ויקרא ..ויברך אתו, the text of the blessing commences with the words: וא-ל שדי יברך אותך (verse 3).

קום לך, the word קום is not to be understood literally as “rise!,” but as an instruction to go about the task to be fulfilled with speed, without delay. פדנה ארם, we explained this as meaning “to Charan.”

וא-ל שדי...ויתן לך את ברכת אברהם, which G’d pronounced concerning you and your descendants, for just as I was a special seed to my father, though he had other children beside me, you are my special seed and will be the bearer of this promise/prophecy.

וישלח, he sent him off to proceed in the direction he had instructed him. Yaakov complied with his father’s instruction, as the Torah continues וילך פדנה ארם, he took with him sufficient supplies of money and food to last him until he would arrive there. His parents knew that once he would be at his uncle Lavan he would not be short of any of his needs.

אחי רבקה, Rivkah’s brother. He had ample reason to go there if he had to flee some place, seeing his uncle was a brother of his mother. In this phrase Yaakov is mentioned ahead of Esau, although he was the younger, because his relationship to Rivkah who was also his mother was much closer than that of Rivkah to Esau her older son. Everyone of her family in Padan Aram was aware of their sister Rivkah’s special fondness for Yaakov.

וירא, seeing that the sense of sight is a more reliable sense of perception than any of the other 4 senses, the Torah describes Esau’s realisation of what had transpired as being visual.

לקחת לו משם אשה, the fact that Yaakov was fleeing from Esau’s wrath had not become known, everyone thinking he had left to select a bride for himself.

וישמע, Esau also heard that Yaakov had obediently followed his father’s instructions to get himself a wife from that far away He “saw” now that רעות בנות כנען, that the daughters of the Canaanite whom he had married were considered as evil in the eyes of his father Yitzchok. Even though he had been fully aware of this already previously, seeing that his father had already protested his marrying these girls at the time, he had not made it a major issue to forbid him to marry them as he knew that his major seed would not be Esau. Now Esau realised how deeply his father resented these daughters-in-law seeing he had sent Yaakov such a long way to get himself a wife from Charan. This is why he went to Ishmael.

וילך...אחות נביות. This Nevayot was an extremely well known personality, and so was his sister. (25,20) Compare also the formulation in Genesis 10,21 which shows that Yaphet was a well known personality.

על נשיו, he married Machalat in addition not instead of his other wives. She was to represent a higher level of spirituality in Esau’s household. His other wives now occupied a socially inferior status.

ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע וילך חרנה, it is the custom of Scriptures to first tell us the beginning and the end of something before elaborating on what occurred in the interval. Other examples of this literary style of the Scriptures are found in Genesis 24,10 ויקם וילך אל ארם נהרים, something that did not all occur on the same day. Similarly, we find the phrase צמח בלי יעשה קמח, “it grew without developing into flour,” without mentioning all the intermediary stages before relating the outcome. (Hoseah 8,7) The reason we have such formulations is because the author hastens to get to the point of the story.

יפגע במקום, while on his way Yaakov encountered one evening a site less than a day’s walk from Beer Sheva. Since it was already evening, the sun having set, he decided to spend the night there as he was too tired to walk any further. The reason why the letter ב in במקום is spelled with the vowel kametz, suggesting that the place was known, is that the location was known as a site where travelers from Beer Sheva would often spend the night.

ויקח מאבני המקום, one of the stones of the place, for he had not entered the town to spend the night there but preferred to spend the night in the open field.. To that end he placed the stone under his head to serve him as a pillow and lay down there.

ויחלום, והנה סלם, there are many different opinions among our sages how best to explain this dream, as well as among other readers of the Bible. Some say that this was a preview of the revelation at Mount Sinai and that the numerical value of the letters in the word סלם equals that of the word סיני (130)

מוצב ארצה וראשו מגיע השמימה, at the revelation of Mount Sinai the angels and the Jewish people were of the same spiritual level, even though Moses and Aaron are described as ascending towards heaven, whereas the angels were descending towards earth. [the thought that Aaron too was ascending toward heaven is quoted in Shemot Rabbah 19,3. Ed.]

והנה ה' נצב עליו, this would be a reference to Exodus 19,20 where we read וירד ה' על הר סיני, “the Lord descended on Mount Sinai.” Others say that G’d showed Yaakov details of the sacrificial service in the Temple, the ladder serving as a model of the function of the altar. וראשו מגיע השמימה, an allusion to the smoke from the sacrifices rising from the altar in the Temple, especially that of the daily incense offering. These would be received with goodwill by the Lord.

והנה מלאכי אלוקים עולים ויורדים בו, a reference to the priests who offer the animal offerings and the incense. We also find among the explanations given by our sages for this dream (compare Rashi on verse 11 and 17) that Yaakov viewed himself during this dream as standing on Mount Moriah as he was familiar with the appearance of the location from both the description he had heard from his father and from his grandfather Avraham. This is why he said that this place would become the House of G’d in the future and the gateway to heaven (verses 22 and 17). The reason was that this place on earth is directly opposite the throne of G’d in the celestial regions. As to the reason he named the site בית א-ל, this was because he saw in a prophetic vision [seeing that he had been granted the vision there, Ed.] that the site itself was holy, not only the Temple that would be erected on it. This is why he immediately built an altar there. I have also found among the sayings of the sages on these verses that the ladder had 4 rungs. According to that Midrash the width of the ladder was such that 4 angels could simultaneously ascend and descend on it. When they would pass each other on their respective ascent and descent they would occupy the full width of the rung. Each angel symbolised one “governor” of the world as we know from Daniel 10,6 וגויתו כתרשיש. “its body” the size of Tarshish (another term for the “governor.”) These Rabbis have a tradition that Tarshish is one of three such “governors” of the universe. We have to understand what is so important in this interpretation. According to the superficial meaning the width of the ladder would have been wide enough to accommodate 4 such governors, something that seems hard to understand. Maimonides has shown us a window through which to understand what was meant by this statement of Daniel. [the author does not necessarily adopt the views expressed by Maimonides in Moreh Nevuchim section 2, chapters 9 and 10, but employs a similar concept, explaining what occurred on the ladder during Yaakov’s dream. Ed.] He explained that the universe consists basically of three phenomena, the third one being the angels (abstract disembodied intelligent creatures. Moreh Nevuchim 2,10) The four ”rungs” of the ladder would be understood as 4 כדורים described in Moreh Nevuchim second part chapter 9 as a condensation of the nine planets to merely four, some being absorbed to become part of the domain of others. In that scheme of things G’d assigned specific functions to specific planets such as the sun (in charge of fire, heat) and the moon (in charge of water, to wit its influence on the tides), various orbiting planets creating the motion resulting in rain or wind respectively. At any rate, the concept of G’d having assigned 4 distinct such “angels,” i.e. agents of His to run the physical “lower” universe would be what G’d showed Yaakov in the dream of “angels” ascending and descending. Whereas these forces are portrayed in constant motion, such motion by definition cannot be constantly in a single direction. They are therefore portrayed as “ascending” or “descending.” This naturally involves their passing each other at a certain point. Symbolically speaking, the “ladder” the framework within which they operate, must be wide enough to allow this. This is possibly what the Midrash quoted in Maimonides has in mind. [Our editions of the Midrash do not have this paragraph. Ed.] [Another way of looking at the ascending and descending “angels” is that they represent the quest of man for wisdom regarding G’d and His universe, i.e. ascending, and the agents of G’d meeting man halfway in providing him with such knowledge, i.e. “descending.” Alternatively, after man has ascended to receive divinely inspired insights he returns to earth “descends,” to incorporate the newly gained insights in his world view. Akeydat Yitzchok. Ed.] G’d being portrayed as “standing” on top of the ladder is a reminder that the knowledge obtained by man is not from independently powerful phenomena but that these apparently powerful forces are only carrying out His instructions.

והנה ה' נצב עליו, the meaning of the word עליו is not clear. It could refer to G’d on top of the ladder, but it could also refer to Yaakov, meaning G’d was providing Yaakov with new insights originating from the wisdom available in the celestial regions, i.e. the top of the ladder. If so, the reason this is described sequentially as an ascent followed by a descent is that the ascent describes man’s learning process, something concentrated in the head, the mind. Once he has absorbed the new knowledge he has to use it, transmit it to the lower parts of his body, which carries out the lessons learned. The reason why the words עולים and יורדים appear in the plural mode is that both the שכל and the פועל, [theoretical pure reason and the practical reason have to absorb these lessons. My wording. Ed.] The descending “angels” describe the two basic elements in G’d’s supervisory scheme of guiding the history of the universe, the direct and indirect supervision and intervention by G’d known as hashgachah peratit, and the general supervision by G’d’s agents the כדורים or גלגלים known in everyday language as mazzalot. Since Yaakov was fleeing from his home, and no doubt his mental and spiritual equilibrium had been traumatised somewhat by recent events, G’d showed him these insights to not only repair the damage, but to provide him with knowledge he had not yet possessed previously. He promised to give him the land that he was presently running away from, and reassured him that it was well within the Supreme Power, the Lord, to accomplish all this when the time would be ripe. He reassured him that he, Yaakov, indeed was Yitzchok’s real descendant and that all the promises made to Avraham would bear fruition through him and his descendants. אביך, although Avraham was not your biological father he was like your father to you and not to the other grandchildren he had from other sons. Avraham’s inheritance would devolve only on Yaakov.

והנה...אשר אתה שוכב עליה, the meaning is not that Yaakov would be given only the tiny piece of earth he was lying on at that time, but G’d referred to the tiny sample of the land of Israel Yaakov was lying on at that type as being a symbol of the land of Israel of the future. We have a similar construction in Genesis 13,15 where G’d speaks of “all the land Avraham can see.” If He had meant that Avraham’s descendants would inherit only what was within Avraham’s range of vision at that moment, the promise would have been meaningless. G’d used the piece of land he stood on as a symbol of what He would give to his descendants in the future. Concerning the Midrash (mentioned by Rashi) that G’d had “folded” the whole of the land of Israel beneath the tiny piece of earth occupied by Yaakov at the time when He made this promise, surely the meaning of the Midrash is that G’d’s promise is to be understood “as if he had folded, etc.”

והיה...ופרצת, you and your descendants.

ונברכו בך, on your account and on account of your descendants all the families of the earth will experience Divine blessings. The reason for this is that He who performs G’d’s commandments and thereby acknowledges His existence and power, deserves that the world exist on his account. Everyone else who is alive and well on earth therefore owes his well being to the Jews keeping the Torah.

והנה, even though you are presently fleeing, do not be afraid for אנכי, I will be with you, ושמרתיך בכל אשר תלך, both on your way out and eventually, on your way home.

כי לא אעזבך עד אשר אם עשיתי, so that in effect I will never abandon you. This promise was to stand by him and his descendants during his entire life, as well as during that of his children.

אשר אם, this apparently superfluous repetition is meant to reinforce the promise.

'וייקץ..אכן יש ה, he concluded that this site was a site chosen for revelations, seeing that he had become the recipient of such great and wonderful visions in his dream with the ladder.

ואנכי לא ידעתי, if I had known that this was a holy site I would not have chosen this site to sleep on. It is possible that this dream represented the beginning of Yaakov’s prophetic visions. This is why he had not been aware of the sanctity of the site until after his dream, seeing that this was the first time G’d had revealed Himself to him in any manner.

ויירא ויאמר, he was concerned for himself fearing that he might have done something which one is not allowed to do in a holy place. Perhaps while he had been asleep and unable to control his movements, he had behaved in a manner unbefitting such a sacred location.

ויאמר מה נורא המקום הזה, since he had seen an awe-inspiring vision here he concluded that the whole place may have been an awesome place, not to be approached except in a state of ritual purity.

אין זה כי אם בית אלוקים, this place is suitable only for becoming a House of G’d, a temple of sorts. a place wherein to pray and to offer sacrifices to G’d. Another explanation of Yaakov’s exclamation could be that he concluded that the only reason he had been shown the vision was to stimulate him to erect a House of G’d there.

וזה שער השמים, an expression analogous to Chronicles II 30,27 ותבא תפלתם למעון קדשו לשמים, “their prayer reached the residence of His Holiness, to heaven.”

וישכם יעקב....וישם מצבה, he erected the stone to its full height.

ויצק שמן על ראשה, so that he would recognise this stone on his return from Charan. Oil stains on a stone remain for many years and do not disappear. He planned to erect an altar at this site when he would return from Charan. It is also possible that the pouring of oil on that stone was equivalent to pouring a libation of wine on the altar. In fact, when he did return to this site he is reported as doing exactly this (Genesis 35,14) All of this was to be a visible reminder that the Jewish people would take possession, inherit the land promised to them by G’d. Just as Avraham and Yitzchok during their time had treated the land as if it already belonged to them, Yaakov now did the same, albeit it in a miniscule, symbolical way. Once Yaakov had made a monument out of this stone no one had the right to use this stone for his private needs. The fact that some 34 years later he built an altar there using this stone as its foundation, shows that no one in the interval had disputed what this stone had represented. The Torah would not bother to mention that Yaakov had called this site Bet El unless the local people had been informed of this and had not objected to the name change. Clearly, just as the local population had to go along with the wells dug by Avraham and Yitzchok and the names given to these wells because G’d made them respect these patriarchs, so now G’d inspired the local residents to go along with what Yaakov had done there. The attitude G’d inspired in the local population is best described by David in Psalms 105 15 אל תגעו במשיחי ולנביאי אל תרעו, “do not dare touch My anointed, nor do harm to My prophets.”

וידר, the vow Yaakov made at this point was a conditional one. The conditional nature did not mean that Yaakov doubted the promise G’d had made to him and G’d’s ability to fulfill it; rather he was afraid that just as all of G’d’s promises presume that the recipient remains worthy of them, so Yaakov was also afraid that some errors he might commit in the future, sinful conduct, would invalidate G’d promises. This is the only reason that he prefaced the vow with the words: “if G’d will be with me, etc.” He was afraid that if he would commit a sin or sins he might never see his father’s house again so that he would be unable to fulfill the vow he was about to make.

לחם לאכול ובגד ללבוש, he did not ask G’d for anything but the bare necessities of life. He did not need to ask for water as people find enough water to drink all over on earth.

ושבתי בשלום, with his wife and children, for without them neither he, his father, or his mother would consider themselves at peace, seeing that he was forbidden to marry one of the Canaanite girls.

והיה ה' לי לאלוקים, this was the gist of the vow, meaning that he would concentrate on the service of the Lord and minimise any mundane activities. Furthermore, he vowed that he would build an altar on the place where he had slept on the stone which he had just anointed. יהיה בית אלוקים, he would build a Temple and altar there so that anyone worshipping the Lord could come there and pray and offer his sacrifices on that altar. It would be a Temple for the G’d in heaven only. Another way of understanding these words could be that he would instruct his children to build a Temple there in the future when they would take possession of the land of Israel. A further vow Yaakov made at this time was: וכל אשר תתן לי עשר אעשרנו לך, I will give a tithe of all the acquisitions including the cattle which You will give me. I will distribute this tithe to needy people in order to encourage them to switch to monotheism. According to Bereshit Rabbah 70,7 the vow included tithing one of his future children to G’d, i.e. appointing him as a servant of the Lord representing the other sons. [As an interesting aside, the Midrash there claims that assigning only one of 12, respectively 14 sons, if we add Ephrayim and Menashe, Yaakov did not “tithe” i.e. give 10% of his children to the Lord, he is reported as having replied that seeing that each of his four wives had one firstborn, someone whose duty it was as a firstborn to devote himself to spiritual matters without his father “donating” him to G’d for such a task, he Yaakov had done well to additionally assign Levi as a “tithe” for the remaining 10 “children.” Ed.] As to the formulation:

עשר אעשרנו לך, as a grammatically unusual formulation, this is an accepted formulation as we find it also confirmed in Deuteronomy 11,13 with the same verb, or in Deuteronomy 14,22 שמור תשמרון with a different verb. There are many similar examples of this kind of repetition for emphasis. Our sages in Ketuvot 50 use the formulation used in this verse as teaching that even if one wants to be generous in his donations to charity and holy causes, one should not give away more than 20% of one’s wealth in order not to become an object of charity himself because of carelessly squandering wealth given to one by G’d. The wordsעשר אעשרנו are understood by the Talmud there as applying to two such tithes of 10% each.