פרשת ויצא
This week’s Parsha opens with Yaakov fleeing from his wicked brother Eisav who wanted to kill him on account of his steeling the blessings from his older brother. While fleeing, Yaakov decided to stop and study in Yeshiva for 14 years and after that, decided that it was time to look for a shidduch for himself. On the way, the sun suddenly set while Yaakov was traveling through what would become the temple mount, and he was forced to make camp there for the night. While Yaakov was sleeping, he had a prophetic dream in which he saw angels traveling up and down ladders and Hashem revealed to him many important details about the future of the Jewish people. When Yaakov awoke, he was frightened to learn that he had fallen asleep in such a holy place where God’s holy presence was resting.
There is an interesting Midrash on this episode. The Midrash says, “R’ Yochanan taught, the wicked stand on top of their gods, as the verse says ‘Pharoah stood on top of the Nile,’ whereas the righteous stand their God on top of them as the verse in this week’s Parsha says about Yaakov, ‘And God was standing above him.’” What is the meaning of this strange Midrash.
R’ Shach explained beautifully that everything in this world needs a place to stand. Nothing in the universe that we occupy can exist without a physical substance to support it. Even the world itself needs a “Place” to stand and this is God. That is why God is sometimes referred to as “The Place.” However, there is one exception to the above stated rule. Hashem is the one entity in this world that does not require a place to exist because He is completely self-sufficient. However, even Hashem does choose to rest His presence on the Tzadikim in this world, and that is why they are referred to as “Hashem’s place.” The verse says, “The place in which they mention my name, that is where I am found.” This is referring to the righteous people who have perfected themselves and formed a perch for God’s presence to rest in this world.
R’ Shach concludes by saying that Yaakov himself may have not known that the Shechina was resting upon him, and that is perhaps why he was so surprised when God suddenly revealed Himself to him. However, Yaakov prepared himself by constantly perfecting his actions, and thereby transformed himself into a being that was fitting to have the Shechina rest upon him. We must all take this lesson to heart and work on becoming the type of people that allow, so to speak, the presence of God to descend to this earth.
There is a Gemorah in Pesachim, (88) which says that one shouldn’t be like Avraham who referred to the Holy Temple as a mountain, and one should also not be like Yitzchak who referred to it as a field, but rather like Yaakov who referred to it as a house. R’ Simcha Zissel explains this esoteric Gemorah by saying that Avraham viewed the Mikdash as an extremely lofty place, high as a mountain where one travels to when one wants to attain the loftiest goals. And Yitzcahk referred to it as a field, also a very impressive place which produces marvelous fruits where one travels to experience the great ‘fruits’ of Torah, but not a place that one goes to regularly. Only Yaakov correctly encapsulated the essence of the Mikdash when he called it ‘his house.’ The Gemorah is teaching us that we must view our relationship with Hashem as one of constant mutual existence in which He is part of our family and continually with us in everything we do. This is the correct attitude we must foster in order to properly perform our service and relate to Hashem.
How does one reach the level where he becomes a resting place for the presence of God? Again, this weeks Parsha contains some clues to this elusive goal. The verse records that Yaakov saw in his dream a ladder reaching the Heavens. The Midrash point out that “Ladder” has the same numerical value as “Sinai.” In other words if a person learns Torah, his head will reach the heavens and become a perch for the Shechina. The next verse says, “And Yaakov awoke from his sleep.” Again, the Midrash explains through a play on words, that it wasn’t his sleep, but rather from his learning. Meaning, through his learning, he merited the vision that he saw. Indeed, Yaakov was coming from the Yeshiva of Shem and Aver where he had learned Torah with diligent dedication for a great many years without even stopping to sleep! There is no greater way to live with God together in one home then to be in Yeshiva and be constantly involved with Torah study.
On a deeper level, this fits beautifully with the cryptic words of the Ramchal. The Ramchal, in “Derech Hashem” (Part 4, Chptr 2) explains that the Torah is, as it were, God’s physical manifestation on this earth, and that the Torah is His way of expressing His splendor and His glory to the inhabitants of this universe. Therefore, concludes the Ramchal, when we bind ourselves to this Torah, by studying it and observing its laws, we actually bind ourselves to God Himself, so to speak and merit having Him rest His presence upon us.
The verse says, “And they shall build a sanctuary and I will dwell within them.” Notice the verse doesn’t say “I will dwell within it”, rather within “them.” From here we see that by our diligence in Torah study, and perfection of our actions by making ourselves a “sanctuary,” we merit in creating a home for Hashem’s presence on this earth. R’ Shach adds that one should not be under the false impression that this kind of existence in which we merit to bring Hashem’s presence to this world was limited to the forefathers. This is not true at all. The Angels say to Hashem “Where is Your place in this earth?” This question implies that they couldn’t find Him. But we, who have the Torah, are privy to something that event he Angels can’t fathom. By studying and implementing the Torah, we have the ability to invite Hashem into this world and feel His presence. Indeed, my father Ztz”l wrote in one of his letters that he constantly worked on this attribute of trying to be consciously aware that the presence of God was always resting right above his head and was able to reach the level where he actually felt it. From here we see clearly that we all have the ability to reach this lofty level.
May we all merit to become the kind of people who are befitting to have Hashem’s presence resting upon us!