Jacob and the stones

 

Jacob and the stones

When Jacob fled from his brother Esau, just before leaving his homeland, frightened, he slept at night on some stones he had collected from the stones around him, and dreamed the dream of the ladder. The dream in which he was promised that God will be with him and take care of him.   When Jacob awakens from his dream, he erects a tombstone, pours oil on it, and swears an oath: this bond is reciprocal if God takes care of me on my journey, I will return here, to this stone and it will be the house of God and from everything I have - I will tithe to God.

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The place is called "Beit El" - "It is not but the house of God and it is the gate of heaven"

The story of Jacob with the difficult exile, and eventually his return to Israel, is also the story of his entire family later on, and of the extended family - the people of Israel, many years later. A story of faith, of hope to return to his birthplace, to the place where he received the promise of the connection to the land. I was privileged to grow up as a child in the settlement of Beit E, to walk around the mountains, and learn the stories of the ancestors, imagining and searching for the stone on which Jacob lay and dreamed his dream.

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My mother Dr. Raya Brama conveyed this connection, this feeling that the stones are speaking to us, telling our national story and history, to watercolor artwork.

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Stones that are not just stones, but milestones in the life of a family, in the life of a nation.

You are welcome to the ROOTS IL art store to choose a painting of one of these significant stones as a gift for yourself or your loved ones.

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