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Vayaitzai
By Annette Wolk
The Chofetz Chaim expressed the idea that the ladder in Yaacov's dream symbolizes each person's life. There are two actions that we can perform. We can ascend from the bottom to the top or fall from the top to the bottom. Each day of a person's life he meets challenges. Each day, an individual needs to work hard to stay on the proper course and overcome the challenges and not let the crises overwhelm him. If these situations are overcome, the individual goes up in his spirituality. If he fails and does have the self-control or the dedication to overcome them, he lowers his spirituality.
We can not stand in one place, on one level of the ladder. Life does not allow us to do so. Instead of bemoaning our fate, we should use it to propel us higher and higher on the ladder of life. We need to learn to appreciate our daily challenges and cope with our crises. Every time we overcome a negative impulse or control our desire to fall down the ladder, we grow as a person. We will feel the progress of each step up the ladder. Each victory, each step, motivates us to go higher.
Rabbi Yisroel Salanter taught us that a person is like a bird. A bird has the ability to fly very high. The only way he can fly is to continuously move his wings. If the bird stops flapping his wings, he falls. People are similar to a bird. The only way you can continue your path to success and higher spirituality is by improving. Don't stop flapping your wings. Keep climbing your ladder of life.
This week's Torah portion, Vayaitzai, contains the famous story of Yaacov and his dream with the ladder. Yaacov is camping on Har Hamoriah on his way to Charan. In Yaacov's dream there is a ladder reaching up to heaven. He sees angels climbing up and coming down the ladder. The angels climbing up the ladder are the ones who protected Yaacov in the Land of Israel. The ones descending the ladder will protect him as he leaves the Land of Israel and travels to Charan.
Shabbat Shalom |
