In Parshas Vayeitzei, Yaakov Avinu finds himself running away from Eisav who wants to kill him.  After receiving the brachos from his father first (Bereishis 27), and Eisav vowing to kill Yaakov (27:41), Yaakov’s parents command him to run away.  They instruct him to flee to the house of Lavan, his uncle, where he will both escape the wrath of Eisav, as well as marry his wives and build his family.

The parsha begins with Yaakov alone, at night, in a place (Mt. Moriah, according to the Sages) where he encounters G-d.  As night has fallen, because the sun has set before its time (in order that he should remain at this place), Yaakov first prays the evening prayer.  The pasuk tells us that: וַיִּפְגַּע בַּמָּקוֹם וַיָּלֶן שָׁם כִּי-בָא הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ, and he encountered the place, for the sun had set (28:11).  On this verse, Chazal teach us that Yaakov established tefilas arvis (Brachos 26b), the prayer of nighttime.  וַיִּקַּח מֵאַבְנֵי הַמָּקוֹם וַיָּשֶׂם מְרַאֲשֹׁתָיו - Yaakov then takes from the stones of the place, and constructs an enclosure around his head, for protection.  He then lays down and goes to sleep - וַיִּשְׁכַּב בַּמָּקוֹם הַהוּא.

It is then that he has his famous dream of the “Sulam Yaakov”, Yaakov’s ladder, and it is then that G-d speaks to him for the first time.  The pasuk tells us: וַיַּחֲלֹם, וְהִנֵּה סֻלָּם מֻצָּב אַרְצָה וְרֹאשׁוֹ מַגִּיעַ הַשָּׁמָיְמָה; וְהִנֵּה מַלְאֲכֵי אֱלֹקים, עֹלִים וְיֹרְדִים בּוֹ - and he dreamed, and behold there was a ladder standing on the ground, with its top reaching to the heavens; and behold, angels of G-d were going up and down it (28:12).  

Why were the angels described as first ascending the ladder, and then descending the ladder?   Rashi explains that the angels of Eretz Yisrael were going back up to the heavens (for they were not permitted to accompany Yaakov outside of the Land); while the angels of chutz la’aretz were coming down the ladder, to escort him on his way once he left the Land. 

G-d speaks to Yaakov for the first time, and promises him: 1. the Land, 2. children, and 3. that He will guard him and be with him and return him to this place (28:13-15).  

When Yaakov wakes up, he is seemingly stunned to discover than not only is Hashem found in yeshivas Shem v’Ever (where he spent the last fourteen years, Rashi to 28:9), but even here, on a lonely, dark mountaintop, G-d can be found!  Yaakov declares: אָכֵן יֵשׁ ה’ בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה וְאָנֹכִי לֹא יָדָעְתִּי - surely, Hashem is in this place, and I did not know! And he is afraid and he says: מַה-נּוֹרָא, הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה אֵין זֶה, כִּי אִם-בֵּית אֱלֹקים וְזֶה שַׁעַר הַשָּׁמָיִם - how awesome is this place, this is none other than the house of G-d, and this is the gateway to heaven (28:16-17).

In this encounter we have the solitude of Yaakov; the experience of prayer; the ladder with angels going first up - ascent - and then down - descent; the prophecy of G-d Who speaks to our forefather Yaakov for the first time; and Yaakov’s reaction to discovering the holiness and Divinity of this place.

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z’l teaches that there is a basic shape to our prayers.  Prayer consists first of ascent, then finding that one is standing in the Presence of G-d, and then descent.  The inspiration for this structure of prayer is none other than Yaakov’s great vision. Rabbi Sacks writes that, “Prayer is a ladder stretching from earth to heaven.  On this ladder of words, thoughts and emotions, we gradually leave earth’s gravitational field.  We move from the world around us, perceived by the senses, to an awareness of that which lies beyond the world - the earth’s Creator.

“At the end of this ascent, we stand, as it were, directly in the conscious presence of G-d… We then slowly make our way back to earth again - to our mundane concerns, the arena of actions and interactions within which we live.  But if prayer has worked, we are not the same afterward as we were before.  For we have seen, as Jacob saw, ‘G-d is truly in this place, and I knew it not.’

“If the first stage is the climb, and the second standing in heaven, then the third is bringing a fragment of heaven down to earth.  For what Jacob realized when he woke from his vision is that G-d is in this place.  Heaven is not somewhere else, but is here - even if we are alone and afraid - if only we realized it.  And we can become angels, G-d’s agents and emissaries; we can ultimately even struggle ‘with G-d and with men’ (32:28), if, like Jacob, we have the ability to pray and the strength to dream, and the openness to see the transformations that can happen in the difficult spaces between” (Covenant & Conversation, Genesis, p.188-189).

With every prayer we offer, we must strive to reach this spiritual level.  A feeling of ascent as we reach upwards to Heaven; the reality of standing in the Presence of G-d; and the descent from that peak, where we bring some of heaven back to earth, allowing it to inspire us in our daily lives.  

The day of this writing, Monday, December 2, the State of Israel declared that Cpt. Omer Maxim Neutra, an IDF soldier who was kidnapped to Gaza on October 7, 2023, has been declared a fallen IDF soldier, whose body is still being held captive by Hamas.

Neutra, 21, was born in New York in 2001, and immigrated to Israel, serving as a lone soldier.
Omar loved sports, playing soccer, basketball, and volleyball, and served as the captain of his school’s sports teams.  Family and friends described him as a warm, optimistic, and caring individual who "lights up the room the moment he enters."

One of the most difficult photos from the October 7 massacre was that of IDF soldiers being pulled cruelly from their tank by Hamas terrorists, after the tank was set aflame. Omer was the commander of that tank, and his body was kidnapped to Gaza along with his tank crew: Nimrod Cohen, Shaked Dahan and Oz Daniel.  

Omer is survived by his parents, Ronen and Orna, and his brother, Daniel (https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/400085).  May his memory be for a blessing and may G-d avenge his blood.

We do not understand how, or why, G-d seemingly does, or does not, accept our prayers in the way that we ask.  We must only know that our prayers are heard on the highest heights, and we must journey up to G-d, as we pray. 

Yaakov teaches us that even when darkness surrounds us, even when “Yaakov/Yisrael” is all alone, even when the reality in front of us is anything but reassuring, “Behold, even here, G-d is in this place, even if I did not know!”

Through the ascent, the Presence, and the descent of the prayer experience, we can change ourselves, and we can bring Hashem into our lives.

May our individual, and collective, tefillos be heard, may they be accepted b’rachamim u’ve’ratzon (with mercy and goodwill), and may we merit a Chodesh Kislev that moves our nation from darkness to light, and from captivity to redemption, immediately and in our days.

בברכת בשורות טובות ושבת שלום