There is a very fascinating Daas Zekeinim m’Baalei haTosfos in this week’s parsha. Before Yaakov went to sleep, he “put the stones under his head.” And when he arose “he took the stone from under his head” and made it into a matzevah, upon which he poured oil to anoint it as a mizbayach. The Daas Zekeinim m’Baalei haTosfos ask a simple question: From where did Yaakov obtain the oil? He was in the middle of nowhere. It is not like he could go to the nearest gas station and get a quart of oil. So where did Yaakov obtain this oil?
They answer that Yaakov had a walking stick with him. He had hollowed out the walking stick and filled it with oil. Why? Yaakov had been studying in the Yeshiva of Shem and Ever for the previous fourteen years. He learned there the entire night. Chazal say on the words “He slept there in that place” (Bereshis 28:11), that it was only there that Yaakov slept at night, but for the previous fourteen years in the Yeshiva of Shem and Ever, he learned the entire night without going to sleep. They did not have electricity in the Yeshiva of Shem v’Ever, so how could Yaakov learn at night? Obviously, he must have learned by candle light, which requires oil. This, says the Daas Zekeinim, is where Yaakov obtained the oil. The ready supply that he kept in the hollow of his trusty walking stick was available whenever he needed it.
The Daas Zekeinim adds that this was the same supply of oil from which Moshe obtained the Shemen haMishcha (oil of anointing) to inaugurate the keilim of the Mishkan. And it was the same supply of oil that Elisha used, and it was this very Shemen that was in the jug of oil that the Chashmonoim found, which lasted for eight days during the story of the Chanukah miracle.
The sefer Darash Mordechai makes a beautiful observation: In Tefilas Geshem (the prayer for Rain recited on Shmini Atzeres), one of the stanzas is “Zachor ta’an maklo v’avar Yarden mayim“—Remember (Yaakov Avinu) who took his stick with him and crossed the Jordan’s water. At first glance, this seems like a very strange expression. What is so significant about Yaakov’s walking stick? Presumably, all desert travelers need a walking stick. Yaakov was not a youngster anymore so he had a walking stick. What is the big deal? Why do we mention Yaakov’s stick in Tefilas Geshem?
In light of the comments of the Daas Zekeinim, we can appreciate the special nature of this walking stick. This stick, with its hollowed-out chamber for storing olive oil, enabled Yaakov to learn Torah, day and night, for fourteen years in the Yeshiva of Shem v’Ever. So we very appropriately say, “Ribono shel Olam – remember the Torah of Yaakov Avinu that he learned with self-sacrifice and dedication.” That is the “ta’an maklo v’avar Yarden mayim.”
