The Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit
MidrashThe Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit
Midrash
Introduction to Parashat Hashavua
Yeshivat Har Etzion
PARASHAT VAYETZE
The Stone upon the Well
By Rav Michael Hattin
INTRODUCTION
"Yaakov went forth from Be'er Sheva and traveled towards Charan." So begins the account of our
parasha, with the story of Yaakov's flight from
Alone and destitute, unsure of ever seeing his ailing and aged parents
again, exiled far from the promised land that was to be his and his descendents
forever, Yaakov treads wearily onwards, his mind filled with a thousand
uncertainties. The sun sinks ever
lower in the west, the gloomy shadows begin to lengthen, and then dusk falls and
a chill is felt as the darkened landscape, unfamiliar and threatening, takes on
ominous form. The heavens begin to
glimmer with a myriad of tiny points of light, the cloudy band of the Milky Way
clearly visible across the expanse, but the tired traveler finds no comfort in
their cold and detached remoteness.
Setting down his miserable pack, he prepares a protective barrier of
stones to keep the night demons at bay and then lies down for a fitful night of
sleep. But in his slumber, Yaakov
is unexpectedly visited with soothing visions:
He dreamt, and behold a ladder stood on the ground but
its top reached unto the heavens, and behold angels of the Lord ascended and
descended upon it. Behold, God
stood by him and said: I am God, the Lord of Avraham your ancestor and the Lord
of Yitzchak, and I will give to you and to your descendents the earth that you
lie upon. Your descendents shall be
as numerous as the dust of the earth and you shall break forth to the west, to
the east, to the north and to the south, and all of the families of the earth
shall be blessed on your account.
Behold, I am with you and I shall guard over everywhere that you go, and
I shall return you to this earth, for I will never abandon you until I have
fulfilled all that I have spoken concerning
you…(28:12-15).
In this concise but remarkably reassuring passage, God
dispels all of Yaakov's deepest existential dreads. Without stating so explicitly, God
nevertheless informs him in no uncertain terms that his brother will not harm
him, that his wily uncle will not hurt him, and that he will merit to have
descendents just as He vouchsafed to his grandfather and to his father before
him. Most importantly, God tells
Yaakov that Canaan will be his and that his enforced exile from it will not
continue indefinitely.
THE JOURNEY TOWARDS CHARAN
The next morning, Yaakov rises at dawn, his fears allayed and his
uncertainties assuaged. Though an
immense and unknown journey lays before him, fraught with perils and as-of-yet
nameless challenges, he no longer feels alone, for God has pledged that He will
protect him and that He will return him in safety to the land. Buoyed by the Divine vision, he dons his
onerous rucksack again, but this time it seems immeasurably lighter. Setting his sights towards the east and
the rising sun, he sets out. As the
ancient Rabbis so perceptively remark, when the text states that "Yaakov lifted
his legs and journeyed towards the land of the east" (29:1) it means to suggest
that "his heart was encouraged and therefore it states that he lifted his legs,
for it now became effortless for him to walk…" (quoted by
Rashi).
Nothing else is related of Yaakov's journey from Beit El, the locus of
the inspiring vision of the ladder, to the town of Charan more than
They said: we know him…he is well, and behold his
daughter Rachel is now approaching with the sheep…(29:6).
THE REMOVAL OF THE STONE AND THE BAFFLING NATURE OF THE
NARRATIVE
Puzzled by their seeming lethargy so early in the day, Yaakov asks them
why they do not provide the sheep with water from the well and then return to
the fields to graze:
But they said: we cannot, until all of the flocks gather
and together roll off the stone from the mouth of the well, for only then can we
water the sheep…(29:8).
A
huge stone, unnoticed by Yaakov when he first made their acquaintance, covers
the well and only all of the shepherds together are capable of removing it! Thus it is that the three flocks
patiently wait, for only with the arrival of the other shepherds will it be
possible to roll off the cover.
Now, however, something wondrous happens, for as soon as Yaakov sees
Rachel with the sheep, he is filled with a superhuman burst of
vigor:
Yaakov approached, and rolled off the stone from upon
the mouth of the well, and watered the sheep of
Lavan…(29:10).
The romantics among us may be tempted to ascribe
Yaakov's heroic deed to "love at first sight," and such a reading is seemingly
reinforced by what follows:
Yaakov kissed Rachel and he then lifted up his voice and
cried…(29:11).
But strangely enough, most of the commentaries refrain
from making the connection. While
they marvel over Yaakov's show of strength, they fail to specifically link it to
the arrival of Rachel. In fact, for
most of the commentaries (as well as the readers) the entire episode is largely
inexplicable. Why all of the
attention upon the shepherds and upon the well? Why all of the details about the number
of flocks and about the heavy stone?
Why all of the conversation between Yaakov and the men when the only
pertinent fact is the arrival of Yaakov at his destination? Would it not have been sufficient to
state that upon Yaakov's arrival near Charan he enquired about his long-lost
uncle and then chanced upon Rachel his cousin? While we can readily appreciate the
cathartic quality of the encounter with Rachel – symbol of his family and of his
future – all of the other particulars seem extraneous.
THE READING OF THE RAMBAN
The Ramban no doubt was also troubled by the seeming superfluousness of
the account and its details, and he begins by offering a general comment on the
significance of the passage:
The text recounts this matter at length in order to
indicate to us that "those that trust in God will have renewed vigor"
(Yeshayahu 40:31), and that the reverence of Him confers strength, for
though Yaakov traveled from afar and was weary, nevertheless he was able to
single-handedly remove a stone from the well that generally required the
concerted efforts of all of the shepherds.
The three flocks with their many shepherds and guardians all were
stationed around the well, but were not able to move it at all… (commentary to
29:2-3).
For the Ramban, the removal of the stone by Yaakov,
coming on the heels of his dream of the ladder and in its aftermath of Divine
assurances, was a sure sign that the man was inspired by his faith in God's
promises to perform even the superhuman.
And though that vision had taken place quite some time earlier (for
Yaakov had journeyed to Charan from afar), the lack of any other narrative to
otherwise introduce Yaakov's arrival at the well on the outskirts of Charan
indicates that the two disparate events are to be linked. Trust in God confers great strength of
spirit, and those that are sensitive to His presence and embrace His immediacy
can be moved to accomplish the seemingly impossible!
THE RAMBAN'S SECOND READING
But now the Ramban introduces an additional reading that is much more
symbolic in tone:
Our Rabbis in the Midrash of Bereishit Rabba adduced an
allegorical meaning that associates the thing with future events. It so happened that he (Yaakov) took the
path leading to the well and that not all the flocks were gathered there but
only three. He arrived at a time
that the stone was upon the well and all of the flocks were waiting for it to be
removed. This entire matter was to
inform him that he would succeed upon this path and that he would have
descendents that would merit the fulfillment of this sign. This well alludes to the Holy Temple,
and the three flocks symbolize the pilgrims who will visit it on the three
festivals. From that well the
flocks are given water, for from there the holy spirit would be drawn. Perhaps it alludes to the verse: "From
out of Zion shall the Torah go forth" – for it is otherwise compared to water –
"and the word of God from Jerusalem" (Yeshayahu 2:3). All of the flocks would gather to there,
from "the approach to Chamat all the way to the brook of Egypt" (Kings
1:8:65). "They would remove the
stone and water the flocks" – this refers to the drawing of the holy spirit, and
afterwards the stone would be replaced until the next
festival.
Here, the Ramban relates to the specifics of the episode
– the well of water, the three flocks patiently waiting, the removal of the
stone at certain intervals to provide water and then its replacement until the
next time. For the Midrash, the
life-giving well is a metaphor for the Holy Temple at Jerusalem and the flocks
are the people of Israel who faithfully gather to it at the time of the three
pilgrim festivals of Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot. It is then that they encounter God's
presence and are filled with an inspiration that is drawn from the sanctity of
the place, the holiness of the season and the special power that the unity of
Israel bestows.
But that inspiration is not for every day, for there is a proverbial
stone that sits atop the well. The
encounter with God and the renewal of the soul – the "holy spirit" that is its
hallmark – are special moments, and cannot be cavalierly experienced at the drop
of a hat. To stand in His presence
and to be moved are events that are not the product of casual commitment but
rather the consequence of extreme and concerted effort. And that effort is most abundantly
rewarded when it is carried out by all of Israel as one. The three pilgrim festivals are seasons
most propitious to this end for they are all about preparation and forethought,
charged ceremonial and sacred convocation.
And the precincts of the Holy Temple, where no careless feet may tread,
where one's every step is measured and prescribed, this place is indeed the most
favorable location for the accomplishment of this aim.
While this second reading of the Ramban is Midrashic and non-contextual,
fanciful and arcane, and it is by no means simplistic. The message that it communicates is
insightful and pertinent and it admirably accounts for most of the narrative
details of our passage. But apart
from the always-provocative symbol of water and the prominence of the number
three, what else might have inspired the Rabbis' reading?
CONSIDERING THE MIDRASHIC READING
As pointed out above, there is no other passage that separates the
account of Yaakov's arrival at the well from the episode of his vision of the
ladder and the Divine reassurance that was its climactic moment. Recall that on the morrow of that
inspiring vision, Yaakov arose early in the morning and made an oath to
God:
Yaakov made a pledge to God and he said: If the Lord
will be with me and will guard me upon this path that I am taking and will give
me bread to eat and clothes to wear, and if I will return in peace to my
father's house and God will be my Lord, then this stone that I have raised as a
pillar shall be the house of the Lord, and from all that You will give me I will
separate a tithe to You from it! (Bereishit
28:20-22).
The text then continues without interruption to briefly
describe Yaakov's journey before announcing to the reader that he safely arrived
at the well on the outskirts of Charan.
In other words, when Yaakov encounters the shepherds at the well with
their three flocks gathered round its base and the great stone upon its opening,
we may in fact surmise that the memory of his heartfelt prayer and oath still
hang in the air. The commitment to
build a house to God and the pledge to separate a tithe – both expressions of
Yaakov's trust and faith in God's protection – evoke potent images of a future
Temple and of a service, of an encounter that will one day unfold between
Yaakov's descendents and God. And
as Yaakov journeys forth into the unknown, he bears that oath with him,
confident that God will respond in kind.
The Rabbis of the Midrash, then, were able to see intimations of a future
Temple in our passage because the future "House of God" that is the core of our
patriarch Yaakov's pledge jumps off of the page.
The message then is not merely symbolic, as if Yaakov's journey was only
about providing us with an indication of future events. Rather, the intent of the Midrash is to
emphasize to us that arriving safely at the well and experiencing supernatural
success at the drawing of the water – the holy inspiration of the pilgrim
festivals – is a direct function of undertaking the proverbial journey with the
right attitude, of remaining cognizant of the spiritual goal and preparing for
it even while it is far, far off over the horizon. Yaakov's ability to remove the stone was
directly inspired by the memory of his earlier oath to God to serve Him
sincerely and to build a house to His name, a memory that he faithfully carried
with him for the duration of the arduous journey. And when, at the end of our
parasha twenty years later, that journey had to be recommenced, Yaakov's
pledge still sustained him, so that he could fearlessly encounter Esav and then
finally fulfill his word by serving God at Beit El (Bereishit
35:1-15). The secret, then, to
achieving inspiration at the season of the festivals is to carry a potent memory
of that inspiration with us for the rest of the year. And though it may seem that we drink
from the well infrequently, we may yet succeed at quenching our spiritual
thirst.
Shabbat Shalom