As forefather of the Israelite Nation, Yaakov temporarily departs from his home in Eretz Yisrael with two great national tasks before him. He is to establish the foundation of the holy nation which is Divinely chartered to bring a system of morality to the physical world, and he is to expand the horizons of spiritual life from the domain of individual, private worship of G-d to the service of G-d by the entire Jewish nation, thus being a beacon of light to all peoples and an example to all nations, not only as individuals but in their national formats as well. In essence, Yaakov is charged with the task of uplifting the very soul of our existence through the merging of the physical and the spiritual in the service of Hashem.
This is the mission of Am Yisrael. And it is a mission which can only be fulfilled in the Promised Land.
When Yaakov leaves Beer Sheva, fleeing from his brother Esav, his situation is far from ideal. He is homeless, unmarried, and penniless. He was the first exile in our history as he fled for his life. What did the future hold in store for him and what would become of him? These questions must have gnawed away at him in his flight.
Then Yaakov had a dream. There are different types of dreams. There are lofty dreams which are sparks of prophecy and there are dreams that are complete nonsense. Our Sages teach that “A man is only shown in his dreams things about which he has given great thought” (Berachot 55B). Yaakov’s dream reflects his innermost thoughts and his raison d’etre in life. There are two elements in his dream. One is the Divine Promise: “I am Hashem…The Land upon which you are lying I will give to you and to your descendants. Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth. You shall burst forth and spread to the west, east, north and south…I am with you. I will protect you wherever you go and bring you back to this Land. I will not leave you until I have fully kept this promise to you.”
In contrast with his present pitiful and humiliating state, Hashem promised to guard him and protect him in the long trek to the glorious future which would inevitably come to pass. In his dream Yaakov is informed that his mission cannot be fulfilled in chutz l’Aretz (in Galut) but only in the Chosen Land.
The other element of the dream is the vision of the ladder. “And behold he dreamed and a ladder was set on the earth and its top reached up toward heaven.” The ladder links heaven with earth. It is “set towards earth,” i.e. from heavenly concepts it directs itself towards earthly matters. But it also “reaches heaven” meaning that all earthly events draw their significance from Divine considerations. The ladder is Yaakov himself who is simultaneously both heavenly and earthly (Nefesh HaChaim, 1:10-19). He embodies spirituality which is used to improve the physical world, but he also lives a material existence, which is governed by the spirit. These are the two facets of Yaakov.
The vision is not static. There is dynamic movement as “the angels of G-d ascend and descend it [the ladder].” They ascend to heaven to charge themselves with Divine spirituality and then descend to illuminate the world with Celestial blessing. The righteous do not suffice with a personal spiritual elevating experience, but they return to the mundane world and use their spiritual acquisition to improve life on earth.
In the Akeidah experience, Avraham reached such awe-inspiring spiritual heights that the lads that had accompanied him on the way were not allowed to be present. Despite the fact that the two attendants were none other than the two strong personalities, Yishmael and Eliezer, Avraham instructs them: “Stay here with the donkey, while I and the lad will go yonder” (Bereshit 22:5, see Rashi). Avraham’s trust in Eliezer was so profound that he sent him to find a wife for Yitzchak who would share in the momentous task of founding the Jewish Nation. Furthermore, it is said of Eliezer: “He drew forth teachings from his Rav (Avraham) and transmitted them to others.”
Despite these qualities, with regard to the sublime spiritual revelation at the Akeidah, Yishmael and Eliezer were equivalent to the donkey which is a symbol for material existence. The verse says: “stay here with the donkey” and our Rabbis add that in relation to the Akeidah: “You are people who resemble a donkey” (Bereshit Rabbah 56:2). This event would be so outrageously incomprehensible that if witnessed by them they would either be struck mad or lose all faith in Hashem. Avraham therefore proceeded alone and ascended to such heights that it was beyond the grasp of ordinary human morality.
Did Avraham remain in his heavenly state, detached from and unconcerned with the prosaic world? No! “And Avraham returned to his lads and they arose and went together to Beer Sheva.” Despite his soul’s leap to extra-terrestrial loftiness, Avraham remained attached to his material surroundings and endeavored to uplift them. He stooped down to the lads that had remained at the level of the donkey and offered them a helping hand in order to raise and advance them (Rabbi Kook’s Siddur Vol.1, pg.96).
Then Yaakov awoke from the dream, “And he was frightened and exclaimed: ‘How awe-inspiring is this place! It must be G-d’s dwelling place. It is the gate to heaven!'” He did not attribute the privilege of this vision to himself and his personal spiritual elevation but to the sanctity of the place. He thus did not even thank Hashem for this prophetic vision and for all the promises made to him. He understood that through the holiness of Eretz Yisrael, which was the “house of G-d and the gate of heaven,” he would be able to fulfill his task of connecting heaven and earth.
The Divine Presence existed here in precisely this geographic location on the globe (HaKuzari, Ch.2). Here, and only here, the mundane aspired towards heaven. “The Holy One Blessed Be He rolled together the whole of Eretz Yisrael under him” (Bereshit 28:13, Rashi). Yaakov dreamed that in this special holy environment of Eretz Yisrael his descendants would manage to accomplish the task for which they were was so suited: uniting heaven and earth, thus bringing the word of G-d and His blessing to all the world.
(Translation by Raphael Blumberg and Tzvi Fishman)