Parshas Vayeitzei -- 7 Kislev 5772 / December 3, 2011 -- Vol. 3, Issue 3
_ It goes without saying that one has to work
hard to succeed. As the verse goes, “If
someone tells you he worked hard and didn’t succeed, don’t believe him. If someone tells you he didn’t work hard and
did succeed, don’t believe them. If
someone tells you he worked hard and succeeded, believe him” (Megilla 6b). So a person would think that it is only after
working hard that he would receive a reward.
In other words, the reward is commensurate with the effort, i.e. the
greater the effort the better the reward.
Though they are far and in between, there are situations where the reward comes first, and the work and effort come after. In this week’s parsha, Vayeitzei, we have a situation in which both instances occur. Yaakov works for 7 years to marry Rachel, however he marries Leah instead. Then Lavan gives Rachel to Yaakov to marry, however Yaakov needs to work another 7 years after marrying her.
Both models have their benefits and strong points. When a person has to put in a great deal of effort and work hard, they appreciate the reward that they have earned. On the other hand, sometimes being given the reward is the catalyst that we need to push us to beyond our normal capacity.
Take a Bar Mitzvah for instance. The Midrash states that it is on a boy’s Bar Mitzvah that his yetzor tov (good inclination) unites with him. The Alter Rebbe elaborates, explaining that although the G-dly soul entered the boy at the time of his circumcision, it enters in the most complete manner only on the occasion of Bar Mitzvah. Receiving one’s yetzor tov certainly is a most precious reward, yet it is only once this reward is received that a Jew now proceeds to wage war against his yetzor hora (evil inclination).
A Bar Mitzvah boy’s reward is also the newfound ability to be part of a minyan, put on tefillin, and in general an obligation to learn Torah and do mitzvahs. The reward comes first because it is the reward which gives us the strength and tenacity to march forward with a furrowed brow knowing that with every mitzvah we do, we bring Moshiach one step closer.
Though they are far and in between, there are situations where the reward comes first, and the work and effort come after. In this week’s parsha, Vayeitzei, we have a situation in which both instances occur. Yaakov works for 7 years to marry Rachel, however he marries Leah instead. Then Lavan gives Rachel to Yaakov to marry, however Yaakov needs to work another 7 years after marrying her.
Both models have their benefits and strong points. When a person has to put in a great deal of effort and work hard, they appreciate the reward that they have earned. On the other hand, sometimes being given the reward is the catalyst that we need to push us to beyond our normal capacity.
Take a Bar Mitzvah for instance. The Midrash states that it is on a boy’s Bar Mitzvah that his yetzor tov (good inclination) unites with him. The Alter Rebbe elaborates, explaining that although the G-dly soul entered the boy at the time of his circumcision, it enters in the most complete manner only on the occasion of Bar Mitzvah. Receiving one’s yetzor tov certainly is a most precious reward, yet it is only once this reward is received that a Jew now proceeds to wage war against his yetzor hora (evil inclination).
A Bar Mitzvah boy’s reward is also the newfound ability to be part of a minyan, put on tefillin, and in general an obligation to learn Torah and do mitzvahs. The reward comes first because it is the reward which gives us the strength and tenacity to march forward with a furrowed brow knowing that with every mitzvah we do, we bring Moshiach one step closer.
Climbing a Ladder
_Ladders are neat. They come in a wide variety of sizes and
variations. You have your standard 9 to
12 foot ladders made from stainless steel, but then you have many other types
as well. There are rope ladders, wooden
ladders, step ladders, step stools (a derivative of a ladder), extension
ladders which can extend to 24 feet, scaffolding (another form of a ladder),
assault ladders (used in covert operations), turn table ladders (the type fixed
to fire trucks), and more.
No matter the type of ladder one uses, its purpose remains the same: to serve as a means for a person to move from one place to another, most often an ascent to a higher place. What kind of people use ladders? Well, some individuals use them on a regular basis such as firemen, construction workers, window washers, and painters. Others use them sporadically, whether it’s to change a light bulb, fix a ceiling fan or reach a book from an especially high book shelf. I had the pleasure of using a ladder most recently for building my sukkah. It was an integral part of the building, as without it I never would have been able to put the schach on the top. My daughter, Bayla, thought the ladder was extremely fascinating and began scurrying up it every chance she got.
So, it’s easy to see that ladders play a fairly important role in our lives. With so many different functions and purposes, what is the ultimate use of a ladder? If you had to choose one specific occurrence which personified the true reason that a ladder was created, what would it be? Well, this week’s parsha tells the story of one of the most widely known tales from the Torah; the story of Yaakov’s dream, in which he sees a vision of angels ascending and descending a ladder connecting heaven and earth. Imagine, a ladder, a physical object serving as a connection between the mundane and the truly divine. I am hard pressed to think of a greater purpose than that!
I wish I had that kind of ladder, instead of the old beaten up one I store by the side of the house. And what an impressive dream to have! Most days, by the time I finally go to sleep I’m so exhausted that I’m simply too tired to dream and when I do it’s usually a cross between something simple like a quadruple sized chocolate bar and being chased by a giant flower, whatever that means.
What could be more powerful that having a ladder which connects the ordinary to the celestial? Wouldn’t it be great if we had such a ladder in which angels came and went freely, visiting us and sharing with us precious pearls of wisdom? What could be better than that?!? What if I told you that you actually have a ladder like that? Seriously. It is sitting in your home right there waiting for you to use it. I know now you’re either doing one of two things, 1) looking furiously throughout your house trying to find the ladder I’m referring too, or 2) you are convinced that Nuta Yisrael finally lost it and should probably spend some time analyzing the whole giant flower dream and lay off the coffee.
For those of you who want to know where that magical ladder that extends to the heavens is, I’ll tell you… it’s you. That’s right, you are the ladder. Hashem seemingly created two very different worlds; a spiritual one and a physical one. What is the point of having two so very different worlds? Hashem desired that the physical and spiritual be fused. This is what makes mankind so special and so unique. The angels in Yaakov’s dream may have been going up and down the ladder traveling from the upper realms to the world below, but still their existence is limited to spiritual endeavours. They have no desires for the ordinary, yearnings for physicality, nor temptations to do wrong. They cannot perform mitzvahs. People, on the other hand, have a yetzor hora (an evil inclination) which constantly tempts us to act contrary to our nature, to forgo mitzvahs and act on our every craving. However, we have free choice. We can choose to elevate our souls by engaging in acts of kindness and toiling in Torah.
When we pick up a chumash and learn about the parsha, put on tefillin, or light Shabbos candles, we complete the connection between the physicality of the paper of the book, the leather of straps of the tefillin or the wax of the Shabbos candles and the divine will of Hashem. In essence, we become the ladder between heaven and earth. That’s where the Tower of Babel went so completely wrong. We don’t need to climb an endless mountain to reach the upper worlds. We only need to open our mind, heart, and soul, the first three rungs of our internal ladder. And the rest, as they say, is history.
No matter the type of ladder one uses, its purpose remains the same: to serve as a means for a person to move from one place to another, most often an ascent to a higher place. What kind of people use ladders? Well, some individuals use them on a regular basis such as firemen, construction workers, window washers, and painters. Others use them sporadically, whether it’s to change a light bulb, fix a ceiling fan or reach a book from an especially high book shelf. I had the pleasure of using a ladder most recently for building my sukkah. It was an integral part of the building, as without it I never would have been able to put the schach on the top. My daughter, Bayla, thought the ladder was extremely fascinating and began scurrying up it every chance she got.
So, it’s easy to see that ladders play a fairly important role in our lives. With so many different functions and purposes, what is the ultimate use of a ladder? If you had to choose one specific occurrence which personified the true reason that a ladder was created, what would it be? Well, this week’s parsha tells the story of one of the most widely known tales from the Torah; the story of Yaakov’s dream, in which he sees a vision of angels ascending and descending a ladder connecting heaven and earth. Imagine, a ladder, a physical object serving as a connection between the mundane and the truly divine. I am hard pressed to think of a greater purpose than that!
I wish I had that kind of ladder, instead of the old beaten up one I store by the side of the house. And what an impressive dream to have! Most days, by the time I finally go to sleep I’m so exhausted that I’m simply too tired to dream and when I do it’s usually a cross between something simple like a quadruple sized chocolate bar and being chased by a giant flower, whatever that means.
What could be more powerful that having a ladder which connects the ordinary to the celestial? Wouldn’t it be great if we had such a ladder in which angels came and went freely, visiting us and sharing with us precious pearls of wisdom? What could be better than that?!? What if I told you that you actually have a ladder like that? Seriously. It is sitting in your home right there waiting for you to use it. I know now you’re either doing one of two things, 1) looking furiously throughout your house trying to find the ladder I’m referring too, or 2) you are convinced that Nuta Yisrael finally lost it and should probably spend some time analyzing the whole giant flower dream and lay off the coffee.
For those of you who want to know where that magical ladder that extends to the heavens is, I’ll tell you… it’s you. That’s right, you are the ladder. Hashem seemingly created two very different worlds; a spiritual one and a physical one. What is the point of having two so very different worlds? Hashem desired that the physical and spiritual be fused. This is what makes mankind so special and so unique. The angels in Yaakov’s dream may have been going up and down the ladder traveling from the upper realms to the world below, but still their existence is limited to spiritual endeavours. They have no desires for the ordinary, yearnings for physicality, nor temptations to do wrong. They cannot perform mitzvahs. People, on the other hand, have a yetzor hora (an evil inclination) which constantly tempts us to act contrary to our nature, to forgo mitzvahs and act on our every craving. However, we have free choice. We can choose to elevate our souls by engaging in acts of kindness and toiling in Torah.
When we pick up a chumash and learn about the parsha, put on tefillin, or light Shabbos candles, we complete the connection between the physicality of the paper of the book, the leather of straps of the tefillin or the wax of the Shabbos candles and the divine will of Hashem. In essence, we become the ladder between heaven and earth. That’s where the Tower of Babel went so completely wrong. We don’t need to climb an endless mountain to reach the upper worlds. We only need to open our mind, heart, and soul, the first three rungs of our internal ladder. And the rest, as they say, is history.
