Here is a parsha of stones and visions.
Heel-Follower is travelling from Seventh-Well to Crossroad, from the place his grandfather High-Father dug to the place where his great-grandfather settled. It’s a long way, on foot or by camel: about five hundred miles. In the clan-stories his tribe had come from Burgh, where thousands upon thousands of earthlings lived together. Heel-Follower could not imagine so many earthlings in one place. How could they be sure what family they fell from? His great-grandfather had a name that sounded strange to Heel-Follower’s ears: it sounded like ‘lingering’. From the desert of the Negev to the modern-day Turkish-Syrian border, Heel-Follower traces the shore of the Great Sea or picks his way through the rolling foothills of the Lowlands. He is fleeing the wrath of his twin, from whom he cheated out of both blessing and birthright. He is leaving his home as his father’s strength is fading. He seems to be travelling alone. He must have had a lot of time to think. At some point, tired, Heel-Follower uses a stone as a pillow and lays down to rest. In the night he beholds a sulam stretching up from the ground to the second-water, and All-Being standing beside him.
The word sulam is found only once in the Torah.
Heel-Follower lifts up his feet. He arrives at a well in the land of the children of Ancient. A large stone covers the well’s mouth. There are three flocks that water from the well: when they are all gathered, the stone is rolled aside and the sheep can drink. Around the well are kinsmen from Crossroad – they know Heel-Follower’s uncle, White – but they’re waiting for their shepherd. When all the flocks are in, then all the flocks can drink. Heel-Follower thinks of his own kin’s holdings, of his father and mother, of the slaves and the servants. He thinks of his brother. He wonders if the family-talk of All-Being’s promises will die with him, him with no movables or tents or golden rings. Not much good, a blessing and a birthright, for one in flight and paucity. Even with the dream he’d had. The men make peaceful talk. In the hot sun of morning, it is good to rest when labour allows. As they speak, the shepherd arrives: her name is Ewe. The flocks are gathered. Heel-Follower rolls back the stone, and behold: water.
Then Heel-Follower kissed Ewe, and he lifted up his voice and wept..
Shamaya Carvajal, LBC rabbinical student
The views expressed in this D’var Torah do not necessarily reflect the position of Leo Baeck College.