(יב) וַֽיַּחֲלֹ֗ם וְהִנֵּ֤ה סֻלָּם֙ מֻצָּ֣ב אַ֔רְצָה וְרֹאשׁ֖וֹ מַגִּ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמָ֑יְמָה וְהִנֵּה֙ מַלְאֲכֵ֣י אֱלֹהִ֔ים עֹלִ֥ים וְיֹרְדִ֖ים בּֽוֹ׃
(12) And Jacob dreamed! Here a stairway/ladder stood on the earth and its head touched/reached toward the heavens, and malachim of God were rising up and going down on it.
(16) Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Holy One is present in this Place, and I did not know it!” (17) He was awed/scared, and he said, “How full of awe is this Place! This is none other than the house of G*d, and this is the gate of the heavens.”
I imagine the journeys of my Bubbies and Zaydies crossing to a new land, running in fear. Imagine and ask, can the Holy one be in those fearful places too? Running from Canaan is a returning for Jacob to a place he'd never been, the spiritual and physical Place of his grandfather and mother. Jacob lies down, the sun has gone, in the darkness to dream a dream.
And behold, in the darkness, he is not alone, G*d is in this place. Jacob is Awake, aware, open! Each place in time and space can be alive with possibilities. Is the dreaming a part of the equation? Is the fear? Is being rooted in earth? I do know that the malachim angel/messengers ascend first, before they descend. They come from here. When we learn Torah together, the mysteries and the beauty of life, we become awake, aware - Pirke avot says Shechina is there when we learn together. I wrote this at a time of awakening, and beginning to learn Torah. I may be afraid but I am not alone: Between is where the magic is.
(ב) רַבִּי חֲנִינָא סְגַן הַכֹּהֲנִים אוֹמֵר,..., שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים א) וּבְמוֹשַׁב לֵצִים לֹא יָשָׁב. אֲבָל שְׁנַיִם שֶׁיּוֹשְׁבִין וְיֵשׁ בֵּינֵיהֶם דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה, שְׁכִינָה שְׁרוּיָה בֵינֵיהֶם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (מלאכי ג) אָז נִדְבְּרוּ יִרְאֵי יְיָ אִישׁ אֶל רֵעֵהוּ וַיַּקְשֵׁב יְיָ וַיִּשְׁמָע וַיִּכָּתֵב סֵפֶר זִכָּרוֹן לְפָנָיו לְיִרְאֵי יְיָ וּלְחֹשְׁבֵי שְׁמוֹ. אֵין לִי אֶלָּא שְׁנַיִם, ...
(2) ... R. Hananiah said” (Psalms 1:1); but if two sit together and there are words of Torah [spoken] between them, then the Shekhinah abides among them, as it is said: “then they that feared the Lord spoke one with another; and the Lord hearkened and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him, for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon His name” (Malachi 3:16). Now I have no [scriptural proof for the presence of the Shekhinah] except [among] two, ...
BETWEEN, by M. Wolfson
Take my hand and help me climb
I've been in the depths below
Why am I here among all these broken hearts?
OK it's my own heart, been so hollow, I'll admit
How can I climb, Help me see beyond my own four walls
Life happens in the space between
and there are angels, going up and going down
You are that angel
Helping me to see the way to climb free
Every rung is made of love, and gravity
helps me to return the favor done me.
Jacob he ran to the wilderness
Leaving behind security
In the quest to find supremacy
Made of his brother an enemy
But Jacob don't you know
That it's brothers that we need
Chorus
Maybe between is all we ever know
Between heaven and earth, between death and birth
Between you and me Shechinah rests
Helping us find our way through this wilderness
Jacob never climbs that ladder in between
So did he miss the point of his great dream?
G*d was in this place, though it did not seem
It takes some struggling supreme
To realize the dream
Chorus