What is it with all the boulders in this week’s portion?

The first large rock that appears was used as a Monument by Jacob. He immediately sets off on his way and comes to a well, sealed shut with; you guessed it, a boulder.

Twenty years later, to signify his new covenant with Laban, Jacob raises another stone as a monument. (31:45) His children emulate their father and also raise stones, but, unlike their father, raise a mound of stone. The parties eat on the mound, and it, not Jacob’s stone, becomes Galed & Jegar-sahaduta – the mound of witness. Jacob successfully transmitted something to his sons, symbolized by stonework. What was the lesson?

From one huge boulder to the nest, and then onto yet another boulder, which, in turn, is replaced by a mound of stone. Don’t stone me, but I suspect that something is going on with all these rocks!

We have the Foundation Stone in this week’s portion, (don’t forget TheFoundationStone.org on every portion) and on Chanukah we have God as our Maoz Tzur – our Rock of Strength.

It is interesting to note that the famously wicked, Laban, calls on God to be the witness to the covenant between Laban and Jacob, and Jacob insists on a rock as witness!

I. A New Existence

“Surely God is present in this place and I did not know! How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God and this is the gate of the heavens!” (Genesis 28:16-17) Abraham did not react like that when God lifted him above the stars. (Genesis 15:5) He did not even respond with such awe after the Binding of Isaac.

Isaac did not associate the place of his prophecy with the House of God, but Jacob was convinced that his dream indicated an Awesome place, God’ abode, and the gate of the heavens.

Was it the ladder in his dream that convinced Jacob that the place where he slept was so awesome? Why did Jacob associate his dream with the place where it took place?

Jacob learned an important lesson from the ladder: We are not confined by physical space: “And you shall spread out powerfully westward, eastward, northward and southward.” We do not have to create our existence on the physical plain, but in the place where heaven and earth connect. Wherever Jacob would go he could find that meeting point between heaven and earth, and exist there. He was no longer limited by his physical existence. “He took the stone,” he simply went to the stone and lifted it as a pillar. He knew that he could lift it, something he could not have done before his dream.

He lifted his feet, and went toward the land of easterners; not Padan Aram, as it was called in the previous portion, or Haran, as it was called before his dream, but the land of the easterners. He reconnected with the Garden “in Eden, to the east.” (Genesis 2:8)

He went to back to east of Eden, (Genesis 3:23) to begin again from where Adam began his journey from Eden into this world.

Jacob returned to the place where Cain began his new life, “east of Eden,” in order to fix Cain’s mistakes. (Genesis 4:16)

He returned to Lot’s path, “from the east,” (13:11) to repair Lot’s mistakes. Jacob could travel to Eden, Adam, Cain and Lot, and repair their mistakes, because he no longer lived a purely physical existence. He lived at the meeting point between heaven and earth.

II. The Rock On The Well

The new Jacob arrived at a well that was sealed with a huge boulder. The minute he saw Rachel, he approached the well and single handedly moved the rock. It would never be replaced. Jacob busted the myth of the rock on the well.

How do I know? This was the well that Rachel used to water Laban’s flocks. We can assume that Jacob continued to use the same well all the years he worked for his father-in-law. If the shepherds needed him to uncover the well each time, how could he gain three days distance from Laban before anyone knew he was gone?

Once Jacob moved that rock it was never replaced. It wasn’t necessary. He shattered its myth of an immovable object necessary to protect the well.

Jacob’s dream had shattered his perceptions of physical limitations, and he busted the long and tightly held perception of the rock.

Jacob knew that others would misunderstand everything he did, as a person who lived at the Tiferet meeting point of heaven and earth. He was right. He could kiss Rachel with the purest awareness of their eternal connection and others would simply see a man grabbing a beautiful girl.

He proposed working for seven years before marriage rather than immediately marry her with a commitment to work for seven years, because the time and space of others did not concern him: “and they seemed to him a few days because of his love for her.” (29:20)

Laban senses and battles Jacob’s sense of time and space: “Such is not done in our place!” (Verse 26)

III. Whose Children?

“The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children.” (31:43) Laban wants to be known as the patriarch, and he makes a religious offer: “He shall be a witness.” Laban calls on God’s authority and Power as witness. He wants to play Jacob’s game.

Laban was right about one thing: According to the numbers, he was more of the Patriarch than Abraham or Isaac. Rebecca was his sister. Jacob’s four wives were his daughters. Jacob’s animals originated in Laban’s flocks. It was Laban who made Jacob a wealthy man.

But Jacob, the man who lived on a different plain of time and space, did not count the numbers. He simply lifted a stone, reminding all present, of his famous “Rock on the Well” trick, and placed it as a monument. He then told his children, “his brethren” in approach and said, “Gather stones!”

His children emulated their father and “took stones and made a mound,” (Verse 46) His children made it clear that they were Jacob’s children, not Laban’s.

IV. Buster

Jacob’s dream shattered his perceptions. Jacob smashed the myth of the rock on the well. His children destroyed Laban’s illusions of being remembered as the patriarch of the family. They too become rock busters.

Reflections

I was attending a Yeshiva dinner and noticed that there was a great light at one seat. I didn’t see a person; all I saw was pure light. I was convinced that an angel of God was sitting there. It was something even higher than an angel: I walked over and saw that there was a ‘person’ sitting there, Professor Chaim Sober.

People know him as a great martial artist. In fact, he can shatter boulders. He is the founder of Tora Dojo.

Jacob’s children do not sing of his praises as a great martial artist. They celebrate the man, who when comparing Tai Chi moves explains different customs about Shabbat candle lighting. Jacob’s children do not whisper in awe about his wondrous feats of energy and meditation. They see a man who has learned Jacob’s lessons and lives at that special place where Jacob lived: The meeting place between heaven and earth. No wonder his face shines brighter than an angel’s.

Author Info:
Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone™ is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.