Parashat Vayetze: The Ladder

I want to think a little about this dream that Yaakov has upon leaving home, as he embarks on his new life in Haran. He sees a ladder reaching upward to the sky, with angels going up and down on it and God standing above it.

I’m sure it means many things. Today, what it means to me is: Yankel, in this life of yours, you’re going to go up and you’re going to go down. You’ll have some good times and you’ll have some difficult times. Sometimes you’ll do the right thing and feel that you are climbing to the top of the world and sometimes you’ll be confused and anxious and feel that you are climbing only downward. Life is like that. But through it all, what will you have? God standing above the ladder, watching, looking out for you.

And so God explains, after introducing Himself: Hineh Anokhi Imakh. Behold I am with you. That is the bottom line here, Yaakov – you are not alone on this journey of ups and downs. You are not alone. Remember to tap into that when you need it.

Life is so complicated. In the narrative that follows, it sometimes seems to me that Yaakov and his family are not doing the right thing – his wives compete with each other for his love and eventually his children, too, will compete for his love to the point that they will harm each other. And in the story of Yaakov and Lavan’s sheep, it is far from clear that Yaakov acted in an above the board manner.

Nonetheless, God is with Yaakov. Through it all, Yaakov and his family do remember that one point – almost every name of a child is based on this intimate knowledge of the presence of God in their lives and how God sees each person’s pain.

Through all the ups and downs on the ladder of life, God stands above, present to it all, faithful and steadfast. The angels moving up and down between the human and the divine realms are like the breath that comes in and out of us at each moment. In and out. Up and down. The breath of life that connects us to our source above. In and out, in and out, a continual reminder of steadfastness, of our ability, like God, to ride through the waves, solid and firm in the knowledge of our divine accompaniment.

We desperately need that sense of steadfast connection. Sometimes we look for it in the wrong places, in the refrigerator or in our email – send/receive, like the angels going up and down – we want, we need to tap in to that feeling of connectedness; we need a “plug-in.” The ladder is a symbol of this plug-in, and like Yaakov, we would be surprised to learn, that akhen yesh Hashem bamakom hazeh ve’anokhi lo yadati. Behold God is in this place, in this moment, in this emotional space, and I, I did not know it. Behold there is always such a ladder, with messages flowing in both directions, always there is such connection available to us.