Comments on: VaYetze: Crossings, Truces and Piles of Stones http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/vayetze-crossings-truces-and-piles-of-stones/ The Marketplace of Ideas Sat, 25 May 2013 00:56:45 +0300 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Dror Ben Ami http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/vayetze-crossings-truces-and-piles-of-stones/#comment-109084 Dror Ben Ami Sun, 25 Nov 2012 07:59:40 +0000 http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/?p=81514#comment-109084 For all intents and purposes, Laban kept his word. He changed his agreements, but he did not break his past agreements. He simply said that from now on we will have a new agreement. Furthermore, since Jacob did receive Rachel in the end, Laban kept this agreement as well. It is Jacob who flat out lied, not Laban. Jacob told his father that he was Esau. Also, Isaac lied when he told King Amimelech that Rebecca was his sister. The important point to remember about Laban is that he communicated directly with God. How many rabbis today in Israel can say the same?

A stone represents the word of God. Thus the soldiers of Joshua carry the stones on their shoulders in the same way that the escaping slaves carried the matzah batter on their shoulders when they left Egypt. The shoulder is the base of support for the head. The Torah is the bread of life, hence by carrying bread and stones on their shoulders the Israelites are saying that God's word is the source of their understanding.

The important point in the Joshua story is that the Torah/ark of Covenant should be associated with dryness. Moses said his words were like a heavy rain, yet the Israelites complained they did not have enough water. Finally, Moses strikes a stone which produces water and when he does so he screams out "you fallen ones". in other words, he is saying that the desire for the words of men reduced the Israelites' level of understanding.

The assertion by the rabbis that Moses was punished because he hit the stone instead of speaking to it is simply nonsense. Moses was not allowed to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land because he acquiesced to their demand for water, in the same way that King Saul acquiesced to the people's demand in regards to the Amalikite sheep.

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