Anyplace I Hang My Hat is My Home

By Rabbi Joshua (domestically known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

The Torah tells us that Ya’akov left Be’er Sheva and went to Charan. And he came upon the place, and rested there. The place, according to one Talmudic source cited by Rashi, was Mt. Moriah, the site of the future Beis HaMikdash. Rashi explains that Ya’akov, reaching Charan, realized that he had passed the place where his forefathers had prayed, and did not stop to pray. He therefore began to travel back to their place, and had “kefitzas ha-derech,” a contraction of the trip, as Eliezer had when he went to Charan. However, Rashi explains that the contraction came about through Mt. Moriah being uprooted from its place and coming to Ya’akov. Ramban, however, objects, that this is not the usual kefitzas haderech. It is definitely different from that mentioned in regard to Eliezer, through which he made the trip in a short time. Why would Ya’akov’s kefitzas haderech be different, and why would Mt. Moriah be miraculously uprooted to greet Ya’akov?

The Sukas Dovid, as cited by Rav Yitzchok Isbee, zt”l, in a taped shiur, says that there were two parts to Ya’akov’s kefitzas haderech. The first part was exactly the same as Eliezer’s. Ya’akov started to return from Charan, and he reached Bethel in a very short time. Then, Mt. Moriah was uprooted and brought to him at Bethel, where he spent the night. What, however, was the purpose of this miraculous movement of the mountain?

The Sukas Dovid explains that Ya’akov was the first of the forefathers to build his home outside of Eretz Yisroel. He was very fearful of being away from the land, fearing the effect that being in exile in the house of Lavan would have upon his family and on him. The message of the uprooting of the mountain was that he could bring his home in Eretz Yisroel with him into the exile. Ya’akov, of all the forefathers, had the ability to do this because of his Torah. While Avraham personified the trait of chesed, of lovingkindness, and Yitzchok personified avodah, dedicated worship of God, Ya’akov personified Torah. The rabbis tell us that he spent fourteen years studying Torah in the study house of Ever, after leaving home on the way to Charan. That prepared him for his years in exile. We may add that Mt. Moriah, the place of the future Beis HaMikdash, would be the place where the Torah was studied and halachic rulings issued by the Sanhedrin, so that, moving it to greet Ya’akov indicated to him that, through Torah, he could bring the home of Eretz Yisroel with him wherever he went.