“Eileh toldot Eisav hu Edom; these are the generations of Esau who is Edom.”
Reading the Torah text, Esau is a redemptive character. Esau, while hotheaded in his youth, makes up for it. He is a devoted son, caring for both his parents. When Esau hears of his mother’s disappointment at his choice of wives from the local tribes, he takes a wife from among Rebekah’s kin. Towards the end of the parasha, Esau genuinely misses and clearly loves his brother. He comes to greet Jacob upon Jacob’s return to their land with his entire community, 400 men, the loving family welcoming the prodigal son. Esau embraces Jacob, kissing him on the neck. A number of commentators, including Ibn Ezra see this as heartfelt, and most reading the text would likely agree.
Interestingly, many commentaries do not interpret Esau in this manner. As the text above reads, among the descendents of Esau were the Edomites. To the Rabbis, Edom represented Rome. The Rabbis connected Esau’s red hair with the royally coloured robes of Caesar. Perhaps the bile poured out at Esau comes from anger at the oppression of Rome, the ruling nation of their time.
In every Torah scroll there are a series of small dots written over the word, “vayishakeihu, and he [Esau] kissed him [Jacob]” (33:4 This can also be seen in the Humash on page 125). Since nothing in the Torah is extraneous, these dots clearly have meaning. The question then is- what? Throughout our history Esau has been portrayed as cruel and bloodthirsty. The dots are interpreted as a meaning change- from kissed to bit. Our rabbis and other Jewish leaders have always been experts at word play and polemic. This verse is most likely being used as a polemic against assimilation into Roman culture. It is a warning, “although Rome may seem to embrace you, watch your neck.” Once codified in commentary, the vitriol meant for Rome was passed to new generations.
No matter what the meaning- the dots teach us that we must take care with our words lest something meant for one time and place is removed from its context and held up beyond its relevance.
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