Jacob’s Vision
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Remember the following three truth’s from our beloved Scriptures!
“Ye shall NOT ADD
TO THE WORD which I command you, neither shall
ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the commandments of יְהוָה
אֱלֹהֵיכֶם (the LORD your Elohim) which I command you”. Davarim -
Deuteronomy 4:2.
“This is My Name FOREVER, and this is My Memorial to ALL Generations”. Shemot - Exodus 3:15. (JPS).
“I am יְהוָה, that is My Name; and My glory will I not give to another”. Yeshayahu - Isaiah 42:8. (JPS).
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Ya’aqov – Jacob’s Vision..
With Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens,
PhD.
“Be strong and courageous. Be careful to obey the entire Torah My servant Moshe has given you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Torah depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
Introduction:
What we are
about to read is indeed one of the great visions that is
found the Torah. We are told that Ya’aqov - Jacob, was all alone at night,
having fled from the wrath of Esav – Esau.
He had come to
a certain place and stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one
of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep, and sees
not a nightmare of fear but an epiphany (a revelation):
Let us read -
Bereshit – Genesis 28:10-17. (JPS-1917).
“And Ya’aqov - Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Charan. And he lighted upon the place, and tarried there all night, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and laid down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of אֱלֹהִים - Elohim ascending and descending on it. And, behold, יְהוָה - the LORD stood beside him, and said: ‘אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי - I am the LORD, the יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים – the LORD Elohim of Avram - Avraham thy father, and the אֱלֹהִים of Yitzchak - Isaac. The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.' And Ya’aqov - Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said: ‘Surely יְהוָה - the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.’ And he was afraid, and said: ‘How full of awe is this place! this is none other than the house of The Sages also understood the word bamakom, “the place” to mean “אֱלֹהִים” (the “place” of the universe). Thus the אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, and this is the gate of heaven’. (JPS-1917 version).
This is indeed
one of the great visions that been found in the Torah. Ya’aqov - Jacob, being
all alone at night, then fleeing from the wrath of Esav - Esau, lies down to rest, and sees not a nightmare of fear but an
epiphany (reveation):
He came to a
certain place and stopped for the night due to the sun had set. Taking one of
the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. However he had
a dream and in it he saw a ladder resting on the earth, and the very top
reached into heaven. אֱלֹהִים
- Elohim’s angels were going up and down on it, but above it stood אֱלֹהִים - Elohim.
Ya’aqov -
Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “ אֱלֹהִיםis truly in this place, but I did
not know it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none
other than the house of; אֱלֹהִים this is the gate of heaven.”
Ya’aqov -
Jacob completed the cycle of his daily prayers. Avraham instituted ‘shacharit’, the morning prayer, Yitzchak
- Isaac ‘minchah’, the afternoon prayer, and Ya’aqov - Jacob ‘arvit’, the prayer of night-time.
This is a
striking idea, and yes each of the weekday prayers is identical in wording,
each bears the character of one of the patriarchs. Avraham represents morning.
He is the initiator, the one who introduced a new religious consciousness to
the world. With him a day begins. Isaac represents afternoon. There is nothing
new about Yitzchak - Isaac no major transition from darkness to light or light to darkness.
Many of the incidents in Yitzchak - Isaac’s life recapitulate those of his father. Famine forces him, as it
did Avraham, to go to the land of the Philistines. He re-digs his father’s
wells.
Yitzchak - Isaac’s is the quiet heroism of continuity. He is a link in the chain
of the covenant. He joins one generation to the next. He introduces nothing new
into the life of faith, but his life has its own nobility. Yitzchak
- Isaac is
steadfastness, loyalty, the determination to continue. Ya’aqov - Jacob
represents night. He is the man of fear and flight, the man who wrestles with
Elohim, with others and with himself. Ya’aqov - Jacob is one who knows the
darkness of this world.
There is,
however, a difficulty with the idea that Ya’aqov - Jacob introduced the evening
prayer.
The first is
that the view that ‘arvit’ is
non-obligatory according to those who hold that our daily prayers are based,
not on the patriarchs but on the sacrifices that were offered in the Temple.
There was a morning and afternoon offering but no evening sacrifice. The two
views differ precisely on this, that for those who trace prayer to sacrifice,
the evening prayer is voluntary, whereas for those who base it on the
patriarchs, it is obligatory.
The second is
that there is a law that those on a journey (and for three days thereafter) are
exempt from prayer. In the days when journeys were hazardous – when travellers
in those days were in constant fear of attack by raiders – it was impossible to
concentrate. Prayer requires concentration (kavanah).
Therefore Ya’aqov - Jacob was exempt from prayer, and offered up his entreaty
not as an obligation but as a voluntary act – and so it remained.
The third is
that there is a tradition that, as Ya’aqov - Jacob was travelling, “the sun set
suddenly” – not at its normal time. Ya’aqov - Jacob had intended to say the
afternoon prayer, but found, to his surprise, that night had fallen. ‘Arvit’ did not become an obligation, since Ya’aqov -
Jacob had not meant to say an evening prayer at all.
Avraham
initiated the quest for אֱלֹהִים.
He was a creative religious personality – the father of all those who set out
on a journey of the spirit to an unknown destination, armed only with the trust
that those who seek, find. Avraham sought אֱלֹהִים before אֱלֹהִים
sought him.
Yitzchak - Isaac’s prayer is described as a sichah,
literally, a conversation or dialogue. There are two parties to a dialogue –
one who speaks and one who listens, and having listened, responds. Yitzchak
- Isaac represents the
religious experience as conversation between the word of אֱלֹהִים
and the word of mankind.
Ya’aqov -
Jacob’s prayer is very different. He does not initiate it. His thoughts are
elsewhere – on Esau from whom he is escaping, and on Laban
to whom he is travelling. Into this troubled mind come’s a vision of אֱלֹהִים
and the angels and a stairway connecting earth and heaven. He has done nothing
to prepare for it. It is unexpected. Ya’aqov - Jacob literally “encounters” אֱלֹהִיםas we can sometimes encounter a
familiar face among a crowd of strangers. This is a meeting brought about by אֱלֹהִים,
not man. That is why Ya’aqov - Jacob’s prayer could not be made the basis of a
regular obligation. None of us knows when the presence of אֱלֹהִים
will suddenly intrude into our lives.
There is an
element of the religious life that is beyond conscious control. It comes out of
nowhere, when we are least expecting it. If Avraham represents our journey
towards אֱלֹהִים,
and Isaac our dialogue with אֱלֹהִים,
Ya’aqov - Ya’aqov signifies אֱלֹהִים
encounter with us, ‘unplanned’, ‘unscheduled’, ‘unexpected’; the vision, the
voice, the call we can never know in advance but which leaves us transformed.
As for Ya’aqov - Jacob so for us, it feels as if we are waking from a sleep and
realising as if for the first time that “אֱלֹהִים
was in this place and I did not know it.” The place has not changed, but we
have. Such an experience can never be made the subject of an obligation. It is
not something we do. It is something that happens to us. Vayfiga bamakom means that,
thinking of other things, we find that we have walked into the Presence of אֱלֹהִים.
Such
experiences take place, literally or metaphorically, at night. They happen when
we are alone, afraid, vulnerable, close to despair. It is then that, when we
least expect it, we can find our lives flooded by the radiance of the divine.
Suddenly, with a certainty that is unmistakable, we know that we are not alone,
that אֱלֹהִים
- Elohim is there and has been all along but that we were too preoccupied by
our own concerns to notice Him. That is how Ya’aqov - Jacob found אֱלֹהִים not by his own efforts, like Avraham; not through continuous dialogue,
like Yitzchak - Isaac; but in the midst of fear and isolation. Ya’aqov - Jacob, in
flight, trips and falls – and finds he has fallen into the waiting arms of אֱלֹהִים.
No one who has had this experience, ever forgets it.
“Now I know that You were with me all the time but I
was looking elsewhere.”
That was
Ya’aqov - Jacob’s prayer. There are times when we speak and times when we are
spoken to. Prayer is not always predictable, a matter of fixed times and daily
obligation. It is also openness, vulnerability.
אֱלֹהִים - can take us by surprise, waking us from our sleep, catching us as we
fall.
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In Conclusion, a Question to Deepen the Conversation:
Which part of the Tanach study, or possibly a particular line or
statement within it has touched you the most? And how do you feel
about spending more time studying our beloved Tanakh? I pray that you are doing
well as a faithful Hebrew, and אֱלֹהִים - Elohim willing you are upholding many as possible
of our blessed Mitzvoth’s?
I am well aware that the modern world sadly contains too many
deviations as well as problems that seem to get in the way of
our Hebrew lifestyle. Yet worse than that, these days there are far too many
enticements, which can so easily throw many off track,
and I know that has happened far too much. Thus, if there are struggles
that are taking place in your life, be it at this or at any time, I am well
aware that sadly it can often have a terrible and a cruel effect upon your
life?
Dear reader, please remember this, pray for peace and solitude in
your life, and then work on keeping as calm as possible and learn to improve
your life, for אֱלֹהִים, בָּרוּךְ
אֱלֹהִים - Bless Elohim, He is
always there and ready to help and guide you!
This site was originally set up for those who needed to return to our blessed
and wonderful faith, thus be wise and work on your faith and pray at least
three times a day, and always seek אֱלֹהִים - Elohim’s guidance!
Remember what אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, blessed be He, said the following via a
number of our prophets...
“Return unto Me,
and I will return unto you, saith צְבָאוֹת- יְהוָה- the LORD of hosts”. Mal’a’chi -
Malachi 3:7. MEC).
And Remember ...
Enjoy your Sabbath Rest, Shabbat
Shalom!
אֲנִי
יְהוָה
אֱלֹהֵיכֶם, בְּחֻקּוֹתַי
לֵכוּ; וְאֶת-מִשְׁפָּטַי
שִׁמְרוּ, וַעֲשׂוּ
אוֹתָם
וְאֶת-שַׁבְּתוֹתַי, קַדֵּשׁוּ; וְהָיוּ
לְאוֹת, בֵּינִי
וּבֵינֵיכֶם-לָדַעַת, כִּי
אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם
“I am אֱלֹהֵיכֶם יְהוָה
(the LORD your God); walk in My statutes,
and keep Mine ordinances, and do them; and hallow My Sabbaths, and they shall
be a sign between Me and you, that ye may know that I am אֱלֹהֵיכֶם יְהוָה - YaHVaH
Elohim”. Yechezkel - Ezekiel 20:19-20. (JPS).
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שָׁלוֹם
עֲלֵיכֶם - Shalom Aleichem - Peace be
with you!
Rabbi,
Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.
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