What should God have said to Yaakov Avinu

by HaRav Eliezer Melamed
Rosh HaYeshiva, Har Bracha

One of the most significant revelations that God revealed to man is the revelation to Yaakov Avinu when he came to Bet-El. “He came to a familiar place and spent the night there because the sun had already set. Taking some stones, he placed them at his head and lay down to sleep there. He had a vision in a dream. A ladder was standing on the ground, and its top reached up toward heaven. Suddenly he saw God standing over him. [God] said, ‘I am God, Lord of Abraham your father, and Lord of Isaac.” (Genesis 28:11). And at this point we would expect to hear what this important, essential, and vital thing is that God has to say to Yaakov.

If we stopped for a moment and asked the members of the various circles, what do they think God should say to Yaakov, we would probably get different answers. The Lithuanians would say: “Learn Gemara in detail.” The Hasidim would say, “Strengthen yourself in faith, joy, and abstention.” The people of the Shas party would say, “Learn halakha according to Maharan.” B’nei Akiva students would say, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The modern religious people would say, “Derech Eretz Kadma la’Torah.” Intellects from the academia would say: “Be pluralistic, and doubt all given views.”

What God said to Yaacov

But the Holy One, Blessed be He, said: “I will give to you and your descendants the land upon which you are lying.” And as a result “All the families on earth will be blessed through you and your descendants”. This is the Divine revelation. And indeed, Yaacov Avinu realized the enormity of the holiness of the Land, and said: ‘God is truly in this place, but I did not know it… How awe-inspiring this place is! It must be God’s temple. It is the gate to heaven!”(Genesis 28: 13-17).

And if the members of the various circles claim: True – this time Hashem spoke about the People and the Land, but there are other revelations and other verses – well, even in the revelation where Hashem revealed Himself to Yaakov after his return to Israel, which was also in Bet El, Hashem said to Yaakov: “Be fruitful and increase. A nation and a community of nations will come into existence from you. Kings will be born from your loins. I will grant you the land that I gave to Avraham and Yitzchak. I will also give the land to your descendants who will follow you.” (Genesis 35:11-12) Thus, in all the revelations to Yaacov, Hashem always spoke about the People and the Land, in Haran as well (Genesis 31: 3), and also when he was about to descend to Egypt (Genesis 46:2-4).

What Would Be Said Today

And what would Haredi newspaper reporters say about it? If it had not been written explicitly in the Torah itself, it would have been reported that Hashem had said to study Gemara in-depth, or halakha. However, the verses are written explicitly, and consequently they say that the main thing is to listen to the “Gedoylim” who say that right is left. For the Hasidim, they have no problem at all, since the Land is an aspect of ratzon(will), and the people of Israel are an aspectof devaykut(devotion), and consequently, there is no longer any need for the Land of Israel. Modern religious people say that it is impossible to stand against the entire world. And pluralistic academics say that it is very doubtful whether today there is a mitzvah to settle the Land, and that there are different opinions, and different versions, and that the Torah has seventy different faces.

But the honest, religious, Haredim, and traditional people know the enormous value of the love of their people and their country, and strive with dedication to strengthen the nation in yishuv ha’aretz(settling the Land).

Through Yishuv Ha’Aretz All Matters Will be Resolved

Once again, Hashem revealed himself to Yaakov Avinu in the parasha, the only time He revealed himself to Yaacov in Haran, and this revelation, of course, also deals with the Land of Israel: “Now set out and leave this land. Return to the land where you were born.” (Genesis 31:13). Yaacov presumably must have asked to receive instruction in the matter of his marriage and his business with Lavan, but it was only with regards to his return to the Land of Israel that God appeared to him. A fundamental and profound idea can be learned from this: when the goal is clear, to establish a people and settle the Land, the means to achieve the goal also become clear, and in the end, everything is resolved. Therefore, there is no need for any additional revelation.

The Great Objective – Today as Well

True, we have indeed received the Torah and all its mitzvot, but we still seem to need guidance in precisely how to implement the Torah’s goals. The solution is to remember the great objective that is stated in the Torah, the Prophets, and the words of our Sages, that after the sins and the punishment of exile, we must ascend to the Land from all the exiles, and settle the Land.

To achieve this, we must develop all our talents, spiritual and practical, national and individual, the sciences and industry, economics and organization, literature and music, and as a result the redemption of the nation and the world at large will draw closer.

Ideally, it would be correct to develop all these talents without outside pressures, for the mitzvah of settling the Land is to reveal the spiritual ideas in all talents revealed in the world. But if we fail to do so, we are faced with numerous problems, both internal and external, and forced to develop all the talents as we fight our enemies and struggle for our existence.

Out of the Torah – The Recognition of the Value of the Land

Our Sages said that when Yaakov Avinu had to flee from Esav and leave on his parents’ mission to Haran to find his companion, he first chose to submerge himself in the Beit Midrash of Ever. There he labored diligently on the Torah for fourteen years. At the end of the study period he went to Haran, “He came to a familiar place and spent the night there because the sun had already set… and lay down to sleep there” (Genesis 28:11). Rashi explains: “In that place he laid down, but for the fourteen years he served in the house Ever, he did not lay down at night, for he was engaged in Torah study.”

We see then that all the fourteen years Yaacov engaged in Torah, prepared him for Divine revelation and the promise that “I will give to you and your descendants the land upon which you are lying… You shall spread out to the west, to the east, to the north, and to the south”.

This is the merit when Torah is learned with integrity – it adds health, naturalness, and blessing to the world. Indeed, as a result, Yaacov continued to work diligently and saw great blessing in the herds he raised.