Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely God was present in this place and I, I did not know it." (Genesis 28:16).
This is the moment of profound awareness that Jacob experienced after awakening from a vivid dream. He saw angels going up and down a ladder that reached towards heaven; God spoke to him, in a night vision, affirming the promise of progeny to him that God had promised to Abraham, Jacob's grandfather. That dream inspired Jacob to anoint that spot, consecrate it, and rename it-Beit El-the House of God.
The Hebrew word for place is Makom. This word is found several times in this episode. It links Jacob's journey to this specific place where he rested for the night and encountered God. The sages of the rabbinic era (beginning in the first and second centuries of the Common Era) considered the word Makom to be another name of God, adding to the panoply of names used to describe God.
The reality is that when Jacob rested for the night, there was nothing special about the place. It was indistinguishable from everything else. It was the end of the first day of a long and anxious journey from his home, fleeing from his angry brother Esau whom he had just tricked, It was as if Jacob had stopped to spend the night in Bakersfield on his way to San Francisco. However, because Jacob perceived God there, it was a place that deserved to be consecrated.
What makes that place a Makom where God dwelled, was Jacob's ability and awareness to recognize that God was there, with him, at his side throughout his journey.
There are many places that inspire divine awareness. Sometimes these places are designated sacred spots, like sanctuaries and cemeteries. Sometimes these places are made holy through the role they played in the history of our civic life, such as Gettysburg, the Lincoln Memorial, The Edmund Pettus Bridge. A place can become a Makom with God when we recognize the sanctity and significance of that place and the moment that activates the awareness of God in our lives.
I invite you to consider now, or during Shabbat: what places bring forth holiness and sacred encounters in your lives? Where have you had an experience where you understood that "God was in this place?" What types of spaces and places move you?
Feel free to comment on my Facebook page or the TBE Facebook page and share a time when you knew that, "God is in this place, and surely, I know it."
