Ilustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Midrash מִדְרָשׁ
Yaakov is on his way out of אֶרֶץ כְּנַעָן (Eretz Canaan, the land of Canaan) when he falls asleep and begins to dream. But the way his dream is described is a little confusing, and how you understand it depends on one particular word.
וַיַּחֲלֹם וְהִנֵּה סֻלָּם מֻצָּב אַרְצָה וְרֹאשׁוֹ מַגִּיעַ הַשָּׁמָיְמָה
וְהִנֵּה מַלְאֲכֵי אֱלֹקִים עֹלִים וְיֹרְדִים בּוֹ׃
וְהִנֵּה ה' נִצָּב עָלָיו.
He [Yaakov] dreamed. And behold: there was a סוּלָם (sulam, ladder) standing on the ground, and its head reached the heavens. And behold: the angels of God were going up and down on it. And behold: God stood עָלָיו (alav, upon him / upon it).
The word, alav, can mean either “upon him”—meaning that God stood upon Yaakov—or “upon it”—meaning that God stood upon the sulam. Which is it?
רַבִּי חִיָּא רַבָּה וְרַבִּי יַנַּאי,
חַד אָמַר, עָלָיו, עַל סֻלָּם.
וְחַד אָמַר, עָלָיו, עַל יַעֲקֹב.
Rabbi Hiyya the Great and Rabbi Yannai. One said: “upon it—on the sulam.” But the other said: “upon him—on Yaakov.”
It’s possible that Yaakov saw the sulam with angels going up and down, and then saw God was somewhere on the sulam as well (maybe at the top). Or, in the second opinion, God stood “upon” Yaakov, and not the sulam. This second opinion is elaborated here:
אָמַר רַבִּי חָמָא בַּר חֲנִינָא:
... כֵּיוָן שֶׁעָמַד אָבִינוּ יַעֲקֹב
"אִישׁ יַחַד פְּנֵי רֵעֵהוּ" (מִשְׁלֵי כז, יז),
שֶׁנִּתְיַחֲדָה עָלָיו הַשְּׁכִינָה.
Said Rabbi Hama bar Hanina: ...When our father, Yaakov got up, he was like “a man together with his friend” (Mishlei 27:17) for the שְׁכִינָה (Shekhinah, God’s presence) was together with him.
If God stood “upon” Yaakov, it means that God was as close to Yaakov as a good friend, and when God spoke to Yaakov, it was like when someone talks closely and intimately with their friend.
- How do you imagine the scene of Yaakov’s dream? What evidence can you find for whether God was standing on the sulam or close to Yaakov? What difference does this make to the story?
- What does it say about Yaakov that God wanted to talk to him so closely and so intimately? Have you had those sorts of conversations with people? How did it feel? How do you think this conversation would have felt for Yaakov?
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