The 1965 Vatican Council, and subsequent efforts by the Church to reconcile with Judaism, did not win over Orthodox Jews, who believe that their reading of the Scriptures is correct – not the Christians’. A new book discusses these uneasy relations
After many years during which Esau hated Jacob, the brothers meet. Esau rushes to Jacob, embraces him, falls on his neck, kisses him, the two burst into tears. What a thrilling reconciliation. But the Jewish Sages, according to Midrash Bereshit Rabbah 78, were not enamored of this reconciliation. They placed dots above the Hebrew word vayeshakehu (“he kissed him,” Genesis 33:4), signifying deletion. But deletion was not a real option – it was, after all, a word in the Torah – so they did a “pretend” deletion. They claimed that Esau’s kiss was one of deception, and that the intention was not to kiss (nishek) him but to bite (nashakh) – a fine wordplay.
