Parshat Vayishlach

Connect the Dots

Brothers Ya'akov and Esav meet after years of separation following their conflict over the birthright. Torah says: Esav ran to meet him [Ya'akov], and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him; and they wept. (Bereisheet/Genesis 33:4)

In the Torah scroll, the word vayishakehu, "and kissed him" is marked with six dots, one above each Hebrew letter. Why? The Masoretic scholars who fixed the final form of the Torah scroll marked passages they found theologically or spiritually challenging. What did they want us to notice here?

One theory: It's simplistic to think that deep family conflict could all dissolve in a hug. The brothers must have had mixed feelings. And in fact, the Hebrew word for "kiss" shares some root letters with the Hebrew word for "weapon." Perhaps the dots invite us to notice the subtlety of Torah's language: a single Hebrew word can express a very complex inner moment.

Another theory: Many midrashim come from late antiquity, when the traditional religion of Judaism and the new religion of Christianity were re-defining themselves as theologically different from one another. In many midrashic stories, the character of Ya'akov represents Judaism and Esav represents Christianity. Perhaps the dots hint at the scholars' mixed feelings about the future of Jewish-Christian relations: simultaneously hopeful and worried.

A final theory: The dots get our attention! Perhaps the dots remind us to honor our own ambivalence by making multiple, changing interpretations of Torah. The dots are like an English ellipsis...each time we make an interpretation relevant to our own lives, they ask, "And what else? What else do you think?"

Return to Reb Laura's "Taste of Torah" list.

Return to "Teachings from Our Rabbis and Friends" list.

---

[ Home ]	[ Asiyah ]	[ Yetzirah ]	[ Briyah ]	[ Atzilut ]	[ Calendar ]
	( Doing )	( Feeling )	( Knowing )	( Being )