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Orchard of Delights 4 Vayeitzei
declared in Bereishit Rabbah 10: “No blade of grass grows until its Shabbat becomes. This insight can also be applied to Jacob’s dream,
[guiding] angel above strikes it and says: ‘Grow!’” Not only does as climbing the ladder may be compared to overcoming spiritual
each individual aspect of creation have a guiding spiritual force, all obstacles and God standing at the top may be compared to reaching
the specific and collective forms, orders, and species of creation have the next level of spiritual attainment.
corresponding spiritual forces. These animating root forces direct and Another connection between the opening verse and Jacob’s dream
sustain physical development. This incredibly complex hierarchy of stems from the name of the place Jacob left, “Well of Seven.” A
spiritual energy forces, called angels, exists in all the various worlds. well is dug deep into the earth, so that the excavator can find and
However, according to Jewish tradition the soul’s source is rooted draw forth water. Water, as we have learned above, often symbolizes
in a higher world (that of Creation) than the angels’ source (that of Torah. Jacob’s ladder, in contrast, is ascended, so that the climber
Formation) because angels lack free will. Without free will there can can reach the heavens, or, quite literally, in Jacob’s dream, God. In
be no ultimate spiritual advancement. In fact, free will is perhaps spiritual terms there is a correlation between these two symbols, the
the most important characteristic distinguishing human beings from well and the ladder, and between the processes of delving deeper and
angels and establishing humanity’s creation in the “image of God.”
ascending higher. The deeper one delves to find the living waters of
The Torah’s focus on the angels’ ascent also symbolizes two the Torah, the higher one climbs towards the goal of being near to
other remarkable ideas that pervade Jewish tradition (particularly God; the higher the soul ascends towards union with God, the deeper
Kabbalah and Chassidut): (1) Human thought and action actually and more profoundly the soul’s possessor is able to integrate the
create angels; (2) Human actions affect the higher worlds. Thus, in Torah he or she has learned. The deeper one probes for the spark of
addition to the heavenly angels who perform their tasks as God’s God within, the higher one ascends in understanding God above; the
loyal agents, there is another class of angels created by humanity’s higher one ascends in holiness and purity, the deeper one’s sense of
earthly doings. Just as no action below occurs without evoking a humility becomes.
corresponding action above, so too no action below occurs without
creating spiritual energy that subsequently affects the upper worlds.
The Sages therefore taught that human actions create angels:
energy forces that depending on the moral and ethical standing
££Praying in the Darkness
of the particular actions, either become defending or prosecuting £Praying in the DarknessPraying in the Darkness
angels. In this vein, Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob’s utterance in Pirkei
Avot (4:13) can be understood quite literally: “He who fulfills even a
single mitzvah gains himself a single advocate and he who commits Between the portion’s opening verse and Jacob’s dream, there is
even a single sin gains himself a single accuser.” We are effected by only one verse: “And he came upon the place and slept there for the
spiritual forces from above, yet perhaps more profoundly, we affect sun had set; he took from the stones of the place and placed them
the essential fabric of all the spiritual worlds above us. The intrinsic around his head, and he laid down in that place.” The Sages explain
link between the physical and spiritual worlds creates a complex web that the Hebrew word translated literally as “he came upon,” in
of interactions and mutual influences. this context, means “he prayed.” As Rashi points out, this term
undoubtedly refers to prayer elsewhere. The Sages added that Jacob’s
As Jacob lay and dreamt that awesome night he was simultaneously
creating angels and receiving Divine instruction from the “angels of prayer, like his forefathers’ prayers before him, served to establish a
God” on multiple levels. His dream was a projection from below of prayer service. Abraham established the Morning Prayer; Isaac the

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