The Sidra of Vayetze begins with Jacob’s famous dream, which he dreamt on the night when he left his home, in Be’er Sheva, on his way to Haran. There is a story about a Jew who once boasted to his friends by telling them: ‘I was at a very large museum in an important city and I saw the axe with which Cain killed Abel. One of his friends replied: When I went to that Museum, I saw the ladder which Jacob saw in his dream.’ The striking fact is that some modern scholars question the picture of angels going up and down in a steady stream, on an ordinary ladder. Instead, they suggest that the Hebrew word Sullam, normally translated, ladder, actually means a solid stairway. Archaeologically, the Mesopotamian towers, known as ziggurats, were equipped with flights of stairs leading up to the summit. It is this image that led Jacob to describe the place where he had slept as a ‘gateway to heaven’.
Many interpretations have been suggested for the image of the ladder. According to our rabbis in the mystical work, the Zohar, the ladder was Jacob himself. It represented him as a man who was firmly on the ground, yet his head reached the heaven. On the one hand, he was a practical man of action and a diplomat. On the other hand, he was spiritual, striving for the divine and devoting himself to religious teachings.
The Torah tells us that he saw the Almighty standing upright on top of the ladder and reassuring him in the following words: “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, your father, and the God of Isaac, the land upon which you are lying; I shall give to you and to your descendants”. The form of words in this sentence has attracted the attention of our ancient commentators in the Midrash. Taking this sentence literally, they comment that God folded up the holy land underneath him, as he lay down, hinting to him that his descendants would conquer the land as easily as he has been able to lie down on a tiny piece of land. Rabbi Shlomo Aviner explains that this Midrash means that it is possible for the Jewish people to conquer the land quickly and easily, if they love it. If we feel attached to the land, we can have the strength to resolve all the problems. Without being touched to it, the challenge will be very hard to bear.
When Jacob got up in the morning he took the stone which he had used as a pillow and turned it into a sacred altar. He followed the normal practice of his day to pour upon it oil, as a sacrifice. He did this in order to commemorate this most significant event in his life. Finally, Jacob made a vow in which he promised to give 10th of all its possessions to the Almighty, if he would return safely to his father’s home. We can see that Jacob had every intention of returning soon to the land. He did not imagine that he would stay away for 20 years. Indeed, his mother, Rebecca, also never imagined, when she urged him to flee, that she would never see him again. She died before he returned.
Jacob then continued in his journey with great ease and enthusiasm. The dream gave him a great deal of encouragement. He went to Aram Nahara’im, which was situated north East of the land of Israel. Today, it is in the territory of Turkey, on the Syrian border.
When he arrived, he saw the field, near where his family lived and in which Rachel worked as a shepherdess. The story tells us what they used to do in the field. The flocks would gather round the well which was sealed with a stone. The shepherds regularly enrolled away the stone from the top of the well, and after the flocks of drunk, they return the Stone to its place. The stone was very heavy, so that ordinary passers-by would not be able to draw water from the well, so that all the water would be reserved only for their flocks. When Jacob arrived, they showed him Rachel was still far away but moving in his direction with her sheep. Jacob was surprised to see them next to the well, since it was still well before the evening. He asked them what they were waiting for and why they were not giving water to their flocks. They answered that they just didn’t have enough manpower to remove the stone from the mouth of the well and return it to its place many times, so they waited for everyone to be gathered there before doing so.
Whilst Jacob was talking to them Rachel arrived at the scene. Jacob became extremely excited and removed the heavy stone of the well, all on his own, and gave his uncle’s sheep water to drink. Jacob made a supreme effort to remove the stone, all on his own, which the local shepherds were reluctant to remove together.
Why was he so motivated? From where did he take that strength? The answer lies in Chapter 29, verse 10 which reads: “When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother and the sheep that belonged to Laban, his mother’s brother, he rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well and gave water to the sheep that belonged to Laban, his mother’s brother.” The repetition of the phrase, ‘his mother’s brother’, is most striking. Our rabbis explained that Jacob went to all this trouble in order to show how much he was thinking of his mother and wanted to honour her.
Chapter 30 begins with a very disturbing episode. Rachel was extremely upset that she was not able to have children and expressed the wish to die. It seems that she blamed Jacob for her plight. He showed her no sympathy, which is rather surprising, and became angry with her. There are different views about his response. Rabbi Yitzchak Arama explains that Jacob told her to pray to God, rather than to blame him, and to recognise that, even though she couldn’t have any children, she still had a mission in life-to perform good deeds.