Gen 35:13-14. And God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him. Now Jacob had erected a monument in the place where He had spoken with him, a stone monument, and he poured a libation upon it, and [then] he poured oil upon it.
Rashi comments on the phrase “in the place where He had spoken with him” saying “I do not know what this teaches us.”
This is one of several places where Rashi says “I do not know what this teaches us.” Nechama Leibowitz taught* that this shows Rashi’s literal fulfillment of one of the seven marks of the wise man outlined in Pirke Avot (5:8): “Regarding that which he has not understood, he says ... I do not understand it.”
Yet why does Rashi point out here, exactly here, that there is something he doesn’t understand? Something in the text has caught Rashi’s attention. He points to the repeated statement “in the place where he had spoken to him.” He draws our attention to this phrase. He arouses our curiosity. He makes us examine it more closely. What hidden treasure did Rashi glimpse here? By saying he doesn’t know, Rashi points us in the direction of valuing the question itself, of valuing the direct experience of Torah. Follow Rashi’s example. With a sense of awe and not knowing, contemplate this phrase. Visualize the place where Israel and God spoke. Imagine Jacob’s veneration of that place. Find the place where you return, again and again, to speak with the Source of Being. See whether “I do not know” can be a springboard for wonder and discovery.
May we hold our “not knowing” with awe, seeing how questions draw us ever closer to the Source.
*Nechama Liebowitz according to Rabbi Chuck Diamon. see: http://www.thejewishchronicle.net/view/full_story/4556715/article-It%E2%80%99s-a-sign-of-the-wise-to-say--%E2%80%98I-don%E2%80%99t-know%E2%80%99-Toledot--Genesis-25-19-28-9-?instance=news_special_coverage_right_column
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