Timeless Torah

In writing the weekly Timeless Torah, I have at my disposal any number of tools that I frequently utilize to draw your attention to a particular point. Often I will use italics or a bold font to catch your eye. Other methods commonly used to achieve the same goal are words ensconced in “quotation marks”, underlined, or written with all CAPITAL letters. The Divine author of the Torah, on the other hand, refuses such obvious and feeble devices. Still, once in a while, even the most scrutinized best-selling book of all time requires its readers to stop and wonder if there is more to the text than meets the eye. At which point, literary tricks are necessary. What are they?
Occasionally, Biblical words will be missing a letter in the hope that the deficient spelling will indicate that there is a deeper meaning. Much less common, is the Torah’s use of extraneous symbols, (in apparent contradiction of its own rules) whereby tiny dots are placed above a word. An example of this can be found in this week’s narrative detailing the emotional reunion between Yaakov and his brother Eisav. There the Torah tells us that, “Eisav ran toward him (Yaakov), embraced him, fell upon his neck, and he kissed him; then they wept.” The word וישקהו, “And he kissed him” has small dots above it which means that there is more to this kiss than sibling serenity. The Midrash offers a fascinating reason for the dots. Eisav’s supposed smooch was his way of getting close enough to his baby brother so that he could bite Yaakov on the neck. Miraculously Yaakov’s neck hardened and the pain in Eisav’s teeth caused him to cry. But, if that is the case, why does the Torah highlight the word, “and he kissed him” with dots? Shouldn’t the record state clearly that Eisav tried to take a bite out of Yaakov? Perhaps the answer to this question lies in the earlier encounter between the Patriarch and Eisav’s celestial protector. There after an entire night of battle, the angel of evil proclaims Yaakov the victor with the declaration that, “Your name will no longer be Yaakov, but rather Israel, for you have contested with both the Divine and with man, and have prevailed.”
In the early years of Communist Russia, the infamous Yevsektzia, a group of Jewish Bolsheviks dedicated to the secularization of Russian Jewry, once expelled the Jews of Tcherkov from their synagogue. The community leader, Rabbi Aharon Milikovsky, addressed the congregation with this verse and raised the question, what great victory did Yaakov enjoy? We see that our forefather was wounded in battle, and emerged limping on account of his thigh. Furthermore, the repercussions of this injury, in accordance with the various commentaries, would be felt throughout the generations as the dislocated sciatica nerve would negatively impact A) the supporters of Torah institutions, B) our young children. In contrast, the angel was not wounded at all, not then or later. So where was the victory?
When two people are engaged in an intellectual argument, then the one who is correct offers proofs and intelligent ideas. In contrast, the one who realizes he is in error, at times refuses to admit his defeat. Left with no rational counter-argument he will fume with anger and shout. As a last recourse, he may even resort to violence. The same thing happened at the argument between Yaakov and the angel. Heavenly creatures are entirely spiritual,l beings. The battles they wage are not physical, but rather intellectual confrontations of opposing philosophies. If so, why did Yaakov emerge physically wounded? It must be that the ministering angel of Eisav could not subdue our ancestor with proofs and resorted to lashing out. This demonstrates that Yaakov must have truly won the debate of conflicting ideals.
Our situation, Rabbi Milikovsky concluded is exactly the same. Our dispute with the Yevsektzia is theological. If all they have left in their arsenal of arguments is force, it only indicates that the truth is on our side.
The same principle holds true in respect to Eisav’s bite. It probably started out as a reasoned approach, an embrace, or as the Torah records, an actual kiss. But when Eisav saw that Yaakov’s lifestyle and values rang with the sound of truth, he did the only thing he could: he switched from the kiss to his usual tactics, and took a bite.