Shabbos Parashas Vayeitzei - 5779

Shabbos Parashas Vayeitzei - 5779

Rabbi Hal Miller

And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set earthward and its top reached heavenward, and

behold, angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

And behold, God was standing over it, and He said, "I am Hashem, God of Avraham your

father and God of Yitzchak. The ground upon which you are lying, to you will I give it and to

your descendants. [Bereishis 28:12-13]

When I was a kid, my father built a "Jacob's Ladder". In those days, people used a wire coat

hanger, a Model T Ford ignition coil, and a 6-volt battery. The spark would cross between two

parallel wires, and ride up to the top, then crack loudly, with more 'rungs' following. Yaakov,

though, did not have a Model T coil handy, so what was it that Yaakov's dream was meant to

teach us? Here are a few possibilities, as discussed by the commentators.

First, they ask, when and where did this vision take place? Rav Moshe Feinstein bring Rashi, that

"this dream took place after Yaakov already arrived in Charan. Upon reaching Charan, Yaakov

realized he had passed by the place where his ancestors had prayed, Har HaMoriah, and regretted

not stopping there to pray. He resolved to immediately return to Har HaMoriyah. As soon as he set

out, the land of Har HaMoriyah miraculously came to him." Rav Moshe says that the lesson is that

the holiness of Har HaMoriyah can survive even in Charan, or in other words, God is everywhere,

and there is no place that Torah cannot thrive.

Second, why a ladder? Radak notes that the gematria of sulam (ladder) and Sinai are the same,

thus this is a preview of the giving of the Torah at Sinai to occur in Moshe's day. Talelei Oros brings

the Chofetz Chaim, who "sees the ladder as a metaphor for life. A person is always on the ladder of

life. Either he goes up or he goes down. He never stands in the same place." The Baal HaTurim sees

it as a different kind of metaphor. "A person who is beaten down to the ground must never despair of

rising up again, just as the ladder stood on the ground but its top reached into the heavens."

Third, what is the significance of God being at the top? Rashi thinks this is straightforward, "to guard

him". Ramban expands on this and says that it shows Yaakov that God, not the angels, would be

Yaakov's protector: "Behold, I am with you, I will guard you wherever you go" [28:15]. Radak wonders

about the word 'alav', 'over it'. "It could refer to God on top of the ladder, but it could also refer to Yaakov, meaning God was providing Yaakov with new insights originating from the wisdom available in the celestial regions, i.e., the top of the ladder. If so, the ascent describes man's learning process, something concentrated in the head, the mind. Once he has absorbed the new knowledge he has to use it, transmit it to the lower parts of his body, which carries out the lessons learned."

Fourth, what does the travel of angels up and down signify? Rashi asks a subquestion: "First they ascend and afterwards descend?" Certainly it would seem natural that angels coming from heaven would descend first to earth for their mission, then ascend back. He explains that there are angels for inside the land of Israel and angels for outside, and neither can cross the border, thus the ones coming to help him at any given time depended on where he was going. Talelei Oros says that the ascending and descending did not relate to physicality, rather to closeness to God, thus when God was visiting Yaakov, angels would go down the ladder to 'ascend' toward God, and when He was in heaven, they would go up the ladder toward Him.

Midrash Tanchuma describes this as the ascendancy and decline of the other nations throughout history, thus the ladder is in fact a metaphor for human history.

Malbim notes that when a person does a mitzvah, he creates a spark of spiritual energy, or an angel. This angel then ascends to heaven to advocate for the person. In response, God sends down other angels to protect and reward the person, Divine energy flowing from above to below as blessings.