21 Nov STONES AND LADDERS

Vayeitzei… And he left.
This week’s parsha, Vayeitzei, opens with
Yaakov Avinu on the run, fleeing the wrath
of his brother Eisav.
“Vayifga bamakom, And he (Yaakov)
arrived to the place.” Rashi explains that
vayifga is an expression of tefilla, prayer.
Bamakom, refers to the holiest of places,
Har HaMoriah. Bamakom, the place of the
Akeida. Bamakom, the place of the first
and second Batei Mikdash. Bamakom, the
place on which the third and final Bais
HaMikdash will stand. It is Bamakom, that
place at which Yaakov stopped to daven.
Each of our avos, our fathers, instituted a
different tefilla. Avraham taught us to daven
Shacharis. To wake up in the morning and
turn to HaShem with tefilla. Yitzchak gave
us Mincha. No matter how busy one is, to
put everything on hold and make time to
daven in the afternoon. And Yaakov gave
us Maariv, the prayer of evening/nighttime,
teaching us the importance of prayer

especially in times of darkness.
Yaakov was the forefather who experienced
many challenges and hardships. So much
maariv – darkness in his life. From the
womb, Yaakov was subject to the battle of
Eisav, a conflict that continued to plague
him throughout his life.
Yaakov also suffered from the trickery of
Lavan, the pain of having to wait to marry
Rachel. He experienced the sorrow of
seeing Rachel die in childbirth, witnessed
Yosef being bullied by his brothers, then
hearing that he was attacked and killed by a
wild animal. And, the painful episode of his
daughter Dina’s abduction.
So much pain. Crisis after crisis. The
darkness of life. But from Yaakov we learn
that it is precisely at such times of blackness
and gloom, when we feel so broken and
shattered, when we find it hard to daven,
that we must make every effort to daven.
Vayifga, to turn to HaShem with prayer.
Yaakov Avinu teaches us that prayer from
the heart can overcome any obstacle.
The pasuk states that Yaakov davened

bamakom, in that place. HaShem is known
as HaMakom – the One who is everywhere.
The One who can ease our pain, lighten our
burdens, alleviate our sorrow.
I remember when my father, HaRav
Meshulem HaLevi Jungreis zt”l, underwent
a most difficult surgery. Our family
gathered together in the surgical waiting
room, each one of us saying Tehillim. At
the same time there was another family also
waiting for a relative to come out of surgery.
They were sitting around a table playing
cards. I couldn’t help but think how
fortunate we are to have a Tehillim to turn
to. A HaShem to plead to.
The Hebrew language is like no other, its
words teaching us life lessons. The word
shochor, black, dark, gloomy, is only a
vowel away from shachar, morning, light,
brightness. It can be dark one minute, and
then – in no time – it can become light. It is
the darkest before dawn. Yeshuas HaShem
k’heref ayin, the salvation from HaShem
comes as quick as the blink of an eye. We
only have to call out to Him with kavanna,
sincere feelings.
“Vayikach mei’avnei Hamakom, And he
took from the stones of the place.”
(Bereishis 28:11) Yaakov gathered some
stones, placed them around his head and
lay down to sleep. Rashi explains that the
stones were arranged like a protective
wall, because Yaakov was afraid of wild
animals. Rashi cites a Midrash that the
stones began to quarrel one with another,
each one wanting to be the pillow under
Yakkov’s head. HaShem miraculously
fused the stones into one. As the Torah
later says, “And he (Yaakov) took the
stone (singular). (Bereishis 28:18)
Each week, as I review the parsha, I feel
that it speaks to us today, giving us a
pertinent message for the here and now.
Yaakov placed twelve stones around his
head. Twelve for the Shivtei Kah, the
Twelve Tribes. A message for us. It was
only when the stones joined together, that
Yaakov was protected. So it is with Am
Yisroel. The Hebrew word for stone is
ehven, spelled Aleph – Beis – Nun. Aleph
– for Av, father. Beis – for ben, son. Nun
– for neched, grandson. Like the twelve
stones, when our people, our families,
our generations are one cohesive unit, we
are b’ezras HaShem able to withstand the
enemies that surround us.
“Hinei Sulam, Behold, there was a
ladder.” Yaakov then dreams of a ladder
standing firmly on the ground, with its

top reaching the heavens above. And he
envisions Malachei Elokim, Angels of
HaShem going up and down.
A ladder has rungs, telling us that if we
truly strive, we can make the spiritual climb
to Heaven. To work on ourselves one
mitzva at a time, to improve our character,
one trait at a time. Step by step, rung by
rung, we can do it.
The word sulam, ladder, has the gematria,
the numerical value of one-hundred-thirty.
(Samach – sixty, lamed – thirty, mem –
forty). In the Musaf of Rosh HaShana and
Yom Kippur we say that teshuva, tefilla and
tzedaka can change an edict from above. In
the machzor, under the word teshuva, it
says “tzom, repenting through fasting”.
Under tefilla, it say “kol, using our voice
for prayer”, and under tzedaka, it says
“mammon, allocating money for charity”.
Interestingly, each of these three words,
tzom, kol, mammon, have a gematria of
one-hundred-thirty. The Hebrew word

Sinai, also has a numerical value of one-
hundred-thirty.

The message is clear. In this parsha, Yaakov
is teaching us how to survive the darkness
and challenges of life, how to climb the
sulam, the spiritual ladder to the Heavens.
Through teshuva, tefilla and tzedakah, the
way of Sinai.
Dovid HaMelech says in Tehillim, “Ki
malachov yetzaveh loch, He (HaShem) will
charge his angels for you, lishmarcha
b’chol d’rachecha, To protect you in all
your ways.” (Tehillim 91) Like the one
strong stone, it is through achdus, unity,
along with our mitzvos and chesed that we
can hope to merit the protection of the
angels, for our brethren in Eretz Yisroel, for
the brave chayalim who are on the front
lines, and for Jews throughout the world.