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Midrash Tanchuma: Vayeitzei: The Foundation Stone



Rabbi Abahu said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish: When the stones that were beneath his head felt the presence of the Holy One, Blessed is He, they all dissolved and became one stone. How do we know this? Before he slept, it is written, “And he took from the stones of that place,” indicating there were many stones. However after he awoke, it is written, “And he took the stone upon which he has placed his head.” Thus there was only one stone. (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayeitzei 1)

God is a Unity. He created the world with its countless, seemingly diverse, details, in a way that all would reunify in the end. The stones that became one, are a hint to the Unity that seems to have split into many details but will ultimately reunify as an expression of God, Who is a Unity.

The Foundation Stone is the symbol of all the details of creation ultimately joining in an expression of God’s Unity.

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Attempt to connect the disparate parts of our service of God and Torah study, and all the different parts of our lives, into a unified picture of ourselves. How does it all fit together?

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