SEDRA VAYETZE
Genesis Rabbah 68:12
Tanchuma Vayetze 2
Various Interpretations
“He dreams of a ladder standing on the ground,
with its top reaching heaven,
as angels of God are
going up and coming down upon it.”
(Genesis 28:12)
ANGELS
“Going up” were the angels who had accompanied him when he was in the Land of Israel, while “coming down” were those who would accompany him outside of the Land of Israel.
TEMPLE
Bar Kappara teaches in a baraitha: Every dream may be interpreted. In the case of this dream, “a ladder” is the Kevesh, an inclined plane which led to the Mizbeach , the Altar. “Standing on the ground” refers to the Altar, for which the Eternal commanded, “Make for Me an Altar of earth” (Exodus 20:21). “With its top reaching heaven” refers to the Korbanot, the Offerings, of which their savor ascended to Heaven (God). “As angels of God,” the High Priests, “are going up and coming down upon it,” ascending and descending on the Kevesh…
“And the Eternal is standing over him…”
(Genesis 28:13a)
The Prophet corroborates: “I saw my Lord standing by the Altar…” (Amos 9:1a)!
SINAI
The Rabbis interpret Jacob’s dream as referring to Revelation. “He dreams of a ladder [sulam],” that is, of Sinai, as the numerological value of Sulam [130] is the numerological value of Sinai [130]. “Standing [mutzav] on the ground,” “they stand [vayityatz’vu] at the foot [betachteet] of the Mountain” (Exodus 19:17b), wherein the people are standing on the ground at Mount Sinai! “With its top reaching heaven”: “The mountain was ablaze to the very heart of heaven” (Deuteronomy 4:11b)! “As angels of God are ascending and descending upon it, and the Eternal is standing over him,” as with “the myriads of thousands of angels on the (ascending and descending) chariot of God, the Eternal among them, like Sinai in holiness (Psalms 68:18)!
MOSES AND AARON
According to another interpretation, the “angels of [malachey…] God” are Moses and Aaron, and we have learned that Prophets have been called “angels [malacheem]” (in the sense of “messengers”) from what is written concerning the Prophet’s representation of the Eternal, “Chaggai, messenger of [mal’ach…] the Eternal, by mandate of [b’malachut…] the Eternal to the people…said…” (Chaggai 1:13). “Going up”: In the Exodus from Egypt, when the Children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sinai and encamped in front of the Mountain, “Moses went up to God…” (Exodus 19:3a). “And coming down”: Then, after communications with the Eternal and with the people, “Moses went down from the Mountain…” (ibid. 14). “And the Eternal is standing over him…”: “The Eternal descended over Mount Sinai to the summit of the Mountain…” (ibid. 20a).
IDOLATROUS NATIONS
Rabbi Samuel bar Nachman taught: The “angels of God going up and coming down” on the ladder in Jacob’s dream were the guardian angels of the idolatrous nations. The Holy One, blessed be He, was showing our Father Jacob (Israel) the guardian angel of Babylonia ascending seventy rungs and then coming down, and similarly of Media ascending fifty-two rungs and then coming down, and similarly of Greece ascending one hundred rungs and then coming down, and of Edom (Rome) ascending but without disclosing its limit. Seeing this, our Father Jacob wondered fearfully: What if Edom never descends?! The Holy One, blessed be He, assuaged his doubt: “Be you not afraid, My servant Jacob, nor be you dismayed, O Israel” (Jeremiah 30:10a), which is to say that if you see Edom ascending to Me, from there I shall cause him to descend, as “Thus says my Lord God to Edom…‘If you should ascend as high as the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there shall I bring you down’” (Obadiah 1:1,4)!
Said Rabbi Berechia in the name of Rabbi Chelbo and Rabbi Shimon ben Yosina: The Holy One, blessed be He, showed our Father Jacob the guardian angel of each of those four nations both rising and falling (including Edom) and then asked him: Jacob, why do you not arise? Jacob responded, in fear: Just as each of those nations has arisen but then comes down in the end, so will it be my destiny! God sought to assure him: If you arise, you will not come down in the end! But Jacob did not believe Him and so he did not arise. Thus did Rabbi Shimon ben Yosina apply the verse, “Nonetheless did they continue to sin and not believe in His wonders” (Psalms 78:32): Had you arisen and believed Me, you would never have fallen, but because you did not believe, your children would be oppressed by those four kingdoms in this world with burdensome taxes, tariffs and levies!
Then Jacob asked Him: For how long will this oppression last? Will it be forever? He said: “Be you not afraid, My servant Jacob, nor be you dismayed, O Israel, for I will save you from afar and your offspring from the land of their captivity; then Jacob shall return and be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid” (Jeremiah 30:10)—“from the land of their captivity”: from Spanish and Portuguese Exile!—“then Jacob shall return”: from Babylonia!—“and be quiet”: from Media!—“and at ease”: from Greece!—“and none shall make him afraid”: from Edom!
“When you reap the harvest of your Land,
do not completely [techaleh] reap
the corners of your field…”
(Leviticus 19:9a)
“For I shall make a complete end [chalah] of all the nations to which I have scattered you” (Jeremiah 30:11b)—the nations of the world which “do completely reap [mechaleen]” the corners of their fields—unlike Israel, who “do not completely [techaleh] reap” the corners of their fields—“so for you, O Israel, I shall not make a complete end [chalah]” (ibid.)—but instead “I shall discipline you [yisarteecha]” (ibid.), which we interpret as, “I shall afflict you with suffering” in this world—“and surely [nakey] not acquit you” (ibid.) in order to purify [nakey] you from your sins for the future world!
—
“God may speak to men in a dream…
opening their ears
and sealing the decree by affliction,
in order to dissuade them from an action,
to abate their pride
and save them from destruction.”
(Job 33:14-18)
Sedra Summary 