Genesis 28,10. “Yaakov left Beer Sheva, etc.;” [I presume the connection to Chanukah the author makes here is based on his having composed this commentary for a Shabbat Chanukah sermon. Ed.]The reason why the miracle of Chanukah, actually the miracle of the cruse of oil, is popularly known as the “miracle of Chanukah,” is due to the word חנוכה, being a derivative of חנוך, “consecration.” We find in Exodus 29,33 in connection with the consecration of the priestly garments, that before the priests were allowed to perform their sacred service they had to be provided with suitable vessels to be used, i.e. priestly garments. Wearing these priestly garments was so important that if they performed their duties improperly dressed (even missing one of these garments) this was a cardinal sin. (Maimonides 10,4 hilchot kley hamikdash) The container in which certain offerings were presented, were as integral a part of the ritual as the ritual itself. The garments are the “container” in which the priestly body performs his sacred task. It or they, are viewed like a חנוך, educational tool, consecration, that must precede the actual ritual in order for the priest to be truly a priest.[Possibly, the emphasis on this in connection with the priests especially, is due to the fact that the priest was born to his status, and it would have been most unseemly for him not to undergo preparations before fulfilling his sacred tasks. Rabbis might not need this, as they were not born to the Rabbinate but had to study and pass exams before being granted their titles, ordination. Ed.]Children are trained to perform the commandments before becoming legally of age, i.e. בר מצוה or בת מצוה, as the case may be, before being ushered into adulthood and all that this entails.Our patriarch Yaakov had contemplated the awesome fact of the Unity of G’d from the day he was able to think, and he realized that the foundation of all parts of the universe was the Jewish people, i.e. if there were to be no Jewish people, G’d’s work of creating the universe would have been in vain.Zohar I,24 (and elsewhere) states that ישראל עלה במחשבה בראשית, “the eventual existence of the Jewish people was the first thought that G’d entertained when contemplating the creation of this universe.” Numerous scriptural verses are quoted in support of this statement, one of which that concerns us especially being that Israel was also known as אבן as in “foundation stone,” seeing that the entire universe emerged from that origin. The Jewish people therefore are not only the “root” of mankind, but also in no lesser degree the founders of the celestial regions. While still in the stage of being only a thought in G’d’s mind, they were called אבן, “rock” in the singular mode, as at that point the true unity of the Jewish people and what they represent could be found.Our ancestor Yaakov attempted with all the intellectual and emotional powers at his disposal to unravel the secrets of these concepts in order to convert Israel’s potential into an actual. As per Genesis 49,24 he wanted משם רועה אבן ישראל, “to lay the foundation stone of Israel,” as the shepherd of a nation consisting of 12 tribes that parallel the 12 bisections of the 6 sides of the cube when the universe is portrayed as a cube, dividing it into 12 triangles (compare Sefer Yetzirah, “Book of creation”) by bisecting each side from corner to corner. Each of the tribes of the Jewish people represents one of these “triangles.” In order for the celestial merkavah, Divine chariot, to be complete it must be comprised of 600000 components, the number of Jewish male adults that were redeemed from bondage in Egypt. According to our sages, the Presence of the Shechinah will not manifest itself as resting above the Jewish people when they number less than these 600000. According to our author, when the Torah in Genesis 28,11 describes how Yaakov took “stones” in order to prepare to spend the night, and he put his head on of the stones to serve as his “pillow,” the Torah merely illustrates the kind of thoughts that preoccupied Yaakov at that time, and how during his “dream” of the ladder he experienced Divine insights that had never been revealed to him.Nonetheless, in view of the sages having said that no verse in the Torah must be explained in a way that departs completely from the written text and its plain meaning, we must pay attention to this also. [I believe that in accordance with the above Yaakov/Yisrael’s role as רועה אבן ישראל, “shepherd of the nucleus of the people” of Israel began here. Ed.]According to the plain text there is no question that Yaakov placed his head on real stones, as he had no softer pillow at hand. Nonetheless while lying with these rocks as his pillow, he thought of matters far beyond his immediate and pressing terrestrial concerns. Perhaps this very fact qualified him for experiencing the first of his many Divine visions, although this time he was not certain for 34 years that it had indeed been a divine vision. According to our sages, during this night Yaakov’s mind foresaw the ruins of two Temples and the great anger that the Jewish people, his descendants, would provoke in G’d’s mind on numerous occasions. The words: וילך חרנה, according to this method of interpretation allude to the future when G’d would become angry with His people. The words: ויצא יעקב, would contrast this with his leaving the domain from which G’d dispenses all His goodness for His creatures, especially the Jewish people. All this caused him great anguish and when the Torah describes his ויפגע במקום וילן שם כי בא השמש, “that he met hamakom and had to spend the night there as the sun had set,” this is a simile for Yaakov foreseeing how the fortunes of the Jewish people would turn from having enjoyed G’d’s bounty to not only becoming persecuted but also causing G’d to share the pain that He had been forced to inflict upon His people. The darkness alluded to in this verse describes that his vision became so clouded worrying about how G’d must suffer when His favorite people stray so far from the path of Torah that they must undergo harsh punishments in order to bring them back to the right path.When the Torah describes Yaakov as ויקח מאבני המקום, “he took from the stones of hamakom,” this describes Yaakov’s sharing G’d’s pain and wishing to be able to compensate G’d for this in same way. (Alluded to by the word ויפגע). The words מאבני המקום וישם מראשותיו, “from the stones of hamakom and he placed them under his head,” suggest how Yaakov tried to share G’d’s “pain” at what both He and His people would have to endure in exile. His whole thinking was preoccupied with how he could somehow if not forestall these happenings at least ensure that his descendants would survive these experiences. This is the key to his dream of the ladder that follows. It portrays that Yaakov had found a means to deal with the physical implications of exile and persecutions because of Whom He saw on the top of the ladder. This helped him console himself that all of these harsh experiences would be confined to Israel’s existence in the “lower” regions of the universe. The words: וראשו מגיע השמימה, “the ladder’s top reached into heaven,” reminds Yaakov that exile also touches the celestial spheres, so much so that its impact affects those regions negatively. Its most direct impact on the celestial regions is that it interferes with the dispensation of G’d’s largesse to mankind, and the forces of nature upon which man depends.The line: והנה מלאכי אלוקים עולים ויורדים בו, “and behold G’d’s angels were ascending and descending on that ladder,” is the message that even exile has its positive aspects, as it enables numerous “sparks” that had previously “fallen” from the tree that we perceive as the Shechinah, to find their way back to their holy origin. At the same time, regretfully, the descent of the Jewish people into exile brings with it a parallel descent of some other “sparks” from the Shechinah into the ritually contaminated part of the universe. In our verse these “sparks” are referred to as מלאכי אלוקים, “Angels of the Divine.” Presiding over all these happenings is G’d, והנה ה' נצב עליו, “and behold the Lord is standing above it;” this line also reassures Yaakov that wherever he may find himself he will not be alone, as G’d Himself accompanies him even in exile. Moses confirms this in psalms 91,15 when he says (quoting G’d) “I will be with him in distress.” Seeing that the Lord is with us, our real “pain” or sorrow is really G’d’s pain and sorrow.As soon as G’d saw that Yaakov’s concern was with His pain and sorrow, and how all this would impact on the foundation of the Jewish people and its development, He reassured him that he was the same G’d Who had looked after Avraham and Yitzchok, his respective grandfather and father. He assured him that this same piece of earth on which he was lying at this time, i.e. that he is so worried about, He, the Lord will give to him and to his descendants and that his descendants will spread out to all the corners of the earth. He continues to reassure Yaakov that during all the vicissitudes of history that his descendants would endure, He would always keep a benevolent eye on them. They will, in due course, return from exile to a brighter future.Genesis 28,16. “Yaakov awakened from his dream, etc;” the word משנתו, here is a reference to the mental state of depression under which Yaakov had laboured when contemplating the exile his descendants would experience in the future. When he says: אכן יש ה' במקום הזה ואנכי לא ידעתי, “indeed the Lord is even in this place and I did not know it,” is an acknowledgment that he had unnecessarily despaired of the future of his people thinking that G’d would forsake them in exile. Having realized now that he had been wrong, filled him with such gratitude that he determined to build a Temple on the site where this insight had been revealed to him. The words: בית אלוקים, as something already in place, allegorically speaking, refers to his realization that once there is a Jewish people G’d will never again withdraw from the lower regions of the universe as He had done previously when man’s conduct had become too offensive.[I believe the principal lesson Yaakov learned in this dream (as portrayed by the author) was that even when Moses speaks clearly in the Torah about G’d “hiding His face,” (Deut. 31,18) this does not refer to His withdrawing from our part of the world; it only means that we will be under the impression that He has done so as we see no evidence of His Presence overtly or covertly. Ed.] If this is the lesson of exile, exile itself becomes a truly positive experience.At this stage Yaakov reverts to his original intention of taking the “stones” or “stone” i.e. the foundation stone of the Jewish people and converts it from a potential tool into an actual by consecrating it with oil. [The Jewish people no less than the Temple are perceived as “Temples,” the former as a living entity, the latter as an inert structure always on a sacred site. Ed.] [The significance of oil for consecration, and the miracle of Chanukah being the miracle of the cruse of holy oil as having been foreshadowed in Yaakov’s dream signaling the end of desecration of the Holy Temple, has thus been established. Although some of the words are mine, I trust that I have conveyed our author’s meaning. Ed.] This is the first time in the Torah that “oil” is portrayed as possessing spiritually elevating potential. Normally, we are familiar with this only from when the priests who were anointed with oil, or when a King, first in a dynasty, was consecrated with it. Yaakov understood the mystical properties contained in such oil (holy oil) and used it here for the first time as such.[One wonders at the fact that although Yaakov appears to have been stripped of all valuables prior to this night, he still had some such oil on his person; this makes the connection the author establishes between Chanukah and Yaakov’s dream of the ladder a great deal more plausible. Ed.] Reshit Chochma, shaar ahavah section 5,39, שמן, oil, i.e. the resin found in trees, is a euphemism for wisdom originating in the celestial regions. By means of this wisdom G’d used a combination of this wisdom and sanctity to produce a unique product, the foundation stone of the Jewish people preparing from this an entire building containing many “rooms” one of which was reserved for G’d to manifest Himself therein to His people exclusively. When speaking of “His people,” we refer to the spiritualized concept of the Jewish people, described by our sages as כנסת ישראל, “the collective soul of the Jewish people.” This is what the Torah had in mind when it reports Yaakov as saying: ויקרא את שם המקום ההוא ביתאל, “he called the name of this site Betel;” the Torah adds that ואולם לוז שם העיר לראשונה, “originally the name of the town had been Looz.” (Verse 20) By mentioning this detail, the Torah wishes to inform the reader that even before Yaakov spent a night at this location all the basic ingredients for the site to be elevated to one of sanctity had already existed as a potential. This was so because the concept of a Jewish nation, as mentioned previously, was not new, in fact it had been in G’ds mind before He even began to create the universe. This concept did not only include the formation of a Jewish nation, but envisaged its history right to the point when the Messiah would redeem this people from its last exile. According to tradition (Bereshit Rabbah 69, discussed at length) the human body contains a bone known as לוז, which is indestructible, the angel of death having no power over it, and conversely, it is also the bone from which all other parts of the human body develop. [Not necessarily a “bone” as we understand it, but possibly what we call a stem cell in our time. Ed.] The “stem cell” לוז, is for man what the expression היולי is meant to convey when we speak of the origin of the universe, the primordial raw material. Yaakov’s contribution was to make out of a potential Jewish nation one that had materialized. Another way of looking at the verse commencing with ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע is by looking at the numerical value of the letters in Yaakov’s name which total 182, or seven times the corresponding value of G’d’s four-lettered name the tetragram, 26 times 7. The numerical value of the letters in the name of his father יצחק by comparison totals 8 times (208) the numerical value of the tetragram, suggesting that Yaakov was at a disadvantage compared to his father who had never had to leave the Holy Land. Rashi’s commentary on the opening line of our portion begins with the statement that when a tzaddik leaves his hometown this leaves a void behind that is felt by the people remaining behind. The implication appears to be that while the tzaddik had been in his hometown his peers had not realized how blessed they had been by his presence. He quotes Ruth 1,7 where Naomi and Ruth’s leaving the fields of Moav are described in a similar manner, i.e. their departure leaving behind a void. Rashi claims that otherwise the Torah need only have written וילך יעקב חרנה, “Yaakov set out on his way to Charan.” There are numerous instances where the departure of certain individuals from the Holy Land is described as וירד, “he descended,” seeing that the land of Israel is considered as being on a higher level than all the countries surrounding it. This statement does not refer to the physical altitude of the land of Israel, but to the spiritual level of the people inhabiting that land. By not writing וירד יעקב, “Yaakov descended,” the Torah wishes the reader to know that he did not leave behind his spiritual assets in the land of Canaan but that he took all his spiritual equipment with him. Rashi himself refers to this when he writes on the words והנה אנכי עמך, “and behold I am with you,” (28,15) that Mount Moriah was uprooted at that time and accompanied Yaakov on his way to Charan. [Not found in our editions of Rashi on that verse. Ed.] The sanctity of the Holy Land accompanied Yaakov on his journey into exile. Nonetheless he was greatly troubled by having to leave the Holy Land. If we needed confirmation for Yaakov’s feelings about this, we find it in Genesis 46,3 where at Beer Sheva Yaakov has second thoughts about going to Egypt in order to see his son Joseph once more, and G’d has to reassure him by telling him not only that he should not be ill at ease about this undertaking, but that as a result of his going to Egypt the Jewish people would develop into a numerous nation there. Rashi there comments that Yaakov’s primary fear was the very fact of his having to leave the Holy Land (his second exile). He was assured by G’d that the Shechinah would accompany him there. An additional comment on the line: ויקח מאבני המקום וישם מראשותיו וישכב במקום ההוא, “he took from the stones available at that site and used them as his pillow and lay down there.” According to the Sefer Yetzirah the word המקום in this verse is a reference to the name of G’d, [as we are familiar with from the haggadah shel pessach, ברוך המקום. Ed.] The reason that this word serves as a euphemism for G’d’s name is to remind us that He is מקומו של העולם, “the One to Whom all of ‘Space’ belongs, seeing He has created it.” In keeping with this approach we must translate the words: וישם מראשותיו, as related to ראשית, “beginning of time,” i.e. the Jewish people featured first in G’d’s thinking, and the word וישכב, may be broken up into יש כ'ב, the material world i.e. יש, is based on the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. [The letter ו at the beginning, is of course, only a grammatical tool for turning the future tense into an immediate past tense. Ed.] Still another way of looking at this verse is based on a statement in the Talmud Chagigah 14. We are told there about four sages who decided to investigate the mystical aspects of the Torah, commonly known as the pardes, (acronym for the four approaches to valid interpretations, פשט, דרוש, רמז, סוד) Of these 4 scholars only one returned unharmed either physically or mentally, i.e. Rabbi Akiva. After his experience Rabbi Akiva warned anyone who would emulate him that when he would come to אבני שיש טהור, “stones made of pure marble,” he should not be misled into considering this מים, מים, (mistaking the phenomenon for completely transparent and therefore pure water). Rabbi Akiva quoted a verse from psalms 101,7 דובר שקרים לא יכון נגד עיני, “he who speaks deceitfully shall not stand before My eyes.”In order to gain an understanding of what Rabbi Akiva alluded to here, we must first of all remember a rule that governs all legitimate exegesis of the Torah. The rule is that the 288 sparks which descended into the material world from the primordial world of Tohu, i.e. a world in which the Shechinah was the only manifestation of a creative spirit, and attached themselves to one or the other outstanding human being, have one thing in common. The persons so endowed must believe without doubt or reservation that all parts of the universe wherever, are the product of the One and only Creator Who has infused them with “life” (according to their respective functions). Their continued existence is totally dependent on this Creator, and this Creator dispenses of His largesse not only to those who believe in Him but also to those who hate Israel. (and, by extension, hate Him) The difference between the former (the tzaddikim) and the latter consists primarily in the ability of the tzaddikim to “pull down” additional largesse from the celestial reservoir thanks to their standing in that hierarchy. In doing so, they divert some of this largesse away from the infidels, the wicked. The tzaddikim, thanks to their service of the Creator with all their hearts, enable G’d to “clothe Himself” in an attribute reflecting a certain degree of “pride,” i.e. satisfaction that free willed creatures whom He has created have turned to Him, although they had options that appeared to them as an easier way of coping with life on earth. [Some of these words are mine, Ed.] Once G’d has clothed Himself in that attribute, He looks at the wicked with disdain, withholding His largesse from them. In due course, this process results in the wicked on earth suffering a total defeat and this is what Moses referred to in Exodus 15,1 when he described G’d as אשירה לה' כי גאה גאה סוס ורוכבו רמה בים, “let me raise my voice in song to Hashem, Who has taken ‘pride’ in triumphing, hurling both horse and its rider into the sea.” The downfall of the gentiles occurs simply because G’d no longer supervises their fates.It follows that it can be said of the tzaddikim that by means of their good deeds they are directly responsible for how, to whom, and in what quantities G’d’s largesse is dispensed. The vessels, i.e. instruments, used by the tzaddikim, are the musical instruments with which the Levites accompany the sacrificial offerings presented by the priests. The Levites would raise or lower their voices on occasion when singing, in accordance with the norms used by musicians. Raising their voices meant that they wished G’d’s largesse to be withheld from the wicked, whereas lowering their voices was an invitation to G’d to dispense His largesse to all His creatures in the lower regions, including the wicked, such largesse being the result of G’d’s mercy and love for His creatures.It is a rule, and that is why it is referred to in our sages’ parlance as כלל, something inclusive, all-embracing, that while G’d’s largesse is in transit to earth, having commenced in the celestial regions, this largesse does not have a specific colour, i.e. is not addressed to anyone specifically. It is only when this largesse reaches the creatures on earth that it is directed to specific addresses. When we speak of largesse in general terms, we view this as comprising all the letters in the alphabet, whereas when we speak about specifics, we view this as the respective letters in the alphabet. Different deserving people have different needs, so that if someone is in need of being well received by the prospective employer to whom he applies for a position, he needs to be endowed with חן, projecting an outgoing pleasant personality. It is the task of G’d’s largesse in this case to be converted into the letters that spell חן, charm, grace. If another tzaddik is in need of immediate parnassah, livelihood, for himself and his family, the means to purchase food, then G’d’s largesse needs to be translated into the letters of the alphabet appropriate for this. This process of the largesse being translated into immediately usable form is known as רוחב, “width;” as it alludes to the ability of G’d’s largesse to adapt to the individual needs of different people. The word רוחב is especially appropriate in this connection, as width may be extended in either direction, i.e. the tzaddikim are free to direct relatively more of G’d’s largesse in the direction of the righteous or the wicked, as they may see fit. The Talmud Yuma 77, relates that there was a fountain of water emanating from the Holy of Holies inside the Temple, (or beneath its floor) which at its source was as thin as the point of a needle, but dramatically increased in width as it progressed. It describes this dramatic increase in width in its stages so that by the time the water of this fountain left the holy precincts of the Temple compound it had swollen to be like the spout of a small jar. The Talmud illustrates how the largesse emanating from G’d increases dramatically as it reaches regions where it is really needed. Eventually this fountain becomes a river or stream providing from its life giving waters to even the most distant parts of the worlds, our planet. Our author elaborates somewhat on the intermediate stages described in the Talmud in detail; I believe the point has been made, so I’ll skip this. Our author proceeds to analyze each word in the Talmud’s parable. He states further that in his sleep, the tzaddik triggers the dispensation of G’d’s largesse, as during his sleep, when his soul is in the celestial regions, he conveys thoughts in those regions that he had been entertaining in his waking hours. His Creator is especially receptive to his wishes while his soul is close to Him during his sleep. According to the Sefer Yetzirah, chapter 4, the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are also known as אבנים, “stones,” the author describing them as being used to build the physical universe and engraving themselves on respective parts of it. In light of the description in the Sefer Yetzirah, it is easy for us to understand that when Yaakov lay down after having taken from “the stones of G’d,” i.e. the letters G’d had used in creating His universe, that he prepared during his sleep to beseech G’d to dispense of His largesse to His creatures on earth. Our author proceeds to analyze each word in the Talmud’s parable. He states further that in his sleep, the tzaddik triggers the dispensation of G’d’s largesse, as during his sleep, when his soul is in the celestial regions, he conveys thoughts in those regions that he had been entertaining in his waking hours. His Creator is especially receptive to his wishes while his soul is close to Him during his sleep. According to the Sefer Yetzirah, chapter 4, the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are also known as אבנים, “stones,” the author describing them as being used to build the physical universe and engraving themselves on respective parts of it. In light of the description in the Sefer Yetzirah, it is easy for us to understand that when Yaakov lay down after having taken from “the stones of G’d,” i.e. the letters G’d had used in creating His universe, that he prepared during his sleep to beseech G’d to dispense of His largesse to His creatures on earth. Pursuing the approach that the letters in the alphabet are building blocks, and we are aware that writing letters reflects what one has thought, what goes on in one’s mind, the author proceeds to understand the words: וישם מראשותיו, “he placed them as pillows beneath his head,“ as “he placed them above his head.” When he lay down he could concentrate his thoughts heavenwards. The fact that he would be asleep and not distracted by what went on around him, enabled him to connect better with celestial concerns. When we keep this in mind we may be better able to understand a strange statement in Shabbat 118 according to which if the entire Jewish people were to observe just two consecutive Sabbath days properly the messiah would arrive immediately. The Talmud quotes Isaiah 56,4-7 in support of this; we read thereכה אמר ה' לסריסים אשר ישמרו את שבתותי.....והביאותים אל הר קדשי ושמחתים בבית תפלתי, “thus says the Lord, as for the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,………I will bring them to My sacred Mountain and let them rejoice in My House of Prayer, etc.” Why did the Talmud choose to interpret Isaiah’s words as applying to the observance of two Sabbaths? Why would not the collective observance by all the Israelites of a single Sabbath suffice to bring on the redemption?We have a rule that there is a spiritual awakening that occurs in the “lower” regions of the universe, just as there is a parallel spiritual awakening originating in the celestial regions. Translated loosely, the difference between these two “awakenings” is their origin. Spiritual awakenings can be the result of good deeds performed by man here on earth, or they can be the result of inspiration from above.[I have heard that the difference between a psalm commencing with the words לדוד מזמור, and one commencing with מזמור לדוד, is that in the former the holy spirit had already entered David before he commenced composing, whereas in the latter type he commenced composing, as a result of which he was granted holy spirit. Ed.]Whereas it is easy to understand the merit accruing to us if we by our own efforts decided to observe the Sabbath in deed and thought, the question is why we deserve credit when our Sabbath observance was inspired by G’d and not by our own efforts? We must remember that when G’d favours us with the inspiration to observe the Sabbath, (or some other commandment) He does so because of something good we must have done or our forefathers must have done. We have pointed out repeatedly that G’d “takes pride” in His creatures having performed the commandments. He does so when they did so without having to be prompted. This is proof that they did so enthusiastically. As a result of such enthusiasm by the person or persons or congregations when they perform G’d’s commandments, G’d is encouraged to provide stimulus for further mitzvah performance. [This is what the sages in Avot 4,2 call שכר מצוה מצוה, “the reward for performance of a commandment is the encouragement provided with the help of heaven to perform additional commandments.” Ed.] G’d’s largesse need not necessarily manifest itself in material benefits but it can take the form of human beings becoming endowed with greater intellectual capacity as a result of which they will desire to observe more commandments and with greater enthusiasm.When the Talmud spoke about the observance of two Sabbaths being a requisite for the redemption following immediately on the heels of these two Sabbaths, the Talmud referred to the second such Sabbath being the result of G’d having inspired the people so that they can intensify the Sabbath observance and do so with greater enthusiasm than when they observed the first of these Sabbaths. When we attain the level of awareness so that we please the Creator by the way in which we observe His commandments, we truly deserve to be redeemed. Another way of understanding the verse:ויקח מאבני המקום וישם מראשותיו. As mentioned previously, the letters in the Hebrew alphabet are called “stones,” in the Sefer Yetzirah. A tzaddik takes hold of these letters, which each possess a holy quality of its own, seeing that המקום alludes to G’d Who is the Creator of every מקום. When men converse, speaking Torah or related subjects, they formulate letters with their mouths, each of which may be viewed as a “stone” with which to build a more perfect universe. The words: וישם מראשותיו, then mean that Yaakov’s words were addressed to the ראשית [מראשותיו=emanating from the One Who created the beginning. Ed.] Yaakov appealed to G’d to listen to His own letters, i.e. the words that can be formed by combining these letters in the appropriate manner to form such prayers. According to a number of Kabbalistic texts, Zohar, and Eitz chayim, et al, the prayers uttered by means of these 22 letters are engraved on G’d’s throne as acrostics. The word ויש-כב at the end of verse 11 symbolizes that the prayers of Yaakov acquired substance, i.e. יש, and were henceforth engraved on G’d’s throne. Genesis 29,12. “and he had a dream in which a ladder was featured, etc.;” when a young man begins his career (serving the Lord) he is very enthusiastic and believes that by means of his service he can spiritually elevate not only his immediate surroundings on earth, but even those in the celestial regions. This enthusiasm helps him to intensify his efforts at serving his Creator. When he feels that his serving the Lord has become a mainstay of his existence, he makes G’d the focus of all his thinking, and G’d in turn derives great satisfaction from him. Eventually, if he continues, he eventually qualifies to become one of the “carriers of the merkavah”, G’d’s chariot.The word ויחלום, from the same root as ותחלימני והחייני (Isaiah 38,16) “You have restored me to health and revived me,” means to feel strengthened. In King Chiskiyah’s prayer recorded in the Book of Isaiah, it means that the King emerged from his sickness strengthened in his capacity as a servant of the Lord. He had needed strength as he had been on the point of dying. Yaakov, at this point in his life is also in need of חיזוק, strengthening, so that the word ויחלום, means that he became aware of being strengthened seeing he was at the beginning of his career as a servant of the Lord, eventually as a patriarch of the Jewish nation. Genesis 28:13 “and in his dream there was a ladder standing toward the earth;” the vision represented human beings who, though standing on earth, focus on the heavens, i.e. וראשו מגיע השמימה. Man’s understanding of the celestial regions and what they stand for is based on his service of the Lord. Genesis 28:12 והנה מלאכי אלוקים עולים ויורדים בו, “and here angels of G’d were ascending and descending on it.” The vision reflects the fact that man’s actions propel the movement of these “angels,” either heavenwards or earthwards. If man, G’d forbid, instead of serving His Creator, does the opposite, he is also having a negative impact on these angels in the celestial spheres, causing them to descend spiritually. This concept has been spelled out in Pessikta Rabbati 21,8 where we are told that ever since the destruction of the Temple, G’d reduced the number of angels constituting His entourage. However, once Yaakov had become firmly established as a servant of G’d, he was granted an additional vision, i.e. והנה ה' נצב עליו, “and here the Lord Himself was standing above the ladder.” This vision refers to the merkavah of G’d, His chariot. Another meaning of והנה ה' נצב עליו, followed by G’d speaking to Yaakov, and introducing Himself as אני ה' אלוקי אברהם אביך ואלוקי יצחק, “I am the G’d of your father Avraham and the G’d of Yitzchok.” Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher in his Baal haturim already asks why the word אביך, “your father,” does not appear next to the word Yitzchok, seeing that even Yaakov’s grandfather Avraham has been referred to by G’d as “your father.”I believe that the key is that when Avraham descended to Egypt, leaving the Holy Land, he enjoyed the help of G’d immediately as his destiny was, as we pointed out, to proselytize all over the inhabited part of the earth. Yitzchok who had been expressly forbidden to leave the boundaries of Eretz Yisrael, had not been charged with such a task. When Avraham’s grandson, Yaakov, now walks in the footsteps of his grandfather, leaving the Holy Land, and in the process acquainting the people he will encounter with what a true tzaddik looks like, it is appropriate that the title: אביך, “your father,” be accorded to Avraham in this context.Another approach to the line: והנה ה' נצב עליו ויאמר וגו', “and here the Lord was standing above it, saying, etc.” It is well known by now that our patriarch Avraham’s relationship with G’d was based on the attribute of love, i.e. Avraham loved G’d. Yitzchok related to G’d primarily from a feeling of awe for His greatness. Each of them intended to aggrandize G’d’s image among His creatures through his service of the Lord. Yaakov attempted to achieve the same result by utilizing the attribute תפארת, harmony, as we have pointed out. This is why our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 76,1 point out that Yaakov was the choicest of the patriarchs as he understood how to meld the two attributes of G’d into a fruitful combination. Yaakov learned from the manner in which G’d referred to his grandfather and father respectively that it was his task to combine the attributes for which his father and grandfather had become famous, and to weave them into a fabric that enabled them both to be applied simultaneously. Genesis 28,19. “he now added to the name of this place the name Bet El”. We need to remember that all creatures G’d has created have been identified by means of one or more of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Some of these “letters” are incomplete without certain further “sub-titles” written in the form of dots, lines, etc. Some of these appear above the actual letter, others below it. These nuances reflect the fact that some creatures, though all mobile, move in certain ways, whereas others move in different ways. Yet other letters have a dot in the middle, neither above nor below. These “dots or lines” alert us to the how, i.e. by which motive the creature’s movements were prompted. When a creature’s motion is prompted by considerations resident in the celestial spheres, the “dot” accompanying the letters is found above the letter. When it originates from earthly considerations, the dot is found under the letter. When it is found in the middle of the letter, it reflects the fact that both lofty and less lofty considerations prompted the motion of the individual described by the respective letter. Seeing that Yaakov’s movements were prompted by lofty considerations, the word ויחלום has the dot on top of the letter ו. These lofty thoughts enabled him to sire a son combining so many fine attributes as did Joseph. The combinations of letters, i.e. attributes, are also reflected in the spelling of the word ביתאל as a single word, instead of, as we find it elsewhere בית אל.Yaakov wished to express the thought that in the house of G’d to be built on that site in the future, the combination of the basic attributes required for successful service of the Lord by His creatures on earth be present at all times. Genesis 28,20. “If G’d will be with me, etc.;” Nachmanides’ comment that seeing G’d had already promised Yaakov in verse 15 that He would be with him, why did Yaakov question this with the word: אם, “if?” is well known. The answer given by Nachmanides is that Yaakov was afraid that G’d’s promise would be invalid if he became guilty of a sin before it could be carried out. (compare Bereshit Rabbah 76,2 that promises made to tzaddikim concerning happenings in this life are never absolute.) [If they were they would tie G’d’s hands if the tzaddik were to become a rasha. Ed.]The answers given by the Midrash or quoted as such by the commentators, appear to contradict the specific promise for events in this life made to Yaakov in verse 15. I quote: (translation) “Remember, I am with you; I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Surely, after such a promise, how could Yaakov have had any doubt that what G’d had promised would occur in this lifetime on earth? Part of this promise implies that G’d the good, Who only does good, will assist the recipient of this promise to conduct himself in a manner that will ensure that G’d will feel obliged to honour His promise.However, we must remember two points. 1) The Torah had reported G’d’s promise as being part of a dream,” i.e. ויחלום. The Torah did not preface the dream as a vision, i.e. וירא אליו ה'; Yaakov was not at all sure that what appears here as a solid promise was not a figment of his imagination. 2) We have discussed once before the fact that G’d wishes us to pray to Him for our needs, (that is why Rivkah did not become pregnant till after 20 years of marriage when both her husband and she prayed for this). Seeing that Yaakov is not on record as having actively asked G’d to assist him in what was a pretty desperate situation, G’d, by spelling out this promise, wished to provoke Yaakov into finally praying to Him for His help. (Compare also Bereshit Rabbah 45, Sarah being angry at Avraham for not having including her in his prayer when he said to G’d, (complainingly) “here I walk on this earth childless.” (Genesis 15,2) G’d dispenses largesse without waiting to be asked, to those of His creatures whom He has not equipped with a mouth to articulate their requests. Man, who has been so equipped is expected to use his powers to address his Creator in prayer.According to B’rachot 17 the reason why our matriarchs were originally barren is summed up in Isaiah 46,12 שמעו אלי אבירי לב הרחוקים מצדקה! “Listen to Me, you who have lost heart, who are far from righteousness.” According to one interpretation of the above verse in the Talmud, some people are granted their livelihood because they use their intelligence to ask G’d for it. Others believe in their own strength, זרוע, their ability to work for a living, and secure it through this means. The people who are devoid of intelligence will be provided for by G’d, as they are too dim witted or physically unable look out for themselves. This is the meaning of שומר פתאים ה', “the Lord looks after the fools.” (psalms 116,6) Examples of such people are children having to eat at their father’s table. When the father of such children sees that they have become capable of fending for themselves, he no longer supports them. The same holds true of our Father in heaven, when He sees that we could fend for ourselves but prefer to have Him provide for us. The righteous are supposed to support themselves by using their arms, (to do work) not violence. Those who possess intelligence and do not use it to appeal to their Creator are not supported by G’d’s charity, צדקה. This is what G’d meant when He told Yaakov in his dream: כי לא אעזבך עד אשר עשיתי את אשר דברתי לך, “for I will not abandon you until I have done what I have said (I would do) for you.” What G’d meant was that as soon as Yaakov would return to the land of Israel, he would have to fend for himself, using the intelligence etc., that G’d had endowed him with. He implied that at that time he would have to accompany his activities with the appropriate prayers asking G’d to let his efforts be crowned with success. If he were to neglect to do so, he would not become the founding father of the twelve tribes making up the Jewish people. Seeing that you had not reached spiritual maturity until that time, I intervened overtly on your behalf during the preceding years.When we look at Yaakov’s situation from this angle, it is neither fear nor lack of faith when Yaakov says אם יהיה אלוקים עמדי וגו', “if G’d will be with me etc.” It is a declaration by Yaakov that as soon as he will safely return to his homeland he is prepared to do everything humanly possible, including prayer, of course, to ensure his success in the task that G’d has set him. He indicates by promising to tithe his income he will continue to view his success as an act of charity by G’d. Although he will do what is in his power, he will view success as G’d manifesting His love for him. Tzaddikim, even when earning their livelihood by their own efforts, will continue to view their success as not due to their own intelligence or hard work, but as a gift from G’d. The matriarchs, whose success is not measured in terms of their earning power, but in terms of the fruit of their wombs, therefore were meant to turn to G’d in prayer in order for what other women considered as their natural right, i.e. to produce children, to be granted to them also.Perhaps this is how we must understand Bereshit Rabbah 76,2 on Genesis 45,28 according to which any assurance given by G’d to tzaddikim does not refer to events that would occur in this life. On Deuteronomy 3,23 Rashi comments that although the righteous, if they wanted to, could ascribe any success that they enjoyed in this life as due to merits they had accumulated, they prefer not to do so. When they ask G’d for something, they make a point as describing G’d’s granting their request as a מתנת חנם, a “free gift.” These explanations were needed, as seeing that we have a tradition that G’d does not even go back on a conditional promise, how could the Midrash say that no promises of G’d apply in this world. The meaning of the words: כי לא אעזבך עד וגו', therefore must mean that there comes a time in Yaakov’s life when he is expected to no longer have to rely on G’d’s promises. Genesis 28,21. “then Hashem (the attribute of Mercy) will be my G’d,;” (may deal with me on the basis of the attribute of Justice). Many commentators already have dealt with this phrase and the difficulties it presents when one reads it superficially. Firstly, why would Yaakov feel the need to make a vow when G’d had already promised him all that he is asking. We trust we are correct in answering that Yaakov here asked for a detail that G’d had not included in the promise He had made to him. We have mentioned already that at the beginning of a “career” as a servant of G’d, everyone needs an assist from G’d. Yaakov therefore asked for this initial assistance, so that eventually he would be able to stand on his own two feet not only economically but also spiritually. When he spoke about G’d being with him, he meant “immediately,” not only at some time in the future. He also wished for G’d’s continued assistance even after he would have returned safely to his homeland and the house of his father. G’d’s initial promise had been limited to the time when Yaakov would return to Eretz Yisrael. Genesis 29,2. “he saw that there was a well in the field and that three flocks of sheep were lying around it;” …והאבן גדולה על פי הבאר, “and the rock covering the mouth of the well was very great.”(The text is quoted until the end of verse 10 after Yaakov single-handedly moved the rock to make the water accessible.)It appears best to explain this whole sequence allegorically. It is a given that G’d on His part is desirous to make available to His creatures an uninterrupted flow of His largesse, especially to His people of Israel. However, from time to time He appears to face interference from the “left” side of the diagram representing the emanations. The only time when G’d does not encounter such interference is when the Jewish people are awakened by feelings of joy, and this joy succeeds in repulsing such interference. This is the image that opened up before Yaakov’s eyes when he is described as וירא והנה באר , “he saw the fountain of G’d’s largesse primed to water the field.” The word שדה, commonly translated as “field,” is also a simile for חקל תפוחים קדישין a concept described in Zohar 1, 152 describing 3 layers of differing degrees of holiness in the celestial spheres that are all perceived as surrounding the באר, the well from which G’d’s largesse flows towards its recipients. On the three pilgrimage festivals, Passover, the festivals of “weeks,” Shavuot, and the festival of huts, these “spigots” of the “well” are especially primed to open as the Jewish people on those festivals are filled with a joy inspired by observing all the commandments associated with these festivals, and the fact that they are on sacred ground in Jerusalem. The three flocks of sheep mentioned in our verse are similes for these festivals. The “great rock” preventing access to the water from the well described is a simile for the powers of Satan, the left side of the emanations, trying to block access to G’d’s largesse for His people. This “rock” is alluded to in the Talmud Kidushin 30, where the Talmud suggests as a remedy against this phenomenon that persons feeling the evil urge as a form of a heavy stone, should proceed to the Torah academy and immerse themselves in Torah study so that this “stone” will melt. The “stone” is perceived in practice as the obstacle for G’d providing His largesse. When the three herds and their shepherds are joined by כל העדרים, “all the other herds,” i.e. all the Jewish people, their combined spiritual power will enable their leader to remove these obstacles to G’d’s largesse as the joy of serving the Lord is powerful enough to accomplish this. An alternate approach to the paragraph commencing with: וירא והנה באר בשדה, “he looked, and here there was a well in the field, etc.;” The Talmud Pessachim 88 draws attention to Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov each using a different simile when trying to condense their concept of G’d. Avraham saw G’d in terms of a הר, “mountain,” i.e. something far above our level towering above man. Yitzchok perceived him as שדה, a field, covering huge expanses of earth, but sharing earth with man. Yaakov perceived Him as בית, i.e. an intimate term, viewing G’d as if He were at home with human beings. A major difference between Yaakov’s concept of G’d and that of his forefathers, is that the former did not view G’d as being “at home” permanently on earth, whereas Yaakov did perceive Him as constantly accompanying man, much as a house is the symbol of a permanent presence. [The scriptural verses this is based on are: Genesis 22,14 בהר ה' יראה, “on the Mountain of Hashem, He may be seen.” Genesis 24,63 ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה, “Yitzchok went out into the field to meditate.” In Genesis 28,19 the Torah quotes Yaakov as naming the site ביתאל, “house of the Lord”. Yaakov felt that the time had come when G’d could have a permanent home on earth. However, this had been a vision brought about by his dream/prophetic insight. After awakening he realized that down on earth, where greed, envy and jealousy were still prevalent, to wit the huge rock making the water of the well inaccessible accept when all the interested parties were assembled simultaneously, that the time was not yet ripe for G’d to feel at home in such an environment. By removing the rock, Yaakov wanted to demonstrate to the shepherds that a better future could be in store for mankind. I have reworded the thought expressed by the author somewhat, and have omitted the comparison to the portion of קן צפור in Deut. 22,6. Ed.] Genesis 29,5., “He said: ‘do you know Lavan son of Nachor, etc.?’” If we wish to read an allegorical meaning into Yaakov’s question to the shepherds: “where are you from, my brothers,” and their reply: “we are from Charan,” we must refer to the Zohar I 147, as well as the last Rashi on Parshat Noach where Rashi refers to an inverted letter נ at the end of the word חרן, [something that at the time of Minchas Shay, (Rabbi Yedidyah Shlomoh Rafael Minortzi of Mantua) was apparently still found in the Torah scrolls, Ed.] [The common denominator of both commentaries appears to be that the word חרן is an allusion to the attribute of Justice, suggesting that in that place such concepts as רחמים, mercy, something beyond strict justice was unheard of. Ed.]Rashi there quotes an opinion according to which G’d related to mankind primarily with the attribute of Justice until the time of Avraham and his benevolent activities on earth. Yaakov enquired from the shepherds (who had demonstrated strict Justice by not trusting anyone not to take more than his fair share of water from the well unless he had been watched over by his colleagues) if they had not heard that there are also other yardsticks by which mankind could be judged, i.e. the attribute of Mercy. The reply of the shepherds appeared to have been in the negative when they emphasized that their home was חרן. Yaakov persisted in asking how it could be possible to live like that. The word (name) לבן, is perceived as the opposite of חרן, so that Yaakov’s question השלום לו, “is he well?” had a double entendre, referring also to his spiritual well being. According to this the shepherds replied: שלום לו, “he is physically and spiritually well.” The shepherds used the reference to his daughter Rachel as proof or rather as the cause that he was spiritually at peace, i.e. that his daughter Rachel was a major factor in this. They may have hinted without being aware of this, at Rachel’s future role near the throne of G’d as an advocate on behalf of her people in exile. (According to the Sefer Chassidim, Rachel’s spirit intervenes with G’d whenever the Jewish people face special problems. She possessed this power thanks to her good deeds while alive on earth). Genesis 29,10. “it was when Yaakov saw Rachel, etc.;” [the following has to be understood against the background of Yaakov, until that moment, not having felt capable of removing the stone from the top of the well. Ed.]This verse is an allusion to the joy experienced by bride and groom, which is also compared to the joy of the Jewish people making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem on the festivals, as we know from Ezekiel 11,19 where the prophet describes the reaction of the returning exiles being the feeling that a heavy stone has been lifted from their hearts. The “stone” there describes the weight of the left side of the emanations, the seat of the forces of Satan, the crushing weight of which prevented the Jewish people from experiencing prophetic insights while in exile. Our author cites psalms 90,12 ונביא לבב חכמה, “so that we may obtain a wise heart,” as a heart capable of receiving prophetic insights. Yaakov’s being able to remove the rock from the well once he set eyes on Rachel, means that obstacles to serving the Lord were removed by his vision of Rachel. Genesis 29,11. “Yaakov gave Rachel a kiss, etc;” [note that the Torah does not refer to Rachel’s physical appearance until verse 17 after Yaakov had already worked for him for over a month. Ed.]Genesis 29,17. “and Rachel was shapely and beautiful.” At first glance it is surprising that the Torah appears to link Yaakov’s falling in love with Rachel in verse 18, ויאהב יעקב את רחל, “Yaakov loved Rachel,” to the description of her physical assets in verse 17. Is it possible that Yaakov, the most highly admired of our patriarchs, was attracted by Rachel’s physical features, and that this is why the Torah reports matters in this sequence? Our sages called our attention to Yaakov’s message to his brother Esau in Genesis 32,4 where he told him עם לבן גרתי, ”I have remained a stranger while with Lavan, etc.” The numerical value of the letters in the word גרתי, equals 613, the number of commandments in the Torah. Yaakov reminded his brother that during the entire period that he spent in Charan he had observed the Torah, and therefore had little to fear. A man who could make such a statement certainly did not marry Rachel because he was smitten by lust to possess her shapely body. Anyone who observes the 613 commandments is well aware of the statement by Solomon in Proverbs 31,30 that שקר החן והבך היופי, that external attributes such as physical beauty or even a graceful walk, etc., are deceptive and offer no clue to the owner’s character.We must look further for the reason why the Torah made a point of mentioning Rachel’s physical attributes. I have heard from my revered teacher the Maggid of Mezeritch Dov Baer, of sainted memory, that we must understand this as follows. We know that the principal attribute used by Yaakov in serving the Lord is the attribute known as תפארת, harmony, located in the center of diagrams of the 10 emanations, ספירות. Any physical matter on earth, containing a “spark” from this emanation, is spiritually elevated by the presence of this spark, regardless of how secular it is by nature. Through this spark of the attribute of תפארת, its host is brought closer to its roots in the celestial regions, and engages in some degree of service to the Lord.We must look further for the reason why the Torah made a point of mentioning Rachel’s physical attributes. I have heard from my revered teacher the Maggid of Mezeritch Dov Baer, of sainted memory, that we must understand this as follows. We know that the principal attribute used by Yaakov in serving the Lord is the attribute known as תפארת, harmony, located in the center of diagrams of the 10 emanations, ספירות. Any physical matter on earth, containing a “spark” from this emanation, is spiritually elevated by the presence of this spark, regardless of how secular it is by nature. Through this spark of the attribute of תפארת, its host is brought closer to its roots in the celestial regions, and engages in some degree of service to the Lord.When the Torah (Genesis 39,13) reports that Joseph וינס ויצא החוצה, “fled and went “outside,” to escape the efforts of Potiphar’s wife to seduce him, he did so because he realized that that woman had used her mode of dress to lure him into a sinful relationship (Yuma 35). She had employed whatever holy spark she possessed in a reverse manner, instead of a means to come closer to her Creator. When Joseph escaped from her presence he took with him this “holy spark” thereby serving his Creator and paving the way for this “spark” that had escaped from the Shechinah to find its way back to its roots.It is known that Joseph, though, of course also serving the Lord, did not do so by using principally the attribute of harmony as his father was in the habit of doing. However, at this critical juncture, in his fateful seclusion with the wife of his master Potiphar, he resorted to the attribute of תפארת as the means to avoid sinning.It is also known that every tzaddik who serves the Lord, regardless of which of the attributes in the diagram of the emanations he uses as his primary model, will be granted a vision of the tzaddik who had made that attribute his primary role model in serving the Lord. When the Talmud Sotah 36 relates that at the critical moment before the seduction, Joseph had a vision of his father, it is a vision of the emanation of תפארת that the Talmud refers to as having been seen by Joseph. Genesis 29,30. “he also had marital relations with Rachel, and he loved her, even more than he loved Leah.” It has been understood that the principal reason that Yaakov stayed at Lavan’s house had been on account of Rachel. It was for Rachel, after all, that he had agreed to serve Lavan for seven years, originally. Leah would never have become Yaakov’s wife had it not been for his abiding desire to marry Rachel. He had loved Rachel for herself all the time, whereas his love for Leah was a byproduct of his love for Rachel who had been instrumental in his having the זכות, good fortune, to also have a pious woman such as Leah for his wife. This explains why the Torah speaks here of Yaakov “also loving Rachel.” It could obviously not mean that Rachel ranked second in Yaakov’s love, but means that Yaakov had an additional reason for loving Rachel, this being that through her he had merited to become Leah’s husband also. An alternate interpretation of this somewhat obscurely worded verse above. When concentrating on the section ויאהב גם את רחל מלאה, “he also loved Rachel better than Leah;” we must examine the meaning of the word: גם in this verse. We are used to find this word when comparisons are being made to something that preceded it; here, however, there is no question that Yaakov’s love for Rachel had preceded his love for Leah as we know already from Genesis 29,18.The wording of our verse throws light on Rashi’s explanation on Genesis 30,22 “G’d remembered Rachel;” according to Rashi, G’d remembered not only that Rachel had given her sister Leah the secret code that was designed to alert Yaakov in the event Lavan were to trick him, but also that Rachel was most unhappy at the prospect that once her sister had become the wife of Yaakov it would now be her lot to become the wife of Esau, a terrible prospect, especially as she feared that Yaakov would divorce her seeing that she had not born any children for him. Looking at this commentary, it appears that according to Rashi, G’d had two separate reasons for “remembering” Rachel at that time. Actually, this is not so; how can one imagine that Yaakov would divorce Rachel because she had no children, when he himself had already been blessed with numerous children both from Leah and from the servant maids?According to Bereshit Rabbah 70,16 the reason why the Torah in 29,17 reveals that Leah had “weak” eyes, is to alert us to her having wept excessively at the prospect of her having to become the wife of a wicked person, her cousin Esau. At least, this is what she had heard about her father’s plans for her, something that was common gossip in Charan. At the time when Rachel had handed Leah the secret code between Yaakov and her, it was not clear yet that Yaakov would also marry Rachel so that she need not have worried. It was therefore an even greater act of self sacrifice on the part of Rachel to have revealed the secret code to her sister at the time, as not only would she most likely lose the chance to become Yaakov’s wife, but would wind up with a husband who was a wicked person. Rashi meant that G’d now remembered not only that Rachel had acted altruistically at the time when she revealed the code to her sister, but she had in addition had reason to believe that she had thereby condemned herself to becoming the wife of Esau. When Yaakov, after also marrying Rachel, instead of harbouring anger at her for revealing their secret, became aware of her true motives, he also loved her for her piety. In other words, his original love for Rachel is considered by the Torah as a given; Yaakov in the meantime had found out to what length of self-sacrifice Rachel had gone in order to save her sister Leah embarrassment. He therefore loved her doubly. If we translate the word מלאה, “on account of Leah,” instead of as “more than Leah,” the verse does not present any problems at all. This also helps us understand a verse in psalms 31,20 מה רב טובך אשר צפנת ליראיך פעלת לחוסים בך נגד בני אדם, “how abundant is the good that You have in store for those who fear You; You have done so publicly in full view of men, for those who have taken refuge in You.” Rachel was a perfect example of how one fulfills the exhortation of our sages in Avot 1,3 not to belong to the category of people who observe the Lord’s commandments only for the sake of the reward G’d has promised. She trusted G’d fully, else she would have certainly used the argument that she did not want to become Esau’s wife as justification not to reveal the secret code between Yaakov and her to her sister. Her action even endangered her afterlife, which due to being a dutiful wife of Esau would have daily put her claim to an afterlife at risk.The exhortation of the above quoted Mishnah not to perform the commandments for the sake of the reward promised is very difficult to honour as we know and are constantly aware that G’d keeps His promises to us, and it is almost superhuman not to be influenced by such promises. When David worded his psalm 31,20 as he did, adding the words נגד בני אדם, he meant that at the time when we perform the commandments we must not think of the reward in store for us. G’d does not mind that once we have performed the commandment we think about the reward. He knows how difficult it is not to think of it while performing it; this is why David says of G’d צפנת, “You hid,” such thoughts from those who truly revere You at the time when they performed the commandments. We need to address the reason why the twelve sons of Yaakov are sometimes referred to as שבטים, “tribes,” and on other occasions as מטות, in our classical literature, as well as why both Yehudah and Joseph are referred to as “king” in our sources, and why our matriarchs named their children as representing symbols of our physical world rather than as symbols of the celestial spheres, when it is clear that they themselves were far from viewing our existence on this terrestrial part of the world as our real “life,” the very names the matriarchs gave their children reflect that their entire orientation was focused on spiritual values accompanied by prophetic insights. [If any of you have my translation of the commentary Tzror Hamor by Rabbi Avraham Saba, you will be able to read up on all this in his commentary on Vayetze. Ed.]By naming their children, the matriarchs provide us with a model lesson on how to serve the Lord. Our matriarchs taught us how G’d, the Creator of the universe, in spite of the thousands of concerns that keep Him occupied around the clock, never neglects the problems of an individual creature of His on earth. Leah testifies that this Creator took time out to notice that she was relatively hated by her husband as a result of which He granted her children, in spite of her being barren by nature. (Genesis 29,32) The phrase: ויפתח רחמה in that verse makes it clear that she was barren, why else would G’d have had to “open her womb,” seeing that pregnancy is one of the most natural results of marital intercourse? Another lesson we learn from the matriarchs is that the word, i.e. request, by a tzaddik, makes an impression in the celestial spheres and that he or she can draw down additional largesse from the Creator to these “lower” regions of the universe. We have explained that this is the reason that the אותיות, letters in the Hebrew alphabet, [when used as the Holy Tongue, Ed.] are called אבנים, “stones,” in the sense of “building blocks,” as the words formulated by the tzaddik in prayer enhance and improve the structure known as the תחתונים, “the lower regions” of the universe. These prayers, as we have demonstrated at the beginning of the last portion, are the real תולדות, enduring achievements by the righteous on earth. [Compare pages 139 and 140 on how a true תולדה is a son in his father’s image, i.e. Yitzchok being a continuation of the spiritual values represented by his father. Ed.]The names given by their mothers to the founding tribes of the Jewish people retained their significance throughout our history, and this is why both Yaakov and Moses at the respective end of their lives confirmed this in their blessings.When Leah explained why she called her firstborn son Reuven, she said: ראה ה' בעניי, “for the Lord has seen my affliction,” adding a prayer כי עתה יאהבני אישי, “for from now on my husband will love me.” This was an appeal for G’d’s largesse to be drawn down to her for her benefit. When the letters, words of a tzaddik are translated into “building blocks,” אבנים, they become transformed into אבנים, which translated into Aramaic is equivalent to אבהן, “fathers, founding fathers,” as in רועה אבן ישראל, (Genesis 49,24) When these letters ascend heavenwards, -mature- they become not only corner stones, but, as is customary with sons, eventually they themselves become “fathers,” אבהן. [The concept of letters being “stones” dates back to the Sefer Yetzirah chapter 6. Ed.] In Hebrew, the Holy Tongue, the word אבנים is a combination of אב, “father,” and בנים, “sons.” The progression in Leah’s insights is demonstrated when at the birth of her fourth son, יהודה, she no longer prays for her husband’s love, but is full of gratitude, הפעם אודה את ה', “this time I thank the Lord, etc.” (Genesis 29,35). [The author continues to demonstrate that Rachel also was on the same wavelength as her older sister when naming her children. I have omitted the details. Ed.] Genesis 29,31. “When G’d saw that Leah was hated, He opened her womb.” There is a somewhat enigmatic comment on this verse in Aggadat Bereshit 48 according to which some of Leah’s descendants would be enemies of G’d, and that this is why she is called here שנואה, in reference to the wicked deeds of some of her offspring. (The angels protested Leah’s having children as they foresaw that on account of Zimri from the tribe of Shimon 24000 Israelites would lose their lives and not enter the land of Israel) Our verse would explain that just as Yishmael at the time (Genesis 21,17) was not allowed to die from thirst as at the time he was free from sin, so Leah, who had prayed not to become the wife of the wicked Esau, could not be denied children now on account of something over which she could have no control. She had demonstrated that she hated wickedness so what more could she have done? [I have rephrased this a little, as the whole idea of when G’d interferes with natural developments in order to forestall wicked deeds and when not is exceedingly complex. Ed.] Our verse makes clear that other considerations notwithstanding, Leah’s prayer to bear children was answered positively. Genesis 30,14. “Reuven went and found mandrakes in the field, etc.;” ותאמר אלי תבא כי שכר שכרתיך בדודאי בני, “Leah said to her husband come to me for I have hired you in exchange for my son’s mandrakes.” After reporting this strange sounding incident, the Torah continues with: וישמע אלוקים אל לאה, “G’d listened to Leah’s prayer” (and gave her another son) as a result of which Leah exclaimed: נתן אלוקים שכרי אשר נתתי שפחתי לאישי ותקרא שמו יששכר, “G’d has given me a reward for having given my maid-servant to my husband; she called her son Issachar.”It is somewhat puzzling why Leah called this son of hers Issachar, if she saw it as a reward not for having slept with Yaakov as a reward for allowing Reuven to give Rachel the mandrakes, but for having given her maid-servant to Yaakov (previously).When we look at Rashi’s comment on this verse, (17) he attributes G’d’s listening to Leah’s prayer as reward for her having demonstrated by giving her maid-servant to Yaakov that she wanted him to father more founding fathers of the Jewish people, even if she was not going to be the mother of them. She had proven thereby that when she “hired” Yaakov in exchange for the mandrakes, she had not been motivated by the desire to satisfy her libido.Our author wonders how we can be sure of this as even assuming that Leah, who at any rate had to share her husband with other women, something that no doubt caused her much heartache, would have been fully justified in wanting more of her husband’s company than she appeared to enjoy. Our author answers that while it is true that ordinary women whose husbands also have another wife do suffer such heartache and jealousy, so that the name for such a wife who has to share her husband is always called צרה, “rival wife,” if Leah had entertained the type of motivation common to other “rival wives,” she most certainly would not have seen in her bearing Issachar a “reward” from G’d, but as fulfillment of her personal desire. This is why Rashi draws our attention to this psychological insight which many a reader might have overlooked otherwise. We now can also understand the Mishnah in Makkot, 23, where Rabbi Chananyah ben Akashyah attributes the many commandments G’d gave us, the Torah and the commandments, to His desire to provide us with many merits due to the frequent opportunities we have to perform His commandments. We need to analyse what the Rabbi meant when he appears to have distinguished between תורה and מצות? Generally we use the terms interchangeably!Apparently, we must differentiate between Torah and commandments. The latter may be understood on two levels. There are commandments performance of which does not interfere with a person’s natural physical urges. It does not interfere with a person’s natural urges whether he wears a prayer shawl, טלית, or whether he observes the commandment to put on phylacteries every morning, or whether he does neither. Performing these commandments are acts strictly between him and His Creator, there being no interference due to other demands on the wearer by his body.There are commandments such as eating a number of meals on the Sabbath, having conjugal relations with his wife on Friday nights, concerning the performance of which the demands of one’s body may present obstacles. Whereas when a Jew wears a prayer shawl or puts on phylacteries, it is clear that he does so only because the Torah has commanded it, eating good meals on the Sabbath or enjoying conjugal relations, while a commandment, would most likely have been carried out also if there had not been such a commandment; so who is to say that performing these commandments are proof of one’s piety, or one’s desire to please one’s Creator?It would have required almost superhuman discipline to observe these latter commandments exclusively because G’d had legislated them. Rabbi Chanayah ben Akashyah reminds us that G’d legislated many commandments that while we perform them also correspond to our physical desires. By according the performance of actions that originate in our bodily desires the title מצוה, G’d has multiplied the opportunities when we can accumulate spiritual credits, זכויות. G’d helps us sublimate our physical desires to the level of making religiously important acts out of them, provided that we do remember to have this in mind also when we carry out these activities.Not only the body derives satisfaction, joy, from the performance of the last mentioned commandments, but also the soul, so that on account of the soul deriving satisfaction, the personality of the person involved in these activities emerges as being more refined. This will be reflected in the quality of the visions granted to the souls of such people when they will move to the celestial regions after shedding their bodies.Not only the body derives satisfaction, joy, from the performance of the last mentioned commandments, but also the soul, so that on account of the soul deriving satisfaction, the personality of the person involved in these activities emerges as being more refined. This will be reflected in the quality of the visions granted to the souls of such people when they will move to the celestial regions after shedding their bodies. Genesis 31,13. “I am the G’d of Betel to Whom you have vowed, etc.” The spelling of the word ביתאל both here and in 35,1 suggests that a house may serve more than one function. It may serve a person to dwell in, just as clothing serves the body as a “house” to surround him with a feeling of security and familiarity. When you see the clothes a person wears, this serves as a preparation to making the acquaintance of the personality behind these clothes. When you see the house a person lives in, you get an initial impression of what kind of a person lives in such a house.When a person prepares to “meet” his Creator, in prayer, etc., he also has to prepare himself for what to expect, by performing certain commandments that serve his soul, much as his clothing serves his body. One of the most appropriate “introductions” prior to addressing G’d is to do so in a house designated for this purpose, i.e. a synagogue. The type of “preparations” used, depend on the importance of the “interview” one expects to have with one’s Creator. Issues involving life and death, obviously deserve a more careful preparation.In psalms 84,2 and 84,3 respectively, the authors (sons of Korach) describe their yearning for entering either the dwellings of G’d on earth, or at least to be allowed to enter the courtyards of these dwellings. They speak of both their body (flesh) and their “heart,” (spirit) yearning for this. They hope that admission to these sites will enable them to shout for joy to the living G’d. Their yearnings reflect the fact that they are in exile, and they pray that they not be treated worse than birds that always can return to their nest. They are aware that in order to really come close to G’d, they must first make the appropriate preparations, i.e. build a Temple with the courtyards surrounding it. The psalmist clearly suggests, at the end of verse 3, that only after these preparations have been made can his heart and body rejoice having come closer to His Creator. He can then approach G’d being certain that he, on his part, has made the appropriate preparations.Our author sees in the word נכספה at the beginning of verse 3 an additional spiritual plus of the psalmist, as he made plain that he had made the necessary preparations that would entitle him to have the desired “interview” with Hashem, but he emphasizes, that contrary to performing such a commandment as putting on phylacteries, an act that does not involve pleasurable sensations of his body, what he did when building a courtyard and temple for G’d involved him emotionally on the highest level. He was literally yearning for the spiritual experience no less than the body on occasion yearns for satiating physical urges.On folio 40 in Kidushin 40, where the Talmud deals with the relative moral/ethical value of appropriate intentions when compared to performance, but not necessarily with appropriate intentions, we are told that if someone planned sincerely to perform a certain commandment but was prevented from carrying out his intention by forces beyond his control, he is credited with having performed the commandment. In emphasizing the value of a constructive attitude, the Talmud adds that planning to commit a transgression, and carrying it out, brings in its wake a penalty only for the execution, not for the planning that preceded carrying out the foul deed. [The planning of idolatry is the only exception to this rule. ibid. Ed.]This is also the meaning of Deuteronomy 6,6: והיו הדברים האלה אשר אני מצוך היום על לבבך, “these matters that I command you this day shall be on your heart.” Even commandments that are not capable of being fulfilled in exile should remain part of our constant consciousness through discussion between father and son, pupil and teacher, so that we are not deprived of receiving a reward for them as if we had actually performed them. The desire to be able to perform the respective commandments in reality is the principal criterion used by G’d to judge our mitzvah performance. Even King David in Chronicles I 22,14 already referred to this when he said (concerning his desire to build a Temple) והנה בעניי הכינותי לבית ה' זהב ככרים מאה אלף כסף וגו', “and here through denying myself, I have set aside for the house of the Lord one hundred thousands talents of gold, and one million talents of silver, etc;” what David meant was that the commandment of charity cannot only be fulfilled by the actual handing out of sums of money, but can also be carried out by preparing such monies to be ready when the need arises. David adds that even while he was not able to hand out sums that were needed because he was temporarily short of even bare essentials for himself, i.e. בעניי, his sincere desire to be of help would be accounted for him as if he had actually carried out his desire, as we know from psalms 119,106 נשבעתי ואקימה לשמור משפטי צדקך, “I have sworn to keep Your just rules.” [As soon as the opportunity will arise. Ed.] Yaakov had similar thoughts when he vowed that if G’d would be with him and grant him even minimal comforts he would turn what is now merely a stone into a building designed to serve G’d. G’d reminds him (31,13) of this vow by describing Himself as אנכי הא-ל ביתאל, saying that His presence will not only be with him in his heart, but that he can now carry out his desire to convert the stone he had anointed into a house of G’d. An alternate approach to אנכי הא-ל ביתאל; when we say in our daily shmoneh esreh, three times daily:הא-ל הגדול הגבור והנורא א-ל עליון, we refer to how G’d manifests Himself to us in our present state when we are in exile. At the same time we look forward with profound longing to the kind of manifestations of G’d’s greatness which the prophet has described as עין לא ראתה אלוקים זולתך, “which thus far no human eye has beheld, only G’d Himself;” (B’rachot 34 based on Isaiah 64,3) Using the parlance of our sages, these as yet unrevealed manifestations of G’d’s loving kindness will serve as garments that the pious will wear in the future after our souls have left our bodies. In our verse above, G’d assures Yaakov that there are dimensions to His attribute of loving kindness that have not yet been revealed to man. The parts revealed to man thus far in this world are merely to serve as an introduction to additional dimensions reserved for being revealed to our souls in the afterlife. [G’d chose the first opportunity after He had assisted Yaakov to acquire material wealth in spite of his uncle’s constant efforts to thwart him, to acquaint Yaakov with this insight. Ed.] This is the reason why the sages added the attribute א-ל עליון, “the G’d in the highest regions,” to our daily prayer, to remind us that there is such an as yet unexplored dimension to G’d’s attributes. Genesis 31,18. “he guided all his livestock and all his portable possessions, the ones he had acquired while in Padan Aram, and in order to go back to his father Yitzchok”. The last few words about Yaakov returning to his father appear superfluous; the moral/ethical lesson that the Torah teaches by describing Yaakov’s motivation in returning to the land of Israel as being to become reunited with his father, is that although G’d had promised Yaakov that he would become a founder of a great nation, would expand in all directions of the globe, none of these promises weighed on his decision to return forthwith to the land of Israel. His concern was the opportunity to once more be able to fulfill the commandment of honouring his father (his mother having died during his absence). Genesis 31,19. “Rachel stole her father’s household idols.” [In the following paragraph our author departs so radically from the plain meaning of the text, without even following up the matter of Lavan’s searching for his idols, that I have decided to omit it. Ed.] Genesis 31,27. “Why did you flee in secrecy and mislead me and not tell me? I would have sent you off with festive music, with timbrel and lyre.” [The author’s approach is dictated by his unwillingness to believe that Yaakov deliberately mislead Lavan, instead of merely allowing him to draw erroneous conclusions. Ed.]It is a fact that although on the surface the relations between Yaakov and Lavan were civil, Yaakov appearing to be at peace with him, the fact is that Yaakov concealed his activities as much as possible, engaging in conversation only vis a vis G’d. Lavan was under the impression that words spoken to his face by Yaakov were addressed to him, whereas in reality they were addressed to G’d. Lavan was under the impression therefore that Yaakov’s attitude toward him had not undergone a change in spite of his cheating him constantly. The basic facts of life are that the wicked hates the just even while aware that he is the beneficiary of the just residing in his house. Lavan having been told by G’d that Yaakov was just and that he must not therefore dare harm him, asks Yaakov that if this was so he should have been up front about what he thought, and he, Lavan would have given him a farewell that reflected his esteem of him. Being wicked himself, Lavan cannot get out of his skin, revealing that he preferred to do without the “good” Yaakov’s G’d had bestowed upon him to being in debt to Yaakov’s G’d. Lavan tries to twist Yaakov’s uprightness to his advantage by challenging him when he said he was afraid of Lavan stealing his wives and children, since if he, Yaakov, was so certain of his honesty, how could he doubt that G’d would protect him against Lavan’s tricks? Yaakov replies that the very fact that he was afraid of Lavan had convinced him that his uprightness was not absolute, otherwise he would not have felt these pangs of fear. Genesis 31,42. “but G’d saw my plight and the toil of my hands, etc.;” Yaakov told Lavan that G’d had supervised the fate of His creatures, including his own, and His existence was proven by His appearance to Lavan in his dream warning him, just as His ownership and supervision of the universe is proven daily by His preventing water and fire, nature’s most deadly enemies, to annihilate each other. The continued existence of the “lower” universe, embodying so many elements that oppose each other, is explained only by the Creator’s exercising His control over them. Yaakov’s use of the word אמש, generally translated as “last evening,” is not accidental, as the letters in that word are the first letters of the word אש, מים, שמים, “fire, water, heaven,” i.e. if the first two would not be restrained by celestial forces, G’d, this universe would implode immediately.... Genesis 31,48. “whereas Yaakov named it Galed.” This verse contains an allusion to the thirty third day of the counting of the Omer, [significant to us only since the time of Rabbi Akiva, Ed.] The subject is elaborated on in Pessikta rabbati, chapter 21. The letters in the word גל, numerical value 33, symbolizes the first 33 days after the Exodus during which G’d is supposed to have appeared to the Jewish people as if a young man, a mighty warrior, whereas at the giving of the Torah He is supposed to have appeared to them in the guise of an aged scholar. The parable is meant to describe a young child whose father takes him by the hand when he brings him to school and his father trains him to like school by presenting school as an image of something he knows the child longs for. As the child learns more Torah his spiritual horizon expands so that when in his early youth the image of a young man had the greatest appeal for him, gradually he aspires to become like a revered elderly scholar. [The Midrash endeavours to explain the expression פנים בפנים דבר ה' עמכם, “G’d spoke to you once with one face and once with another face.” (Deut. 5,4.) Ed.]The 33rd day of counting the Omer represents the point at which the Jewish people after having experienced G’d performing a string of supernatural miracles began to experience a longing for the Holy Torah, after receipt of which they could serve the Lord with all their hearts having gained more insight into His thinking after they would study His Torah. As of then their service would be whole-hearted. By naming the pile of stones גל עד, “the thirty third would serve as witness,” Yaakov alluded to an event in the future, just as he did many more times, especially when he blessed his children before his death. The word עד also is derived from עדי, עדיים, as in Ezekiel 16,7 where it signifies puberty, adolescence, or as in Exodus 33,4 עדיו, “its jewelry,” where the phylacteries are described as the Jewish people’s jewelry, and having sinned grievously against the Torah they were not allowed to display that jewelry which symbolized Torah. In other words, until the 33rd day after the Exodus the people were still primarily under the influence of the events accompanying the redemption, whereas from that time on, [probably including the partial Torah legislation at Marah, Ed.] they were under the impending revelation of G’d’s Torah at Mount Sinai. This stage is hinted at in the letters עד of the word גלעד.
