November 12th: Vayetze
THIS WEEK IN THE TORAH
Rabbi David E. Ostrich
This week, we read about Jacob’s first encounter with angels. On the road to visit his family up in Haran (Syria)—so Esau can cool down, he sets up camp and sleeps. “He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and angels of God were going up and down on it.” (Genesis 28.12) When mal’achim / angels are sent out by God to perform their various errands and duties, this, it seems, is one of their places of transit. Inadvertently—or by hashgachah peratit, Divine Providence, Jacob finds himself at a portal to the Divine. Though we are taught that God is everywhere, certain places seem to be closer to God. As he says, “Surely the Lord is present in this place, and I, I did not know it…How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven!” (Genesis 28.16-17)
Yes, more than the mal’achim, the angelic representatives and agents of God, God is there, too, and the Lord personally makes a covenant with Jacob. “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac: the ground on which you are lying I will assign to you and to your offspring. Your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you and your descendants…” (Genesis 28.13-14) Jacob and his future descendants are to be representatives and agents of God—just like the angels.
This sense of angelic sensibility can be described by an interesting ambiguity at the beginning of the last verse. Just before God speaks, the text says that “the Lord nitzav alav. A colloquial translation is that “the Lord was standing beside him,” but the literal translation of the word alav is on, on top of. So, is God next to Jacob, or is God on top of Jacob?
A similar but slightly amusing question comes when this word, alav is used in the Talmudic instructions for Gerut/Conversion. The officiant is instructed to be in the mikvah and stand alav the convert. Does this mean that the officiating Rabbi should be standing on the Convert’s back, holding him down in the water? Certainly not! Water safety and prudence suggest that the standing next to usage is meant by the Talmud—and probably also by the Biblical narrator.
Nonetheless, the thought that God is literally on or on top of Jacob can be psychologically and spiritually instructive. When someone is on a task, he/she is focused on it. When someone feels that another is on him/her, there is a feeling of attention being paid. Whether for good (protection) or for bad (waiting for a misstep), the consciousness of being watched can be palpable. I also think of the old Southern expression, like white on rice, suggesting a presence that is much more than coverage. The observer’s presence can be so on top of someone that it becomes part of the observed’s identity.
If we read the passage literally—that God is on Jacob—like white on rice, perhaps this could be a way of describing what some modern mystics call God Consciousness—an attitude in which one is intently and continually aware of God’s Presence. This is a goal of Kabbalistic thinking and practice, and Kabbalists have developed many techniques for inculcating this kind of awareness. One popular method is to meditate on the Shiviti, a spiritual formulation that begins with “Shiviti Adonai l’negdi tamid / I have set the Lord always before me,” from Psalm 16.8. Whatever life brings, let me look for God’s Presence and God’s possibilities. Whether for a blessing or a difficulty, how can I find a reaction or response that God-inspired—godly?
We could also approach such a God Consciousness by hearkening back to the story of Creation. When God mysteriously says, “Let us make the human in our image”(Genesis 1.26), among the possibilities for God’s audience are the angels. In other words, God is speaking about putting angelic possibilities in these new human creatures. Like the angels ascending and descending the stairway in Jacob’s dream, we are created to help do God’s work in the world—spreading the blessings of heaven to all the earth. And, there is more. According to the Rabbis who crafted our traditional prayers, we are also given the opportunity to join the angles in their heavenly work.
The next time you are in synagogue for a morning service, pay attention to the Kedushah, the third benediction of the Amidah. In it, the Rabbis construct from three Biblical passages a scene of a heavenly “pep rally”—an eternal assembly praising God. They begin with Isaiah (6.3) and his dream in which the Seraphim (six winged angels) sing out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; the fullness of the world is God’s glory.” They then turn to Ezekiel (3.12) and his vision of a roaring assembly of Ofanim and Chayot Hakodesh (flaming wheels and multi-eyed Holy Beasts) who sing, “Blessed is God’s glory in every place!” Then, they bring in the human element, adding the Psalmist’s hope (146.10) that every human soul will join in the praise of God, “The Lord shall reign forever, your God, O Zion, from generation to generation, Halleluyah!” We are all being invited, as it were, to join the angelic chorus, shouting forth an awareness of God’s glory, wisdom, beneficence, and guidance.
The Rabbis conclude Kedushah with our agreement to accept the invitation: “L’dor vador naggid god’lecha! / To all generations, we will make known Your greatness, and to all eternity proclaim Your holiness. Your praise, O God, shall never depart from our lips!” This is our pledge to join in and take our places with the angels.