Parashat Vayetze describes how Yaakov goes to sleep in Luz. He dreams of a ladder set on the ground whose top reached to the sky, and when he awakens, he gives the place a new name: Bet El. The pasuk relates: “He named that site Bet El; but previously the name of the city had been Luz” (Bereishit 28:19). The fact that the Torah repeats the original name hints to us that there was something special about that place even before Yaakov’s sojourn; perhaps there is even special significance to the original name.
The name Luz does not disappear. Yaakov will ultimately return to the place, and the Torah will record: “Thus Jacob came to Luz—that is, Bet El” (Bereishit 35:6), and Yaakov himself will recall his encounter with God as taking place in Luz (see Bereishit 48:3). Many years after Yaakov’s passing, the name Luz reappears in the book of Shoftim, where the story is told of how each of the tribes claimed their stake in the Land of Israel. In the midst of a complicated story of engaging with the enemy and conquering the land, we learn:
“The House of Joseph, for their part, advanced against Bet El, and the LORD was with them. While the House of Joseph were scouting at Bet El – the name of the town was formerly Luz – their patrols saw a man leaving the town” (Shoftim 1:22-24).
Luz is the place where Yosef’s descendants find a man who was willing to show them how to best enter the city, and, with his help, they succeed in capturing it.
Regarding the original city of Luz, the Midrash Rabbah on Parashat Vayetze relates:
“But previously the name of the city had been Luz.”
This is the Luz that was used to color the tekhelet.
This is Luz upon which Sennacherib rose up but could not attain, which was attacked by Nebuchadnezzar yet could not be destroyed.
This is Luz, where the Angel of Death had no power.
What would be done with the aged ones there?
When they became very, very old, they would be taken out of the city gates where they would die.
According to the midrash, Luz is a city where the forces of nature did not operate. Sennacherib could not defeat it, nor could Nebuchadnezzar. Even the Angel of Death could not enter the place. The secret of eternal life was contained in the city.
The midrash continues and offers an additional description of the city, which comes straight from the world of fantasy:
R. Elazar quoted R. Pinhas bar Hama as saying:
A luz tree stood at the entrance to a cave,
And the luz was hollow,
To enter, one climbed into the tree, from the tree to the cave and from the cave to the city itself.
Luz was a magical city that could be entered only by means of the hollow tree, and death had no entrance to it. Perhaps it was invisible to everyone since it was buried in the ground. This view of the city, an image that appears like a first draft of Alice in Wonderland, offers the perspective that it is the source of human life and the fountain of youth. The tree may represent the Tree of Life from the Garden of Eden. The life-force emanating from the city and affecting its inhabitants symbolize the fact that this place is the origin of time, this is where the souls are found.
Another midrash describes the unique characteristics of a bone found in the human body that was called the luz-bone. The description of the luz-bone is remarkably similar to the city of Luz. That bone cannot be ground up, nor does it disintegrate. It cannot be burned up, and it lives forever. That bone serves as the source from which the dead will be revived at the end of days. Here, too, the “luz” is a source of life, and every person’s life-force is contained in it.
In David Grossman’s book “Be My Knife,” the author, basing himself on this midrash, writes the following:
I once read that our Sages of blessed memory had the idea that we have one tiny bone in the body above the end of the spine – they call it the “Luz.” You can’t kill it, it doesn’t crumble after death and can’t be destroyed by fire. It is from this that we will be recreated at the Resurrection. I used to play a little game with myself – I would try to guess the Luz of the people I knew, divine the final thing that would be left of them, that indestructible thing from which they’ll be reborn. And, of course, I searched for my own Luz, as well…
At the entrance to Luz, we find the connection with the trunk of the Tree of Life. This is where a person finds a mirror that allows them to see the image of their own, unique, Luz. This is where they can discover the secret of their existence – the thing that makes them who they are. What is it that drives them? What concept do they embody? What is the essence of their being?
Yaakov awakens in Luz and chooses to give that place a new name – Bet El, the House of God. This appears to be a personal renaming, one that Yaakov gives to his own, personal Luz – and to the nation, Israel, that will soon grow from his offspring. The life-source of the Jewish nation is their place in the House of God, and their belief in Him. This is the spirit that revives Yaakov, and this is the essence from which Israel draws its power. From this, the nation bearing Yaakov’s name will be resurrected and redeemed in future times.