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Nehar Deah
Vayeitzeh
Where is the Gate of the Heavens?
The weekly portion of "Vayeitzeh" tells the story of Jacob's
experiences in Charan, where he fled to escape the wrath of his brother
Esau, who is angry with him because he stole the blessing (Bereishit 27).
Jacob leaves Beersheba, on his way into exile, stops for a nights rest
in a place that was to become known as "Beit El" (the house
of God) and there he dreams a dream. In his dream: "Behold a ladder
set up on the earth, and the head of it reached heaven and behold the
angels of God ascending and descending on it" (Bereishit 28:12).
After this God reveals himself and promises to protect Jacob wherever
he may travel, to give him the "land upon which you lie" (verse
13) and even a multitude of descendants: "Your seed shall be as the
dust of the earth and you shall spread to the west, to the east to the
north and to the south" (Verse 14). The continuation of the narrative
tells: "And Jacob awoke out of his sleep and he said: Surely the
Lord is in this place: and I knew it not. And he was afraid and he said:
How terrible is this place! This is none other then the house of the Lord
and this is the gate of heaven" (verses 16-17).
The description of the height of the ladder that Jacob sees "the
head of it reached heaven", reminds us of the description of the
tower of Babel, by its builders: "We will build a city and a tower
with its head reaching heaven" (Bereishit 12:4). The story of the
building of the tower of Babel is a story of human pride that knows no
limits. Man wants to build a tower and make a name for himself (ibid verse
4), to cross the boundary between heaven and earth, between man and God.
Man's punishment is not slow to come: God scatters them on the face of
the earth and divides them according to their languages so that no one
understood his fellow man. The story concludes with a Midrash mocking
and poking fun at the name Babel: "therefore they called its name
Babel because God balal (confused) the languages of the earth" (verse
9). Hereinafter we shall see how the residents of Babylon explained the
name of the city they dwelt in; the Torah in any case explains it in terms
of confusion and intermingling.
In the whole Bible we find no other similar phrases to the abovementioned
two: "and the head of it [the ladder] reached heaven" and "a
tower with its head reaching heaven". The similarity between the
two phrases should attract the attention of the reader and cause them
to compare the two stories in which they are found. But one thing must
be remembered: the reader should not be satisfied with finding similarity
but even more importantly should look for dissimilarity and even disagreement
between them, as it could in fact be there that the message lies. The
following is a comparison between the story of the tower of Babel and
Jacob's ladder.
- While the tower connects between earth and heaven, it is the initiative
of man; the revelation of the ladder in Jacob's dream is an expression
of God's will. Man remains on earth but, if God wills it, man can witness
a revelation that connects between heaven and earth.
- Man's plot to ascend to the heavens does not succeed and God stops
the building process. In contrast, the ladder does connect between heaven
and earth and ministering angels ascend and descend upon it, as only
they are able and allowed to do so.
- In order to view man's handiwork, the building of the tower, God
descends from his place: "And God descended to see the city and
the tower which man had built" (12:5). When talking to Jacob, God
stands at the top of the ladder: "And behold the Lord stood above
it and said 'I am Hashem, the God of Abraham" (28:13).
- When building the city and tower, the builder made use of bricks:
"and they had brick for stone" (11:3), and it's possible that
we have here an expression of astonishment - and maybe even mockery
- of those who put their faith in the strength and durability of bricks,
made by human hands. Jacob, in contrast, places a real stone: "And
Jacob arose early in the morning and took the stone he had put under
his head and placed it as a monument" (28:18). The stone Jacob
placed was the foundation of the house of God which would be established
in that place: "and this stone which I have placed as a monument
will be the house of God" (ibid 22)
- In the labor of construction by the builders of the tower there is
an expression of defiance against heaven. Jacob's placing of the stone
- and the building of a house of God in this place in the future - is
to honor God.
- The builders of the tower begin their initiative when they "travel
from the east" (12:2). Jacob goes "to the land of the people
of the east" (29:1) after he vows to establish a house of God when
he returns to his father's house.
- The fear of the tower builders, "lest we be dispersed on the
face of the earth" (12:4), comes to pass when God punishes them:
"And God dispersed them on the face of the earth… and from
there God dispersed them on the face of the earth" (12:8-9). God
promises Jacob that he will bring him back to his land from the place
of his exile: "And I will bring you back to this land because I
will not abandon you" (29:15).
- As in the story of the tower of Babel, in the story of the ladder,
the name of the place is also elucidated. In this case the name "Beit-El"
(house of God) is explained in a positive light, which expresses God's
presence in that place: "…How terrible is this place! This
is none other then the house of the Lord …" (verse 17), "And
called the name of that place Beit El" (verse 19), "and this
stone which I have placed as a monument will be the house of God"
(verse 22).
- And most importantly for our discussion: Jacob continues and declares
that the place where an aperture was opened for him to see God and his
angels ascending and descending on the ladder is the "gate of heaven"
(verse 18). This is a clear expression of polemic against the Babylonian
outlook, who saw their city in this way, since the name "Babel"
was explained by the Babylonians as the "gate of God" (bab-ili)
or "the gates of the gods" (bab- il?ni), in other words "the
gate of heaven".
Our story declares that the gate of heaven is found in the land of Israel
and not in the land of Shen'ar, in Beit-El and not in Babylon; a place
where the believer expressed thanksgiving to his God who was revealed
to him and not a place where man wished to conquer God's dwelling place.
Babylon is no longer worthy of the name "gate of heaven" and
it now refers to Beit-El.
Transfer of the place of "the gate of heaven" from Babylon
to Beit-El is not the conclusion of the process. In the story of the threshing
floor of Arvana, the story of the dedication of Jerusalem in the days
of David, as it is told in the book of Divrei Hayamim (Chronicles), we
find a verse that has no parallel in chapter 24 of Shmuel II, which is
the original source for the compiler of Divrei Hayamim: "And David
said: This is the house of God and this is the sacrificial altar for Israel"
(Divrei Hayamim I 22:1). The phraseology is very similar to that of Jacob
in the story of the ladder ("This is none other than the house of
the Lord and this is the gate of heaven" [verse 17]), and it seems
that this is an attempt to identify various places of ceremonial significance,
Beit-El and Jerusalem, as one place.
This notion is mentioned later in the Midrash. There it is told that
Jacob went to "Mount Moriah … and he lay down to sleep there
because the sun had set … and he awoke suddenly with great fear and
said: This is the house of the Holy One, blessed be He, in this place
it was said 'this is the gate of heaven'". After Jacob erects a monument,
"what does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He put his right foot
down firmly and pushed the stone down to the depths of the earth …
and on it the temple of God stands as it is written "and this stone
which I have placed as a monument will be the house of God" (Pirkey
D'Rabi Eliezer, chapter 35).
In this way the "gate of heaven" wandered from bab-ili to Beit-El,
a place of ceremonial worship which was later identified with Jerusalem.
Professor Yair Zackovitz
Department of Biblical Studies
Jewish Art - Since when have angels had wings?
Many of us would say that man has always depicted angels as having wings,
since this is how we are used to seeing them in most works of art: pictures,
statues, mosaics and more. Since the main task of angels is to act as a
go-between between man and God, it seems obvious that they need wings in
order to travel rapidly between the earth that was given to man and the
heavens which are God's alone.
But, in the Bible there are many descriptions of angels without any mention
of their wings. For example, the angels that came to tell Abraham about
the forthcoming birth of his son (Bereishit 18:2) and continue on their
way to go and save Lot from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (ibid
19:1). Similarly with the other angels that Jacob sees in his dream, that
are "ascending and descending" the ladder and not flying about
it, or the angel that speaks with the prophet Zachariah (Zachariah 4:1).
Creatures which do have wings are the cherubs (described as "[they]
shall stretch out their wings on high, spreading over the covering with
their wings" [Shemot 25:20]) or the seraphim ("six wings to
each" [Isaiah 6:2]). With the exception of "the man Gabriel
… approached close to me in swift flight" (Daniel 9:21) - where
it is hinted that Gabriel has the ability to fly - we do not find any
clear mention of a winged angels in the Bible, the apocrypha (in which
we find many angels in the visions of the authors of these books) or even
in the New Testament. Therefore, from where do we have this picture of
angels as being winged?
We can surmise that in time artists made no differentiation was between
angels, seraphs and cherubs and depicted them all as having wings; but
it is more logical that wings became the mark of an angel, differentiating
between it and flesh and blood, due to the influences of the classical
Greco-Roman world in the time of ancient Christianity. In classical culture
there were many winged creatures, which played a variety of roles, and
these could well have influenced the imagination of Christian artists
in the fourth and fifth centuries. An example is the Greek goddess of
victory, Nike (or as the Romans named her: Victoria) who mediated between
the gods and man. She is depicted in Greco-Roman art as having wings in
her sides symbolising either the four seasons or the four winds. It is
surmised that Christian artists began, as a result of these descriptions,
to depict heavenly angels in poses of blessing or wearing crucifixes,
with a pair of wings extending from their bodies. We find such depictions
on coffins of 4th century Christians.
In the depiction of Jacob's dream in murals adorning the walls of the
synagogue at Dura-Europa (3rd century) the angels do not have wings. Similarly
the angels depicted in ancient artworks found in the city of Rome - in
the Christian catacombs on the Via Latina (4th century) or the church
of Santa Maria Maggiore (5th century) - were not depicted as having wings.
In contrast, from the fifth century onwards, no artist, Christian or Jewish,
has depicted angels without their wings.
Jewish Philosophy - Jacobs Ladder and R' Jacob Joseph of Polonnoye
How should a Torah scholar relate to those who do not dedicate all their
time to the study of Torah? This is one of the questions dealt with by
Chassidism, a religious movement which developed in Poland in the 18th
century, headed by R' Israel Baal Shem Tov (known by the acronym Besht).
R' Jacob Joseph of Polonnoye (who died in 1782), a town in the Podolia
region of Poland, lived at the same time as the Besht and was one of his
disciples. R' Jacob Joseph is regarded as one of the first to formulate
the doctrine of the Besht, in his book "Toldot Yaakov Yosef"
(History of Jacob Joseph). The book includes a debate on the question
of the relationship of Torah scholars to regular people through a commentary
on the ladder Jacob saw in his dream. These are the words of R' Jacob
Joseph: "The world is called 'ladder', with the multitude of humanity
'set up on the earth' known as 'the feet of the world', and the Torah
scholars are the "head", and this is what is written 'the head
of it reached heaven' … 'angels of God' are the righteous, who have
not misused their God given mission, going up, as if the generation purifies
their deeds, the head's of the generation rise up to a higher level"
(Parashat Vayeitzeh).
This interpretation is based on the assumption that the nation of Israel
is one organic unit, which cannot be separated and divided. The ladder
that Jacob saw in his dream symbolizes the close connection between the
whole of the nation of Israel. Part of it is "set up on the earth",
symbolizing the common people who are not Torah scholars. The fact that
they are "set up on the earth" does not mean they are valueless
but rather that they are "the feet of the world", those who
maintain the basis of the Jewish world. Torah scholars are the head of
this ladder, the part that is closest to the heavens, but they cannot
ignore other parts of the ladder, other parts of the nation. As Torah
scholars they have a duty, they are responsible for establishing the spiritual
level of the nation, as without this basis the entire ladder will collapse.
If they neglect this task, they cannot be as the "angels of God"
who ascend the ladder. Scholars, who do not properly perform their tasks
and do not help others get to a suitable spiritual level, cannot themselves
ascend. The righteous are therefore dependant on the rest of the nation.
This commentary can also be interpreted as criticism of the leading Torah
scholars who were active in Poland at that time. Various developments
and internal and external crises affecting Polish Jewry caused a deep
societal rift and led to serious social disparity. The pogroms of 1648-1649
and the disappointment over the conversion to Islam of the false messiah
Shabtai Tzvi (1666) are most commonly quoted as the sources of these rifts.
In response to these the upper echelon closed ranks. In various sources
written by those who lived in that period, Torah scholars are accused
of not sharing their knowledge with others. Chassidut is known as a social
movement which opposed this, and altered and re-established the figure
of the tzaddik (wise and righteous man), partly through emphasizing the
importance of the connection between him and the rest of the community,
between the head of the ladder and its feet, as we saw in the commentary
of R' Jacob Joseph on the story of Jacob's ladder.
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