The Foundation Stone Driven to the Deep and the City of Luz

"And he took the stone that he had placed under his head" (Genesis 28:18). What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? With the heel of His right foot He drove the stone down to the depths of the abyss and made it a support for the earth, like a person who makes a keystone for an arch. Therefore it is called the Foundation Stone, for there is the navel of the earth, and from there all the earth was stretched out, and upon it the Sanctuary stands, as it is said, "and this stone" (Genesis 28:22) and so on. And the heavenly beings answered and said, "Blessed are You, O LORD, the holy God." "And he poured oil on its top" (Genesis 28:18). It flowed to him from heaven as much as the full mouth of the flask. "And the name of the city was formerly Luz" (Genesis 28:19). Why was it called Luz? Because everyone who entered it sprouted commandments and good deeds like the almond [luz]. The Rabbis say: just as this almond has no opening, so no person was able to find the entrance to the city of Luz. A person would stand at the entrance of a cave, and the almond tree was hollow, and through the almond they would enter the city. This is what is written, "and he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but the man and all his family they let go" (Judges 1:25). Rabbi Yannai bar Yishmael made it the haftarah: if this one, who went neither with his hands nor with his feet but only pointed with his finger, was saved from the calamity, then Israel, who perform acts of lovingkindness with their great and their small, with their hands and their feet — how much more so!