When Yaakov awoke from his prophetic dream of the earth-to-heaven ladder, he declared “How awesome is this place! This is the house of Hashem and the gateway to heavenâ€. The Midrash teaches it was the site of the Beis HaMikdash, a place where we can transform animals and grains into a spiritual energy that can power the world.
The Midrash also teaches that the ending of the blessing of Kedushah in Shemoneh Esrai, was first uttered by the angels, when Yaakov had his prophetic vision. Yaakov personifies Kedushah because he recognized that the purpose of every material thing in this world is to connect to Hashem. How awesome is it that we can be living in both the physical and spiritual realms simutaneously.
On a weekly basis, our wine, bread, and chicken is transformed into the mitzvah of Oneg Shabbos. If we eat with a Torah perspective, every bite during the week can be a spiritual experience. Three times a day, we can have a face to face conversation with Hashem. With careful and positive speech we can transform every verbal encounter into a spiritual experience. Every second we spend on this planet has the potential for a spiritual connection to Hashem.
However, if we don’t take advantage of the opportunities, the physical can and will draw us away from Hashem and spiritual reality. The earth-to-heaven ladder is still here, it’s up to us to take climb it and experience the Awesomeness of Being Jewish.
