By Rav Zalman Baruch Melamed, Rosh Yeshivat Beit El, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.
Generations upon generations have read the story of Yaakov's dream – but it is we who have merited to be here in Beit El, the very place where it took place!
This week's Torah portion begins with Yaakov Avinu's famous dream of angels ascending and descending a ladder leading to the heavens. So very many generations have read and learned this story, in Babylonia, Poland, Iraq, and all over the world!
When our Sages spoke of this place where it happened - the place that Yaakov named Beit El, the place that he realized was a "place of G-d" – they spoke theoretically, for they did not see it or and certainly did not live there. But yet, blessed be G-d, we have merited to be here in Beit El and read this Torah portion right here, adjacent to where it happened!
Rashi explains that the land actually jumped for Yaakov on his journey. That is, the site of the future Holy Temple jumped to Beit El, and Yaakov prayed there - such that at that moment, Beit El was actually the place of the Beit HaMikdash! The Ramban (Nachmanides) does not accept this approach, because he says that when we speak of "a jump in the journey," it means that the people were able to get to their destination faster than expected, and not that the land itself jumped.
But one of the most important of the many commentaries on Rashi, the Mizrachi, explains: "The land jumped in order that Yaakov should be able to pray in both places, Yerushalayim and Beit El, together; how nice and pleasant it is for both of them to be together." This tells us that Beit El has a special virtue, and that Jerusalem has an even greater virtue – and together their virtue is multiplied!
We have merited to be in this special place with its special spiritual features and assets. Its very name is critically important. Our Sages say that we must be precise in how we call a location. There is a discussion, for instance, if we should say Beit El or Beit Kel (so as not to pronounce G-d's name). A place like this that is named for Hashem has a special aura of the Shechina (the Divine Presence), expressing the fact that it is the House of G-d. As Yaakov said when he awoke, "This is none other than the House of G-d, and this is the gateway to Heaven" (B'reshit 28,17).
Our Sages tell us that this place, which was originally called Luz (verse 19), has a very unique force of existence. The Medrash (B'reshit Rabba 69,8) says:
This is Luz, the place in which they dye sky blue wool. This is Luz that Sancheriv attacked but whose population he did not transfer; the place that Nevuchadnetzar attacked but did not destroy. This is Luz, over which the angel of death never had dominion. What would the elderly among them do? When they would become very old, they would take them outside the walls and they would die.
That is, this was a very special place in which people lived long lives. The elderly were so old that they were already satiated with life and were anxious to go to the next stage, known as "death" and leading to the World to Come – but they did not die in Luz, but rather outside its walls. Inside the city they could not die; this was a place only of life.
The Medrash continues:
R. Abba bar Kahana said: Why was it called Luz? Anyone who would enter it would proliferate mitzvot and good deeds just like an almond tree [luz].
This is a place of sanctity; it has a special type of ambience. One who comes here connects with holiness and good deeds. This is Beit El.
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