Genesis Rabbah 81

¹“God said to Jacob: Arise, ascend to Beit El, and settle there, and make there an altar to the God who appeared to you when you fled from Esau your brother” (Genesis 35:1). “God said to Jacob: Arise, ascend…” “It is a snare for a person to spout [ yala ] sanctity [ kodesh ]; scrutiny must follow vows” (Proverbs 20:25) – may a curse come upon one who eats consecrated items [ kodashim ] in his throat [ belo’o ]. Rabbi Ḥiyya taught: May a curse come upon a person who benefits from consecrated items. Consecrated items is [a reference to] none other than Israel, as it is stated: “Israel is sacred to the Lord…” (Jeremiah 2:3). “Scrutiny must follow vows” – Rabbi Yanai said: If a person delays his vow, his ledger is scrutinized. ²“God said to Jacob: Arise, ascend to Beit El.” “If you were demeaned, it is due to arrogance [ behitnaseh ]; if you conspired [ zamota ], put hand to mouth” (Proverbs 30:32). Ben Azzai and Rabbi Akiva, Ben Azzai says: If you demean yourself for matters of Torah, ultimately, you will be exalted [ lehitnaseh ] through them. If [others] conspired to slander you, place hand to mouth; one knows, two do not know. Rabbi Akiva says: What caused you to be demeaned in matters of Torah? It is because you exalted yourself through them. ). Rabbeinu was passing through Simoneya and the people of Simoneya went out to greet him. They said to him: ‘Rabbi, provide us with someone who will teach us Bible, teach us Mishna, and adjudicate our trials.’ He provided them with Rabbi Levi bar Sisi. They built a large platform and seated him upon it, but he was unable to articulate matters of Torah. They asked him three questions. They said to him: ‘A yevama without an arm, how does she perform ḥalitza ?’ involves her removing her brother-in-law’s shoe. He did not answer them. ‘If she spit blood, what is the law?’ ceremony. He did not answer them at all. They said: ‘Perhaps he is not expert in Talmud, but, he is expert in aggada . Let us ask him verses.’ They said to him: ‘What is [the meaning of] that which is written: “However, I will tell you] what is recorded in the script of truth”? (Daniel 10:21). If truth, why recorded, and if recorded, why truth?’ ], implies something that is written casually and in a temporary manner, and may be erased. But if it is true, it should be written in a permanent manner ( Etz Yosef ). He did not answer them. When he saw his own great distress, he awoke early in the morning and went to Rabbeinu. [Rabbeinu] said to him: ‘What did the people of Simoneya do to you?’ He said to him: ‘Do not remind me of my distress. They asked me three questions and I was unable to answer them.’ He said to him: ‘What are they?’ He said to him: ‘A woman without an arm, how does she perform ḥalitza ?’ He said to him: ‘Did you not know how to answer?’ He said to him: ‘Yes, [I know the answer, she may perform ḥalitza ] even with her teeth, and even with her body.’ [He told Rabbeinu the second question:] ‘If she spits blood, what is the law?’ He said to him: ‘Did you not know how to answer?’ He said to him: ‘[I know the answer,] even if there was a scintilla of spittle in it, it is valid, but if not, it is not valid.’ [He told Rabbeinu the third question:] ‘“However, I will tell you what is recorded in the script of truth” (Daniel 10:21). If truth, why recorded, and if recorded, why truth?’ He said to him: ‘Did you not know how to answer?’ He said to him: ‘It is recorded before the edict has been decreed; it is truth after the edict has been decreed. What is the seal of the Holy One blessed be He? Rabbeinu said in the name of Rabbi Reuven: Truth [ emet ]. What is emet ? Reish Lakish said: Alef is the first of the letters, mem in the middle, tav at the end, based on the verse: “I am first and I am last…”’ (Isaiah 44:6). [Rabbeinu] said to him: ‘Why did you not answer them as you answered me?’ He said to him: ‘They prepared a great platform and seated me upon it. I became arrogant and I was unable to articulate matters of Torah.’ This verse was read in his regard: “If you were demeaned, it is due to arrogance” (Proverbs 30:32). Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: If you thought in your heart to perform a mitzva, but you did not perform it, it would have been preferable for you to place a muzzle on your mouth and not articulate it. Rabbi Yudan said: Just as your hand is adjacent to your mouth, so, [the fulfillment of] your vow should be adjacent to your mouth. The Rabbis say: Just as your hand precedes your mouth, so, your vow should be before your mouth. Know that it is so, as Jacob our patriarch, because he delayed his vow, his ledger was scrutinized, as it is stated: “God said to Jacob: Arise, ascend to Beit El, and settle there, and make there an altar” (Genesis 35:1). Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: In times of trouble – a vow; in times of relief – it is swept away. Rabbi Levi said: When your sieve is blocked, bang on it. ). The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Jacob, you have forgotten your vow: “Arise, ascend to Beit El” – to the house of God [ beit El ], “and make there an altar to the God who appeared to you [when you fled from Esau your brother],” and if you do not do so, you are like Esau. Just as Esau vows and does not fulfill, so, you vow and do not fulfill.’ ³“Jacob said to his household, and to all who were with him: Remove the foreign gods that are in your midst, and purify yourselves, and change your garments” (Genesis 35:2). “Jacob said to his household” – Rabbi Kruspedai said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: We are not expert in the minutiae of idol worship, like Jacob our patriarch, as we learned: One who finds vessels, and upon them, a figure of the sun, a figure of the moon, or a figure of a dragon, he casts them into the Dead Sea. 3:3. The mishna prohibits only items adorned with specific pictures, whereas Jacob insisted that the members of his household change their garments, meaning dispose of any garments with any pictures whatsoever, fearing that they were also made for the sake of idolatry. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: All garments are included in the category of idols. “They gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their possession, and the rings that were in their ears, and Jacob interred them beneath the terebinth that is near Shekhem” (Genesis 35:4). “They gave to Jacob” – Rabbi Yishmael ben Rabbi Yosei ascended to pray in Jerusalem. He passed Mount Gerizim and saw a Samaritan there. [The Samaritan] said to him: ‘Where are you going?’ He said to him: ‘I am ascending to pray in Jerusalem.’ He said to him: ‘Is it not preferable for you to pray on this blessed mountain, and not on those ruins?’ He said to him: ‘I will tell you to what you are comparable – to a dog that is eager for a carcass. So, because you know that idols are interred under [the mountain], as it is written: “Jacob interred,” that is why you are eager for it.’ They said [to each other]: ‘This one seeks to take them.’ . They reached a consensus to kill him, and he arose and fled at night. ⁴“They traveled; the dread of God was upon the cities that were surrounding them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob” (Genesis 35:5). “They traveled; the dread of God was [upon the cities that were surrounding them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob]” – Rabbi Shmuel said: In three places, idolaters gathered to wage war with Jacob’s children, but the Holy One blessed be He did not allow them to do so, as it is written: “They traveled; the dread of God was [upon the cities]...” The second time was in the days of Yehonatan, as it is stated: “The very ground trembled, and there was a God-inspired terror” (I Samuel 14:15). Third, in the days of Joshua, they sought to pursue, but the Holy One blessed be He did not allow them to do so. Where did they gather? In Ḥatzor, as it is written: “But all the cities that stood intact, Israel did not burn them; Joshua burned only Ḥatzor alone” (Joshua 11:13). Rabbi Elazar said: He burned it based on a tradition. The Holy One blessed be He said it to Moses, and Moses said it to Joshua. “Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, it is Beit El; he and all the people who were with him” (Genesis 35:6). “Jacob came to Luz” – as anyone who enters it blossoms with mitzvot and good deeds like an almond tree [ luz ]. ⁵“Deborah, Rebecca’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Beit El, beneath the oak, and he called its name Alon Bakhut” (Genesis 35:8). “God appeared to Jacob again, already upon his arrival from Padan Aram, and He blessed him” (Genesis 35:9). “Deborah, Rebecca's nurse, died…and he called its name Alon Bakhut” – Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: In the Greek language, alon means other. While he [Jacob] was still observing the mourning for Deborah, the report that his mother had died came to him. That is what is written: “God appeared to Jacob…and He blessed him.” With which blessing did he bless him? Rav Aḥa said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: He blessed him with the blessing of the mourners.