Commentaire sur La Genèse 28:16

ואנכי לא ידעתי AND I KNEW IT NOT — for had I known it I would not have slept in such a holy place as this.

אכן יש ה' במקום הזה, contrary to what I thought when I lay down here that this is a totally secular place, devoid of sanctity. Every time the expression אכן occurs in Scripture it means that the person exclaiming it had to revise an opinion previously held. A well-known example is Exodus 2,14אכן נודע הדבר, when Moses made the devastating discovery that his having slain the Egyptian had not remained a secret.

אכן יש ה' במקום הזה, there can be no question that this is a location from where the gift of prophetic insights is dispensed, seeing that I have been granted such an insight without even having expected it or prepared myself for it spiritually. It is a fact that the characteristics of a person undergo changes in the land of Israel just as the climate and very air in this country are different, contribute to one’s mental and spiritual progress. Our sages have phrased this (Baba Batra 158) as “the very air of the Land of Israel makes one wiser.”