As our parasha opens, Ya‘aqov finds himself on Har ha-Moriya, the site where his father, Yitzchaq, had been offered as a sacrifice, just as the sun is setting: ויקח מאבני המקום וישם כמראשתיו וישכב במקום ההוא (“And he took from the stones of the place, and he set [them] as his bolsters and lay down in that place”; XXVIII, 10). As Rashi ad loc. explains, עשה כעין מרזב, he made a sort of “channel” out of the stones in order to lie down, safe from the local fauna. In short, this was his bed.
The midrash (בראשות רבה פס"ח סי' י"ג) records a three-way dispute concerning the precise number of stones which Ya‘aqov took for the purpose: ר"י אמר י"ב אבנים נטל, אמר כך גזר הקב"ה שהוא מעמיד י"ב שבטים כו' ר"נ אמר נטל ג' אבנים, אמר אברהם יחד הקב"ה שמו עליו. יצחק יחד הקב"ה שמו עליו. ואני אם מתאחדות הן שלשה אבנים זו לזו יודע אני שהקב"ה מיחד שמו עלי כו' רבנן אמרי מיעוט אבנים שנים, אברהם יצא ממנו פסולת ישמעאל וכל בני קטורה, ויצחק יצא ממנו פסולת עשו וכל אלופיו ואני אם מתאחדות ב' אבנים זו לזו יודע אני שאינו יוצא הימני פסולת(“Rabbi Yehuda said, 'He took twelve stones; he said, "Thus did the Holy One, Blessed is He, decree that He would raise up twelve tribes."' Rabbi Nechemya said, 'He took three stones; he said, "The Holy One, Blessed is He focused His name on Avraham; the Holy One, Blessed is He, focused His name on Yitzchaq; and I, if these three stones are unified, I know that the Holy One, Blessed is He will focus His name on me.'" The Rabbanan say, 'The minimum of "stones" is two; "From Avraham there went forth the dross of Yishma‘el and all the sons of Qtura [Avraham’s second wife; cf. Genesis XXV, 1-4], and from Yitzchaq there went forth the dross of ‘Esav and all his chiefs, and I, if these two stones are unified, I know that no dross will issue forth from me"'”).
So we see that each of the disputants saw historical significance in the number of stones selected: Rabbi Yehuda saw in the number twelve an allusion to the twelve tribes which would arise from Ya‘aqov; Rabbi Nechemya saw in the number three an allusion to the very special Divine favour shown to the three Patriarchs; and the Rabbanan saw in the number two a reference to the Divinely ordained selective breeding program which would result in those twelve tribes.
It is striking, though, that only the case of the Rabbanan records the rationale which was used to arrive at the number stones selected in the first place. It seems reasonable to ask what chain of reasoning led Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Nechemya to the very different numbers twelve and three, respectively, upon which they based their drashoth.
B.
Let us begin with Rabbi Nechemya.
The word even, of course, has a simple basic meaning, in that it refers to any sort of stone of any size or shape. In that sense, and in the absence of an actual defining numeral, it is hard to see how anyone could disagree with the assessment of the Rabbanan.
However, it seems to me that a clue presents itself in that our verse does not declare that Ya‘aqov took just any avanim, but rather took mé-avnei ha-Maqom. The latter word, of course, means “place,” as we have translated it above, but (as our midrash notes a bit earlier [שם, סי' י' ]), it is also a nickname for G-d, שהוא מקומו של עולם ואין עולמו מקומו (“for He is the Place of the world, and His world is not His place”). Hence, it is possible to translate the phrase ‘from G-d’s stones”.
How might this insight aid us in our quest?
The Talmud (עירובין מ"ח.) establishes that גופו שלוש אמות, the length of the body of a typical man is halachically defined to be three amoth long. Elsewhere (סוכה ז:) we learn that גברא באמתא יתיב (“a man occupies an ama”). Hence, we may conclude that the typical man is three amoth long by one ama wide. In yet another place (עירובין ג:), the Talmud establishes that כל אמות באמה בת ששה (“all amoth [used in the Torah refer] to an ama of six [tfachim]”; מובא להלכה ברמב"ם בהל' כלאים פ"ח הי"ז). Thus, a typical man is calculated to be 18 tfachim long and 6 tfachim wide (for reference, a standard tefach is estimated at 3.65 in.). Now, in the first mishna in Bava Bathra, a gvil (that is, an undressed building stone) is halachically mandated to measure 6 tfachim by 6 tfachim (גם זה מובא להלכה ברמב"ם בהל' שכנים פ"ב הי"ח וע"ע טור חו"מ סי' קנ"ז).
Hence, it seems to me, Rabbi Nechemya might have reasoned that it would take three of “G-d’s stones”, i.e. halachically mandated building stones, to make up Ya‘aqov’s, since three such stones laid end to end extend the halachically defined length of a typical man, and each stone is as wide as our typical man. From this number, thus derived, he could go on to construct his drasha.
C.
So how might Rabbi Yehuda have been reasoning?
From the treasurehouse of midrashic insights (פרקי דרבי אליעזר פל"ה) we learn that Ya‘aqov was said to have utilized stones from the very altar on which his father, Yitzchaq, had been offered as a sacrifice on Har ha-Moriya. In yet another midrashic source (תנא דבי אלי' זוטא פ"ב) we find the logical device called a gzeira shava involving Exodus XX, 21 , מזבח אדמה תעשה לי (“and altar of earth shall you make for Me”) and Genesis II, 7, וייצר ד' אלקים את האדם עפר מן האדמה (“and Ha-Shem, G-d, formed the adam, dust from the earth”) used to establish that that fateful altar had been constructed of the very earth used to form the first man. Leaving the midrash and returning to the Talmud (סנהדרין ל"ח.), we learn that אדם הראשון גופו מבבל, the first man’s body had been formed of the earth of Bavel. If this is so, then it follows that the stones used by Avraham to build the altar and, in turn, by Ya‘aqov to make his bed, were stones of Babylonian origin.
A little attention to the geography of the region brings to mind that most of Bavel, modern-day Iraq, is a flat alluvial plain formed by the mud and silt brought down by the mighty Euphrates and Tigris rivers. In such a region, gvilim, building stones, would be rare commodities indeed. The Torah itself points to this fact in discussing the first post-diluvian human settlements in the region: ותהי להם הלבנה לאבן (“and the brick became stone for them”; Genesis XI, 3), on which Rashi comments: שאין אסנים בבבל שהיא בקעה (“for there are no stones in Bavel since it is an alluvial plain”).
With this in mind, we examine one more Talmudic reference (שבת ז.), where Rashi comments: סתם לבינה ארכה ורחבה ג' (‘a common brick’s length and width is three [tfachim]”; ד"ה לבינה).
We may therefore conclude, in light of the above, that “G-d’s stones” in the Babylonian sense refers to halachically standard bricks. Having already established the halachic dimensions of the typical man at 18 x 6 tfachim, it will be seen that a double row of six bricks each fills the bill for Ya‘aqov’s bed. Having thus determined the number of stones, Rabbi Yehuda went on to make his drasha.
D.
Whatever the number and dimensions of Ya‘aqov’s selections mé-avnei ha-Maqom, the Talmud (חולין צ"א:) finds evidence that the stones were indeed unified in a subsequent verse, after Ya‘aqov awoke from his prophetic dream: וישכם יעקב בבקר ויקח את האבן וגו' (“And Ya‘aqov got up early in the morning and took the stone....”; XVIII, 18; note the singular).
And what did G-d say to him in that dream?
אני ד' אלקי אברהם אביך ואלקי יצחק הארץ אשר אתה שכב עלי' לך אתננה ולזרעך: והי' זרעך כעפר האדמה ופרצת ימה וקדמה צפנה ונגבה ונברכו בך כל משפחת האדמה ובזרעך: (“I am Ha-Shem, G-d of Avraham your father and G-d of Yitzchaq; the land upon which you are lying, to you shall I give it and to your progeny. And your progeny will be like the dust of the earth [note that this is the same phrase used to describe the formation of the first man], and you will spread west and east and north and south; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and through your progeny”; ibid., 13-14).
In other words, each of the drashoth came true: G-d showed favor to Ya‘aqov as He had to the first two patriarchs; and Ya‘aqov did sire the twelve tribes of Israel who would inherit the Holy Land and spread out in all four directions, none of whom would be rejected as Yishma‘el and ‘Esav had been. Note also that the verb u-faratzta, “and you will spread”, is in the singular, not the plural. The séfer Lechem l’Fi ha-Taf points out that the letters which make up the word tzaddiq, צדי"ק, are the initial letters of the four points of the compass, north (צפון), south (דרום), west (ים, literally the [Mediterranean] Sea), and east (קדם), to indicate the incalculable extent of the influence of a true tzaddiq, in all directions. The wording of the last clause in verse 14, ונברכו בך כל משפחת האדמה ובזרעך, in which “through you” is decisively separated from “and through your progeny”, emphasizes the precious legacy which Israel have from their eponymous ancestor, all of whose actions were undertaken with holy purpose.
To include the selection of the stones for his bed, on a night spent on Har ha-Moriya.
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