Beit El בית אל
The site of Yaakov's dream of the ladder — «the gate of heaven» — later the shrine of the golden calves.
Beit El appears in the Torah twice, in opposite keys. First it is the place where Yaakov, fleeing Esav, sleeps on stones and sees a ladder set on the earth with its top in heaven and angels ascending and descending. Waking, he says «how awesome is this place — this is none other than the house of God and the gate of heaven», names it Beit El, makes a vow and sets up a pillar; more than twenty years later he returns to fulfil it.
Its second appearance comes with the kingdom's split. Fearing that pilgrims to Jerusalem would return to the house of David, Yarovam sets golden calves in Beit El and in Dan. From there the northern kingdom's long decline begins, and its kings are measured by a single verdict: they did not turn from the sins of Yarovam.