The rolling stone – Vayyetzei
Leaving home to embark upon an uncertain future, Jacob saw a well which was covered by a large stone (Gen. 29:2).
There are many questions we ask about that well. Did he come upon it by accident or design? Probably the latter, because where there was a well, people would gather and he would be able to get information about the route to follow. (When the T’nach speaks of a person approaching a city, it generally says they stood at the city gate because that was the place where people would gather).
Why was the mouth of the well covered by a stone? The obvious answer is to protect the water from the desert sand. Abravanel says it was to prevent access to the water by people who were not entitled to it. Josephus believes it was to ensure that no-one fell in and got injured.
Jacob is not known as a man of great physical strength, but when he saw Rachel, the daughter of his mother’s brother Laban, he was able to roll the heavy stone away and water her sheep.
The lesson is that a person who is exhilarated by a great task can do amazing things. Moses is another example. Buoyed up by his great, historic mission of teaching the Torah, he could carry the two massive stone tablets of the Ten Commandments; it was only when he was shocked to see the people worshipping a golden calf that the task became too great and the tablets fell from his hands and shattered.
A person needs a great vision, a great task, a great destination to aim towards, and will somehow find the strength and stamina to rise to the challenge. As the prophet Isaiah puts it, “They that wait for the Lord shall have new strength” (Isa. 40:31).
