Take Psalm 81:2, for example: "Raise a song, strike the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp." But then it continues, "Sound the shofar at the New Moon, at the full moon for our festival day." And then comes the kicker: "For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob." (Psalm 81:2-4).

Why specifically the God of Jacob? Why not Abraham or Isaac? Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, digs into this very question. It offers a fascinating explanation rooted in the idea that we are measured by the same measure we use.

The midrash starts with a verse from Isaiah (27:8): “In that measure (b’saseah), when they sent them out, it strove with it…” Then the Midrash gets even more granular, moving from the seah (a dry measure) to smaller and smaller amounts. How do we know to account for all these measurements? Because, as Ecclesiastes (7:27) tells us, we must account for “…adding one to another to find out the account.”

But what does all this measuring have to do with Jacob? Well, the Midrash illustrates with a powerful parable about a king and three lovers. The king wants to build a palace and asks each lover for their vision. The first says, "I remember it was a mountain." The second recalls, "I remember it was a field." But the third lover says, "I remember it was a palace." The king declares, "By your life! I will build that palace and call it by your name." Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – they were all deeply connected to the Holy One. According to this midrash, Abraham saw the future Holy Temple as a "mountain," referencing Genesis 22:14, "On the mountain, the Lord will be seen." Isaac envisioned it as a "field," drawing on the blessing in Genesis 27:27, “…the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field…”

But it was Jacob who, even before the Temple existed, called it a "house." Remember Jacob's dream at Bethel? "This is none other than the house of God…" (Genesis 28:17). That powerful moment when Jacob recognized the sacredness of that place.

And so, the Holy One says, "By your life! You called it a house before it was built, and I will call it by your name." This explains why Isaiah (2:3) says, "Come, let us go up to the Lord's mount, to the house of the God of Jacob…" And why Jeremiah (30:18) proclaims, "Behold I am returning the captivity of the tents of Jacob…"

This is why Asaph, the psalmist, specifically invokes the "God of Jacob" in Psalm 81:2 – connecting the joyous sound of the shofar with Jacob's complete vision of the Temple, even before its physical manifestation.

So, what does this all mean for us? Perhaps it’s a reminder to see the potential for holiness in everything, even before it fully manifests. To see the "house" even when it's just a dream, a vision, a potential waiting to be realized. And maybe, just maybe, if we do that, we too can have a hand in building something truly sacred.