By Rabbi Joshua (transiently known as The Hoffer) Hoffman [z"l]
Ya'akov, fleeing from Eisav, leaves his home in the Holy Land and heads for the house of Lavan, in Charan. On the way, he stops to sleep at a location which, according to the midrash, was Mt. Moriah, the site of the future Temple. The Torah tells us that "he took from the stones of the place and he put them around his head and lay down in that place" (Bereishis 28:11). Ramban, in his commentary to a later verse (28:17), cites the Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer which says that these stones which Yaakov took to sleep on were part of the altar upon which Avrohom bound Yitzchok at the akeida. What was the significance of Yaakov taking these stones from that altar? What message was he trying to impress upon both himself and future generations? To answer these questions, we need to understand the message that the akeida itself conveys, as well as the function of Yaakov's lengthy stay away from home after Rivkoh discovered Eisav's desire to kill him.
Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher, in his commentary Ba'al HaTurim, notes that parshas Vayeitzei, as written in the sefer Torah, is 'closed.' In other words, there are no internal breaks - no parshiyos either pesuchos (open) or sesumos (closed) - in the entire parsha of Vayeitze. The only other parsha in the Torah that shares this feature is parshas Miketz. Rabbi Gedalia Schorr, in his Ohr Gedalyahu, explains that the parsha of Vayeitzei is the parsha of golus, or exile, which is one long, closed period during which God, although still exercising His providence, does so in away that is not easily discernable, and in this sense hides His presence from us. Rav Aharon Kotler, in his Mishnas Rav Aharon, writes that Yaakov, by his actions as recorded in this parsha, was paving the way for his descendants to survive and maintain their Jewish identity during the periods of golus to come. Seen in this way, we can explain that a basic element that is needed to survive in golus is a spirit of self-sacrifice, of readiness to give one's life rather than transgress the cardinal three sins of murder, idolatry and illicit sexual relations. This readiness to sacrifice oneself extends, further, to any infraction of Jewish law, and even to the infraction of a Jewish custom, if done publicly, or as part of a government decree. The willingness of the Jewish people to resist betraying their tradition has enabled the Jewish people to survive as a collective over the millennia, even though it resulted in the murder of countless individual Jews who were killed in the course of history for standing up for their beliefs. Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, in his commentary Ruach Chaim to Pirkei Avos, says that it was Avrohom who implanted this capacity of the Jew to sacrifice his life for his convictions in the Jewish nation, and that is why he is called "Avrohom Avinu," or Avrohom our father. Thus, Yaakov, by taking stones from the altar of the akeida to sleep on before going to the house of Lavan, was connecting himself to the akeida in order to carry its message with him into the golus, and thereby prepare the Jewish nation, as well, to carry this ability of self- sacrifice with them into all future periods of exile.
I believe, however, that there is another message in Yaakov's use of stones from the akeida as his pillow. My teacher, Rav Aharon Soloveitchik, zt"l, noted, in his book The Warmth and the Light, to parshas Vayeira, that the Rambam, in his Mishneh Torah, Laws of the foundations of the Torah (Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah) chapter five, in defining what constitutes 'Kiddush Hashem,' or sanctifying God's name, mentions the rules of when one is obligated to give his life up to that end only after first mentioning when one does not have to sacrifice his life, but should rather transgress the halacha rather than give up his life. Rav Aharon derived from this that the basic requirement of Kiddush Hashem is to do all one can to sanctify God's name while still living, by acting properly in one's daily life. Rav Aharon added that while the heroic faith of Avrohom and his willingness to offer his only son to God, as well as Yitzchok's willingness to give up his own life for God, were only the beginning of the message of the akeida. The more significant message, as we will see, that applies to everyone, and not only those people who are faced with a situation of giving up their lives, is the importance of small, daily sacrifices for God.
The Torah tells us twice, in its description of the trip to Mt. Moriah, that Avrohom and Yitzchok walked together. However, we do not find that Yitzchok walked with Avrohom after the akeida. Where was he? The midrash tells us that Avrohom sent Yitzchok to learn in yeshiva. Why hadn't he sent him there before? After all, Yitzchok was, according to one midrash, thirty-seven years old at the time of the akeida, and at least in his early teens according to another. Shouldn't he have already been in yeshiva? Rav Aharon explained that Avrohom wanted to keep his beloved son Yitzchok at home, and therefore did not send him to yeshiva. As far as Yitzchok's Torah learning was concerned, Avrohom could easily rationalize that the best place for his son to learn Torah was at home with his father. However, this approach neglected to take into account the importance of learning in a yeshiva without any outside distractions and responsibilities. Ramban writes that the test of the akeida was for Avrohom's benefit, to bring his potential strength into actuality. Rav Aharon explained this to mean that Avrohom needed to prove to himself that he was capable of making the supreme sacrifice of offering his son to God. Once he realized that he was able to do this, he also realized that he was certainly capable of making the small, daily sacrifice of allowing Yitzchok to be away from him and study Torah in a yeshiva.
Based on Rav Aharon's analysis of the akeida, we can explain Yaakov's action of taking stones from the altar of the akeida to sleep on to impress upon himself the message that in order to survive in Lavan's house, he needed to make relatively small, daily sacrifices. This willingness to persevere and make daily sacrifices is reflected in Yaakov's willingness to work an extra seven years for Rachel after having been fooled by Lavan, and, in addition, to fulfill his daily task of guarding Lavan's sheep, and later his own. Taking the stones was also an acknowledgment of the inspiration he received from Yitzchok, who studied in yeshiva after the akeida, to spend fourteen years studying in yeshiva himself before going to the house of Lavan, as a means of preparing for the challenges ahead. His daily commitment to torah study during those fourteen years steeled him for his commitment to persevere in golus on a daily basis, and the Torah that he learned taught him how to deal with the challenges that he would face in doing so.
