“All those stones were from the stones of the Altar. This refers to the Altar upon which his father Yitzchok was bound as a sacrifice to Hashem.” (Pirkei D’R’ Eliezer 35)
This Midrash pinpoints the problem facing Jewish youth as they struggle for spiritual survival in today’s society. It is very hard for a child to battle alone against skepticism and apathy unless he knows that his father before him laid his head on the same stone, sacrificed and triumphed for the very same ideals.
Furthermore, Chazal in Midrash Rabba comment along the same lines, that when Yaakov rested his head on the stone, he recited the famous verse in Tehilim (121): “I lifted up my eyes to the mountains – ohrv – from where will come my help.” Chazal say “Do not read the word as meaning “ohrv” – mountains, but rather read it “ohruv” – parents. There is a wonderful dual meaning in that word. One does not look at a mountain, one looks “up” at a mountain. Happy and secure is the child who does not look at his parents, but instead looks up to them as role models and sources of inspiration and guidance. Whatever education a child receives in school, must be supported and enhanced in the home. The Torah objective of an educational institution can best succeed when the home and school compliment each other.
