By Aryeh Ronay
Genesis 28, Based on The King James Translation of the Bible
1 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.
2 Arise, go to Paddan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.
3 And may God Almighty bless you, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;
4 And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.
5 And Isaac sent Jacob away: and he went to Paddan-Aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.
6 When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Paddan-Aram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;
7 And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Paddan-Aram;
8 And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father;
9 Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.
10 And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.
11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.
12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
13 And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee back to this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.
17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
19 And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
20 And Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
21 So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God:
22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.
Eco Bible
Sleeping Alone in Nature
Genesis 28:11 – He Came Upon a Certain Place and Stopped There for the Night, for the Sun Had Set. Taking One of the Stones of That Place, He [Jacob] Put It Under His Head and Lay Down in That Place.
Ibn Ezra explains that the stone was the Foundation Stone, the location of the Holy of Holies on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Ibn Ezra on Genesis 28:11 based on the Zohar 1:72. Rabbi Daniel Kohn explains the significance of this location, saying, “Jacob is connected to the holism of reality and existence. The Midrash states that the rocks united under him and the land of Israel folded underneath him. Genesis Rabbah 68. It reflects this aspect of Jacob, of a deep connectedness to the planet and the One that is. Jacob, by virtue of being a Tam, a wholehearted individual, encounters a magical moment when he sleeps at the core of creation, sleeping on the Foundation Stone itself. Lying on the earth creates such a deep engagement with the planet that he becomes conscious of all that this planet has to offer.” Rabbi Daniel Kohn, oral teaching, 2013.
Spiritual Transcendence in Nature
Jacob connects to God while alone in nature; this time alone produces ripe moments for spiritually transcendent experiences. King Solomon teaches: “When you lie down, you should not fear.” Proverbs 3:24. Sleeping alone in nature can help a person trust in God due to the vulnerability of sleeping without visible protection from animals, people, and the elements. Jacob’s spiritual dream of the ladder with angels occurs precisely when he is sleeping alone in nature. Perhaps Jacob learned about being alone in nature from his father and grandfather. Abraham was commanded by God to walk “the width and breadth” of the land, and he built altars outside. Isaac is mentioned as one who “went out to pray in the field.”
Connecting With The Earth
Genesis 28:13 – and God Was Standing Beside Him and He Said, “I Am the Divine, the God of Your Father Abraham and the God of Isaac: The Ground on Which You Are Lying I Will Assign to You and to Your Offspring.”
God emphasizes to Jacob that he is lying on the land. Jacob established a connection with the land by lying on it. According to scientist Gaétan Chevalier and others:
Emerging scientific research has revealed a surprisingly positive and overlooked environmental factor on health: direct physical contact with the vast supply of electrons on the surface of the earth. Modern lifestyle separates humans from such contact. The research suggests that this disconnect may be a major contributor to physiological dysfunction and un-wellness. Reconnection with the earth’s electrons has been found to promote intriguing physiological changes and subjective reports of well-being. Earthing (or grounding) refers to the discovery of benefits – including better sleep and reduced pain – from walking barefoot outside or sitting, working, or sleeping indoors connected to conductive systems that transfer the earth’s electrons from the ground into the body.
The Connection Between Nature and Mental Health
Richard Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder has raised public attention about the importance of devoting time to being in nature. In 2019, 24 scientists published a groundbreaking study on the link between nature and mental health, including “the impacts of nature experience on cognitive functioning, emotional well-being, and other dimensions of mental health.” They then indicate “how ecosystem service assessments can be expanded to include mental health.” That is, humans receive tremendous value from nature in balancing and maintaining our mental health, and environmental economists try to put a price on such value.
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