Vayetze
Genesis 28:10-33:3
Précis: As Jacob travels towards the household of his uncle Laban, he dreams of a ladder (some translate it as a ramp) to heaven, with angels ascending and descending. He vows to build a great House for God on the spot. Jacob meets and falls in love with Laban’s younger daughter, Rachel. Laban agrees to the match, provided that Jacob works for him for seven years. Laban switches the older daughter, Leah, for Rachel; Jacob works an additional seven years for Rachel’s hand. After the 14 years, Jacob works for Laban for another six, and acquires great wealth and flocks through shrewd husbandry. During the stay with Laban, most of the children of Jacob are born. At the conclusion of the parasha, after tense negotiations with Laban, Jacob leaves with his possessions and family.
Genesis 28:12 “And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was with its bottom on the earth, and the top reached towards heaven; and angels of Adonai were ascending and descending on it.”
The ladder of Jacob’s dream is a metaphor for a deeply important message: God is connected to the world. The ladder is a connection between heaven and earth, and the angels going up and coming down act as God’s messengers between the two realms. Jacob’s dream gives a glimpse of what we desperately hope to be true: that God cares about what transpires in our mundane world.
As my teacher Rabbi Lyle Fishman has often suggested, one’s life as a Jew should be looked upon as a ladder as well. Ladders call for climbing. One rung, and then another. One step and then another to follow. This can be true in our ritual lives, when we decide to adopt a ritual from our tradition which we have not previously observed. It is just as true in our “ethical” lives, as we strive to be better leaders, children, parents, spouses, and community members.
A ladder’s structure serves to hold it together while providing us with a way up. The ladder of Jacob’s dream is not only for angels, but for us. All we have to do is climb.
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