The beginning of this week’s parsha recounts Ya’akov Avinu’s trip to his uncle Lavan and the dream
he had along the way. Ya’akov woke up upset that he had slept in such a holy
place. He said, “...
אָכֵן יֵשׁ ה' בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה וְאָנֹכִי לֹא יָדָעְתִּי/… Indeed, God is in
this place and I did not know!” (Breishis 28:16) Rashi explains that if he had known, he would
not have slept there.
When we think about it we realize just how amazing this is.
Ya’akov gained
much from having slept in that place.
Rashi tells us that the place in which he slept was the site of the
future Beis HaMikdash. A miracle
occurred and the sun set early specifically so that he would stop there. As a result of having slept there, he had a
prophetic dream in which God promised him Eretz Yisrael and also promised to
protect him on his dangerous journey.
Yet, Ya’akov Avinu was upset that he slept there. He would rather have forfeited the prophecy
and God’s promise than to have slept on the holy ground! Why?
A clue can be gleaned from the Zohar[1] on the words “וְאָנֹכִי לֹא יָדָעְתִּי/and
I did not know.” The Zohar poses the
following question. Why did Ya’akov berate himself for not knowing that God’s
presence rested
where he slept? How was he to know? The Zohar answers that knowledge in Tanach
connotes connection[2]. Ya’akov Avinu knew that his primary purpose was
to come close to God. When Ya’akov Avinu
said “לֹא יָדָעְתִּי/I
did not know,” he was not berating himself for not knowing. Rather he was berating himself for not being
spiritually sensitive enough, not “connected” enough, to realize that the
Shechina was in this place. This, then,
answers our question. Ya’akov Avinu
would have preferred to be in tune enough with God – “connected” to Him, as it
were – to have felt the holiness of the site rather than to have slept there
and receive the prophecy and promise.
Still, after the dream, he did recognize the holiness of the
place. He also realized that he received
a special enlightenment from God in the form of the prophetic dream. His sense of awe of God became more developed
as a result of the dream. He grew spiritually
because of it. We learn from Ya’akov Avinu to recognize any Godly enlightenment
that we receive and let it affect us bringing us closer to God.
Many times we have a new thought or a solution to a problem
which comes to us in a flash. In some
mysterious way, some problem that we were struggling with becomes clear. These new thoughts, clarity and solutions,
are messages from God. The Sfas Emes
teaches us that their very purpose is for us to recognize them as such. God sends them to us to give us a means for
strengthening our awe of Him and coming closer to Him. If we do not recognize them as God-sent but
rather chalk these thoughts up to “flashes of inspiration,” then they haven’t
fulfilled their purpose and were wasted.
May we merit recognizing God’s messages to us, as Ya’akov Avinu did, and coming closer to Him through
them. Amen!
[1]
Zohar 1:150a-b
[2]
We find, for example, “And Adam knew his wife Chava …” (Breishis 4:1) He
connected with her. Another example from last week’s parsha is when God says,
referring to Avraham Avinu, “For I have known him …” (Breishis
18:19) Rashi explains that this is an expression of God's love for Avraham
Avinu because loving implies drawing someone near and knowing that person.
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