Closing the Circle

There are so many mysteries in this week’s Torah reading that it’s hard just to count them all. Forget about resolving them. Why was Ya’akov so afraid of meeting Esav? Why was Ya’akov all alone the night before the meeting? Who was the ISH he fought with? Why was Esav so pleasant? Why did Ya’akov promise to meet Esav, when he had no intention of doing so? What was Dina doing in Shechem? Who was Devora? Why is there no mention of the death of Rivka? Why was Rachel buried on the roadside and not Hevron? And there are more. 

Some of these questions have famous answers, but, to my thinking, none are truly, satisfactorily resolved. I’m going to focus on one particularly bizarre and puzzling verse:

God said to Ya’akov, ‘Arise, go up to Bethel and remain there; and build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esav (Breishit 35:1).’

The phrase translated (by JPS) above ‘and remain there’ is V’SHEV SHAM. In other translations, we have settle there, live there, dwell there, but there are a number of commentaires that go in another direction, rather than a description of setting up a domicile.

The S’forno suggests:

An invitation to prepare himself mentally and spiritually before beginning to build the altar that he had in mind to erect. He then explains that this settled attitude is our Sages advice for how to worship God effectively: According to Berachot 30 they spent an hour ‘gearing up’ before commencing their prayers and then spent an hour unwinding before going about the business of earning their daily bread.

Rabbeinu Bechaye adds that Ya’akov had to ‘let his mind come to rest’ before setting up the altar. Remember Ya’akov has been through a lot in the previous few episodes: settling up with his father in law, Lavan; fighting the mysterious stranger; meeting Esav; the incident with Dina; and the massacre of Shchem. He needed some down time before coming before God with YISHUV HADA’AT, a calm demeanor.

But there’s another unexpected issue in our verse: the MIZBEACH! Why does this directive from God demand that Ya’akov build an altar. This is surprising because at the original rendezvous with God after the Dream of the Ladder, Ya’akov sets up a MATZEVAH, a monument. 

What’s the difference between a MIZBEACH and a MATZEVAH? On the simplest level a MATZEVAH is a monolith. What is a monolith, you may ask? According to the Cambridge Dictionary, it’s ‘a large block of stone standing by itself that was put up by people in ancient times’.

That definition fits the bill, one rock and times gone by. The Shem M’Shmuel (Rav Shmuel Bornsztain, the Sochatchover, 1855-1925) explains: To understand this one must see the difference between an altar and a MATZEVAH. MATZEVOT were beloved in the age of the AVOT, but are now hated. The reason is based on the fact that an altar is made from many stones, which represents the idea that its service is for the many members of society, and not a single individual. 

So, God’s instruction is about Ya’akov and his entourage moving forward from being a family to becoming a people, a nation. When he erected MATZEVOT, he felt like an individual, alone. Even when he parted ways with Lavan, he built a MATZEVAH, because even after his marriages and the births of his children, he still felt alone. I think that’s why the night of the encounter with the ‘stranger’ he was all alone (32:24). Was he physically ‘all alone’? I don’t know, but he definitely still felt ‘all alone’.

But no longer! Which event changed Ya’akov and his attitude? The encounter with Esav, the incident with Dina, the rampage of Shimon and Levi? I don’t know, but God is signalling to Ya’akov that he is different. He’s now a Patriarch of a family and clan; soon to become a nation.

The instruction of building the MIZBEACH can only come after he fulfills the earlier part of the verse: learn to be settled there in Eretz Yisrael. Ya’akov is not going to prevent terrible things happening to his family, B’nei Yisrael (his beloved Rachel will soon pass on, the feuds of the brothers, the eventual descent into Egyptian GALUT), but he will be able to deal with all these calamities, because he has matured and achieved YISHUV HA’DA’AT, a settled demeanor.

It is no coincidence that his YISHUV HA’DA’AT arrives together with his YISHUV ERETZ YISRAEL. Jews, throughout history, have lived in many, many places. Sometimes we felt really comfortable in those waystations, buildings lives and communities which seemed strong and stable. However, we know very well that all those efforts were erected on quick sand. The downfall was always inevitable. 

Our people only find the possibility of permanence in Eretz Yisrael. I find it ironic that there are Jews around the world who look to Eretz Yisrael as the fall back position when the communities collapse in New York, London or Toronto. That was the job of the Diaspora. When Jews would sin and lose the right to live in Eretz Yisrael, the Exile beckoned as a respite. 

Eretz Yisrael is the default, not the exit hatch. It’s funny that people are buying apartments here and renting them out with Mashiach Clauses in the rental agreements; a provision that the owners get immediate occupancy when Mahiach comes. Cool! But weird. 

In our parsha, Ya’akov comes back to Eretz Yisrael to close the circle which he began at the Dream of the Ladder, while fleeing into GALUT to be safe from his brother’s rage. It’s time for all of our nation to ‘close the circle’ and come home! Let’s fulfill God’s command ‘V’SHEV SHAM’, settle here where it all began, and greet MASHIACH, here. Soon!!