TZRAH
PORTION 1
rI
WHY
NOT
CLOTHING
MEN - WOMEN
Jacob Finds A Quiet
Faith In His Dream
RABBI RICHARD C. HERTZ
Special to The Jewish News
T
his week's sidrah de-
scribes one of the most
beautiful dreams in all
of literature. The symbolism,
the wondrous imagery, bring
the message to people of all
ages that the earth is full of
the glory of God. Jacob's
dream shows how every spot
on earth can become the gate
of heaven.
Dreams have always been a
source of fascination. Indeed,
the Bible often speaks about
dreams and dreamers,
holding that dreams convey a
divine revelation.
Even in our era, Sigmund
0. Freud, the pioneer in psycho-
Shabbat Vayetze:
Genesis
28:10-32:3,
ib Hosea
12:13-14:10
ob-
•
analysis, explained that
dreams are the way the sleep-
ing mind fulfills the
dreamer's unexpressed
wishes and desires. Other
psychologists explain dreams
as attempts at problem
solving.
The story of Jacob's dream
is magical. Jacob had gone
forth from his home, not
knowing what fate was in
store for him. He had sacrific-
ed everything for his selfish
ambition. As he wandered on
his journey, he must have
thought of his beloved grand-
father, Abraham, who years
before had traveled the same
road, though in an opposite
direction.
Unlike Abraham, Jacob
was alone. He felt that God
had forsaken him because of
the way he had treated his
brother Esau.
At last, darkness came
upon Jacob. He took a rock for
a pillow and, exhausted, lay
down and fell asleep. Even in
his sleep his fears were
troubling him.
And then a glorious vision
came to him in a dream. He
saw a ladder stretching up to
heaven from the very spot
where he lay sleeping, with
angels ascending and de-
scending, and God Himself at
the top of the ladder. He
heard God's word addressed
Dr. Hertz is rabbi emeritus of
Temple Beth El.
to him: "The ground on which
you lay I will give to you and
your offspring. You shall
spread out to the west and to
the east and to the north and
to the south. All the families
of the earth shall bless
themselves by you and . your
descendants.
"Remember, I am with you.
I will protect you wherever
you go and will bring you
back to this land. I will not
leave you until I have done •
what I promised you?'
When Jacob awoke, the
dream was still with him. He
couldn't get it out of his mind.
For him to know that God
would not forsake him,
despite what he, Jacob, had
done to Esau and to their
father, Isaac, left him shaken
and awestruck.
Jacob said, "Surely the
Lord was in this place and I
knew it not?'
He realized that God dwelt
in that place, indeed, in every
place. The whole universe is
filled with God's presence.
This is the lesson of Jacob's
dream.
Jacob promises that if God
will be his protector, he will
worship God and build a
shrine to Him. This vow is a
conditional one, a bargain
with God: If God performs
properly, then Jacob will ac-
cept Him as his God. Jacob
the dreamer has negotiated
his impossible dream.
Jacob is an astonishing per-
sonality. Scripture does not
explain away Jacob's faults.
Rather, it outlines Jacob as a
human character with hu-
man qualities.
In a way, Jacob is a pro-
totype of the Jewish people.
We have learned through bit-
ter experience that we had to
leave our homes like Jacob
did. Down through the cen-
turies we have wandered
across a strange world.
Always we carried our por-
table religion. Indeed, since
Auschwitz, we have wondered
whether God was with us at
all or whether we live in a
world forsaken by God and
man.
But the faith returns,
stronger than the doubt of the
moment. God lives. God is in
this place and every place,
although we may not know it.
God is with us even as He was
with Jacob. In this quiet trust
in the God of our fathers we
find the faith of Judaism.
Enemies may rage and dan-
gers may threaten; we still go
on and on.
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