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Why does the Torah (תורה) say Yaakov left Beer Sheva when his family lived in Hebron? The shiur proposes that Beer Sheva was the location of the yeshiva of Shem and Ever, where Yaakov studied for fourteen years. This reading integrates Chazal's chronology directly into the pasuk and explains why the ladder in Yaakov's dream was positioned in Beer Sheva—the entry point where malachim ascend and descend.
Rabbi Zweig opens with a fundamental textual question: the pasuk states "Vayeitzei Yaakov miBeer Sheva vayeilech Charan" (Yaakov left Beer Sheva and went to Charan), yet we know Yitzchok's family lived in Hebron, not Beer Sheva. When Yaakov returns, Yitzchok is in Hebron; when Sarah died, she was in Hebron (Kiryat Arba). Why, then, does the Torah (תורה) locate Yaakov's departure in Beer Sheva? Furthermore, if one travels from Hebron to Charan (in modern-day Iraq), Beer Sheva—located southwest of Hebron—is geographically out of the way. This geographical detour demands explanation. Rashi (רש"י) on the pasuk identifies the bottom of the sulam (ladder) in Yaakov's dream as being positioned in Beer Sheva. This was not merely a symbolic dream but a vision of reality—Yaakov saw malachim ascending and descending, and the point of departure and arrival was Beer Sheva. This means Beer Sheva functioned as the "customs station" between heaven and earth, the point of entry for angels into Eretz Yisrael. The question then becomes: why Beer Sheva specifically? Why not Hebron, which houses the Me'aras HaMachpelah and is described by the Zohar as the gateway to Gan Eden?
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Bereishis 28:10 (Parshas Vayeitzei)
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