In partnership with the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles
Edited by Nina Litvak & Salvador Litvak, the Accidental Talmudist
And [Jacob] was frightened, and he said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
Gen. 28:17
Rabbi Gershon Schusterman, Author, “Why God Why?”
Jacob left his parents’ home to escape Esau’s anger at him for having taken his blessings by subterfuge. On Jacob’s way to find refuge in his uncle’s home, night fell and he set up camp on a hilltop. He dreamed of guardian angels ascending and descending a ladder to and from Heaven. Then he heard a Heavenly voice, “I am the G-d of your fathers, Abraham and Isaac…” This was Jacob’s first G-dly encounter. Awestruck, he proclaimed, “Why, this must be G-d’s home and the gateway to Heaven, and I was unaware!”
While still a Yeshiva bocher [student] in Brooklyn, our cohort would depart Sundays before dawn to hold services for the Jewish National Guard weekenders, usually held in a room in an armory. A few prayers, donning tefillin and a Torah thought was the basic menu.
One Sunday morning we were assigned to meet in a bivouac area in NJ. We arrived and saw the group waiting for us in a dusty field. Not knowing what “bivouac” means, I asked the greeting chaplain, “Where are we going to hold services?” He bent down, grabbed a sharp stone and drew a 20-foot circle in the dirt, smiled and said, “*This* is your synagogue.”
The lesson I learned that morning still resonates within me. G-d is everywhere and He doesn’t require fancy. Wherever you are, all you need is to seclude yourself with Him and, indeed, “This is none other than the house of G-d, and this is the gate of Heaven.”
Rabbi Moshe Kormornick, Author, Speaker, Teacher
In this verse we are told that Yaakov woke up in fright at having fallen asleep, something he feared did not befit this holy place. However, it is interesting to note that in his dream, Hashem appeared and promised Yaakov incredible blessings for himself and his children. If that was the context of his dream, surely Yaakov’s first reaction would have been joy at the good tidings he just received; why did he wake up in such a fright?
Yaakov understood what true life is about. He knew that our life’s mission is not about what we can *get* from Hashem, but what we can *give* to Him. But that begs the question: What *can* we give to the All-Powerful God Who lacks nothing? The answer is actually an explicit verse: “…What does Hashem, your God ask of you? Only to fear Hashem your God and go in His ways…”(Deut. 10:12)
Accordingly, we can answer our question: Yaakov’s initial reaction was fear because his focus was on his own actions rather than Hashem’s; and in this instance he worried that he fell short of his potential and responsibility. Without question he was delighted at the blessings that Hashem had promised him, but that did not overshadow his drive to fulfil his life’s mission.
This message is for us too. Although it is only human to crave Hashem’s blessings, we must not lose sight of our true goal in this world—to fear Hashem and go in His ways.
Michael Milgraum, Clinical Psychologist and Author
When I read this verse, my mind goes to the Jewish daily prayer service, where, if I am not careful, my mind can get bored with the prayer routine and I can forget how extraordinary prayer really is.
I recently heard a rabbinic suggestion that if it is hard to have kavanah (focused intention) in one’s prayers, we still have accomplished something important if, during our prayer session, we at least remember Who we are standing before. And who is that? It is the Maker of all creation— the One who holds my feet upon the ground, keeps the earth in its orbit, provides my sustenance and commands my heart, at this very moment, to beat. If that does not fill us with awe, then I am not sure what will.
The word “yira” in this verse, which is usually translated as “fear,” is actually more complex than that. When we talk about yira towards Hashem, it is a realization of how utterly miniscule we are in comparison to Hashem and how overwhelming His power and wisdom are. It is an awareness that wakes us up, and only a spiritually awake person can truly connect with Hashem.
Our Sages tell us that the place where Jacob was when he said these words was to be the future site of the Holy Temple. Although this was a particularly special place, we should remember that wherever a yearning heart knows the One before whom it stands, the opportunity for transcendence occurs.
Rabbi Cheryl Peretz, Associate Dean, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, AJU
Jacob has fled his parents’ home. He is on the way to his uncle, Laban, and to an unknown future. Exhausted, he grabs a stone to use as a pillow and falls asleep. In the deep of night, Jacob dreams of a ladder between heaven and earth upon which are angels climbing up and down. God speaks to Jacob, reinforcing the covenant already established between God and Abraham and between God and Isaac. God assures Jacob that the same promises will extend to him, and through him to the Jewish people.
Alive and alert, Jacob wakes in a state of wonder over the content of this dream, astonished at the realization that he had been sleeping at a sacred location. With new awareness, he sees that which he hadn’t seen before the dream. His perspective is changed and he is transformed.
In paradigmatic Biblical fashion, Jacob joins the ranks of Moses at the burning bush, Samuel at Shiloh, and the prophetic visions of Isaiah and Ezekiel, each of whom experiences unique calls from God and responds in his own way. For Jacob, the response is awe and entails a mixture of fear and fascination; fear brought on by the awareness of human inadequacy and amazement that from the place in which he stands, he has the ability to catch a glimpse of the divine. In that moment, he understands something different about the place, about God, about himself and invites us to walk with him through the gates of heaven.
Cantor Michelle Bider Stone, Temple Beth Am
Remember when you were a kid and heard that God was everywhere? Inevitably some clever kid, maybe it was you, would take a bite and say, “Am I eating God?” But the lesson was clear. In the synagogue where I grew up, two lines from this verse were inscribed in the sanctuary: “How awesome is this place?” over the ark and “This is the gate of heaven” inside it.
But holiness was not just found inside the sanctuary at Stephen Wise Temple. The synagogue sits on top of a hill, with beautiful views of mountains, trees, and nature coming alive before your eyes. The majesty of God’s work in nature is visible to the right and left of the ark. These verses, “How awesome is this place” and “this is the gate of heaven,” apply not only to the inside of the building, but to what is outside, in God’s creation.
Many commentators on claim that “this” place, where Jacob dreamt of the ladder, is Mount Moriah, where the Temple would eventually stand. Thinking of the sanctuary at Stephen Wise and the beauty outside it, I’m not sure that “this” place had to be any specific place. The plain text tells us that Jacob stopped at a random spot to lay his head and encountered the gate to heaven. Surely, we can find God (or God can find us) in every place if we just take the time to stop and look.
Image: “Jacob’s Dream” by José de Ribera, 1639
With thanks to
Rabbi Gershon Schusterman, Rabbi Moshe Kormornick, Michael Milgraum, Rabbi Cheryl Peretz, and Cantor Michelle Bider Stone.
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