Creative Conundrums
Vayetze
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Stones for Relationships?
[Jacob] took one of the stones of the place and set it at his head and lay down in that place.
Isn’t it interesting that this is the first time in the Torah that “stone” is mentioned for building? (At Babel, bricks were specifically instead of stones.)
Isn’t this the first time in the Torah there is a reciprocal promise between man and G-d, a bargain struck, an entirely new development in the relationship between G-d and his servants?
Might the use of stones in this episode define the connection between man and G-d going forward? After all, isn’t this the first time G-d and Man swear fealty to one another, exchanging promises and bonding the descendants of Jacob’s people to G-d evermore?
As such, perhaps this also explains why certain sins are punishable by stoning? Those sins are: practicing witchcraft, worshipping Molech, incurable rebellion against parents, violating the Sabbath, and cursing G-d.
Don’t all these sins reflect profound damage to what should be holy relationships?
If so, do stones that are used for Joseph’s dream represent the foundation of a holy relationship? And so when a miscreant is stoned, it is because they have profoundly harmed that very relationship?
Might it be possible that the audience that views a stoning is supposed to remember the symbolic link to Jacob’s dream, and remember the importance of such relationships? If so, might a stoning be designed, in part, to remind us all to keep our priorities straight, to always seek to preserve the fidelity of our relationships?
Might this also explain why we have certain commandments (like the wayward son, the ben soreh u’moreh), that we understand were never carried out? Is the text not telling us what to do, but is instead trying to teach us the value of the relationship in the first place? Is naming stoning as the punishment for rebelling against one’s parents there to teach us of the importance of that relationship, of its link to the stone Jacob uses?
Further to this: Might we conclude that stones gain a special meaning in other ways, because of their use by Jacob? For example, the altar must be made from stones – might that harken back to Jacob’s use of stones before he sees the ladder connecting heaven and earth?
Does Jacob Invent Anointing?
When Jacob wakes up from his dream and realizes that “these are the gates of heaven,’ he stacks some stones and pours oil on top. It is an odd thing to do, unprecedented in the Torah. But pouring oil on the stones, like many other things Jacob does in his life, seems to set the trend: might it be related to the commandment that priests should anointed with oil on their heads in order to become ordained, in order to be ready for a connection with G-d and heaven?
Oil, shemen, is first mentioned in the text in the blessing Isaac gives Jacob: “May God give you of the dew of heaven and the oil of the earth.” If Jacob had that blessing, might it suggest that when Jacob pours the oil over the stones he is recognizing that his dreams of angels, received overnight, were like the dew of heaven? After all, didn’t Jacob receive the most precious of divine gifts – hope – in that dream? Maybe Jacob wanted to acknowledge the value of such a gift – and perhaps giving oil back in turn might be seen as tithing (to show appreciation) or in some other way trying to recognize and reinforce the blessing that his father gave him?
Might the oil be connected to “pouring” in general? The only things poured in the Torah are either oil (for anointing the priests), or the casting of copper, silver or gold for sockets, rings and hooks in the tabernacle. Do all of the meanings come together? Is “pour” in the Torah a way to connect dissimilar objects, either mechanically (in castings) or symbolically (anointings or oil offerings in sacrifices)?
Might this even be true in a negative case, when a woman who is not trusted by her husband?
That man shall bring his wife to the priest. And he shall bring as an offering for her one-tenth of an ephah of barley flour. No oil shall be poured upon it.
Is this because oil symbolizes a connection, but the relationship at this point may not be salvageable? Oil is about connection – and before there can be a holy marital connection must there first be trust between the two parties?
Might there be a connection to the way in which oil is made in the first place? The natural world can be represented by a vegetable, but the creation of oil requires both nature and man’s effort to extract the essence of the vegetable. Isn’t oil thus an amalgam of both divine creation and mankind’s investment of time and energy? Isn’t oil the result of a partnership? If so, might that help explain its symbolic meaning as well?
Might this also connect with understanding Chanukah, the festival of lights? On Chanukah, we light oil, and we do it for 8 days (the word “oil” is shemen, and the word for “eight” merely adds one letter to create shemoneh).
Seven is the number of nature in the Torah (as the world was created in seven days). But the number Eight is used to connect man and G-d. So we have the circumcision on the eighth day (Gen. 17:12 and 21:4), as well as the offering of the first-born animal (Ex. 22:29) on the eighth day. Similarly, after seven days of inauguration of the priests, it was on the eighth day that the priesthood was consecrated and started the active service between man and G-d (Lev. 9:1). Many sacrifices and festivals that were involved with establishing a connection between man and G-d were also called for the eighth day.
And of course, events on the eighth, shemoneh day usually also involved oil, shemen.
Is it all connected in this way?
And how, then, to explain the metzorah (who similarly is anointed with oil)? Or the blessings of Asher?
Most blessed of sons be Asher; May he be the favorite of his brothers, May he dip his foot in oil.
And
Out of Asher his bread shall be oily, and he shall yield royal dainties.
Why is Asher equated with oil? Might it be linked to the first time the letters for asher are found in the Torah?
Leah and Gratitude?
[Leah] conceived again and bore a son, and declared, “This time I will praise G-d.” Therefore she named him Judah.
Is Leah the first person in the Torah to express gratitude? Is this a reason why we are called “Jews” – because of every positive attribute imaginable, showing appreciation for our blessings is core to what it means to be a servant of G-d?
This parsha question sheet takes the approach of reading the Chumash very closely. It is assumed that every letter and word has meaning, and all questions can be answered. So you’ll find the questions offered every week are deeply textual, seeking relevance to our lives today from the foundational document for Judaism and indeed all of Western Civilization.
This sheet is distributed with the general approval of Rabbi Rose.
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