The Valley Torah Scroll

וַיִּפְגַּ֨ע בַּמָּק֜וֹם וַיָּ֤לֶן שָׁם֙ כִּי־בָ֣א הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁ וַיִּקַּח֙ מֵֽאַבְנֵ֣י הַמָּק֔וֹם וַיָּ֖שֶׂם מְרַֽאֲשֹׁתָ֑יו וַיִּשְׁכַּ֖ב בַּמָּק֥וֹם הַהֽוּא:

And he arrived at the place and lodged there because the sun had set, and he took some of the stones of the place and placed [them] at his head, and he lay down in that place.

(Parshas Vayeitzei, pasuk יא.)

Yaakov, having run away from עשו and his son, was approaching בית אל (which, at the time of his arrival was known as Looz) when night-time fell. An interesting מפרש teaches us that although the פסוק says he took one of the stones, he actually didn’t separate the 12 stones from each-other. These stones represented the שבטים, and they all wanted to be slept on by our father. Rather than try and fight for the spot, however, there was achdut amongst them. They all merged into one big rock, which fit them all under יעקב’s head.

The one thing ‘ה hates to see is Quarreling amongst one another. The act of togetherness separated the generation of the tower and the generation of the flood. Hatred for another brings out an uncontrollable anger, which is so bad that some consider anger to be a form of avodah zarah. So this Shabbat, if you feel hatred towards your family, set it aside and talk it through. Act like the שבטים, a large power as opposed to the rocks, small powers divided.