(מה) וַיִּקַּ֥ח יַעֲקֹ֖ב אָ֑בֶן וַיְרִימֶ֖הָ מַצֵּבָֽה׃ (מו) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יַעֲקֹ֤ב לְאֶחָיו֙ לִקְט֣וּ אֲבָנִ֔ים וַיִּקְח֥וּ אֲבָנִ֖ים וַיַּֽעֲשׂוּ־גָ֑ל וַיֹּ֥אכְלוּ שָׁ֖ם עַל־הַגָּֽל׃ (מז) וַיִּקְרָא־ל֣וֹ לָבָ֔ן יְגַ֖ר שָׂהֲדוּתָ֑א וְיַֽעֲקֹ֔ב קָ֥רָא ל֖וֹ גַּלְעֵֽד׃ (מח) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר לָבָ֔ן הַגַּ֨ל הַזֶּ֥ה עֵ֛ד בֵּינִ֥י וּבֵינְךָ֖ הַיּ֑וֹם עַל־כֵּ֥ן קָרָֽא־שְׁמ֖וֹ גַּלְעֵֽד׃ (מט) וְהַמִּצְפָּה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָמַ֔ר יִ֥צֶף יְהֹוָ֖ה בֵּינִ֣י וּבֵינֶ֑ךָ כִּ֥י נִסָּתֵ֖ר אִ֥ישׁ מֵרֵעֵֽהוּ׃ (נ) אִם־תְּעַנֶּ֣ה אֶת־בְּנֹתַ֗י וְאִם־תִּקַּ֤ח נָשִׁים֙ עַל־בְּנֹתַ֔י אֵ֥ין אִ֖ישׁ עִמָּ֑נוּ רְאֵ֕ה אֱלֹהִ֥ים עֵ֖ד בֵּינִ֥י וּבֵינֶֽךָ׃ (נא) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר לָבָ֖ן לְיַעֲקֹ֑ב הִנֵּ֣ה ׀ הַגַּ֣ל הַזֶּ֗ה וְהִנֵּה֙ הַמַּצֵּבָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָרִ֖יתִי בֵּינִ֥י וּבֵינֶֽךָ׃ (נב) עֵ֚ד הַגַּ֣ל הַזֶּ֔ה וְעֵדָ֖ה הַמַּצֵּבָ֑ה אִם־אָ֗נִי לֹֽא־אֶעֱבֹ֤ר אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ אֶת־הַגַּ֣ל הַזֶּ֔ה וְאִם־אַ֠תָּ֠ה לֹא־תַעֲבֹ֨ר אֵלַ֜י אֶת־הַגַּ֥ל הַזֶּ֛ה וְאֶת־הַמַּצֵּבָ֥ה הַזֹּ֖את לְרָעָֽה׃ (נג) אֱלֹהֵ֨י אַבְרָהָ֜ם וֵֽאלֹהֵ֤י נָחוֹר֙ יִשְׁפְּט֣וּ בֵינֵ֔ינוּ אֱלֹהֵ֖י אֲבִיהֶ֑ם וַיִּשָּׁבַ֣ע יַעֲקֹ֔ב בְּפַ֖חַד אָבִ֥יו יִצְחָֽק׃
(45) Thereupon Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. (46) And Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones.” So they took stones and made a mound; and they partook of a meal there by the mound. (47) Laban named it Yegar-sahadutha, but Jacob named it Gal-ed. (48) And Laban declared, “This mound is a witness between you and me this day.” That is why it was named Gal-ed; (49) and [it was called] Mitzpah, because he said, “May the Eternal watch between you and me, when we are out of sight of each other. (50) If you ill-treat my daughters or take other wives besides my daughters—though no one else be about, remember, God will be witness between you and me.” (51) And Laban said to Jacob, “Here is this mound and here the pillar which I have set up between you and me: (52) this mound shall be witness and this pillar shall be witness that I am not to cross to you past this mound, and that you are not to cross to me past this mound and this pillar, with hostile intent. (53) May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor”—their ancestral deities—“judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.
(11) [Jacob] came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. (12) He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and angels of God were going up and down on it.
(18) Early in the morning, Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. (19) He named that site Bethel; but previously the name of the city had been Luz. (20) Jacob then made a vow, saying, “If God remains with me, and protects me on this journey that I am making, and gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear, (21) and if I return safe to my father’s house—the Eternal shall be my God.
(1) Jacob resumed his journey and came to the land of the Easterners. (2) There before his eyes was a well in the open. Three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, for the flocks were watered from that well. The stone on the mouth of the well was large. (3) When all the flocks were gathered there, the stone would be rolled from the mouth of the well and the sheep watered; then the stone would be put back in its place on the mouth of the well.
(8) But they said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are rounded up; then the stone is rolled off the mouth of the well and we water the sheep.” (9) While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s flock; for she was a shepherdess. (10) And when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, and the flock of his uncle Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well, and watered the flock of his uncle Laban. (11) Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and broke into tears.
(22) Joseph is a wild ass, A wild ass by a spring —Wild colts on a hillside. (23) Archers bitterly assailed him; They shot at him and harried him. (24) Yet his bow stayed taut, And his arms were made firm By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob—There, the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel—
The Chasidic commentator, the Sefat Emet, understands the stone on the well as the procrastination that blocks our mouths from the well of prayer. The stone symbolizes the physical world that hides the real, living contents of the well underneath it. A person needs to gather all his or her strength in order to roll back this stone and find the true inner meaning of his or her deeds.
For Jacob, the stone under his head allows him to experience and mark the presence of God. With this presence, he has the strength to roll away the stone over the well, opening him up to love Rachel and reveal his innermost feelings, just as he reveals the well water. His task over the next two decades is to stay true to these feelings, and in the end, he must use stones to set up a boundary between his family and Laban's, so that his family members can live out their destiny.
Jacob's stones mirror the touchstones in many of our lives — moments of experiencing the presence of God, moments of opening ourselves to love, and moments of setting new direction or boundaries so we are able to grow more fully into our true path. The stones serve Jacob as reminders of these moments, marking places that he returns to to thank God.
Jacob teaches us to notice the sacred moments in our own life journeys, pausing at them long enough to mark them with our own version of Jacob's stones.
For most of us, stones conjure a harsh image. They does not seem the appropriate memorial for one who has died. But stones have a special character in Judaism. In the Bible, an altar is no more than a pile of stones, but it is on an altar that one offers to God. The stone upon which Abraham takes his son to be sacrificed is called even hashityah, the foundation stone of the world. The most sacred shrine in Judaism, after all, is a pile of stones — the Western Wall.
In the words of “The Kotel,” a popular Israeli song, “There are men with hearts of stone, and stones with the hearts of men.”
So why place stones on the grave? The explanations vary, from the superstitious to the poignant...
All the explanations have one thing in common — the sense of solidity that stones give. Flowers are a good metaphor for life. Life withers; it fades like a flower. As Isaiah says, “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty like the flower of the field; grass withers and flowers fade” (Isaiah 40:6-7). For that reason, flowers are an apt symbol of passing.
But the memory is supposed to be lasting. While flowers may be a good metaphor for the brevity of life, stones seem better suited to the permanence of memory. Stones do not die.
(ה) לקח יעקב שתים עשרה אבנים מאבני המזבח שנעקד עליו יצחק אביו וישם אותם מראשותיו באותו המקום להודיעו שעתידין לעמוד ממנו שנים עשר שבטים. ונעשו כלן אבן אחת להודיעו שכלם עתידין להיות גוי אחד בארץ, שנ' ומי כעמך ישראל גוי אחד בארץ.
(5) Jacob took twelve stones of the stones of the altar, whereon his father Isaac had been bound, and he set them for his pillow in that place, to indicate to himself that twelve tribes were destined to arise from him. And they all became one stone, to indicate to him that all (the tribes) were destined to become one people on the earth, as it is said, "And who is like thy people Israel, a nation that is alone on the earth" (1 Chron. 17:21).
(ח) וישב יעקב ללקוט את האבנים, ומצא אותם כלם אבן אחת, ושם אותה מצבה בתוך המקום, וירד לו שמן מן השמים ויצק עליה, שנאמר ויצק שמן על ראשה מה עשה הקב"ה נטה רגל ימינו וטבעה האבן עד עמקי תהומות ועשה אותה סניף לארץ כאדם שעושה סניף לכיפה לפיכך נקרא אבן השתיה שמשם הוא טבור הארץ ומשם נמתחה כל הארץ ועליה היכל יי' עומד שנאמר והאבן הזאת אשר שמתי מצבה יהיה בית אלהים.
(8) And Jacob returned to gather the stones, and he found them all (turned into) one stone, and he set || it up for a pillar in the midst of the place, and oil descended for him from heaven, and he poured it thereon, as it is said, "And he poured oil upon the top of it" (Gen. 28:18). What did the Holy Blessed One do? God placed (thereon) the divine right foot, and sank the stone to the bottom of the depths, and made it the keystone of the earth, just like someone who sets a keystone in an arch; therefore it is called the foundation stone, for there is the navel of the earth, and therefrom was all the earth evolved, and upon it the Sanctuary of God stands, as it is said, "And this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house" (Gen. 28:22).