Rock on the Well

Jacob resumed his journey and came to the land of the Easterners. There before his eyes was a well in the open. Three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, for the flocks were watered from that well. The stone on the mouth of the well was large. When all the flocks were gathered there, the stone would be rolled from the mouth of the well and the sheep watered; then the stone would be put back in its place on the mouth of the well. Jacob said to them, “My friends, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.” He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “Yes, we do.” He continued, “Is he well?” They answered, “Yes, he is; and there is his daughter Rachel, coming with the flock.” He said, “It is still broad daylight, too early to round up the animals; water the flock and take them to pasture.” But they said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are rounded up; then the stone is rolled off the mouth of the well and we water the sheep.” While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s flock; for she was a shepherdess. And when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, and the flock of his uncle Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well, and watered the flock of his uncle Laban.

וישא יעקב רגליו THEN JACOB LIFTED UP HIS FEET —As soon as he received the good tidings that he was assured of God’s protection his heart lifted up his feet and he walked swiftly. Thus is it explained in (Genesis Rabbah 70:8).

וישא יעקב רגליו, when a person proceeds on a journey voluntarily, at his own initiative, this is described in terms of his personality carrying, lifting his feet. When the initiative is not his, even when he does not march involuntarily, under orders against his will, his feet are described as carrying him, i.e. his personality, the rest of his body. At this point of Yaakov’s journey, he belonged to the category of traveler mentioned first. We find the other category mentioned in Isaiah 23,7 יובילוה רגליה, “would her feet carry her?”

An additional meaning of the Torah's description of Jacob "raising his feet" is that he did not actually have to walk the entire distance to Charan but that the land came toward him. This is the reason the Torah did not say אל ארץ בני קדם, "to the land of the easterners, but ארצה בני קדם."

ונאספו [AND THITHER WERE ALL THE DROVES] GATHERED — they regularly gathered there because the stone was a heavy one

וגללו AND THEY ROLLED THE STONE — it means and they used to roll. In the Targum it is therefore translated by ומגנדרין (a participle). The idea of frequentative action is expressed indifferently by the imperfect (future) or the perfect (past) because every action that occurs continually, has already happened and will again happen,

. ונאספו שמה כל העדרים, “all the flocks would be assembled there (next to that well);” this is an allusion to all the tribes of Israel from the extreme north to the extreme south who would assemble at the Holy Temple. The word וגללו in the sequence וגללו משם את האבן may be understood as similar in meaning to Berachot 7 ויגולו רחמיך על מדותיך, “they will roll over Your attribute of mercy to ‘exile’ Your other attribute.” The Talmud there discusses the effectiveness of prayer. The words והשקו את הצאן, “they watered the flock,” describe how the Holy Spirit was drawn down in order to provide the Israelites with blessing emanating from the Inner Sanctuary (in the Celestial Temple). The words והשיבו את האבן על פי הבאר למקומה, “and they would replace the stone to its place,” mean that seeing that they had previously elevated the stone (figure of speech) to lofty spiritual regions, once they had absorbed the proper spiritual input from that region they descended from such a spiritual “high.” We find a parallel comment in Sefer Yetzirah 1,4 העמד דבר על בוריו והשב יוצר על מכונו, “leave a matter in its proper state and restore the Creator to His realm.” A Midrashic approach: Rabbi Yochanan interpreted the words וירא והנה באר בשדה as an allusion to the revelation of the Torah at Mount Sinai. The words באר בשדה are a reference to Mount Sinai. The words שלשה עדרי צאן refer to the Priests, the Levites, and the Israelites. The words כי מן הבאר ההוא ישקו עדרים, “for from that well the flocks would be watered,” refer to the Ten Commandments whereas the words והאבן גדולה are a reference to G’d. The words ונאספו שמה, “they were gathered there,” refer to the Jewish people whereas the words וגללו את האבן refer to the Torah being received and accepted. Finally, the words והשיבו את האבן על פי הבאר למקומה, “they put the stone back on the mouth of the well, its original place,” are a simile for Moses saying to the people at the end of the revelation (Exodus 20,22) אתם ראיתם כי מן השמים דברתי עמכם. “You have seen that I have spoken to you from the heaven.”

?השלום לו, Yaakov wanted to find out something about Lavan’s circumstances and state of mind before he would come face to face with him. He did so as it is not appropriate for a guest to make such enquiries about his host after he has already been welcomed in his home.

[There are] seven things [characteristic] in a clod, and seven in a wise man:A wise man does not speak before one who is greater than he in wisdom, And does not break into his fellow’s speech; And is not hasty to answer; He asks what is relevant, and he answers to the point; And he speaks of the first [point] first, and of the last [point] last; And concerning that which he has not heard, he says: I have not heard; And he acknowledges the truth. And the reverse of these [are characteristic] in a clod.

ורחל באה עם הצאן אשר לאביה כי רועה היא, “and Rachel arrived with the flocks that belonged to her father;” the reason that her older sister did not tend the flocks was that due to her sensitive eyes the air on the field was harmful for her condition. Besides, it was one way of honouring her status as being the older one that she did not have to leave the house to go to work. (according to Pessikta zutrata she was already of marriageable age.)

ויגש יעקב ויגל JACOB STEPPED NEAR AND ROLLED [THE STONE]- as easily as one draws the stopper from the mouth of a bottle — thus showing you how strong he was. (Bereishit Rabbah 70:12)

... And it appears to me that they derived this from that which it is written, vayigal, which is an expression of revealing (gilui), and not vayigalgel, which is an expression of rolling (gilgul).

Jacob's steps were not straitened, and his strength did not fail, and like a strong hero he rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well, and the well came up, and spread forth water outside itself, and the shepherds saw and they all wondered, for all of them were unable to roll away the stone from the mouth of the well; but Jacob alone rolled the stone from off the mouth of the well, as it is said, "And Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth" (Gen. 29:10).

He [Jacob] was single-hearted,¹⁹He was single-hearted and undivided in his love and trust in God. and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well of water.²⁰See Genesis 29:10.

Genesis 29,10. “it was when Yaakov saw Rachel, ‎etc.;” [the following has to be understood against ‎the background of Yaakov, until that moment, not having felt ‎capable of removing the stone from the top of the well. ‎Ed.]‎
This verse is an allusion to the joy experienced by bride and ‎groom, which is also compared to the joy of the Jewish people ‎making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem on the festivals, as we know ‎from Ezekiel 11,19 where the prophet describes the reaction of ‎the returning exiles being the feeling that a heavy stone has been ‎lifted from their hearts. The “stone” there describes the weight of ‎the left side of the emanations, the seat of the forces of Satan, the ‎crushing weight of which prevented the Jewish people from ‎experiencing prophetic insights while in exile. Our author cites ‎psalms 90,12 ‎ונביא לבב חכמה‎, “so that we may obtain a wise ‎heart,” as a heart capable of receiving prophetic insights. ‎Yaakov’s being able to remove the rock from the well once he set ‎eyes on Rachel, means that obstacles to serving the Lord were ‎removed by his vision of Rachel.‎

ויהי כאשר ראה יעקב את רחל, It was when Jacob saw Rachel, etc. The reason that the Torah repeats three times that Laban was the brother of Jacob's mother is to emphasise that everything Jacob did was only because Laban was his mother's brother and he tried to honour his mother by carrying out her instructions. Another reason for the Torah to repeat this information was so that bystanders who observed Jacob- a recently arrived total stranger- doing Rachel such a great favour (removal of the stone on the well) would know that he was motivated only by family considerations. This is why Jacob spelled out his reasons and as soon as he laid eyes on Rachel he mentioned that she was the daughter of Laban who was his mother's brother. This is also why he displayed concern about the flocks of his uncle. When he kissed Rachel he did not repeat this statement since he had already made plain that Rachel was his cousin. Besides, the very fact that he started crying was explanation enough that he had come face to face with a relative.

. ויהי כאשר ראה יעקב, “it happened that as soon as Yaakov looked, etc.” We find that in this verse the Torah repeats the expression אחי אמו, “brother of his (Yaakov) mother” repeatedly. This is partly in order to explain why Yaakov was so concerned with helping to water the flocks as he had pity on Rachel, Lavan’s daughter. Whatever Yaakov did, whatever feat of strength he performed, he did not perform for the sake of Lavan but for the sake of his mother Rivkah. This is why every time the Torah had to mention the name of wicked Lavan, it contrasts him with his sister, Yaakov’s mother. Yaakov remembered his mother who had advised him to go to Lavan. There is yet another reason for the repeated mention of the words אחי אמו, brother of his mother.” Whenever a person hears or sees an object he desires, he is suddenly capable of performing tasks which he cannot perform in order to secure something which his heart does not covet. The reader of this passage could be forgiven if he had thought that seeing Yaakov was taken with Rachel’s beauty he desired her physically and this is what gave him the strength to move the rock single-handedly. The Torah refers time and again to the fact that Lavan was the brother of Yaakov’s mother in order to make us aware that physical passion had nothing to do with Yaakov’s sudden burst of strength in moving the rock. The Torah was so concerned not to create the impression that Yaakov’s sudden burst of strength was inspired by passion that instead of writing: “as soon as Yaakov set eyes on Rachel he rolled the rock, etc.,” Ithe Torah wrote instead (in a somewhat clumsy style) ”it was when Yaakov saw Rachel the daughter of Lavan, the brother of his mother, and the flock of Lavan the brother of his mother, Yaakov approached and rolled the rock etc.”