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Jewish World Review
Angelic Directions
By
Rabbi Meir Leibush Weiser
A celebrated 19th Century author, known as the "Malbim", offers a novel -- and enlightening -- explanation of the perplexing narrative of "Jacob's Ladder"
“And Jacob left Be'er Sheva and went toward
Charan. He chanced upon the place and spent the
night there, for the sun had set; and he took from the stones of the place, and he put them at his
head, and he lay down in that place.
And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was standing
earthward, with its head reaching to the heavens,
and, behold, angels from G-d were going up and
down upon it. And, behold, the Divine was standing
upon him …
… And Jacob awoke from his sleep and he said,
'In truth, the Lord is here in this place,
and I did not know.'”
— Genesis 28:10-13,16
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The symbolism of "Jacob's Ladder" has always been a puzzling
one. It has no immediately apparent connection to the
narrative, nor to the prophetic promise of Divine protection
that follows it. What particular
message was Jacob
meant to learn from
this vision?
In answer, let us ask another question: One would expect "angels of G-d" to first descend from the heavens, and only afterward
— after completing the Divine mission for which they were
sent to earth — to go back up. Why did Jacob envision the opposite,
angels first "going up" and only afterward "going down"?
In Ethics of the Fathers, the Sages teach that each time a person fulfills
a mitzvah (religious duty), he creates a spiritual energy, an "angel." This
angel then ascends to Heaven and advocates on behalf of the
person who created it.
In response to this, the Divine sends other angels, heavenly
emissaries, down to earth. These guardian angels protect and
guide the person, and infuse his world with positive influences.
Thus, the ascending angels,
by their very essence, trigger
a cascade of blessing, Divine
energy flowing from above to
below; and in this way the person
himself, through his own
actions, creates the degree of
Divine Providence and protection that he receives.
This is what Jacob was being shown here: The angels going
up the ladder were those that he himself had created: his "mitzvah
angels," born of his righteous deeds, and his "Torah angels,"
born through his intensive religious training.
Ascending, these aroused
other angels, angels of Providence, to descend and protect him.
According to the Midrash,1 this ladder had four rungs.
Through sanctifying his interactions with all four levels of the
lower realm — inert matter, plant life, animals, and human beings
— Jacob drew Divine energy down through all four hierarchical
channels of the upper realms, known in Kabbalah11 as the
worlds of Atzilus (Emanations), Beriyah (Creation), Yetzirah
(Formation), and Asiyah (Action).
With this explanation in mind, an obscure Midrash suddenly
becomes clear. The Midrash says that the "angels from G-d
were going up and down," not " uponit" (Hebrew having no
gender-neutral pronoun), but " upon him, " on Jacob himself.
Jacob, through his deeds, regulates the Divine flow from above;
the angels go up and down on him, by him, and for him. He becomes
the ladder.
Now, having explained the symbolism of the ladder somewhat,
we may yet ask what was the purpose of sending Jacob this
message at this particular time.
The Torah's depiction of Jacob at this point is one of a
person afraid, afraid of many things: Afraid of his brother, he
flees the Holy Land … "and he went toward Charan." Afraid
of wild animals, "he took from the stones of the place, and he
put them at his head" for protection. And, afraid to travel in
the dark "for the sun had set," he sleeps out in the wild. The
objects of his fear span all four levels of creation, from humans
to animals to plants and inanimate objects.
With this vision, Jacob is shown that, by virtue of his
extreme righteousness, G-d will offer him protection at all
levels, a fitting prelude to Hashem's promise that follows: "…
And, behold, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever
you go …" (28:15).
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The brilliance of the Malbim --- finally accessible to all.
Since its publication almost a century and a half ago, the Torah commentary of Malbim has made a major contribution to our understanding of Torah thought. A master of textual analysis, Malbim examines the nuances and subtleties of every word of Torah, discovering layers of meaning and revealing important and profound ideas and concepts. However, the poetic and often cryptic style which characterizes much of his language makes translation extremely problematic and almost all of his works have therefore remained inaccessible to the English-speaking public.
In order to open this treasure trove of Jewish thought to the general public, Rabbi Reuven Subar, working closely with Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, dean of Jerusalem's Yeshivas Ohr Somayach, have crafted a series of essays based on the essentials of Malbim's commentary on Genesis.
In these essays we deepen our appreciation and awe for the Torah's infinite wisdom; we gain a new understanding of the connection between the Oral and Written law; and we are introduced to a masterful Torah giant whose genius, recognized even during his own time, becomes even more apparent in our own days.
© 2009, Mesorah Publications, Ltd.
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