Gen. 28:10–11: “And Yaakov left Be’er Sheva and went toward Charan. And he encountered ‘the place’ and slept there…” This “place” is none other than the mountain called Moriah, better known as the site of the Mikdash. The stories of the fathers are signs for their children. The story of Yaakov and his dream signals our past and present history and gives us a glimpse of what is yet to come in the future.

Throughout our history we have seen two Temples that stood for 830 years altogether, and we have been exiled from our land twice. Think about it as a marriage. The first time we were exiled to Babylon we were technically separated, but after we failed to learn the lessons of the past we were broken up with, seriously. Yerushalayim, as all the Prophets note, feels like a divorcee who longs for her husband to take her back, and we as a nation are compared to a daughter who has been neglected. We pray and hope for the day of His return so that we can once more live under our Father’s roof.

Let’s take the story apart. Yaakov leaves Be’er Sheva going to Lavan’s house in Charan. The name Be’er Sheva is introduced twice in the previous Parshiot: once (21:31) when Avraham Avinu and Avimelech swear an oath of peace to each other, and again (26:33) when Yitzchak and Avimelech swear an oath of peace. Why did Avimelech need this peace treaty with Yitzchak, wasn’t the one with Avraham valid for four generations? The answer lies in the words of the Torah (26:28): “Ra’o ra’inu… – We saw at the time of your father and we see again with you that Hashem is with you.” At first, Avimelech saw Yitzchak as the prodigal son of the great Avraham and didn’t respect him for who he was; but after seeing his successes he couldn’t help but admit that Yitzchak was a man of value in his own right.

The blessing Hashem........

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