In this week’s Torah portion we read of our forefather Jacob’s journey away from the holy land of Israel and the spiritual comfort of his parent’s home. Jacob travels some 400 miles until he arrives in Charan (a city in Mesopotamia) where he is to live with his uncle Laban, the notorious liar, swindler, and con artist.
During a night’s rest ‘on the road’ Jacob has a vision. The Torah tells us: "[Jacob] dreamed, and behold a ladder was set on the ground and its top reached to the heavens and behold, angels of G‑d were ascending and descending upon it”.
The Torah is not merely a textbook of Jewish history. Each word and sentence in the Torah contains timeless messages that we are to apply and incorporate into our daily lives. What then, is the message for us in Jacob’s ladder? What lesson can we learn from his dream?
Indeed, the ladder of Jacob is symbolic of life itself. We use a ladder for one of two purposes: To climb upwards or move downwards. In life there is no standing still. Either we act in an elevated manner, overcome life’s challenges, thereby growing and flourishing or we allow our hardships and tests to get the better of us, dragging us downwards – G‑d forbid.
Thus, as Jacob prepares to face life’s challenges, as he is about to take on the awesome responsibility of raising and supporting a holy family outside of Israel within a sea of corruption, G‑d shows him the ladder.
When a person climbs a ladder, he feels progress with each step. In fact, it is the satisfaction of yesterday’s climb that motivates him to continue soaring higher today. Similarly, it is our daily victories and successes that motivate us to keep climbing, until we’ll reach the “heavens” – our ultimate goal, with the coming of Moshiach!
Let’s move up just one more rung on the ladder and do a Mitzvah today!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Raleigh Resnick