When Yaakov encounters Esav the passuk says that Esav kissed Yaakov. On top of the word וישקהו and he kissed him, the Torah wrote six dots. Rashi says to some this indicates that Esav did not kiss Yaakov whole heartedly. For the meaning of dots witten above a word is to minimize its action. However Rav Shimon Bar Yochai says that in this instance Esav kissed Yaakov sincerely. We must try to understand why does Rav Shimon all of a sudden strive to see Esav in a favorably light when we know his demeanor and intentions were always evil? Secondly, what does Rav Shimon do with the dots above the word וישקהו whose purpose is to limit?
To understand this we must turn to the interpretation of the Shem Mishmuel. Esav possessed very deep inside his being holy neshamos such as Rabbe Akiva and Rabbe Meir. They came from geirim of Esav 's descendents. Both of them were the source of our Torah Shebealpeh. The Ari hints to this in the passuk כי ציד בפיו that Yitzchak loves Esav because there were captured neshamos in his "mouth" referring that they were the source of Torah Shebe'alpeh. Since they were very deeply imbedded in Esav, for Yaakov to insure that they would eventually emerge in Klal Yisrael, he had to make an incredible effort in this encounter with his brother to import a strain of potent kedusha into Esav in order to contact these neshamos. He accomplished this by bowing down to him seven times. However, that was still not sufficient to make contact with them. Only coupled with Esav's embrace and sincere kissing of Yaakov, was those neshamos contacted with kedusha, enough to ignite them to eventually overtime emerge from within an Esav and enter Klal Yisrael to become the source of Torah Shebealpeh.
We can now understand the change of view of Rav Shimon Bar Yochai when it came to this encounter of Esav and Yaakov. It is not that Rav Shimon wants to beautify the evil character of Esav but rather to explain how was it ever possible to miraculously extract these two great neshamos of Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Meir from the depths of Esav being.
But even according to the Shem Mishmuel's interpretation how did Rav Shimon know to explain that Esav's kissing of Yaakov in this instance was to enable the extracting of these extraordinary neshamos unknowing to Esav at the time? I would like to offer the following incredible hinting. Rav Shimon saw the word וישקהו which including the word is gematriah 428. Including the six dots we arrive at 434. That number is gematriah עקיבא מאיר an allusion to the two neshamos who were the source of Torah Shebe'alpeh and who were concealed deep within Esav. The Chazal say that it is through the Oral Torah that משיח בן דוד will come and bring the geulah. That gematriah is also 434. So it was Yaakov Avinu who began the process of the extraction of these two neshamos. Both of which are hinted in his name:עקיבא אותיות יעקב א' .(אבינו) - מאיר בגמטריא יעקב אבינו
Thunder רעמים were created to straighten out the crookedness of the heart. The toiling to understand the Oral Law also straightens out the heart and one's inappropriate desires. This is alluded to with the fact that the acronym of רעם is רבי עקביא מאיר.
Chanukah is the Yom Tov of Torah Shebe'alpeh. The Aron represented the written Torah and the menorah symbolized the Oral Torah. Chanukah is the holiday in which we must rededicate our lives to toiling to understand Hashem' s will through His Oral Law and hence hasten to bring Moshaich Ben David.
Guten Shabbos
Rav Brazil
