“Esav ran togreet him. He embraced him and, falling on his neck, he kissed him; and theywept”:
וַיָּרָץ עֵשָׂו לִקְרָאתוֹ וַיְחַבְּקֵהוּ וַיִּפֹּל עַל־צַוָּארָו וַיִּשָּׁקֵהוּ וַיִּבְכּוּ׃
(Bereishit 33:4)
In the text,the word וַיִּשָּׁקֵהוּ (vayishakeihu – “he kissed him”) has dots overeach letter. The Midrash explains that the Torah is conveying a hiddenmeaning. When Esav fell on Yaacov’s neck to kiss him, he really wanted to biteYaacov’s neck, but the neck became hard as marble (or Esav’s teeth became softlike wax). The implication here is that Esav meant to harm Yaacov, but Godintervened.
Esav had anarmy of 400 people with him and weapons. He could have tried to stab Yaacov orstrangle him. Biting his neck seems odd. Why did Esav want to bite Yaacov’sneck?
When I wasin college, I spent Shabbat with friends at YU. We attended one of the manyside minyanim in classrooms across from the main beit midrash. During davening,I noticed a student paper laying on a desk entitled “Was Esav the FirstVampire?” The paper pulled a few examples from the Esav story to argue thathe was the inspiration for vampires.
The mainsource was this incident mentioned in the Midrash—Esav trying to bite Yaacov’sneck. The paper also brought up a few other examples. Esav was alwaysassociated with the color red and hunting. His association with red was notjust for his skin color but also, connected to hunting, his association withblood.
When Esavreturns from hunting in chapter 25, he pleads with Yaacov to feed him:
וַיֹּאמֶר עֵשָׂו אֶל־יַעֲקֹב הַלְעִיטֵנִי נָא מִן־הָאָדֹם הָאָדֹם הַזֶּה כִּי עָיֵף אָנֹכִי עַל־כֵּן קָרָא שְׁמוֹ אֱדוֹם׃
“Please give me a swallow of this red, red stuff, for I am exhausted.”Therefore he was named Edom [Red]. (Bereishit 25:30)
Yaacov is inthe process of cooking a stew. Esav wants the “red” because the stew is bloodyand raw. Without the blood, he will die.
The nextexample is the mysterious wrestling match with Yaacov in chapter 32. Themysterious figure wrestles with Yaacov, but suddenly it is dawn:
וַיֹּאמֶר שַׁלְּחֵנִי כִּי־עָלָה הַשָּׁחַר וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא אֲשַׁלֵּחֲךָ כִּי אִם־בֵּרַכְתָּנִי׃
“Then he said, ‘Let me go, for dawn is breaking.’ But he said, ‘I will notlet you go unless you bless me.’” (Bereishit 32:27)
Rashibelieves that this mysterious person was Esav’s guardian angel. But the paperpostulated that this was Esav himself. The fear of dawn is linked to the deadlyresults of a vampire in the sunlight. Esav needs to leave before the sun risesand he is burned.
The paperconcluded with one final eerie Midrashic moment: Esav’s death. Accordingto Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer and other Midrashim, when Yaacov dies and isbrought to the Cave of Machpelah, Esav tries to block the burial,claiming the final spot belongs to him. In the ensuing chaos, Chushim benDan, Yaacov’s deaf grandson, sees Esav dishonoring his grandfather and, notunderstanding the legal debate, beheads Esav with a sword. Esav’s headrolls into the cave and is buried alongside the patriarchs, while his bodyremains outside.
Thisdramatic and violent end—a beheading, a severed head buried in a sacred tomb—wascited in the paper as the final “vampiric” image: the classic death of avampire is decapitation, and Esav’s head, separated from his body, is buried ina holy place. Ofcourse there are many reasons why this theory of Esav being a vampire does notwork. However, it certainly was an interesting and entertaining read thatshabbat morning.
