A Dream to Wake Us Up Parashat Vayeitzei

 This Shabbat we read the story of Jacob’s journey, beginning at a moment of intense drama. Jacob has just stolen his brother Esau’s blessing from his blind father Isaac by impersonating Esau. He is on the run from a brother who has vowed to kill him. Our portion opens with Jacob fleeing his home and arriving at a new place.
 
As the sun sets and Jacob lies down, using a rock for a pillow, he has the following dream: there is a ladder, with its feet on the earth and its head in the sky. Upon it, angels are ascending and descending. God is directly above and speaks to Jacob, telling him:
“this land on which you are lying, I will give to you, and to your descendants;
And your descendants shall be as numerous as the sand of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west,  to the east, to the north, and to the south; and through you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
And, Here-Now- I am with you, and I will guard you in all the places you go, and I will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you…”

Jacob wakes up suddenly. He calls out, “God is in this place and I didn’t even know it! How awesome is this place! This must be the House of God and right here, the gateway to heaven.”
 
Most of the traditional commentators understand this dream to be a prophecy about the physical place where Jacob lies. They say that this physical place is Har Ha-Moriah, the place where Isaac, his father was bound on the altar and which will become the site for the Holy Temple. Yet, according to the plain meaning of the text, the p’shat, Torah presents a dreamscape, an expression of Jacob’s inner world, his psyche and the fulfillment of his spiritual needs at this moment. For, at this moment Jacob is frightened. He is fleeing from the tents to which he has grown accustomed. He is, after all, described by Torah as yosheiv ohalim, the one who dwells inside, in the tents. But the safe world in which he has lived has altered completely.
 
Jacob’s dream is a moment of expanded consciousness.
The veil over his lower consciousness is lifted and he catches a glimpse of the much larger story in which he is but one player. He sees that he is not alone and that his feeling of anxious separation is but an illusion. Heaven and earth are connected, always connected. Angelic beings traverse the two worlds. He receives assurance that God is with him and will keep him safe.
 
When he awakens he cries out, “God is in this place and I didn’t even know it!”  I was unconscious to the this greater Presence, but now I am awake and I realize that I am not alone. Jacob realizes that God resides even in this place where he feels terrified. God is even in this place, that the Rabbis say is Har HaMoriah, the place where his father Isaac experienced terror as he was bound on an altar. This is Jacob’s revelation; that even in the place of existential fear, God is present.
 
Today, we are living through such volatile times. Many of us are feeling a new and more profound sense of  vulnerability. This week Torah gives us a dream in order to wake us up. It says, Remember. This moment of instability is but a small piece of a much longer and larger story. Remember that there is an arc of progress that flows from the deep past into the distant future. Remember that God is in THIS PLACE- THIS MOMENT. The future is a mystery; yet in this present moment, a greater awareness of connection, of support and love is available.
 
The Kotzker Rebbe once answered the question, ‘where is God to be found’ with the words, ‘wherever you let God in.’ And so on Shabbat we practice letting God in.  But really, this is a practice for all moments and all places. Whether through prayer, meditation or the practice of mitzvoth, we are attuning ourselves to the awareness that God is present and with us in all moments.
 
And so my prayer today is that we may anchor ourselves in the present moment and not in our fears about tomorrow; that we remember the light that emanates from our souls, and that we seek out the Divine spark that resides within every person. Let us each BE the ladder that connects heaven and earth so that we might offer this blessing to all whom we encounter: ma norah hamakom hazeh - how truly awesome is this place, this moment of connection.  

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