(י) וַיֵּצֵ֥א יַעֲקֹ֖ב מִבְּאֵ֣ר שָׁ֑בַע וַיֵּ֖לֶךְ חָרָֽנָה׃ (יא) וַיִּפְגַּ֨ע בַּמָּק֜וֹם וַיָּ֤לֶן שָׁם֙ כִּי־בָ֣א הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁ וַיִּקַּח֙ מֵאַבְנֵ֣י הַמָּק֔וֹם וַיָּ֖שֶׂם מְרַֽאֲשֹׁתָ֑יו וַיִּשְׁכַּ֖ב בַּמָּק֥וֹם הַהֽוּא׃ (יב) וַֽיַּחֲלֹ֗ם וְהִנֵּ֤ה סֻלָּם֙ מֻצָּ֣ב אַ֔רְצָה וְרֹאשׁ֖וֹ מַגִּ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמָ֑יְמָה וְהִנֵּה֙ מַלְאֲכֵ֣י אֱלֹקִ֔ים עֹלִ֥ים וְיֹרְדִ֖ים בּֽוֹ׃ (יג) וְהִנֵּ֨ה ה' נִצָּ֣ב עָלָיו֮ וַיֹּאמַר֒ אֲנִ֣י ה' אֱלֹקֵי֙ אַבְרָהָ֣ם אָבִ֔יךָ וֵאלֹקֵ֖י יִצְחָ֑ק הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֤ר אַתָּה֙ שֹׁכֵ֣ב עָלֶ֔יהָ לְךָ֥ אֶתְּנֶ֖נָּה וּלְזַרְעֶֽךָ׃ (יד) וְהָיָ֤ה זַרְעֲךָ֙ כַּעֲפַ֣ר הָאָ֔רֶץ וּפָרַצְתָּ֛ יָ֥מָּה וָקֵ֖דְמָה וְצָפֹ֣נָה וָנֶ֑גְבָּה וְנִבְרְכ֥וּ בְךָ֛ כׇּל־מִשְׁפְּחֹ֥ת הָאֲדָמָ֖ה וּבְזַרְעֶֽךָ׃ (טו) וְהִנֵּ֨ה אָנֹכִ֜י עִמָּ֗ךְ וּשְׁמַרְתִּ֙יךָ֙ בְּכֹ֣ל אֲשֶׁר־תֵּלֵ֔ךְ וַהֲשִׁ֣בֹתִ֔יךָ אֶל־הָאֲדָמָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את כִּ֚י לֹ֣א אֶֽעֱזׇבְךָ֔ עַ֚ד אֲשֶׁ֣ר אִם־עָשִׂ֔יתִי אֵ֥ת אֲשֶׁר־דִּבַּ֖רְתִּי לָֽךְ׃ (טז) וַיִּיקַ֣ץ יַעֲקֹב֮ מִשְּׁנָתוֹ֒ וַיֹּ֕אמֶר אָכֵן֙ יֵ֣שׁ ה' בַּמָּק֖וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה וְאָנֹכִ֖י לֹ֥א יָדָֽעְתִּי׃ (יז) וַיִּירָא֙ וַיֹּאמַ֔ר מַה־נּוֹרָ֖א הַמָּק֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה אֵ֣ין זֶ֗ה כִּ֚י אִם־בֵּ֣ית אֱלֹקִ֔ים וְזֶ֖ה שַׁ֥עַר הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃ (יח) וַיַּשְׁכֵּ֨ם יַעֲקֹ֜ב בַּבֹּ֗קֶר וַיִּקַּ֤ח אֶת־הָאֶ֙בֶן֙ אֲשֶׁר־שָׂ֣ם מְרַֽאֲשֹׁתָ֔יו וַיָּ֥שֶׂם אֹתָ֖הּ מַצֵּבָ֑ה וַיִּצֹ֥ק שֶׁ֖מֶן עַל־רֹאשָֽׁהּ׃ (יט) וַיִּקְרָ֛א אֶת־שֵֽׁם־הַמָּק֥וֹם הַה֖וּא בֵּֽית־אֵ֑ל וְאוּלָ֛ם ל֥וּז שֵׁם־הָעִ֖יר לָרִאשֹׁנָֽה׃ (כ) וַיִּדַּ֥ר יַעֲקֹ֖ב נֶ֣דֶר לֵאמֹ֑ר אִם־יִהְיֶ֨ה אֱלֹקִ֜ים עִמָּדִ֗י וּשְׁמָרַ֙נִי֙ בַּדֶּ֤רֶךְ הַזֶּה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָנֹכִ֣י הוֹלֵ֔ךְ וְנָֽתַן־לִ֥י לֶ֛חֶם לֶאֱכֹ֖ל וּבֶ֥גֶד לִלְבֹּֽשׁ׃ (כא) וְשַׁבְתִּ֥י בְשָׁל֖וֹם אֶל־בֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑י וְהָיָ֧ה ה' לִ֖י לֵאלֹקִֽים׃ (כב) וְהָאֶ֣בֶן הַזֹּ֗את אֲשֶׁר־שַׂ֙מְתִּי֙ מַצֵּבָ֔ה יִהְיֶ֖ה בֵּ֣ית אֱלֹקִ֑ים וְכֹל֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּתֶּן־לִ֔י עַשֵּׂ֖ר אֲעַשְּׂרֶ֥נּוּ לָֽךְ׃
(10) Jacob left Beer-sheba, and set out for Haran. (11) He came upon/entreated/harmed a certain place and stopped there for the night, as the sun was setting, and took one of the stones of that place, and put it under his head and lay down in that place. (12) He dreamed, and behold, a sulam was set on the ground and its/his head reached to the sky, and messengers of God were going up and down on it. (13) And behold, standing on top of it/him was ה', who said, “I am ה', the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac, the ground on which you are lying I will give to you and to your seed. (14) Your seed shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south, and all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you and your seed. (15) Behold, I am with you: I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land because I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (16) Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely ה' is in this place, and I did not know it!” (17) He was awed and he said, “How awesome is this place, this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate to heaven.” (18) Jacob got up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. (19) He named that site Beit-El; but previously the name of the city had been Luz. (20) Jacob then made a vow, saying, “If God remains with me, and protects me on this path that I am walking, and gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear. (21) And [if] I return in peace to my father’s house, then ה' shall be my God. (22) And this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that You give me, I will set aside a tithe for You.”
~ Why has Yaakov left?
~ What unclear parts exist in this passage? [The translation has been modified to highlight the Hebrew problems]. Note that the term sulam appears only here, sometimes it is translated as stairway and sometimes, ladder. Does it make a difference how we translate the term?
~ What are the symbols of the stone? And the sulam/ladder/stairway?
~ What do you make of Yaakov's oath? How is it a response to the dream?
~ Why does he rename the place, and why do we need to know the previous name?
(4) And they said, “Come, let us build us a city, and a tower with its head in the sky, to make a name for ourselves; else we shall be scattered all over the world.”
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bab el, in Akkadian actually means 'the gate of god'
~ What are the reverberations between the two stories, taking into account the culture in which Bereshit is situated?
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And in Egyptian culture...
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~ Below the falcon, emblem of the god Horus, the goddesses Isis and Nephthys stand on either side of the djed pillar, symbol of Osiris. The crook and flail (heka and nekhakha) were symbols used in ancient Egyptian society. They were originally the attributes of Osiris that became insignia of pharaonic authority.
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~ Osiris as the Djed Pillar holding the Disc of the Sun God Ra, supported by the ankh, symbol representing Life. To the sides Isis and Nephthys. Egyptian Book of the Dead, Papyrus of Ani. New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty . 1250 BC. British Museum.
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~ source: https://www.wonderfulthingsart.com/post/isis-and-nephthys
~ Whether stairway or ladder, Yaakov in not the first one to have the image of "going up" as a moment of meeting a deity or the transcendent.
~ The question is, in our text, where is Yaakov going? How is the dream a defining moment for him - and for us?
(10) Five miracles were wrought for our father Jakob at the time that he went forth from Beersheba. The first sign: the hours of the day were shortened, and the sun went down before his time, for the Word had desired to speak with him. The second sign: the four stones which Jakob had set for his pillow he found in the morning, had become one stone. The third sign: the Stone which, when all the flocks were assembled, they rolled from the mouth of the well, he rolled away with one of his arms. The fourth sign: the well overflowed, and the water rose to the edge of it, and continued to overflow all the days that he was in Haran. The fifth sign: the country was shortened before him, so that in one day he went forth and came to Haran.
~ Targum Yonatan adds a few midrashim in this reading. What are the reasons for the first two?
(יא) וַיִּקַח מֵאַבְנֵי הַמָּקוֹם (בראשית כח, יא), רַבִּי יְהוּדָה וְרַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה וְרַבָּנָן, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אָמַר שְׁנֵים עֶשְׂרֵה אֲבָנִים נָטַל, כָּךְ גָּזַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא שֶׁהוּא מַעֲמִיד שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר שְׁבָטִים, אָמַר אַבְרָהָם לֹא הֶעֱמִידָן, יִצְחָק לֹא הֶעֱמִידָן, אֲנִי אִם מִתְאַחוֹת הֵן שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר אֲבָנִים זוֹ לָזוֹ יוֹדֵעַ אֲנִי שֶׁאֲנִי מַעֲמִיד שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר שְׁבָטִים, כֵּיוָן שֶׁנִּתְאַחוּ שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר אֲבָנִים זוֹ לָזוֹ, יָדַע שֶׁהוּא מַעֲמִיד שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר שְׁבָטִים. רַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה אָמַר נָטַל שָׁלשׁ אֲבָנִים, אָמַר, אַבְרָהָם יִחֵד הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא שְׁמוֹ עָלָיו, יִצְחָק יִחֵד הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא שְׁמוֹ עָלָיו, וַאֲנִי אִם מִתְאַחוֹת הֵן שָׁלשׁ אֲבָנִים זוֹ לָזוֹ, יוֹדֵעַ אֲנִי שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מְיַחֵד שְׁמוֹ עָלַי, וְכֵיוָן שֶׁנִּתְאַחוּ, יָדַע שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מְיַחֵד שְׁמוֹ עָלָיו. רַבָּנָן אָמְרֵי מִעוּט אֲבָנִים שְׁנַיִם, אַבְרָהָם יָצָא מִמֶּנּוּ פְּסֹלֶת, יִשְׁמָעֵאל וְכָל בְּנֵי קְטוּרָה. וְיִצְחָק יָצָא עֵשָׂו וְכָל אַלּוּפָיו. וַאֲנִי אִם מִתְאַחוֹת שְׁתֵּי אֲבָנִים זוֹ לָזוֹ, יוֹדֵעַ אֲנִי שֶׁאֵינוֹ יוֹצֵא הֵימֶנִּי פְּסֹלֶת.
And he took from the stones of the place (Gen. 28:11) - R. Yehudah and Rabbi Nehemiah disagree. R. Yehudah said: He took twelve stones since the Holy Blessed One decreed that twelve tribes should spring forth. [Yaakov] said: "neither Avraham nor Itzchak has produced them. If these twelve stones cleave to one another, then I know that I will produce the twelve tribes." When therefore the twelve stones united, he knew that he was to produce the twelve tribes.
~ How many stones, and why?
~ Where is Mount Moriah? What other important formative event happened there?
~ How does this commentary by Rashi reinforces the holiness of Mount Moriah?
~ Is Mount Moriah really in Beit-El/Luz?
ויפגע AND HE LIGHTED — similar are (Joshua 16:7) “and it reached (ופגע) unto Jericho”, and (Joshua 19:11) “and reached (ופגע) to Dabesheth”. Our Rabbis explained it in the sense of “praying”, just as (Jeremiah 7:16) “Neither make intercession (תפגע) to me”. Thus we may learn that Jacob originated the custom of Evening Prayer. Scripture purposely changed the usual word for “praying”, not writing יתפלל, “And he prayed” (which would have been the more appropriate word, but ויפגע which means to hit upon a place unexpectedly), to teach you also that the ground shrunk before him (the journey was miraculously shortened) as it is explained in the Chapter גיד הנשה (Chullin 91b).
~ How does Rashi explain the ambivalence of the Hebrew פגע?
~ Why is Yaakov unhappy to have slept, according to Rashi?
~ Has Yaakov seen a miracle, in your opinion?
~ According to Sforno, what is happening here?
In the Sister Haggadah, 14th century, note how the angels are depicted. Note the position of the angels as Yaakov goes to sleep.
The Sister Haggadah is a 14th-century CE manuscript copied and painted in Catalonia. It gets its name from the fact that it is similar in themes to the Golden Haggadah, but less developed. Folio 4v (below)
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The Golden Haggadah is a manuscript of around c. 1320-1330 in Catalonia. Folio 4v (above)
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Above is the Sarajevo Haggadah, produced in Spain, 1350. In all haggadot the V composition is already present, with Yaakov in the place of the axis mundi.
~ The dream in art: the head in the heaven
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Jusepe de Ribera ~ Jacob's Dream, 1639; Jose' de Ribera was a Spanish painter of the Tenebrist school (in which darkness is dominant).
Note that Yaakov's body connects the tree with the shaft of light, creating a V-shaped link between earth and heaven in place of the conventional ladder of angels. Trees, like stairs, symbolize the axis mundi, the vertical connection between the material and the spiritual - the center of the universe. Ribera's choice to suggest rather than illustrate makes the viewer imagine rather than see. Yaakov here is unaware that he is the link between the world, God and the viewer.
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Rembrandt, 1635 - still no ladder. Angels - not those in the dream- point to the the sleeper and his wanderer's staff. There is again the V composition and the staff is the axis mundi. Note that in both of these pictures, Yaakov's head is positioned upward, expressing the ambiguity of the phrase “and its/his head reached toward the heavens”. In these two works Yaakov could be the ladder himself - but he is unaware. The viewer is invited to imagine the rest.
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~ Giorgio Vasari, 1532
God on top of the staircase. No V composition
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~ Salvator Rosa, 1665.
Now we have a ladder. Note the V composition and the axis mundi symbolized by the trees.
~ Is it easy or hard for the angels to go up and down this ladder?
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~ William Blake, 1799-1806 - differentiates between our view of the sleeper and Yaakov's view of his dream. Note that the sulam becomes a spiral staircase. Some of the angles have wings, many do not. Note the presence of scrolls, compasses, and women with children and food.
No V composition here.
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Gustave Doré (1855) does not see a spiral staircase, but rather a straight one. All angels are conventionally portrayed. An image of God is set on the top of the stairs. The figure at the center of the stairs seems to be Yaakov himself. V composition by feet and trees.
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~ This might be another way of understanding the dream.
Woodcut found in Camille Flammarion's L'atmosphère : météorologie populaire , 1888. Colored after its publishing in Jung, Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies (1959) by Roberta Weir and distributed by Berkeley's Print Mint in 1970
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~ Jacob's Ladder will eventually become the idea of understanding the cosmos. Woodengraving, 17th century
(ג) אָמַר רַבִּי אַבָּהוּ, מָשָׁל לְבֶן מְלָכִים שֶׁהָיָה יָשֵׁן עַל גַּבֵּי עֲרִיסָה וְהָיוּ זְבוּבִים שׁוֹכְנִים עָלָיו, וְכֵיוָן שֶׁבָּא מֵנִיקְתּוֹ שָׁחָה עָלָיו מֵנִיקְתּוֹ וּבָרְחוּ מֵעָלָיו, כָּךְ בַּתְּחִלָּה וְהִנֵּה מַלְאֲכֵי אֱלֹקִים עֹלִים וְיֹרְדִים בּוֹ, כֵּיוָן שֶׁנִּתְגַּלֶּה עָלָיו הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בָּרְחוּ מֵעָלָיו. רַבִּי חִיָּא רַבָּה וְרַבִּי יַנַּאי, חַד אָמַר, עָלָיו, עַל סֻלָּם. וְחַד אָמַר, עָלָיו, עַל יַעֲקֹב. מַאן דְּאָמַר עָלָיו, עַל הַסֻּלָּם, נִיחָא, אֶלָּא לְמַאן דְּאָמַר עָלָיו, עַל יַעֲקֹב, מִי מִתְקַיֵּם עָלָיו, אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן הָרְשָׁעִים מִתְקַיְּמִין עַל אֱלֹהֵיהֶם, (בראשית מא, א): וּפַרְעֹה חֹלֵם וְהִנֵּה עֹמֵד עַל הַיְאֹר, אֲבָל הַצַּדִּיקִים אֱלֹהֵיהֶם מִתְקַיֵּם עֲלֵיהֶם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וְהִנֵּה ה' נִצָּב עָלָיו וַיֹּאמֶר אֲנִי ה' אֱלֹקֵי אַבְרָהָם.
(3) ."Ad-nay was standing on him" (Genesis 28:13) - Rabbi Abahu said: the matter can be compared to the son of a king who was sleeping on his crib and flies were sitting on him, and when the babysitter came in and stood over him, the flies fled. Similarly, 'and behold angels of Elohim went up and down' and when the Holy Blessed One revealed Godself they fled from him. Rabbi Chiya Rabba and Rabbi Yanay: one said 'on him' that means on the ladder; one said 'on him' that means on Yaakov. For the one who says 'on it', on the ladder, it is easy. For the one who says 'on Yaakov', how can this be? Rabbi Yochanan said: The wicked, their existence depends on their gods. As it says "And Pharaoh dreamt; and he was standing upon the river" (Genesis 41:1). But the righteous, their God's existence depends on them. As it says "Behold God stood upon him and said I am Hashem the God of Avraham." (Genesis 28:13)
~ This midrash is making a very bold assertion about God. What is it?
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~ On these first two works by Chagall, the first from 1931-1934 and the second dated 1966, the artist sets God at the top of the stairs, preferring the ladder to the staircase.
~ What do you make of the figure on top of Yaakov in the first image?
Inverted V on the first, lines and trees on the second are loose.
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1960-1966
Find Yaakov.
Is the Shechinah represented? Is God represented?
Why has the V disappeared from this?
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1977. V composition
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~ Shalom Moskovitz (1896-1980) known as Shalom of Safed began to paint relatively late, at the age of 55, while under the influence of the famous Israeli artist Yosi Bergner.
~ Find Yaakov. Find God.
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David Sharir (b. 1968)
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~ David Sharir uses a midrashic idea of the four directions becoming the four stones. Notice the depiction of the angels' faces and Yaakov's face.
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~ Inspired in MC Escher. What does this depiction say about the dream?
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1997 - Note the difference in the angels.
~ The sacred center, the axis mundi, is at one and the same time in Bethel, Jerusalem, Sinai, wherever there is a conscious connection with God
These three expressions – standing, conversing and encounter, are aligned with three principle benefits that prayer brings to the service of G–d. The first act of prayer is to root firmly in the heart all the holy concepts and lofty images, the foundations of awe and morality which one has acquired in their soul, so that they will not falter under the storm winds which devastate morality and Divine service through desires of the heart and the passions of the time. The primary time for this rooting is the morning. That before one turn to the business of life and the inevitable feelings of bodily desire, they prepare a strong and well-founded moral posture for themselves which will standup under the oppositional trials of the waves of the times; therefore, the prayer which is oriented toward this activity is known as amidah, standing. To this end our father Avraham, first of the faithful, who withstood ten wondrous trials, and against all the multitude that opposed the path which rises in the light of G–d, who stormed in order to scatter and push him aside, was most fit; he fought to find a well-founded and enduring place to stand.
Prayer is called sichah (conversation), sharing a name with the plants and trees which are called sichim, due to the blossoming of the soul with new powers, which branch out naturally through the excitation of the soul in the service of the heart. This is most fit to the time of the evening offering, (see Tehillim 141:2) when one is close to casting off their troubles. Then their soul can elevate her nature, and the natural holy emotions stored up in her, to join to the living G–d and overflow with His pure love and awe, increasing fertile fruit and sending out shoots and branches, taking the likeness of a mighty tree - one of the sichim. This natural blossoming from within the rightness of the soul is the root of the judgment which is passed upon the one who turns aside from the straight path of life. The attribute of judgment, in so far that it has a natural law, is exacting with one who changes its ways and strays from its path; and this is the attribute of Yitzchak, as it is written “Were it not that the G–d of my father, the G–d of Avraham and the Fear of Yitzchak, had been with me…” (Bereshit 31:42), as our Sages taught with thorough explanation.
However, there is another great advantage to prayer, that she find her essential purpose in those of the highest level and value, the highest holy ones who draw near to G–d, who rise up in prayer and lift themselves to the level of prophecy, or near to it, as is written in Tur/Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 98; they encounter states well beyond the ways of nature, because they are lifted up far beyond the natural condition and cleave to the living G–d in purity of heart and soul. And the night is best suited for this, in its respite and solitude, as the chasid explained in The Duties of the Heart (Gate of Love of G–d, ch. 6) on the advantage of nighttime prayer, which also facilitates visitation of sacred lofty visions and awesome intellectual fruits, that cannot be apprehended in the company of the physical senses. Things grasped from beyond the conceptual processes embedded in nature come not according to the natural gradual order of simple to profound, or through individual analytic pathways gathered together into a framework. Rather the great light of the sweetness of G–d is revealed suddenly, happy is the one who merits to it! Prayer is called encounter (pgiya), as when one happens upon something, as a result not only of the nature of the path which the traveler takes but also of the immanent nearness of the one encountered. And so it was for our father Yaakov, peace be upon him, for it is a certainty that his prayer prepared him for the lofty prophetic vision of the ladder and all its particulars (see Bereshit 28:10-17) , and that is why the name encounter is associated with his prayer, “and he encountered the place.” This is befitting the nighttime prayer.