A thought on פרשת וישלח
"...va'yikra lo El Elohei Yisroel...""...and he called the altar God the Lord of Israel..." (33:20)
True to his word, Yakov returned to the place where he had rested while running from home (see last week's parsha email), and he again consecrated that spot upon returning. From the verse, it appears that he gave a name to this altar. This is puzzling, for a pillar of stone is seldom named, even if the place around it is named. Besides, the Torah tells us (last week) that the place already had a name, Luz, and was renamed Beis El by Yakov. It seems as if the name in our verse is indeed the name of the altar. What is more puzzling is that the name employs two Sacred Names of HaShem. The thought of utilizing Sacred Names in referring to an object, even a consecrated object such as a mizbeach, seems foreign to us.
A number of the mefarshim Rishonim offer interpretations as to what Yakov intended, or what he declared, at this place. The Ralbag offers an alternative which seems singular and unique:
The verse, technically, does not reveal who "he" is. It says va'yikra, he called. We assume that the pronoun refers to Yakov. It does not. The Ralbag writes that the "he" of the verse is actually "He." The thought here is that Yakov built the altar and when he did that, HaShem called out to Yakov asserting that He was the Lord of Yisroel (which is the name Yakov acquired once he had ascended to the role of Patriarch and father of the twelve tribes of Israel.)
The Ralbag has a premise that the function of the Patriarchal altars was different than that of the mizbeach in our subsequent history. In the mishkan, in the Temple, an altar was a place where we brought offerings to HaShem. It was a sublime level of our reaching and beckoning, symbolically, to Him. The function of each altar built by the Avos, though, was almost the reverse. Their intention was to select a place where they could commune with the Above in order to garner Divine inspiration and obtain prophecy. This is what happened when Yakov returned to the place where he had had a dream-vision (last week). This time, he had a full nevuah prophecy there. This is when HaShem called to him.
The verse reads, according to the Ralbag. "... and Yakov built an altar there and HaShem, the Lord of Yisroel, spoke to him in prophecy..."
It is a great moment when a person calls out to HaShem. It is a phenomenal moment when HaShem calls out to us.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
True to his word, Yakov returned to the place where he had rested while running from home (see last week's parsha email), and he again consecrated that spot upon returning. From the verse, it appears that he gave a name to this altar. This is puzzling, for a pillar of stone is seldom named, even if the place around it is named. Besides, the Torah tells us (last week) that the place already had a name, Luz, and was renamed Beis El by Yakov. It seems as if the name in our verse is indeed the name of the altar. What is more puzzling is that the name employs two Sacred Names of HaShem. The thought of utilizing Sacred Names in referring to an object, even a consecrated object such as a mizbeach, seems foreign to us.
A number of the mefarshim Rishonim offer interpretations as to what Yakov intended, or what he declared, at this place. The Ralbag offers an alternative which seems singular and unique:
The verse, technically, does not reveal who "he" is. It says va'yikra, he called. We assume that the pronoun refers to Yakov. It does not. The Ralbag writes that the "he" of the verse is actually "He." The thought here is that Yakov built the altar and when he did that, HaShem called out to Yakov asserting that He was the Lord of Yisroel (which is the name Yakov acquired once he had ascended to the role of Patriarch and father of the twelve tribes of Israel.)
The Ralbag has a premise that the function of the Patriarchal altars was different than that of the mizbeach in our subsequent history. In the mishkan, in the Temple, an altar was a place where we brought offerings to HaShem. It was a sublime level of our reaching and beckoning, symbolically, to Him. The function of each altar built by the Avos, though, was almost the reverse. Their intention was to select a place where they could commune with the Above in order to garner Divine inspiration and obtain prophecy. This is what happened when Yakov returned to the place where he had had a dream-vision (last week). This time, he had a full nevuah prophecy there. This is when HaShem called to him.
The verse reads, according to the Ralbag. "... and Yakov built an altar there and HaShem, the Lord of Yisroel, spoke to him in prophecy..."
It is a great moment when a person calls out to HaShem. It is a phenomenal moment when HaShem calls out to us.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 10:48 PM
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