Set in Stone

It may well be plausible to claim that the stiff necked people came into being this week, in the portion of Vayetze. Jacob is on the run, on the instructions of his parents, both this time. He flees to Haran, to the family of his mother, Laban, to escape the wrath and the murderous plans of his brother Esau. His flight is “interrupted” by the sun (suddenly?) setting, and he finds a place to rest (his head), 28:11;

וַיִּפְגַּ֨ע בַּמָּק֜וֹם וַיָּ֤לֶן שָׁם֙ כִּי־בָ֣א הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁ וַיִּקַּח֙ מֵאַבְנֵ֣י הַמָּק֔וֹם וַיָּ֖שֶׂם מְרַֽאֲשֹׁתָ֑יו וַיִּשְׁכַּ֖ב בַּמָּק֥וֹם הַהֽוּא׃

He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. Taking the stones of that place, he put them under his head and lay down in that place.

The narrative is awkward, but more pointedly when out in the field why use a stone as a pillow? Surely, there are softer and more comfortable options than this assured stiff neck! Much as always is lost in translation, and many of the nuances and minutiae are missed. The ambiguity is taken up by many of the commentaries, particularly in the light of the addendum of the account, in 28:18, where one as opposed to various stones is recorded. Tractate Chullin 91b expounds: “And he took from the stones of the place, and placed them under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep” (Genesis 28:11). And it is written: “And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had placed under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it” (Genesis 28:18). The first verse indicates that Jacob took several stones, whereas the latter verse indicates that he took only one stone. Rabbi Yitzḥak says: This teaches that all those stones gathered to one place and each one said: Let this righteous man place his head upon me. And it was taught: And all of them were absorbed into one large rock.

Rashi also addresses the conundrum of using stones, arguing that they were placed to surround his head in order to protect him from wild animals. Unclear how they might help protect but it attempts to explain their use, not as a pillow more of a protector. Haketav v’ha kabala, Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg, a nineteenth century master commentator offers the following astute elucidation. The enigmatic term מְרַֽאֲשֹׁתָ֑יו beneath his head, meaning below implying that the purpose of the stones were to surround his whole body from wild animals as Rashi also suggests. 

These stones also surround or bookend a crucial and rousing story. Whether the pillow was comfortable or not, Jacob slept well, – very well, affording the first and perhaps most awe inspiring dream recorded in the Bible. The Stairway to Heaven, with angels ascending and descending, וְהִנֵּ֨ה יְהוָ֜ה נִצָּ֣ב עָלָיו֮ and God is upright at the top (of the ladder) or more alluring translated in the JPS brought by Safaria, And standing beside him was God, protecting him, pledging one of the most exquisite promises, 28:15 …Remember, I am with you: I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” …We could submit that there remains unfinished business, #BringThemHome, back to this land. Jacob is filled with astonishment, and declares the iconic, מַה־נּוֹרָ֖א הַמָּק֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה אֵ֣ין זֶ֗ה כִּ֚י אִם־בֵּ֣ית אֱלֹהִ֔ים וְזֶ֖ה שַׁ֥עַר הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃ “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven.”

He then astonishingly, “takes the stone that he had put under his head and sets it up as a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.” -An altar where he ostensibly conditionally pledges that if God indeed stays with him, he will be or stay with God and return to his father Isaac’s home, -Israel. At the climax, he declares, “And this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, shall be God’s abode; and of all that You give me, I will set aside a tithe for You.”

The symbolism of the stone conjures the stones or tablets that were later to bear the Torah. The Mishna, Avot, Ethics of our Scholars, 6:2 exquisitely upends the seeming permanency of being “set in stone”; “And the Tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tablets” (Exodus 32:16). Read not haruth ‘graven’ but heruth ‘freedom’.

Our Torah, our foundational stories, are relayed in a manner that invites if not demands (Lidrosh), Cherut, freedom rather than one of Charut, permanence, in stone. Jacob models this charge to learn, own and interpret the Torah through the events that shaped his life. This striking experience opens with  וַיִּפְגַּ֨ע בַּמָּק֜וֹם, what would appear to be a sudden unplanned stop or interruption yet also through the readings of the commentaries, prayer -by choice. Whilst our journeys may be predetermined we set the routes or the “ways” we get there. The dramatic account closes with Jacob’s reading and ratification of the experience and the duties that surely behold, walking with God.