|
|
November 15, 2002/Kislev 10 5763, Vol. 55, No. 12
Searching for Jacob's ladder
Torah study
YONNI LIMMER WATTENMAKER
Vayeitzei/Genesis 28:10-32:3
Focal Point
Jacob left Beer-sheba and set out for Haran. He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. ... He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and angels of God were going up and down on it. And the Lord was standing beside him, and God said, "...The ground on which you are lying I will give to you and to your offspring. ... Remember, I am with you: I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is present in this place, and I did not know it!" (Genesis 28:10-16)
By the way
We need to remember that ladders lead not only from earth up to heaven but also from heaven down to earth. As we leap up to reach the bottom rung of the heavenly ladder, God lowers the ladder with an outstretched hand. And when we cannot grasp even the lowest rung, She-Who-Dwells-Within reaches down and meets us where we are. (Ellen Frankel, "The Five Books of Miriam: A Women's Commentary on the Torah," Harper Collins Publishers, 1998)
Your Guide
- When have you felt surprised by your experience of the Divine Presence?
- As Jews, is it our role to await the appearance of God's ladder, or do we have an obligation to seek it out?
- In what situations do you ask for God's help?
- Do you think that God is responsible for the bad things that happen in the world?
D'var Torah
How often have we found ourselves in the presence of God at the most unexpected of times, in the most unexpected of places?
When I was a child, I was an eternal optimist. I was as certain of God's existence as I was of the leaves on the trees and the waves in the ocean.
When I got older, I had to confront some painful facts that raised questions: How could the God of my childhood explain the Holocaust? Anti-Semitism? Sickness? Sept. 11? So often when I have most needed to experience God's presence, I have instead felt rejected and alone.
When the images of Jacob's dream are presented to us, we are told that the angels of God ascended the ladder before going down toward the earth. What is the purpose of the ladder? Is it the means by which Jacob's prayers reached the heavens so that God could hear his pleas? Did the angels ascend in order to return to Jacob and bestow upon him God's blessing?
Most of us will always be on a spiritual search to define God in a way that best suits us. But while we search, we must keep in mind that at the most unexpected times and in the most unexpected places, that still small voice can be heard and God surely dwells where we are.
Yonni Limmer Wattenmaker, RJE, is the director of education at Temple Shaaray Tefila, Bedford Corners, N.Y.
Torat Hayim, produced by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, is on the Internet at www.uahc.org/growth.
|
