Komentarz do Rodzaju 28:18

AND HE SET IT UP FOR A PILLAR. Our Rabbis have explained⁵²Yerushalmi Abodah Zarah IV, 5. the difference between a pillar and an altar by saying that a pillar consists of one stone while an altar is composed of many stones. It further appears that a pillar is made for pouring libations of wine upon it and for the pouring of oil upon it, but not for sacrifices and not for offerings, whereas an altar is for bringing Burnt-offerings and Peace-offerings thereon. When Israel entered the Land, the pillar was prohibited to them⁵³Deuteromony 16:22. because the Canaanites had established it as an ordinance of an idolatrous character to a greater extent than the altars. Even though it is written concerning the altars, Ye shall break down their altars,⁵⁴Exodus 34:13. [since the altars were not as prevalent as pillars among the Canaanites, He did not prohibit the Israelites from making their own altars]. It may be that He did not want to prohibit all sacrifices, and so He retained the altar as fit for libations and sacrifices.

ויצק שמו על ראשה, he anointed it to sanctify it and to make it ready to offer sacrifices on it when he would return to that site. We have such formulations in connection with the sanctification of the various materials donated for the Tabernacle (Numbers 7,1) as well as in Genesis 31,13 and again in verse 22 in our chapter here.

וישם אותה מצבה, he sanctified it as an altar which he would erect on his return from Charan. The Torah testifies in Genesis 35,14 that this is indeed what Yaakov did on his way home to the land of Canaan. ויצב יעקב מצבה במקום אשר דבר “Yaakov established an altar on the site where he had said.”

וישכם יעקב....וישם מצבה, he erected the stone to its full height.

ויקח את האבן אשר שם מראשותיו, “He took the stone which he had made into a pillow for his head.” This was in spite of what we learned in Zevachim 116 that it is forbidden to construct an altar made of matter which has already been used secularly. When it concerns a new structure that one built oneself for the purpose, it is acceptable for a layman to do so.

וישם אותה מצבה, “he set it up as a pillar.” He did not erect this pillar at the site where he slept, i.e. Beer Sheva, but at Bet El which is Jerusalem, the site where the ladder’s top reached Heaven.

מצבה besteht aus einem Stein, מזבה ist eine von Steinen zusammen gebaute Erhöhung, מצבה ist von der Natur gereicht, מזבח von Menschen geschaffen. Vor מתן תורה war die Waltung Gottes zunächst nur in den Gängen der Natur und des Menschenschicksals offenbar, also in dem, was dem Menschen aus Gottes Händen wird; dem entspricht מצבה: der aus Gottes Schöpfung genommene Stein zum Denkmal an eine Gottestat. Mit מתן תורה will Gott nicht sowohl in dem, was von Ihm dem Menschen wird, sondern in dem, was der Mensch mit dem von Ihm Gewährten schafft, offenbar werden, die Menschentat soll Gottverherrlichung werden; das ist ja eben Bestimmung der Gesetzgebung; seitdem ist מצבה verworfen. —

ויקח את האבן, “he took the stone;” according to the sages in Pirkey de rabbi Eliezer, chapter 35, this stone was the one known in later generations as the even shetiyah’ symbolising the navel of the globe a mystical stone at the site where the Holy Ark had stood in the Holy of Holies during the first Temple. This stone, if removed, would expose a hole going down to the center of the earth. It is supposed to have served G-d as the first piece of solid material of what would be the globe on which we live.

ויצק שמן על ראשה, so that he would recognise this stone on his return from Charan. Oil stains on a stone remain for many years and do not disappear. He planned to erect an altar at this site when he would return from Charan. It is also possible that the pouring of oil on that stone was equivalent to pouring a libation of wine on the altar. In fact, when he did return to this site he is reported as doing exactly this (Genesis 35,14) All of this was to be a visible reminder that the Jewish people would take possession, inherit the land promised to them by G’d. Just as Avraham and Yitzchok during their time had treated the land as if it already belonged to them, Yaakov now did the same, albeit it in a miniscule, symbolical way. Once Yaakov had made a monument out of this stone no one had the right to use this stone for his private needs. The fact that some 34 years later he built an altar there using this stone as its foundation, shows that no one in the interval had disputed what this stone had represented. The Torah would not bother to mention that Yaakov had called this site Bet El unless the local people had been informed of this and had not objected to the name change. Clearly, just as the local population had to go along with the wells dug by Avraham and Yitzchok and the names given to these wells because G’d made them respect these patriarchs, so now G’d inspired the local residents to go along with what Yaakov had done there. The attitude G’d inspired in the local population is best described by David in Psalms 105 15 אל תגעו במשיחי ולנביאי אל תרעו, “do not dare touch My anointed, nor do harm to My prophets.”

שמן על ראשה: entweder als Weihe des Steines, wie das Salben der Tempelgeräte mit Öl, wodurch — wie Öl sich mit keiner anderen Flüssigkeit mischt — so der gesalbte Gegenstand aus den übrigen geschieden und emporgehoben wird. Oder: im Sinne der Gussopfer. Wie später Wein hingegossen wurde zum Ausdruck, dass jede Freude von Gott stamme und ihm geweiht bleibe (יין משמח אלקי׳ ואנשים), oder im höchsten Nationalgussopfer: Wasser hingegossen wurde zum Ausdrück, dass nicht nur außergewöhnliche Erlangungen, sondern jeder Tropfen Wasser Gottesspende sei und wir uns durch jeden Tropfen Wasser mit Gott verbunden fühlen: so hier Öl — beim späteren Opfer der Ausdruck der Gesundheit, des Wohlbefindens (להצהיל פנים משמן) —: dass er seine Erhaltung und sein Wohlbefinden aus Gottes Händen erwarte und als Gott geweiht bleibende Gottesspende genießen wolle.

ויצק שמן על ראשה, “he poured some oil on top of it;” he anointed it in order to make it suitable to serve as an altar for sacrifices when he would return from Padan Arom. We know that later on when the Jewish people built a Tabernacle in the desert in Moses’ time, every vessel that was used in that Temple had to be anointed with a special type of oil in order to qualify for such use. (Numbers 7,1) When G-d told Yaakov to return to this site in Genesis 31,13, He made reference to Yaakov having already anointed this stone when he was fleeing from Esau. An alternate exegesis: he poured oil on this stone as a mark by which to recognise this stone on his return when he would fulfill his vow to make it part of a Temple. (Ibn Ezra)