Our Parsha begins after Yaakov was forced to
flee his hometown to escape from his brother Esav’s plot to kill him. On his
way to Charan to find a wife, Yaakov stops in The Place, which the Midrash
identifies as Har Hamoriah in Jerusalem. There Yaakov sleeps and has a dream:
“And he dreamt and behold a ladder was set in the earth and its top reached
heavenward; and behold messengers of G-d were ascending and descending it. And
behold G-d was standing over Yaakov and said: I am Hashem, G-d of Abraham your
father and G-d of Isaac. The ground upon which you are lying- I will give to
you and your descendants.”
Maimonides
wrote in his Guide for the Perplexed that there are two types of prophecies in
the Bible. In one type, the details are secondary to the main theme. In the
other type of prophecy every single detail is its own metaphor and contains a
separate lesson, and they must be studied and understood accordingly.
Maimonides considers Yaakov’s ladder dream to be in the second category. Every
detail of the dream will teach us a lesson that although was initially meant
for Yaakov in the context of his specific circumstances, can provide helpful
tips for us who are seeking to follow in our forefather’s footsteps.
The
image of a ladder is profound and conveys a powerful message for how to live a meaningful
and fulfilling life. Utilizing a ladder entails incremental movement. You move
up one rung at a time. This should be our approach when it comes to religious
growth and spiritual development. Growth is not a one-shot, all-or-nothing
endeavor. Real change does not occur overnight. It’s a slow and hopefully
steady process. There are no shortcuts to sustained growth; we need to ascend
one rung at a time. That is why it is a lifetime endeavor. Jewish living is a
lifelong endeavor. Our goal should not be perfection in any one area. Rather
our goal should be to improve in every area, to the degree that we are able.
Since we are human we must be prepared for disappointments and setbacks. However,
learning from the ladder we should realize that since our growth is
incremental, there is no reason why our failures should be considered
catastrophic. Setbacks can also be viewed as merely small steps backwards, from
which we can recover and even grow.
This
ladder was a Heavenly sign and G-d Himself was sitting at the top representing
the Ultimate Guide and Goal. Yet we notice something very strange in the
Torah’s portrayal of the dream: the earth is the focal point. The ladder was
“firmly planted in the ground”. Before we can hope to reach the Heavens through
our religious growth, we must be firmly entrenched in this world. We must be
well grounded and appreciate that the Torah does not come to take us out of
this world. On the contrary, we are called to be firmly rooted in this world,
and to experience this world to the fullest.
By being firmly planted in this world while aspiring towards Heaven, the
Torah teaches us that Judaism can persevere and thrive in the face of any
real-life tests and real world challenges.
The
Torah also describes that in the dream the angels are ascending and then
descending the ladder. Since this ladder seems to be a Heavenly phenomenon, we
would have expected the angels to be descending first from Heaven and only then
ascending. Maimonides writes that these angels refer to human messengers. Once
our ladders are firmly fastened to this world, we can begin to ascend. However
our job is not just to ascend without ever looking down. Crucial to our task of
Jewish living is to take what we have learned on our way up the ladder, and
then bring it back into the realities and challenges of this world. Only when
we connect Heaven and Earth through incremental growth can we say that we are
helping to bring Yaakov’s dream into reality.
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