Esau's Bite
In all of Genesis, if you read of the interactions between Esau and Jacob, which one is the jerk?
According to traditional Judaism, Esau was the personification of brutishness, a killer, with little morals, and nonredeemable.
And that is what most students of Torah learn, and that's what they accept.
Prior to this story, we read the Jacob withheld food from his starving brother until he relinquished over his first-born inheritance double-portion. Then we read of Jacob pretending to be Esau, which is the only time he mentions God, in order to steal a blessing that would make his descendants rulers over his brothers. Esau is angry, says some things to someone who tells Jacob's mother, who sends Jacob to get a wife.
But Jacob doesn't do that. Instead of heading north, he heads south and lives there for some time. His brother never bothered him, and instead, marries a 1st-cousin like Jacob was supposed to be doing. And he remained the household provider, while Jacob was off doings...whatever.
And that's it.
In this week's story, Jacob is supposed to be going to his father's house. Bu doing so, he would fulfill the bargain he made with God, that if Jacob returns to his fathers house in peace, then YHVH will be Jacob's God.
But instead of going south, he decides to go west and go where hi brother Esau was waiting.
Now, Jacob was nervous. He had lied and cheated his brother, and left his with the duty of aiding their ailing father. So what does Jacob do?
He sends an angel to brag to Esau about all of the wealth and family that he has, which, in effect, puts this stealing of the blessing event right back in front of Esau's face.
And what does Esau do?
He rushes to meet him, and with tears, Esau fell upon Jacob's neck and kissed him.
This is the same expression that will be used when Jacob will reunite with the son whom he thought was dead. But in the version with Esau, Jewish tradition does something odd to the Torah scroll. It adds a number of dots over the word "and-he-kissed-him".
The traditional interpretation is, "Esau tried to bite Jacobs neck, but it turned to stone and broke Esau's teeth".
Esau just can't get a break from the commentators!
After the meeting, Jacob and Esau stay together for a few day. Esau thinks that all is fine and wants to unite and tells Jacob where to find him. Jacob say, "Uh, sure! You go ahead. I have a bunch of slow kids with me. I don't want to hold you back. See ya!"
So Esau leaves.
And what does Jacob do?
He goes in the opposite direction!
He lied to his brother once more, and he never sees him again.
So who was the good guy in the story?
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