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Vayeitzei אֵצֵּיַו
£Leaving the Well of SevenLeaving the Well of SevenLeaving the Well of Seven
££
This portion, which contains Jacob’s famous dream of a ladder
reaching the heavens, commences with the following verse: “And
Jacob went out from Beer Sheva and he went towards Haran”
(Genesis 28:10). Rebbe Natan, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov’s closest
disciple, explains this verse’s inner meaning and symbolism in the
following manner. Since “Beer Sheva” literally means “Well of
Seven” and the number seven represents process, progress, and the
cycles of time, Jacob’s flight from Beer Sheva represents his attempt
to climb from one spiritual level to another, to enter a new phase
in life. The word “Haran,” his geographical destination, means
“anger” in simple Hebrew, and in Kabbalistic terminology refers to
the “shells” or obstacles blocking the path of anyone attempting to
reach a new spiritual height. In other words, no matter how elevated
a level we have reached, any time we seek to reach a new level of
spiritual attainment we must be prepared to confront a whole new
configuration of forces that will attempt to prevent us. This, says
Rebbe Natan, was the situation Jacob faced when he left Beer
Sheva. While the fear of having to face new obstacles every time we
strive to achieve new spiritual heights may frighten us, ultimately
this knowledge should infuse us with strength, for any new obstacles
we face are a sign of our progress and can be overcome.
This idea can be applied microcosmically to the seven days of
the week. As we leave each Shabbat infused with new inspiration
and peace of mind, we are immediately confronted with the new
challenges of the week. All week we strive to succeed, overcoming
the inevitable daily obstacles and tests. The harder we work, both
physically and spiritually, the more rewarding and peaceful the next
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his hopes and fears, his thoughts and anxieties, as he faced the future.
From above, God was sending messages of comfort and revelation.
Their entire communication was translated into a vision of angels
ascending and descending on a ladder set firmly in the earth with its
top reaching the heavens.
£The PlaceThe Place
££The Place
“Jacob awoke from his sleep and said: Surely God is in this place and
I did not know” (Genesis 28:16). Rashi comments that had Jacob
known that God was present he certainly would not have slept in
such a holy place. A deeper reading of the text suggests that Jacob
was expressing an unexpected new insight: God not only surrounds
and animates creation but is ever-present in space itself. In attaining
this insight, Jacob had internalized a revelation Abraham had many
years earlier. The Torah recounts that Abraham built an altar and
called to God – to El Olam (Genesis 21:33). The phrase “El Olam” is
usually translated as “God of the World.” However, Rabbi Yitzchak
Ginsburgh explains that if the text meant “God of the World” it
should have been written with an additional heh – “El Ha’olam.” As
it is written, the phrase should more properly be translated as “God
[is the] World.”
This teaching parallels the Chassidic tradition that when the
Torah states that “there is none other than God” (Deuteronomy
4:35), it means that “God is all and all is God,” not that there are
merely no other gods. This tradition we must emphasize does not
adopt a pantheistic approach, declaring that God is no more than the
sum total of the universe; rather, it expresses the belief that there is
nothing other than God and even though God surrounds all worlds
and is beyond time, space, and all description, He is at the same
time ever-present in every point in time and space. The following
statement perhaps best represents this paradoxical understanding of
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