Matzevah|מַצֵּבָ֑ה

(8) ויעתק משם ההרה, he folded his tent to set out to go to the more mountainous regions east of Bet El, to examine that part of the land, and pitching his tent anew in the area between Bet El and Ai. When arriving there he again built an altar proclaiming the supremacy and uniqueness of the Lord G’d. The ending ה in the word אהלה means the same as the ending ו, i.e. as if the Torah had written אהלו. Avram in “proclaiming” the name of the Lord, issued invitations to the local population to visit this altar, pointing out that this altar was exclusively for serving the Lord and sacrificing to Him. Perhaps the repetition of the words בשם ה' indicates that the people whom Avram invited to his altar were already very close to becoming monotheists. According to Bereshit Rabbah 39,16, quoted by Rashi, he prophesied that at that site or near it, some of his descendants would fall in battle, due to the sin of Achan and members of his family. (Joshua 7,5).

(1) Our sages have said that the [letter] bet was added, like the bet in barishonah (“in the beginning”) Bereshit 13:4, for you find “at the beginning (rishonah) they travelled” Bamidbar 2:9. But were that the meaning, the bet would have been vocalized with a kamatz gadol. And there are those who say that [the word] bereshit always [appears in] attached [form], where the meaning is “at the beginning of the evening, or the night, or the darkness”. But behold, they forgot “he saw a beginning reishit for himself” Devarim 33:21. And there are those who say that the bet is a subject without meaning. Their reason is that it is unthinkable that there is no beginning to the heavens and the earth. Therefore, it said “bereshit. But according to my opinion, it is indeed an attached form, like “At the beginning (bereshit) of the rule of Yehoyakim” Yirmiyahu 26:1. Now don’t wonder how can it be attached to a past tense verb [instead of a noun], for behold, thus: “At the beginning (techilat) spoke Hashem with Hoshea, and Hashem said to Hoshea” Hoshea 1:2, “The city (kiryat) where David camped” Yishayahu 29:1. The meaning [of this usage] will be explained for you in the second verse.

(3) The fairest of branches (nof) – Mount Zion is the beauty of the place, there is nothing as beautiful as it in all the place. And it is ‘the joy of the entire earth’ as it is written “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?” (Lamentations 2:15) The meaning of nof is place, as in “…the three regions (hanafet).” (Joshua 17:11) My father and master explained nof as one of the seven divisions of the world, because it is known that the settled world is divided into seven pieces as they said ‘the seven lands.’ These portions are called in Hebrew nafot and in Arabic iclimim. And he said that anyone who goes from one nof to another will fall ill due to the change in air. The air of the land of Israel, and all the more so the air of Jerusalem, was the fairest of nof and the joy of all the earth. Even sick people who came there were healed because its air was well mixed and pleasant. As it says about it “And the neighbor shall not say, ‘I am sick.’” (Isaiah 33:24) Meaning that one who dwells in Jerusalem will not say ‘I am sick.’ Mount Zion, by the north side – Zion is on the north side of Jerusalem, as it says “…and I will sit on the mount of the assembly, in the farthest end of the north.” (Isaiah 14:13) and the previous part of the verse “above God's stars will I raise my throne” is a metaphor regarding Israel. the city of a great (rav) king – a great king, as in “…upon every steward of his house…” (Esther 1:8) This is referring to David, as it says “…the city wherein David encamped.” (Isaiah 29:1) Or this is referring to the King Messiah. In the midrash (Shachar Tov 48) it says everyone glorifies her, because there was none other like her. Even though Tyre said ‘I am the perfection of beauty’ as it says “Tyre, you said, 'I am the perfection of beauty.'” (Ezekiel 27:3) You said this of yourself, but others did not say it to you. This is like the common saying: not as your mother said, but as your neighbors said. But it doesn’t say this about Zion, rather everyone says “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?” (Lamentations 2:15) And further ‘the joy of all the earth.’ And how did she bring joy to all the earth? If a man sinned and is downhearted, as Shlomo says “If there is concern in a man's heart, let him cast it down, and a good word will make it cheerful,” (Proverbs 12:25) he would go to Jerusalem and offer a sacrifice which would atone for him. His heart would rejoice and he would leave their joyful that he had been forgiven, therefore she is the joy of all the earth. Know that it is so, as it says “Mount Zion, by the north side” and it says “…on the northern side of the Mishkan…” (Exodus 40:22)

(18) ומלכי צדק מלך שלם, the word שלם is another word for ירושלים, and we find it referred to as such in Psalms 76,3 ויהי בשלם סכו, “Salem became His abode.” It was customary to give the title Malki Tzedek or Adoni Tzedek, to kings of Jerusalem in those days, just as the kings of Egypt were called Pharaoh. Compare Joshua 10,1 where we find אדני צדק מלך ירושלים. Jerusalem traditionally represented the center of righteousness and peace. It is a place in which iniquity is less tolerated than anywhere else. This is why the Torah warned in Leviticus 18,28 that the Israelites should take care that the land not spew them out just as it had spewed out previous inhabitants because they had defiled it. The reason the Torah in Deuteronomy 31,16 uses the somewhat enigmatic expression אלוהי נכר הארץ, is that the kind of conduct by the people in that city that were spewed out, was a conduct that was irreconcilable (alien) with the very nature, spiritual climate, prevailing in, and being part of that holy city. The sons of Korach already recognised and extolled this spiritual climate of the very city when they said in Psalms 48,3 יפה נוף משוש כל הארץ הר ציון ירכתי צפון קרית מלך רב, “fair-crested, joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, summit of Tzafon, city of the great King.” In the Midrash quoted by Rashi, Malki Tzedek is identified as Shem, the son of Noach.

(10) And Abraham called the name of the place "Hashem Yireh- God will see". Rabbi Yochanan said "he said to Him: Master of Worlds, at the hour that you said to me 'Take please your son, your only son', I had what to respond yesterday. You said "For with Yitzchak etc. (will I make your line great) but then "Take please your son"! God forbid that I don't do as you've asked me; instead, I conquered my mercy to do Your will. May it be your will, GOD our god, that in the hour when the sons of Isaac come (before You) because of transgressions and bad deeds, that the Akiedah be remembered (for their benefit), and may You be filled with Mercy on them! Abraham called it "Yireh", as it says "And Abraham called the name of the place Hashem Yireh. Shem called it Shalem, as it says "And Malchitzedek, the king of Shalem..."(Genesis 17) The Holy One, Blessed be He, said "If I call it Yireh, as Abraham called it, then Shem, who was a righteous man, will be hurt-- but if I call it Shalem, then Abraham, who was a righteous man, will be hurt. Instead, I call it Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), as they called it together: Yireh Shalem. Jerusalem.......

(1) THE precepts of the tenth class are those enumerated in the laws on the Temple (Hilkot bet ha-beḥirah), the laws on the vessels of the temple and on the ministers in the temple [Hilkot kele ha-miḳdash veha-‘obedim bo]. The use of these precepts we have stated in general terms. It is known that idolaters selected the highest possible places on high mountains where to build their temples and to place their images. Therefore Abraham, our father, chose Mount Moriah, being the highest mount in that country, and proclaimed there the Unity of God. He selected the west of the mount as the place toward which he turned during his prayers, because [he thought that] the most holy place was in the West; this is the meaning of the saving of our Sages, "The Shekinah" (the Glory of God) is in the West" (B. T. Baba B 25a); and it is distinctly stated in the Talmud Yoma that our father Abraham chose the west side, the place where the Most Holy was built. I believe that he did so because it was then a general rite to worship the sun as a deity. Undoubtedly all people turned then to the East [worshipping the Sun]. Abraham turned therefore on Mount Moriah to the West, that is, the site of the Sanctuary, and turned his back toward the sun; and the Israelites, when they abandoned their God and returned to the early bad principles, stood "with their backs toward the Temple of the Lord and their faces toward the East, and they worshipped the sun toward the East" (Ezek. 8:16). Note this strange fact. I do not doubt that the spot which Abraham chose in his prophetical spirit, was known to Moses our Teacher, and to others: for Abraham commanded his children that on this place a house of worship should be built. Thus the Targum says distinctly, "And Abraham worshipped and prayed there in that place, and said before God, 'Here shall coming generations worship the Lord'" (Gen. 22:14). For three practical reasons the name of the place is not distinctly stated in the Law, but indicated in the phrase "To the place which the Lord will choose" (Deut. 12:11, etc.). First, if the nations had learnt that this place was to be the centre of the highest religious truths, they would occupy it, or fight about it most perseveringly. Secondly, those who were then in possession of it might destroy and ruin the place with all their might. Thirdly, and chiefly, every one of the twelve tribes would desire to have this place in its borders and under its control; this would lead to divisions and discord, such as were caused by the desire for the priesthood. Therefore it was commanded that the Temple should not be built before the election of a king who would order its erection, and thus remove the cause of discord. We have explained this in the Section on Judges (ch. xli.).

(4) את שבעת המזבחות — “Seven altars I have set in order” is not written here, but “THE SEVEN ALTARS”. He said to Him: The ancestors of these people together built before Thee seven altars, but I alone have built altars equal to all of them. — Abraham built four: (Genesis 12:7) “And he built there an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him”; (Genesis 12:8) “And he removed thence unto the mount… [and he built there an altar]; (Genesis 13:18) “And Abraham moved his tent … [and built there an altar]”; and one he built on on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:9). Isaac built one: (Genesis 26:25) “And he built there an altar”. Jacob built two, one at Shechem and one at Bethel (Genesis 33:20 and Numbers 25:7).

(11) and he took some of the stones of the place and placed them at his head - After it was known to him that this place would be the House of Gd which dims the sphere of the sun, therefor he took some of the stones of the place and set them as a guard to his head in order to show how he cherished their sanctity as it says “For Your servants desired its stones…” (Tehillim 102:15) He took twelve stones parallel to the twelve tribes as it says in the midrash (Bereshit Raba 68:11) that the stones argued, each one saying ‘let the righteous one rest his head on me!’ until they became one stone. This was a hint for the future as the writer of the Guide to the Perplexed wrote, that this is why the Holy One hid this place which would be the location of the Holy Temple and the King’s palace – in order that there not be argument between the tribes, each desiring that holy place to be theirs. Also for the sake of peace, as it says “But only to the place which the Lord your God shall choose from all your tribes…” (Devarim 12:5) And it is written “But only in the place the Lord will choose in one of your tribes…” (Devarim 12:14) How is this? When David purchased the threshing floor from Aravna the Yevusi, he collected the money from all of the tribes, as Rashi explains there (see Shmuel II 24:24). If this is so, then the argument between the stones which ended in their becoming one stone was sign for the future, that so too will be the argument between the crown jewels, the twelve tribes of Gd, that each tribe will say let the righteous One of the world rest His head upon me, referring to the Holy Temple as it says “As a Throne of Glory, exalted from the beginning, so is the place of our Sanctuary.” (Yirmiyahu 17:12) In the end they were made as one stone when David collected the gold from all of them. About this stone it is said regarding the building of the Second Temple “Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you sink to a plain! He will bring out the stone of the main architect, with shouts of grace, grace to it.” (Zechariah 4:7) When it says that He will bring out the stone of the main architect (even rosha) it means the stone which was at the head (rosh) of Yaakov. Bring it out to build the foundation for the Palace of Gd. Yaakov made a bed from it to lie upon in order that it be a sign that this will be 'the bed which is to Shlomo' (Song of Songs 3:7) – the king to whom peace belongs, as Rashi explained in Shir HaShirim on the verse “Behold the bed of Shlomo…”

(22) והאבן הזאת אשר שמתי מצבה THEN THIS STONE WHICH I HAVE SET UP FOR A PILLAR etc. — Explain it as the Targum translates it: “I shall serve the Lord upon it” This, indeed, he did on his return from Padan-aram, when God said to him, (Genesis 35:1) “Arise, go up to Bethel”. What is stated there? “And Jacob set up a pillar … and he poured out a drink-offering thereon” (Genesis 35:14).

(4) According to my opinion, it is also possible that Onkelos understood Elohim in the above passage to signify "angel," and that for this reason he did not hesitate to translate literally, "I will go down with thee to Egypt." Do not think it strange that Onkelos should have believed the Elohim, who said to Jacob, "I am God, the God of thy father" (ib. 3), to be an angel, for this sentence can, in the same form, also have been spoken by an angel. Thus Jacob says, "And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob. And I said, Here am I," etc. (Gen. 31:11); and concludes the report of the angel's words to him in the following way, "I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me" (ib. 13), although there is no doubt that Jacob vowed to God, not to the angel. It is the usual practice of prophets to relate words addressed to them by an angel in the name of God, as though God Himself had spoken to them. Such passages are all to be explained by supplying the nomen regens, and by considering them as identical with "I am the messenger of the God of thy father," "I am the messenger of God who appeared to thee in Bethel," and the like. Prophecy with its various degrees, and the nature of angels, will be fully discussed in the sequel, in accordance with the object of this treatise (II. chap. xiv.).

(1) לא-ל הנראה אליך, a reference to what he saw in his dream when G’d appeared to him to be standing on top of the ladder (28,13). At this juncture, the angel addressing him told him to build there an altar to the attribute of G’d Who had appeared to him at that location. The reason for the angel adding: בברחך, “when you were fleeing, etc.,” was a reminder to him that at that time he had been all alone and that G’d had given him His assurance that He would look after him and would bring him back to the land of Canaan. Seeing that G’d had kept His promise, it was now Yaakov’s turn to keep his vow.

(1) לא-ל הנראה אליך, a reference to what he saw in his dream when G’d appeared to him to be standing on top of the ladder (28,13). At this juncture, the angel addressing him told him to build there an altar to the attribute of G’d Who had appeared to him at that location. The reason for the angel adding: בברחך, “when you were fleeing, etc.,” was a reminder to him that at that time he had been all alone and that G’d had given him His assurance that He would look after him and would bring him back to the land of Canaan. Seeing that G’d had kept His promise, it was now Yaakov’s turn to keep his vow.

(11) Uriah answered David, “The Ark and Israel and Judah are located at Succoth, and my master Joab and Your Majesty’s men are camped in the open; how can I go home and eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As you live, by your very life, I will not do this!”

(17) ויבן לו בית AND HE BUILT FOR HIMSELF A HOUSE — He stayed there eighteen months — summer, winter and summer again (Megillah 17a); for the first mention of Succoth (booths which are erected for the cattle) points to the summer (when booths are necessary for the cattle), the mention of building a house to the winter, and the second mention of booths to the next summer.

(17) ויעקב...ויבן לו בית, this teaches that it was during the rainy season. In Bereshit Rabbah 78,16 it is concluded from this detail that Yaakov stayed at Sukkot for several years. [other versions say that it was in Bet El where he stayed 18 months or longer. Ed.]