54 | NOVEMBER 11 • 2021 

E

veryone needs a vision. 
We all need a vision to 
give us direction and 
inspiration in life. Life can’t just 
be about surviving. It has to be 
about the goals and the aspi-
rations and the 
big picture that 
we are striving 
for. There are too 
many challenges 
and opportunities 
in the path of 
life not to have 
clarity of vision. 
In this week’s parshah, Vayetze, 
we read about a great vision 
given to our forefather, Yaakov 
(Jacob), and it is a vision which 
sustains us to this very day.
Yaakov was embarking on 
a journey, leaving home and 
venturing out into a hostile 
world, with many dangerous 
challenges lying in wait. He was 
fleeing from the vengeful anger 
of his brother, Eisav (Esau), and 
his destination was Avraham’s 
family, who lived in Haran — a 
family led by Lavan, a man 
known for his deceptive and 
unscrupulous behavior. And, 
so, Yaakov encountered many 
different and difficult challenges 
throughout his life, but in this 
week’s portion, he is given a gift 
from God — the gift of a vision 
that sustained him throughout 
his life.
One night, on his journey to 
Haran, he lay down and had 
the famous prophetic vision we 
call “Jacob’s Ladder.
” The ladder 
rests on the ground and reaches 
into the heavens, and there are 
angels ascending and descend-
ing. God appears to Yaakov 
in the vision and promises to 
look after him on his journey 
ahead, and to return him back 
to the Land of Israel and to his 
heritage.
The commentators on the 
Chumash share different per-

spectives on what the ladder 
and the angels going up and 
down signify. Common to all of 
them, however, is the idea that 
the ladder is a bridge between 
heaven and Earth. And this is 
the great Divine vision of the 
Torah and the mission state-
ment of the Jewish people — to 
connect heaven and Earth, to 
infuse the physical world with 
holiness and spirituality, and so 
elevate all of creation.
Rashi says the angels repre-
sented God’s Divine protection. 
The angels going up the ladder 
were the angels that had pro-

tected Yaakov within the land 
of Israel, and the angels coming 
down the ladder were their 
replacements now that Yaakov 
was leaving Israel and the first 
set of angels had completed 
their task.

ACCOMPANIED BY GOD
Angels are bursts of spiritual 
energy that God has created 
so He can interact with the 
world. They are not indepen-
dent beings. They do not have 
free choice. They are mere 
extensions of God’s will being 
expressed in this world. What 

emerges from Rashi is the idea 
that throughout our life’s jour-
ney, we are accompanied by 
angels, emissaries of God, and 
that God is looking after us in 
everything that we do.
A key message being relayed 
to Yaakov was that he was not 
venturing out into the world on 
his own — that, though he was 
likely wracked with fear and 
anxiety about what lay ahead, 
God would accompany him 
every step of the way.
And, of course, the fear and 
anxiety wasn’t unfounded. 
Yaakov underwent tremendous 

Chief Rabbi 
Warren 
Goldstein

SPIRIT
A WORD OF TORAH

The Importance
of Having a
Vision

