Todays GUEST POSTING is a
commentary on Parashah Vayetze (Jacob's
Ladder) and refers also to next week's Parasha Vayishlach(Wrestling with
the Angel).
It is written for us by Rabbi Daniel Marcou.
Rabbi Marcou is the rabbi and shochet of the Jewish Community in Quebec City. He is also a highly active member of Tariqa Eliyahu HaNavi who has been with us ever since the Order was founded.
Rabbi Marcou writes:
In this week’s parasha, we see Ya’acob Abinu a”h fleeing from his brother and going to Haran to “restart” his life there and to find a wife. Of our three patriarchs, Ya’acob is the one whose life the Torah describes in the greatest detail, and we can be struck by the many difficulties he faced throughout his life. At the same time, we are also struck by the patience and emunah (faithfulness) displayed by our patriarch.
At the beginning of the parasha, we are told of a dream that Ya’acob Abinu a”h had, in which he sees a ladder reaching toward heaven with malakhim ascending and descending upon it. Our classical commentators have long debated the meaning and symbolism of this ladder.
Rabbenu Bahya ibn Paquda notably proposes that it represents various levels of the universe—the lowest being the world we inhabit, and the highest being the abode of spiritual beings. In his famous work al-Hidaya ila Fara’id al-Qulub (Duties of the Heart), written in the style of Sufi manuals and following the example of Pinehas ben Ya’ir (Mishna Sotah, pereq ‘Egla arufah), he lays out a path toward union with the One and knowledge of Him. The first rung of this ladder is bitahon, or trust in God.
Rabbenu Abraham ben haRambam, in his Kifaya al-‘Abadin,
presents a similar structure; however, in his book he places bitahon on
the sixth level, preceded first by Sincerity, Mercy, Generosity, Calmness, and
Humility.
Either way, we observe
our patriarch laboring for fourteen long years with no apparent profit. We can
take an example from his work ethic for our own community involvement. Working
for the greater good of the community is often hard work, and the results may
take a long time to become apparent. We must remember that sometimes the
greatest impact toward elevating the kelal does not come from
large sums of money or magnificent speeches, but simply from showing up and
being consistent. We strengthen our emunah—our faithfulness—by
trusting in God (bitahon), blessed be He.
In the end, our
patriarch Ya’acob struggled and prevailed, and because of that he became
Yisrael and merited to see all his children follow in his path. According to
Ribi Yehoshua, the ladder in Ya’acob’s dream represents our prayers ascending
to God and His sending us salvation. Let each of us lift our hearts with our
hands to the Almighty in heaven (Eikha/Lamentations 3:41) and strengthen our
resolve to show up and to work hard, confident that the fruit of our labor will
ultimately be felt.
For Rabbenu Abraham, the dream and the one
found in next week’s parasha regarding Ya’acob’s struggle with the malakh are
connected with khalwa and attaining a state of prophecy. We
then see the connection between the image of the ladder (maqamat) and
striving to approach the state of encounter with the Divine (wusla):
In his
Commentary on Bereshit 32:34, Rabbenu Abraham writes:
"Ya'acob isolated himself physically by leaving behind
his attendants and belongings. This enabled him to rise from that physical
solitude to interior solitude (khalwa batina). Through this he reached prophetic encounter in which it
appeared that a man was struggling with him"
To conclude, I would
like to quote Ribbi Tarfon’s teaching in Pirke Avot (2:15–16):
“The day is short, and the work is plentiful, and the laborers are indolent, and the reward is great, and the master of the house is insistent.He [Ribbi Tarfon] used to say: It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it. If you have studied much Torah, you shall be given much reward. Faithful is your Employer to pay you the reward of your labor; and know that the granting of reward to the righteous is in the age to come.”