פרשת לך-לך
ויעתק משם ההרה מקדם לבית אל ויט אהלה בית אל מים והעי מקדם…ויקרא בשם ה' | בראשית י"ב, ח
“And Avram moved to the mountain, east of Beth El, and he pitched his tent; Beth El to the west and Aiy to the east.. and he called in the name of Hashem.”
The meforshim are puzzled by the Torah’s description of the location of Avraham’s tent. He pitched it on an unknown mountain with Bais El to its east. The Machshvas Halev asks, why must the Torah go on to tell us that Bais El was to the west of the mountain? Any child would understand that if the mountain is on the eastern side, the city is on the western side!
In order to answer this question, let me tell you about a large city in Lithuania named Lida. It had parks, hotels and a huge population. However, whenever a Jew would ask questions to go to Lida, he was invariably told, “Lida is right next to Radin.” Now as we know, Radin was a tiny village. Its claim to fame was that it was the home of the Gadol Hador, the holy Chofetz Chaim ZT”L. Although in the eyes of the world it was small, in the
world of Yiddishkeit, Radin was a global capital, while Lida, the big city, was nothing more than a hick town that happened to be located near Radin!
Thus, when Avraham Avinu relocated to this unknown obscure mountain, which was to the east of the city of Bais El, it took on a new status, a new importance, due to the fact that the Tzaddik Avraham made his home there.
The Torah is giving us a vivid description so as to tell us that if one would ask directions to the large city of Beth El, they would invariably be told that this city is west of the mountain where Avraham Avinu lived!
A valuable lesson to impart to our students: Our famous people and places are our Torah
personalities and Torah landmarks.
About the Author: Rabbi Yisroel Meir Rubinfeld
Rabbi Rubinfeld has been in the field of Torah education for over 3 decades and serves as an Executive School Consultant for Torah Umesorah. He provides an array of services to schools across North America, including teacher and principal mentorship, school and curricula evaluations, professional development and parent education.
Rabbi Rubinfeld's expertise includes classroom management and discipline, effective instruction, bullying, cultivating sensitivity in the classroom, impulse disorders (such as ADHD and ODD), and balancing the educational needs of mainstream and special needs children in the classroom.
Rabbi Rubinfeld is the also the founder and director of Torah Umesorah's Lilmod U'Lilamed department which provides professional development for teachers and principals throughout the year.
Rabbi Rubinfeld is a talmid of the distinguished Yeshivos of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, the Mirrer Yeshiva in Yerushalayim and Bais Medrash Govoha in Lakewood.
