d in this context by means of a philological examination of the text of the midrash. What they discovered is that in no manuscript of this midrash does the word <\/span>halacha<\/span><\/em> appear. In its place it is written as follows: “Is it not well-known that Esau hates Jacob?” How did this \u201chalacha\u201d find its way into the midrash? It is clear that this is a simple scribal error. The word \u201cIs it not\u201d (\u201cha-lo\u201d) can be abbreviated in such a way that only the first two Hebrew letters are used followed by an apostrophe which a hasty copier could easily mistake for begin the abbreviation for the word \u201chalacha.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This is indeed a nice point, but it does not really matter. The phrase “Is it not well-known as halacha (Jewish law) that Esau hated Jacob? ” will not be uprooted by linguistic studies. The reality of hatred of Israel reinforces the pessimistic consciousness. It takes a lot of optimism to believe that Esau is inviting Jacob to a dance of love.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":66822,"id":66822,"title":"jacob esau-hayez","filename":"jacob-esau-hayez-1.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jacob-esau-hayez-1.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/jacob-and-esaus-reunion-in-art\/jacob-esau-hayez-2\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jacob-esau-hayez-2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":38762,"date":"2019-12-11 13:08:59","modified":"2022-03-21 15:10:49","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":316,"height":228,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jacob-esau-hayez-1-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jacob-esau-hayez-1-300x216.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":216,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jacob-esau-hayez-1.png","medium_large-width":316,"medium_large-height":228,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jacob-esau-hayez-1.png","large-width":316,"large-height":228,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jacob-esau-hayez-1.png","1536x1536-width":316,"1536x1536-height":228,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jacob-esau-hayez-1.png","2048x2048-width":316,"2048x2048-height":228,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jacob-esau-hayez-1.png","post_full_size-width":316,"post_full_size-height":228,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jacob-esau-hayez-1.png","home_baner-width":316,"home_baner-height":228}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"Three Views on Esau's Kiss - 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