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> Genesis/Bereishis > Parshat Vayeitze
Background: Yitzhak and Rivka
send Jacob to Rivka's brother, Laban, to
marry one of his daughters. Actually, Rivka and Jacob fear that Esav
will kill him for his having stolen the birthright. Perhaps they both
feel guilty for their trickery. Jacob had to leave empty handed lest
Esav catch him packing. Jacob is lonely and scared. He leaves on his
journey up to the Northeast. On his way he stops to sleep in the open
air in North Central Israel.
Genesis, chapter 28, verse 13:
He dreamt, and behold a ladder set upon the earth, and behold the angels
of G-d ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above
it.
What was the meaning of his dream?
Spiritual
Midrash: It's like Sinai, connecting heaven and earth.
Talmud (Hullin 91b): Rabbi Shim'on ben Laqish (3rd cent. Palestine)
said: If the verse hadn't said it would be forbidden to say; It was as a
father fans his son to keep him cool.
Yeshuah ( a medieval Karaite, denier of the Talmud, quoted by Ibn Ezra,
12th cent. Spain); The ladder is for the ascent of prayers and the
descent of the salvation.
Rabbi Elimelekh (early Hasidic Rabbi): His prayer went up and came back
down with a showering of blessing. It humbled him at its feet.
Keli Yakar (Polish 16th cent. commentator): One who seeks G-d should
look upward. Samuel ibn Tibbon: It may not be attainable, especially if
one only seeks on earth.
Rabbi Moshe Alshekh (Sephardic 16th cent. Kabbalist): Jacob is the
ladder, spanning from heaven to earth.
Rabbi Naftali Zebi Yehudah Berlin (18th cent. Russian Talmudist): The
Divine presence can be found right here on earth.
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch ( 19th cent. German Rabbi): The angels
ascend to see what humanity should look like, and they descend to
compare.
Zohar (basic source of Kabbalah): The angels strike a balance between
mercy and wisdom (judgment, harshness), giving and taking.
Solomon ibn Gabriol (11th cent. Spanish poet, philosopher): The ladder
is the soul seeking great heights.
R. Levi Yitzkhak of Berditchov (hasidic Rabbi): Through people, the
heavens are elevated. The person thereby becomes a chariot for G-d's
presence.
(Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, 20th cent.:He will master all the spiritual
levels.)
Philosophical
Maimonides: 1) There are 7 symbols here; ladder, standing, reaching,
angels, ascending, descending, & G-d's supremacy.
2) Attainment of knowledge is through purely Divine thoughts. The
descent represents the application of those ideals.
3) G-d is above all knowledge.
4) The ladder stands ready for all to ascend.
5) Angels descend. Prophets ascend.
6) G-d is above earth, water, fire, and air (the 4 rungs of the ladder).
The latter ascend. The former descend.
Nahmanides (13th cent. Spanish commentator): The angels, and ultimately,
G-d controls one's destiny.
Gersonides (14th cent. Provencal philosopher, commentator): Heaven,
earth, and the planets all have their roots in G-d.
Rabbi Isaac 'Arama (a Spanish exile and exegete): Jacob previously
thought that G-d was purely of a lofty nature. He now learned that a)
G-d is concerned for the individual; b) G-d can, paradoxically
"dwell" on
earth; and c) G-d's movements are not purely self induced but can be in
response to a human.
Political
based on Midrash: Political success is fickle.
Rabbi Obadya Sephorno (15th cent. Italian commentator, based on the
Midrash, the 7-10th cent. anthology of Rabbinic interpretation): The
four nation, the Medes, Persians, Greeks and Romans may go up and down,
but G-d stands firmly over Jacob, protecting him forever.
Rabbi Yoseph Bekhor Shor ( French, 13th cent. Talmudist, exegete): He
learned that this was the gateway to heaven, the place of the dwelling
of ascending angels.
Rabbi Hayim Zereyhen (former religious leader in Tiberias): It's the
symbol of the Jew.
Don Isaac Abrabanel (exiled from Spain, served Ferdinand and Isabella):
He feared he had lost the blessings due to his trickery. G-d reassures
him that he will be showered upon with blessings from heaven.
Question: Whatever the message, how is it appropriate for this time of
Jacob's life?
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