Edited and adapted from Ari’s Grill & Torah on November 24, 2017.
It’s Friday afternoon here in Israel, and I’m back home. I turned things around a little so you could see outside. The flag’s out there flying in the garden. It’s really amazing to be back home here in Israel.
It’s always an amazing feeling getting off the plane at that airport. The first thing I do is get down and kiss the ground. People ask me, “Is that a mitzvah? Is that a commandment? Should we do that? Should we not do that? Why do you do that?” Some people have said, “Isn’t the ground dirty?”
Let me make a couple of things clear before we get into the Torah. It’s brought down that Jewish sages over the generations actually rolled in and kissed the dirt of Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel. The second we stop doing that, it’s a sign that we’ve forgotten what we were given. We’re back in the Land of Israel. Those of us who live here, and even those who are visiting, get to do things that our grandparents or great-grandparents could only dream about. If you don’t have the ability to see what’s good and enjoy it, really enjoy it, that’s a problem. When you stop appreciating things, things go sour.
So yes, as soon as I get off the plane, I get down and kiss the ground. Unfortunately, they bring you across a bridge and right through the wall into the airport, which I can’t stand. But as soon as I was able to go outside, I did get down and kiss the ground.
“And I Did Not Know”
This week, in Parshat Vayetzei, we’re talking about the birth of the tribes, the shevatim, and Yaakov’s trials and tribulations as a family man. What’s really interesting is the beginning of the parsha, where Yaakov is on his way out of the Land. Vayetzei Yaakov miBe’er Sheva. Yaakov leaves Be’er Sheva and goes to Haran. Then it says, vayifga bamakom. The word vayifga means “he hit.” The way it reads, it seems almost random. Yaakov happens upon a place, puts his head down and falls asleep.
Vayifga bamakom vayalen sham ki va hashemesh. He ends up at this place and spends the night there because the sun set. Why does the Torah have to tell me the sun set? Obviously, it’s nighttime. It’s brought down in the Kabbalah that this was a miracle. God made the sun set a little earlier so Yaakov would go to sleep. The question is, what’s the point? You want to give him a message. It’s prophecy. Why does he have to go to sleep?
Then comes the famous dream. Vayachalom, vehinei sulam mutzav artzah. Yaakov dreams, and there’s a ladder. The word the Torah uses is mutzav. The usual word for standing is omed. Mutzav means to stand with a passion. It’s stuck in the ground. Think, lehavdil, of the Hebrew word matzevah, a tombstone. A tombstone is set firmly in the ground. So the base of this ladder is planted in the earth, verosho magia hashamaymah, and the head of the ladder reaches the heavens. Vehinei malachei Elohim olim veyordim bo. There are angels going up and down that ladder. What’s the message of this dream?
Vehinei Hashem nitzav alav. There’s that word again, nitzav. God stands over him and says, “I am Hashem, the God of Avraham your father and the God of Yitzchak. The land that you are lying on, I will give to you and to your offspring,” to your future generations. Vehayah zaracha ka’afar ha’aretz. Your children will be as plentiful as the dust of the earth. Ufaratzta yamah vakedmah vetzafonah vanegbah. They’ll spread out in every direction. Yamah, by the way, means west. Why? Because yam in Hebrew means sea, and the sea is to the west of the Land of Israel. And negbah is south, toward the Negev.
Venivrechu vecha kol mishpechot ha’adamah uvezarecha. The whole world will be blessed through you and your children. And God says to Yaakov, “I’ll be with you wherever you go. I’ll keep you safe, and I’ll bring you back to this land. Ki lo e’ezovcha, I will not leave you, ad asher im asiti et asher dibarti lach, until I’ve done what I told you.”
First, God talks about spreading Yaakov’s children across the earth. Yaakov, of course, is also called Yisrael. His children will go out in all directions. Then God tells him, “I’ll bring you back to this land,” the very land he’s sleeping on. What’s strange is that Yaakov Avinu apparently has no clue where he’s sleeping. According to the mefarshim, the commentators, this is where Avraham Avinu almost sacrificed his son Yitzchak. Even if Yaakov didn’t know what this place would be in the future, didn’t know it was Jerusalem, his grandfather had put his father on the altar here. That’s a major story. How does he not know?
Vayikatz Yaakov mishnato. Yaakov wakes up. Vayikatz is sudden. He wakes with a start, and his reaction is really strange. Achen yesh Hashem bamakom hazeh, ve’anochi lo yadati. “God is in this place, and I did not know.” What a strange thing for Yaakov Avinu to say. What do you mean, “God is in this place, and I did not know”?
Vayira. He’s afraid. He’s full of awe. Mah nora hamakom hazeh. “How awesome is this place! Ein zeh ki im beit Elohim, vezeh sha’ar hashamayim. This is the house of God, and this is the gate to the heavens.”
Yaakov gets up in the morning and takes the rock he’s been sleeping on. Think about that for a second. According to Jewish tradition, sleep is one-sixtieth of death. Sheets and pillowcases, the things you sleep on, are susceptible to impurity. And what does Yaakov do with the rock that was under his head? Vayasem otah matzevah. There’s that word again, matzevah. He makes it a matzevah, which is an altar. Vayitzok shemen al roshah. He pours oil on top of it. He calls that place Beit El, the house of God. Before that, the city was called Luz.
Let’s go over that for a second. Yaakov falls asleep in a place where he just happens to show up. He has this wild dream about a ladder stuck in the ground with its head reaching the heavens and angels going up and down. God tells him, “I’m the God of your fathers. I’ll take care of you and keep you safe. Your children will spread throughout the world, and they’ll bring blessing to the world, but at the end of the day, I’ll bring them back to this land.” And Yaakov’s reaction to this prophecy is to take the rock he slept on, when the things you sleep on are susceptible to impurity, and make an altar out of it. It’s a very strange story. What’s the message here?
What Was Yaakov Avinu’s Secret?
Avraham Avinu came to recognize one God. He went through tests and tribulations and had that revelation. Then we had Yitzchak, who was put on the altar and also had that revelation. What’s interesting is that Avraham and Yitzchak both had children who didn’t turn out the way you’d expect. Avraham had Yishmael, and Yitzchak had Esav. Yishmael and Esav weren’t exactly the most righteous of people. Would we say that Avraham and Yitzchak “failed” in the education of their children? I wouldn’t say that myself. Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch actually discusses this.
Yaakov Avinu, however, had twelve children who were all holding the light. What was Yaakov Avinu’s secret? What did he have, what did he do, or what did he believe that allowed him to raise these twelve righteous children who would be the future of the nation of Israel? And why weren’t Avraham and Yitzchak on that level? The question has to be asked.
Let’s look at the dream and then at Yaakov’s reaction. Why is it important for the Torah to tell us that the ladder was stuck in the ground and that its head reached the heavens? Sometimes people get the idea that to be Jewish, to be religious, you can’t be involved in this world anymore. You can’t have a sense of humor, you can’t play an instrument, you can’t play sports. Maybe we should go live on a mountain somewhere like a hermit. Maybe I should sit in kollel all day and learn, without having a job or doing anything else. Well, should I? Are we built as Jews to be involved in the world, or are we supposed to be separate?
On the one hand, the Torah says, Kedoshim tihyu. We translate that as “Be holy,” but it means “Be separate.” We have different laws. On the other hand, we have this dream, and we have commandments that specifically require us to be in this world. You have to work. You have to give a tenth of what you earn to charity. There are even commandments about what you do with your animals. So there seems to be a mixed message.
Avraham Avinu was really all in the heavens. He had the ultimate belief. He wasn’t scared of anything. Yitzchak Avinu was known as an olah temimah, an unblemished offering. He never left the Land of Israel. He was on a holy pedestal. And then there’s Yaakov Avinu, who has a lot of trouble. Look at what he goes through just to get married. He works for Lavan for seven years, and Lavan cheats him and gives him Leah instead of Rachel. And then he works another seven years, and then six years for the animals. Twenty years altogether. And he has to run away from his father-in-law. His father-in-law is an idol worshipper. Yaakov Avinu had a lot of trouble.
You wouldn’t look at Yaakov’s life and say, “That’s the man Hashem is going to put on a pedestal. That’s the man who’ll be the future of Am Yisrael.” You’d think it would be someone whose life was perfect. Well, that’s exactly the point. It was the struggle that made Yaakov Avinu who he was.
It started even in his mother’s womb, and there he was at birth, grabbing Esav’s heel. Growing up, getting married, working, every step of the way was a struggle. We say, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” With Yaakov Avinu, that was really true. His struggles and tribulations are exactly what made him Yisrael. And that’s not me saying it. The Torah says so. Yaakov has a wrestling match with a malach, an angel. Only after he fights that angel does his name change from Yaakov to Yisrael. Why? Because it’s that struggle that makes us.
If everything had always gone hunky-dory, if everything had been great, would we have been able to survive two thousand years? Where are the Persians? Where are the Nazis? Where are the Romans? The Spanish Inquisition? Where are all the people throughout history who tried to destroy the Jewish nation? We’re here. The Jewish nation is blossoming in the Land of Israel. Of course it’s painful to go through these things, but the ability to stand up to that struggle is what makes us who we are.
There’s something else interesting about Yaakov. Yaakov was a runner. What do I mean? Every time he had to fight, he ran away. Look at what happens with Esav. Yaakov does what his mother tells him to do in order to get what belongs to the firstborn. Then his mother tells him, “Listen, he’s going to kill you. Run away.” And Yaakov runs away. He works for his wives, and what does he do? He runs away from Lavan. Yaakov had a problem. He was running away from everything. Then he has to fight the angel, and this time he stays. He stands up and fights for what’s right. He fights for his name. And that’s when he’s called Yisrael.
The Rock Under His Head
So what is that ladder with its base in the ground and its head reaching the sky? You’ve got to be rooted in the earth. You live in this world, but your head has to reach up to Shamayim, to the heavens. You work, and you bring religion and spirituality into your work, whether you’re a lawyer, a doctor or whatever you are. Sulam mutzav artzah. The ladder is planted firmly in the ground. Whatever you do here on this earth, verosho magia hashamaymah, its head reaches the heavens.
That’s why Yaakov Avinu’s reaction was to take the rock from under his head, the very rock he slept on. What happens when you sleep? You’re not in control of anything. As we said, sleep is one-sixtieth of death. He takes the most mundane thing you can imagine. It’s a rock. It isn’t even alive, and he’s been sleeping on it. What does he do with it? He anoints it. Notice that the Torah doesn’t say he brought a korban, an offering. It says he poured shemen, oil, on it. In Hebrew, limshoach beshemen means to anoint something with oil. He takes this ordinary rock, something he slept on, with all that implies about impurity, and he anoints it.
That’s the message. You live in this world, and you have to take the shemen and pour it over this world, so that in everything you do, rosho magia hashamaymah.
Then Yaakov Avinu turns to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and makes a deal. That could be a whole other discussion, but I want you to listen to what he asks for. If you could ask God for one thing, what would you ask? That question has been asked through the generations. Shlomo HaMelech asked for wisdom, because then you’d know how to go about everything. What would you ask for? When we’re little, maybe we’d say, “I want to win the lottery,” or “I want a fancy car or a big house.” But if you really knew that God was standing in front of you, what would you ask for?
Vayidar Yaakov neder lemor. Yaakov makes a vow. Im yihyeh Elohim imadi, if God will be with me, ushmarani baderech hazeh asher anochi holech, and keep me safe on this road that I’m traveling, venatan li lechem le’echol uveged lilbosh, and give me bread to eat and clothes to wear, veshavti veshalom el beit avi, and I return in peace to my father’s house, vehayah Hashem li l’Elohim, then Hashem will be my God.
What does that mean? If He doesn’t do this for you, He’s not your God? We know that in Judaism we can’t live like that. You can’t say, “I only believe in God if good things happen.” So what is Yaakov Avinu saying? Listen to how it sounds. If God feeds me and clothes me, then He’ll be my God. And if He doesn’t take care of you?
Then comes the next part. Veha’even hazot asher samti matzevah, this rock that I made an altar, yihyeh beit Elohim, will be the house of God. Remember which rock we’re talking about. It’s the one he took from under his head and anointed. Vechol asher titen li, aser a’asrenu lach. “Of everything You give me, I’ll give a tenth to You.”
What’s going on here? That’s what you ask God for, food and clothing? And then you take a rock and turn it into beit Elohim, the house of God? The answer is yes. Yaakov takes a rock that he slept on and brings it up to another level of spirituality, even though it’s an inanimate object, even though he slept on it. And yes, he asks for a bracha for mundane things, for food and clothing. People sometimes think there’s something wrong with food and clothing and wealth. Well, you have to know how to use them. They’re tools. Yaakov Avinu wanted the tools he needed to fulfill his destiny.
Look at what he did with the rock. He anointed it, and now he says, “This rock will become the house of God.” And what does he say about the wealth he’ll acquire? “I’ll give a tenth to God.” Does God need money? Of course not. Yaakov Avinu is saying, “I need food and clothing. I need the mundane things in this world, but the importance I give them is in what I can do with them. Even if I make a lot of money, I’m giving a tenth of it right away to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.” That was Yaakov’s secret.
And what’s the next thing that happens? Yaakov starts walking and comes across three shepherds at a well in a field. Now we come to the whole story of Rachel and Leah. I won’t go into the whole story here, but he saves them from these shepherds who are acting in a mean way. He rolls the rock off the well and saves them, and they go home and tell their father about it.
There again, Yaakov isn’t sitting somewhere keeping out of the public eye. He’s out there. That’s why davka Yaakov Avinu, specifically Yaakov Avinu, was able to bring up twelve tribes. Avraham and Yitzchak each had a son who didn’t live up to his father’s expectations. Yaakov went through test after test, and through those struggles he built his character, his spirituality and his faith.
It’s good to be home. Have an awesome Shabbat. Shabbat shalom, everyone. Take care from the beautiful rolling hills of Judea, Israel. Shabbat shalom.