אחי רבקה, אם יעקב ועשו, “the brother of Rivkah, who was the mother of Yaakov and Esau. Nachmanides explains that the reason why Rivkah is described here by the Torah as “the mother of Yaakov and Esau,” [something that we all know perfectly well, Ed.] is because Yitzchok had commanded Yaakov to select a wife from among the daughters of Lavan, “the brother of your mother.” The Torah is at pains to remind us that Lavan was also the brother of Esau’s mother, and because of this it would have been appropriate for Yitzchok to command Esau also to take a wife from among his uncle’s daughters. However, seeing that the seed of Avraham would be carried on only through Yaakov, there was no point in Esau marrying someone from Lavan’s family. Other commentators feel that the Torah was at pains to give Yaakov precedence over Esau who was biologically his senior, as soon as Yaakov had secured the blessing of his father. The Torah’s mentioning “Yaakov and Esau” in that order, serves as proof that the blessing was indeed fulfilled, and that Yaakov would henceforth be deemed as senior to his brothers, i.e.הוי גביר לאחיך as we read in All of this, in spite of the fact that after Yitzchok’s death the Torah reverts to mentioning Esau first when it reports Yitzchok’s funeral. This was because Esau had never left the land of Israel, attending to his father’s needs, whereas Yaakov had been outside the Holy Land for over 20 years. [I find this difficult as Esau had voluntarily left the Holy Land (Genesis 36,6), not because of his life being in danger and his father having sent him out of the land to get a wife without giving him a dowry, 11 years before his father died. Ed.] Some commentators say that the reason why the Torah repeats these details about Yaakov’s genealogy is in order for you not to be dismayed that from two such righteous parents as Yitzchok and Rivkah, a wicked person such as Esau could have been produced. The Torah does not want us to forget for a moment that Rivkah herself had a brother who was everything but righteous. Our sages have established a rule (based on empirical knowledge, Ed.] according to which most children have a tendency to develop in accordance with their mother’s brother(s).

ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע, ”Yaakov left Beer Sheva, etc. “ According to allegorical commentaries, the earth literally contracted beneath his feet so that the words וילך חרנה mean that he arrived at Charan on the same day. According to the plain meaning of the text, the verse described that Yaakov was headed for Charan. Other commentators understand the words וילך חרנה as telling us where Yaakov would take up residence from now on, the Torah then filling in what happened on the way before Yaakov reached his destination, his nocturnal encounter with the angels climbing the ladder, etc.

ויקח מאבני המקום, “he took from the stones of that place, etc.” According to the plain meaning of the text, he took a single one of these stones. The sages explaining the allegorical meaning of the text, say that Yaakov took quite a number of such stones, but that these stones miraculously all became fused into a single stone.

ויחלום, והנה סולם מוצב ארצה, “he dreamt, and here in his dream there was a ladder which had been placed on earth, etc.” There are numerous allegorical explanations which our sages have offered in explaining the purpose of this phenomenon in Yaakov’s dream. Some say that the ladder represents Mount Sinai, and that the angels ascending and descending on it symbolise Moses and Aaron. Others believe that the ladder represents an altar and that the angels represent the priests, who in real life, ascend and descend from the altar. I believe that the correct explanation is that G’d showed Yaakov by means of a dream, that whatever occurs on earth is engineered by angels carrying out G’d’s will, and though G’d had known long in advance whatever would come pass, He showed Yaakov an image purporting the angels telling G’d that they had now carried out His will. Moreover, He wanted Yaakov to know that although the angels are His messengers, carrying out His will, this did not mean that G’d personally, left the earth and the angels to their own devices, but that He took an ongoing interest in the affairs unraveling on earth, and was ever ready to intervene when the need would arise. Thus He assured Yaakov of His ongoing protection on the journey fraught with danger that he had undertaken. In Bereshit Rabbah 68,13 we are also told that the angels ascending and descending represented the ascent and subsequent descent of the 4 super powers which ruled over the Jewish people in their respective exiles.

והארץ אשר אתה שוכב עליה, “and the earth that you are lying upon, etc.” What did G’d’s gift amount to, seeing that Yaakov occupied only 4 cubits square of earth on the spot he lay on? Bereshit Rabbah 69,4 quotes an opinion according to which G’d had compressed the entire surface of the Land of Israel beneath Yaakov at the time when he had this dream. He meant to show him that the conquest of the land would not be difficult at all when the time came. My sainted father, the רא'ש, explained the plain meaning of our verse as follows: the location where Yaakov was sleeping was in fact the site of the future Temple, as pointed out by the Midrash; whereas Avraham had described that site as הר, “mountain,” i.e. something not easily accessible, Yaakov viewed it as בית, a house, a place where everyone can feel at home, in this instance the אבן השתיה, stone covering the orifice in the earth, the “navel” of the earth in the parlance of our sages, leading to the innermost part of earth, a site covered by the altar in the future. Seeing that whatever blessing there is on earth is distributed centrifugally to all parts of the earth, Yaakov was in fact lying on the entire earth. (By the way, Yitzchok had viewed the site of the temple, i.e. G’d’s manifestation on earth as שדה, as we know from Genesis) [whereas originally, G’d walked on earth just as did man; He withdrew after Adam’s sin, and He kept withdrawing until Avraham reversed the process, beginning with viewing His manifestation while on earth, yet not easily accessible. Ed.] G’d’s blessing comparing Yaakov’s offspring to the dust of the earth, meant that just as dust scatters all over the globe, so Yaakov’s offspring would scatter all over the globe at one time or another.

אין זה כי אם בית אלוקים,וזה שער השמים, “this must be the House of G’d, and at the same time the gateway to heaven.” This is a reference to the eventual Temple, the site from which the prayers of mankind will ascend to heaven without making any detours. The reason why prayers ascend more swiftly towards heaven from here, is the fact that they accompany the fragrance of the smoke of the various sacrifices. Rashi explains that according to the view of Rabbi Yossi ben Zimra, the feet of the ladder were standing in Beer Sheva, whereas its head was above Bet El, whereas the middle point of its slope was directly above the site that would become the site of the Temple. When Yaakov eventually returned to the land of Israel, and he remembered that he had not prayed at that site, he retraced his steps as far as Bet El to make up for that failure. The site of the Temple, Mount Moriah “jumped” to meet him. This is what our sages described as קפיצת הארץ, “a jump by the earth.” (a contraction of the earth’s surface) Nachmanides queries that the Talmud Sanhedrin 95 appears to attribute the earth’s “jump” both to Eliezer and to Yaakov, seeing we are told there that there were three individuals for whose benefit the earth’s surface contracted in such a manner, the three being Eliezer, Yaakov, and Avishai. The meaning is not that the earth repeatedly jumped to yet another location, but that just as it had accommodated Eliezer, whose purpose had been lofty, so it accommodated, facilitated Yaakov’s journey. Yaakov, being angry at himself for passing a holy site without offering a prayer there, set out to retrace his steps to make up for his omission. Before he could do so, the earth moved in his direction to forestall his having to turn back. Nachmanides speculates that although, apparently there is a divergence of opinions as to where precisely the feet of the ladder in Yaakov’s dream were anchored, it is possible that all the sages agree that Yaakov experienced three occasions when the earth contracted to enable him to fulfill a meritorious deed more easily. The three occasions were: when he went from Beer Sheva to Charan and wanted to turn back in order to pray at Chevron where his fathers had prayed. Similarly, on his return from Charan. to Mount Moriah, and his return from there back to Charan after having prayed there. [the speculative nature of how to reconcile conflicting interpretations is due to the apparent contradiction of where precisely Yaakov spent that night, seeing that the text speaks of Luz, i.e. Beyt El, neither of which can be identified with Moriah.

ויקח את האבן אשר שם מראשותיו, “He took the stone which he had made into a pillow for his head.” This was in spite of what we learned in Zevachim 116 that it is forbidden to construct an altar made of matter which has already been used secularly. When it concerns a new structure that one built oneself for the purpose, it is acceptable for a layman to do so.

אם יהיה אלוקים עמדי, “if G’d will be with me, etc.” He referred to G’d’s personal promise to him that He would not become a victim of the way of the righteous who are forever fearful of not possessing sufficient merit, and therefore consider any assurance to them by G’d as only conditional, i.e. אם. [the problem in the text is how did Yaakov dare to apply the word “if” to G’d’s promise. Ed.] Another view of this line is the reason why Yaakov prefaced this line with the word אם, “if,” is not that he conditioned his continued righteous way of life on G’d’s protection, but that seeing it was based on a dream, he could not be sure that this was a divine revelation rather than wishful thinking on his part. Divine promises experienced in a dream may be just that, a dream without substance. Still another interpretation of this verse is that it was an oath. “Just as I am certain that G’d will be with me and that I will return safely to my father’s house, so I am certain that after that I will erect a house of G’d on this site.” Nachmanides states that the word אם does not necessarily have to mean a conditional “if.” An example of such a different meaning of the word אם is found in Numbers 36,4 ואם יהיה היובל לבני ישראל, where it means: “and when the Jubilee year will arrive for the Children of Israel, etc.” Yaakov refers to what he will do as soon as G’d’s promise to him has been fulfilled.

והיה ה' לי לאלוקים, “the Lord will then be even my G’d as attribute of Justice.” According to Rashi, these words are a continuation of those that preceded them, i.e. the words אם יהיה אלוקים עמדי, so that Yaakov is saying that once the Lord will be his G’d in practice, having displayed His personal benevolent providence to Yaakov by extending His protection to him, he will convert this stone into a house of worship for that G’d where he will bring the tithes that he spoke about. Some commentators understand the words ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי, “and I will return hale and hearty to my father’s house, etc.,” as the source of the halachic ruling that travelers, while engaged on their journeys, are relieved from the need to perform certain commandments that would make their getting home safely more difficult.