It's All in the Dots

Opening a Torah scroll reveals a sea of letters, 22 precise shapes repeated in hundreds of uniform columns of text without vowels, cantillation marks, or individuality between aleph and aleph, bet and bet-like a spiritual counterpart to the permutating A,C,T, and G molecules of DNA that encode the spiraling scrolls of our genes. "Black fire on white fire," as the Holy Zohar calls it. But a closer look reveals a few nonconformists nestled among the disciplined ranks, as we shall discover.
In this week's parasha, Yaakov returns to his birthplace, four wives, 13 children, and many flocks richer. But the response to his pilot message is that Esav, the brother from whom he'd fled for his life 20 years ago, was approaching head-on with 400 men. Fearing the loss of all he'd lived for, Yaakov develops a three-part strategy. First he appeals to the "G-d of my father Avraham, and G-d of my father Yitzchak…deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esav." Next he arranges "a present for Esav his brother:" droves of animals arrayed to appear "as far as the eye can see," according to Rashi. Finally, in the event Esav's rage remains unquelled, he divides his camp in two, allowing his wives and children to escape should Esav strike the frontal formation.
His plan meets with spectacular success. Not only does Esav weep when he embraces his Yaakov, he even says "Be thine that which is thine," in which he thereby "admitted [Yaakov's] right to the blessings," as Rashi cites the Midrash.
The Torah records that in their reunion, Esav vayishakeihu, "and kissed him," and accents the word with a row of six dots, visible on any Torah scroll. The Midrash records a machlochet (difference of opinion) as to their meaning. A breita (rabbinic legal discussion that not appearing in the Mishna) of Sifrei says it means Esav "did not kiss him with his full heart," whereas according to Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai "his pity was really aroused and he kissed him with his whole heart."
I would like to propose that the machlochet represents two ways of looking at the same reality, and the dots themselves hint at this understanding. In three ways, corresponding to Yaakov's three-part strategy, the dots masterfully symbolize his method of appeasement which resulted in the kiss.
First Yaakov appealed to Hashem. The six dots correspond to his prayer, which is composed of six distinct parts (see Bereishit, 32:9-12). Yaakov uses the following formula to tap Hashem's mercy: (1) merit of the forefathers, (2) recollection of G-d's command to him, (3) appreciation of His kindness, (4) statement of the current situation, (5) request, and (6) a recollection of G-d's promise which necessitates His salvation.
Next, Yaakov sent gifts. On a basic level, the six dots are an aerial view depicting the travel formation of the six species: goats, rams, camels, cattle, and donkeys, followed by the people. In the vocalized version of the word (such as in a chumash), an additional dot appears over the shin, creating a total of seven dots and separating the last two to transform their meaning to encode Yaakov's third strategy. The sixth dot indicates Yaakov's camp and hovers over the yud (kabalistically, yud represents a point of potential, creative force -- here, the "seed" of Yaakov which develops into 12 tribes). The seventh dot represents the women's and children's camp and crowns the vav (a conjunctive prefix literally translated as "and." Here, it represents the connection between generations, the endless "and" that assures the future of Judaism. It is the ikar (inner, vital part) as opposed to the tafel (protective, less important part as represented by the men's camp). This camp represents the pride and joy of Jewish righteousness and purity, and its ability to survive and develop on through the millennia.
The seven-dot version also alludes to Yaakov bowing seven times. In this final gesture, "His (Esav's) pity was aroused," according to Rashi, "And Esav ran towards him."
But how does this reconcile the machlochet recorded in the Midrash? Again, according to Rabbi Simeon ben Yochai, "Is it not well-known that Esav hated Yaakov? But at that moment his pity was really aroused and he kissed him with his whole heart." His whole heart-all seven of his emotional attributes were in agreement as to the rightness of kissing Yaakov-all his middot lit up like the dots appearing over the word. How was Yaakov so successful? He appealed to Esav's desires and specific character traits.
Esav was endowed with tremendous potential, and it is taught that the original plan was for Yaakov and Esav to be a team-Yaakov giving Torah to the world and Esav managing its materiality. Born with a craving for viscerality and material pursuits, Esav instead became seduced by the world. Instead of using his traits for good, employing his energy and lust for justice and acts of kindness (like King David, who is said to have been born with similar attributes and appearance as Esav), he directed them toward violent, hedonistic, and self-aggrandizing pursuits. The boy that sold the abstraction of his "birthright" for a pot of half-cooked soup, however, did not wish to share power with Yaakov; rather, he wanted it all. Esav came to be, as it were, all about Esav.
A self-important person can be influenced by appealing to his pride and making him feel important. Yaakov knew this and planned a great show of honor. Esav was seduced by the material world. Therefore, gifts of a magnanimous nature swayed him. So when the breita claims that Esav "did not kiss him with his whole heart," it is right . For even the full heart of an Esav appreciates only according to the capacity to which it is developed. Esav could have spent those 83 years working on all his middot. But since he wanted all the power, he ended up squandering his potential, losing the full character development he was capable of achieving. All he could do was to kiss Yaakov with the whole of his half-heart.
The six obvious dots represent Esav's point of view. He simply saw six species; Yaakov's camp was distinct from the animal droves only insofar as the gifts and honor it was offering. His heart did not have the capacity to recognize that each person in the human camp is a world unto himself. Thus the six dots attest to Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai's assertion that "he kissed him with his whole heart," but only as far as he had developed it.
The seventh dot, being hidden, refers to Yaakov's point of view. He knows the distinction between humans and their gifts, but beyond this, his humility allows him to see even himself as only the protective shield of the real ikar, the Jewish women and children. Yaakov recognizes that a whole heart is supposed to be more than the sum of its desires. A whole heart is one that is growing, always seeking connection until it embraces all of creation and its Creator. So the seven dots verify the Sifrei's view that "he did not kiss him with his whole heart," for Esav's heart could have been much more.
I bless us all to encourage the Esav in us to sacrifice the now for a bigger future. To strengthen our patience and humility to wait until the soup is ready. To employ all of our pride and lust-for-life to the service of a greater reward. To partner with those who complement us instead of hating them for highlighting to us our own weaknesses. And to see ourselves as parts of an incredible whole rather than as lords of our own realm.