Parshat Vayeitze: Jacob's Ladder

Our third patriarch, Ya'akov (Jacob), has always been my favorite.  No matter how one approaches the Torah he is a fascinating character.  His surface actions, the family drama, his wives as sisters, the mystery hidden behind it all.  He is the (grand)son of the "first Jew" and the father of the twelve tribes of Israel.  In all the detail we have about him, this week's parsha, Vayeitze, contains one of my favorite visuals:

And he (Jacob) dreamed, and behold, a ladder set upon the earth and the top of it reached to heaven.  And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.  And, behold, the Lord stood beside him and said, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac.  The land whereon though liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed.  And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread out to the west and the East, and to the north and the south.  And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.  And, behold, I am with thee, and I will keep thee wherever though shalt go, and will bring thee back into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

And Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not!  And he was afraid, and said: How full of awe is this place!  This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."  (Bereishit 28:12-17)

The innermost chamber of Jacob's soul seems to have been released; it pulsates through his being - body, mind, and soul - giving him the ability to see and feel a deeper reality than the physical one in which we live.  According to some sages this vision is one of ideal prayer, which has the ability to raise us to the heavens for a time before settling us back in our earthly reality.  "Prayer is the utmost.  Without God in sight, we are like the scattered rungs of a broken ladder.  To pray is to become a ladder on which thoughts mount to God to join the movement toward God which surges unnoticed throughout the entire universe" (Heschel, Man's Quest for God, 7).  It is this 'unnoticed' force that suddenly and unexpectedly hit Jacob.  The Lord is in this place, and I knew it not!  Jacob, our forefather, the man who emanates tiferet (spiritual beauty, the combination of loving-kindness and justice; see here) didn't realize God's presence.  Yes, of course he knew of God through his family, he understood his existence and lived his life in awe and fear of God.  It was finally here as a grown man, that Ya'akov actually felt the presence of God in the world.  How often do we, too, go through life knowing something, believing something, but without taking time to feel it?  Or how often do we focus too much on a lack of belief, the ridiculousness of belief, that any chance to feel is sacrificed?  Those overwhelming, precious moments are often quick, few and far between, but they can hit in the most unexpected circumstances as they did with Jacob.

[As an aside, it is interesting to note that Jacob may have been the first person to have an experience that millions upon millions have since experienced: that of being at the Kotel/Western Wall.  Of course the Wall wasn't there at the time, but that is where Jacob was - the site of the future Temple in Jerusalem.  The innate holiness of the place was not created by the Temple being built; it was much older.]

 And, our Sages ask, why is it that the angels are ascending and descending?  Don't they start in heaven, in which case they would be descending and ascending?  To Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, we are the angels in Jacob's vision.  "Prayer is a ladder and we are the angels."  We, like the angels, can reach the gate of heaven.  We can reach spiritual heights that take us there.  But we also start with our feet on the ground.  Our aspiration is to rise up, to stretch upward and experience moments where we feel as if we are in the heavens.  Perhaps in these moments we really are in the heavens, spiritually.

Yet the ladder is not just a route to heaven, but also a route to earth.  This is a circular ladder and those upon it are in continuous motion (Ibn Ezra).  Angels of God were ascending and descending on it.  Or, perhaps, the ladder is not a route to both, but rather represents the length at which a human can be stretched.  "Our feet touch the earth because we are undeniably human and should have no illusions that our spirituality will separate us from all beauty and suffering our humanity brings.  But, without negating for an instant the realities of our humanness, each of us is endowed with the gift of spirit, so that we can climb the ladder of the soul to reach its heavenly heights" (Alan Morris, Climbing Jacob's Ladder, 24-5).

And we must not forget: no matter where we are on the ladder -- high or low, ascending or descending -- God is beside us (Bereishit 28:13).  Where is God?  Wherever you let Him in (Kotzker Rebbe).  He is always waiting.