We now have the story of Jacob's travels. It starts with one of the most famous passages of prophecy ever. Jacob is travelling alone, he lays his head down on a stone at nightfall and dreams of a ladder from earth to heaven with angels ascending and descending. He has a conversation with God where it is reiterated that his descendants will be vast and will inherit the land on which he travels. Jacob awakens and says, "Surely God was in this place and I did not know."
How can the rest of the parsha NOT be a disappointment?? It follows Jacob as he indentures himself for the hand of Rachel, only to be given her older sister Leah instead. Thereupon he signs on for another 7 years to get Rachel. So he has two wives and numerous children from them and their maids, given to him by his wives as concubines. His riches increase dramatically and he eventually leaves the land of his father-in-law.
It is hard to get past the encounter at the beginning, though. I read it over and over, trying to discern some further, deeper meaning in its sparse detailing. It's what we all want. We all want God to speak to us very directly, very personally, awake or sleeping. A dream that you know is communication with God?? I want that! But even then, it doesn't mean it's going to make life easier. It may make it harder! Before his direct encounter with God, Jacob had to chop wood and haul water. After his direct encounter with God...Jacob had to chop wood and haul water. Nothing changed. Jacob was still part of the world and he had to continue on his journey. His descendants would inherit all the land he could see?? WHAT descendants? He didn't even have a wife yet! Jacob could not sit back and say, "Wow, I had an encounter with God. I don't have to do anything else now, I have achieved the ulitmate goal." Nope. No resting on your laurels. You still have to keep going.
We can stop at the point of Jacob's revelation and wonder at it and even be envious. But we still must keep going. There's more...even beyond the confusing tale of multiple moms and their battle for Jacob's affection, the details of the flock that make my head spin, and the whole intrigue of fleeing Laban with a secretly stolen idol in Rachel's possession.
Torah may be the ladder with which to ascend and descend from Heaven, as Jacob dreamed. But we can't get caught up in that. We still have to live our lives and see what we can do in THIS world, before ascending to another.
Shalom rav!
Lev
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment