One of the key episodes in this week’s parsha is Yaakov’s dream of a ladder from Earth to Shemayim.
Let’s take a deeper look at the dream to see how it is applicable today.
The Place of Prayer
Yaakov set out for Haran—and he reached HaMakom.
HaMakom means The Place.
What place is the Torah referring to?
Rashi brings down a Gemara in Chullin, that “The Place” is Har HaMoriah, the place of the Beis HaMikdash.
Rashi also points out that the word for “reached,” “Va-Yeef-Ga,” also means prayer.
Chazal teach us that Yaakov established the Maariv prayer when he reached HaMakom.
We learn from here that some places have more Kedushah than others.
Prayer is an appropriate action in a place of Kedushah.
The Ladder and Exile
The Torah tells us that Yaakov had a dream at this place.
This dream was a prophecy.
In the dream, there was a ladder going from Earth to Shemayim,
And there were Angels going up and down the ladder.
The Midrash brings down that the Angels going up and down represent the four exiles:
Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome.
Exile is a dark experience—from a spiritual perspective.
Hashem consoled Yaakov, saying that He will always be with the Jewish People.
We will survive the exiles and return to the Promised Land.
We see that living in exile, outside of Eretz Yisroel, is a dark spiritual experience.
However, we should always have emunah that Hashem will bring us back to Eretz Yisroel.
The Beis HaMikdash is the Holiest Place
After the prophecy was complete, Yaakov awoke from his sleep.
He said, “Surely Hashem is present in this place, and I didn’t know it.”
He was afraid and felt the awe of this place.
The Ohr HaChaim explains that Yaakov knew this was a holy place, even before he had the dream.
After he experienced the prophecy, he realized that Hashem’s presence is felt more here than elsewhere.
If Yaakov had known this, he would have prepared for a higher degree of prophecy.
Different places have different levels of Kedushah.
The Gemara explains that there are 10 levels of Kedushah.
The Beis HaMikdash contains the highest levels of Kedushah.
When we visit Eretz Yisroel, we can take advantage of praying at the Kedushah of the Kosel.
Yaakov’s Dream and KedushahThe Gateway to Shemayim
Yaakov said, “This is the House of Hashem, and this is the gateway to Shemayim.”
Rashi brings down that this place, the Beis HaMikdash, is where prayers and sacrifices ascend to Shemayim.
Rabbi Uziel Milevsky, Zecher Tzaddik LeVracha, goes deeper into this idea.
Each of the Avos represents a different aspect of the Jewish People:
-Avraham was a convert.
-Yitzchok represents the ideal state of the Jew.
-And Yaakov is the down-to-earth Jew, in exile and working in the material world.
Yaakov taught this idea of Kedushah — that we can elevate the physical world.
In the Beis HaMikdash, we take a physical animal and transform it into pure spiritual energy.
In sensing the gateway to Shemayim, Yaakov saw that we can exist in both the physical and spiritual dimensions.
Transforming the Physical to the Spiritual
Even when we’re not in the Beis HaMikdash, in the darkness of exile, we can elevate the physical.
We can take a day of the week and turn it into the Holy day of Shabbos.
We can take a cup of wine and use it to serve Hashem by making Kiddush.
We can stand in a room and pray directly to Hashem.
This is the power of Kedushah — everything in the physical world can be used to connect to Shemayim.
Yaakov was the first to see the ladder, but it’s still here for all of us to use.
Good Shabbos!
