This week’s parsha is parshas Vayeitzei. We are going to
focus on the fascinating journey of the stone that Yaakov Avinu placed beneath
his head when he slept at the site of the future Mikdash. Subsequently, he took
that stone and consecrated it as a monument to become the House of G-d. This
journey begins with the opening pesukim of the parsha (Bereishis 28, 10): 

  

וַיֵּצֵ֥א יַעֲקֹ֖ב מִבְּאֵ֣ר שָׁ֑בַע וַיֵּ֖לֶךְ חָרָֽנָה׃  

Jacob left Beer-sheba, and set out for Haran.  

וַיִּפְגַּ֨ע בַּמָּק֜וֹם וַיָּ֤לֶן שָׁם֙ כִּי־בָ֣א
הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁ וַיִּקַּח֙ מֵאַבְנֵ֣י הַמָּק֔וֹם וַיָּ֖שֶׂם מְרַֽאֲשֹׁתָ֑יו
וַיִּשְׁכַּ֖ב בַּמָּק֥וֹם הַהֽוּא׃  

He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the
night, for the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it
under his head and lay down in that place.  

 Rashi comments: AND PUT THEM FOR A
RESTING PLACE FOR HIS HEAD — He arranged them in the form of a drain-pipe
around his head for he was afraid of wild beasts (Genesis Rabbah 68:11). They
(the stones) began quarrelling with one another. One said, “Upon me let this
righteous man rest his head”, and another said “Upon me let him rest it”.
Whereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, straightway made them into one stone!
This explains what is written (Genesis 28:18), “And he took the stone that he
had put under his head” (Chullin 91b).  

CHIZKUNI: ויקח מאבני המקום, “he took some of the stones
lying around on that place” (to make some kind of headrest for himself).
According to tradition these stones had been part of the altar on which his
father Yitzchok had been bound on the occasion of the Akeydah. According to
Rashi, during the night these stones fused so that when he awoke there was only
one stone. We have a tradition also that the meaning of this phenomenon was
that Yaakov’s children as opposed to those of his father and grandfather, would
all remain true to their father’s religious outlook. Some commentators
(Rash’bam) claim that Yaakov had taken only a single stone and that this is the
reason why the Torah wrote immediately after these words: (after he awoke) “he
took the stone which he had placed as his headrest.”  

KLI YAKAR: and he took some of the stones of the place and
placed them at his head - After it was known to him that this place would be
the House of Gd which dims the sphere of the sun, therefor he took some of the
stones of the place and set them as a guard to his head in order to show how he
cherished their sanctity as it says “For Your servants desired its stones…”
(Tehillim 102:15) He took twelve stones parallel to the twelve tribes as it
says in the midrash (Bereshit Raba 68:11) that the stones argued, each one
saying ‘let the righteous one rest his head on me!’ until they became one
stone. This was a hint for the future as the writer of the Guide to the
Perplexed wrote, that this is why the Holy One hid this place which would be
the location of the Holy Temple and the King’s palace – in order that there not
be argument between the tribes, each desiring that holy place to be theirs.
Also for the sake of peace, as it says “But only to the place which the Lord
your God shall choose from all your tribes…” (Devarim 12:5) And it is written
“But only in the place the Lord will choose in one of your tribes…” (Devarim
12:14) How is this? When David purchased the threshing floor from Aravna the
Yevusi, he collected the money from all of the tribes, as Rashi explains there
(see Shmuel II 24:24). If this is so, then the argument between the stones
which ended in their becoming one stone was sign for the future, that so too
will be the argument between the crown jewels, the twelve tribes of Gd, that
each tribe will say let the righteous One of the world rest His head upon me,
referring to the Holy Temple as it says “As a Throne of Glory, exalted from the
beginning, so is the place of our Sanctuary.” (Yirmiyahu 17:12) In the end they
were made as one stone when David collected the gold from all of them. About
this stone it is said regarding the building of the Second Temple “Who are you,
O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you sink to a plain! He will bring out the
stone of the main architect, with shouts of grace, grace to it.” (Zechariah
4:7) When it says that He will bring out the stone of the main architect (even
rosha) it means the stone which was at the head (rosh) of Yaakov. Bring it out
to build the foundation for the Palace of Gd. Yaakov made a bed from it to lie
upon in order that it be a sign that this will be 'the bed which is to Shlomo'
(Song of Songs 3:7) – the king to whom peace belongs, as Rashi explained in
Shir HaShirim on the verse “Behold the bed of Shlomo…” 

TUR HA’AROCH: קח מאבני המקום, “he took from the stones of
that place, etc.” According to the plain meaning of the text, he took a single
one of these stones. The sages explaining the allegorical meaning of the text,
say that Yaakov took quite a number of such stones, but that these stones
miraculously all became fused into a single stone.  

Tzenah Urenah: “He took the stones of that place”
[28:11]. He took many stones to place around himself. Rashi asks a
question here. It is written here that he took many stones and later in the
Torah portion it is written, “he took the stone” [28:18]. He took a
stone. The explanation is that Jacob took many stones and lay them as a wall
around himself, that the wild animals should not harm him at night when
he would sleep. The stones argued with each other. Each stone said: let the
righteous one place his head on me. The Holy One made peace among the stones
and made one stone from all the stones 

Kitzur Shulchan Arukh 124:2 - You should express grief in
the manner of your sleeping. For example, if you are accustomed to sleep on two
pillows, you should sleep only on one. Some people have the custom to sleep on
the floor during the night of Tishah beAv, and to put a stone underneath
their head as a reminder of what was said, 'And he took some of the stones
of the place etc.,' (Genesis 28:11). Our Sages comment that Jacob foresaw
the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash and said, 'How
frightful' etc. (verse 17). It all depends on the person's attitude. 

  

Bereshit
Rabbah 68:11 

“He took
from the stones of the place” (Genesis 28:11) – Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Neḥemya, and
the Rabbis, Rabbi Yehuda said: He took twelve stones. So, the Holy One blessed
be He decreed that he would produce twelve tribes. He [Jacob] said: ‘Abraham
did not produce them, Isaac did not produce them, I, if these twelve stones
join with one another, I know that I will produce twelve tribes.’ When the
twelve stones joined together one to another, he knew that he would produce
twelve tribes.  

Rabbi Neḥemya said: He took three stones. He said: ‘Abraham, the
Holy One blessed be He designated His name upon him; Isaac, the Holy One
blessed be He designated His name upon him; I, if these three stones join with
one another, I know that He will designate His name upon me.’ When the three
stones joined with one another, he knew that the Holy One blessed be He would
designate His name upon him.  

The Rabbis said: The minimum number of “stones” is two. Abraham, waste emerged
from him – Ishmael and all the sons of Ketura. Isaac, Esau and all his
chieftains emerged [from him]. I, if these two stones join with one another, I
will know that waste will not emerge from me.  

Rabbi Levi and Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Yosei bar Zimra: He made
them in the shape of a roof gutter and placed it beneath his head because he
feared the beasts.  

Rabbi Berekhya and Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina: It
is written: “For, behold, the Lord emerges from His place, and will descend and
tread on the heights of the earth. [The mountains will melt under Him, and the
valleys will burst like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a slope]”
(Micah 1:3–4). All the more so for one in a place where the Holy One blessed be
He has revealed Himself.

Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Levi: Those stones that Jacob placed
under his head became like a bed and a feather pillow under him. What
blossoming did he blossom there? “The beams of our houses are cedars, [and our
rafters are junipers]” (Song of Songs 1:17) – the righteous men and women that
emerged from him.  

“And lay in that place” – Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya,
Rabbi Yehuda said: He lay here, but all fourteen years that he was hidden in
the house of Ever, he did not lie. Rabbi Neḥemya said:
He lay here, but all twenty years that he stayed in Laban’s house, he did not
lie. What would he recite? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: The fifteen songs of
ascent in the book of Psalms. What is his source? “A song of ascents, by David.
[If the Lord had not been with us,] Let Israel now say” (Psalms 124:1) – Israel
the elder. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: He would say the entire book
of Psalms. What is the source? “Yet You are holy, enthroned in the praises of
Israel” (Psalms 22:4) – Israel the elder.