Parshat Vayetzei – November 24, 2023 / 12 Kislev, 5784

This week we read parsha Vayeitzei (Jacob DEPARTED). I look to the beginning of this portion, because I think we see a moment in Jacob’s life that perhaps we can all learn something from. Jacob, who is alone, on the run from his brother Esau, whom he has just wronged. He is also leaving after he has seemingly tricked his father, Isaac, with the help of his mother, Rebecca. He has been given a blessing that was meant for his older brother. Jacob is alone in the wilderness, and he encounters what our Torah calls “The place,” or specifically here, “Ba’makom.” Jacob lays his head down and has one of the most famous dreams in the Torah. Angels of God “Malachei Elohim” are ascending and descending a ladder that reached all the way up toward heaven. 

There are many interpretations of Jacob’s dream. One of my favorites is using Gematria, a Kabbalisitic form of numerology. A midrash tells us that the words “Sulam,” meaning ladder, and the word “Sinai,” as in Mt. Sinai, where the Torah was revealed to the Israelites, both have the numerical value of 130. This midrash tells us that the Angels in this instance are actually representations of Moses and Aaron. God, who was atop Sinai during the revealing of Torah, was also atop the ladder. The take away from this story is that our Torah, our sacred text, is a bridge between heaven and earth that all of us have access to. 

I love this small section of Torah, due in large part to Jacob’s joyful reaction. In a moment of transition, a moment in the dark, in a moment that could be scary, or even disheartening; he sees Angels, He comes into contact with God, and he proclaims that he sees the gates of Heaven! “V’zeh shaar Hashamayim!

As a people, there is no getting around the fact that we are in a difficult situation, in our country and around the world. Antisemitism is rife and alive, and perhaps we feel like we are fleeing from one moment to the next, if not from one place to the next. Every place that we turn can feel unsure, unsteady, perhaps even dark. This moment with Jacob reminds us that God is there. God is perhaps not only in or at the place…but God can be the place.

In Judaism we have the idea of “Devekut,” which can roughly be translated as “cleaving to God.” This can mean so many different things for different people at different times. We can attach ourselves to God in so many ways that transcend what can feel like the day-to-day of our lives. The kabbalists believed that “devekut” was the method by which one climbed a spiritual ladder to reach God, or our highest spiritual selves. Other Jewish philosophers viewed the concept of Devekut as a return of sorts, to a re-connection with pure Divinity and God’s wisdom.

Jacob gives us this moment of what might be called Devekut, of pure clinging and attachment with God. We know, even in this portion that Jacob goes on from this moment of clarity and holiness to his uncle’s house, struggles, has wives, children, perhaps gains a gray hair or two. Jacob continues onto a life that is full of much toil. He does eventually return to his spot in the wilderness, appropriately called BeitEl (House of God). No matter what troubles and struggles we go through, we can always return to our relationship with God. We can always look for the ladder in the letdowns and the lamenting. That gateway to heavenly moments is within reach. You are never too far gone. No struggle is too great, no moment of transition too enormous. God is with us, and God longs for us. 

Where is the ladder that reaches upward, and where is the gate of heaven. As all toil bamidbar (in the wilderness), perhaps we can find that God’s presence is in the seemingly mundane.God is in the dark desert with Jacob, the burning bush seen by a shepherd Moses, a cloud by day, a fire by night, a rainbow after a stormy flood. We say blessings throughout our Jewish day, not because they are compulsory, but because God is present to be blessed in all moments. 

May we all be blessed to feel elevated even for a moment. To climb the ladder of our spiritual selves, even just one rung at a time. 

Shabbat Shalom.

– Rabbi Josh Gray