The Upheaval of Knowing of God is Creation
Posted by Abe Mezrich on November 16, 2007 | Tags: Bereshit, Vayetze
I
i
Jacob has a dream of a ladder going to Heaven, and of God's angels upon the ladder, and of God speaking to him.
When Jacob awakes he says:
God was in this place and I did not know.
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He renames the place where he slept. He calls the place: Beit Eil.
Beit Eil means, House of God.
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But, the verse says,
Luz was the city's name at first.
ii
The place gets its new name, House of God. But the verse still makes mention of the original name, Luz.
Luz is still there. Jacob has only changed what Luz is called.
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But in changing Luz's name, Jacob changes Luz itself.
iii
The world is not different. Jacob has only seen God in it.
Luz becomes the House of God, not because Luz was not the
House of God before; but because Luz has always been the house of God.
II
The knowing of God is an upheaval.
Not an upheaval of destroying the world and beginning over: but of seeing, at last, what was always there.
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That fresh seeing creates all things anew.
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Abe MezrichJoined: October 11, 2007 Abe Mezrich is a new-York based writer and lecturer, and the author of a weekly dvar Torah. Contact him at amezrich@gmail.com. Divrei Torah (12) |
