Climbing the Ladder of Life - The Untold Story of Jacob -Jeremy Gimpel:The Land of Israel Fellowship

now I want to take the next step deeper into the Torah because this is a truth that is in relationships it's a truth in our own personal lives it's a truth with our walk with our children with our you know so with ourselves with God and I think this Torah portion when we really get into Jacob now we're really starting to get refined into Israel avraham was not Israel Isaac was not Israel Jacob was Israel Jacob is the father of Israel we have to pay close attention because what happens in Jacob's life is setting the stage for Israel to be brought into the world avraham wasn't able to bring Israel into the world and Isaac wasn't able to bring Israel into the world you know they had like there was like ASAP there was something that went wrong there Jacob brought the tribes of Israel into the world that created the nation of Israel so I want to say that this week's Parsha really it it guides us to that and what I want to show is that first there is a structure to the partial and that's really important to notice and you can see it it popped out to me first when I saw the words first yaakov is he encounters the place where there's angels and at the very end of the parashah it says that Angels the Angels encountered him in vaif Gaba Macomb it's like an unusual language in Hebrew literally means like you encounter like you you struck like you like my car hit your car you would say like I pagati ba Otto I hit your car so there were these two encounters where Jacob was struck by the place and struck by angels and then I started to notice that know that there's a bigger structure here and first let's look at the structure so we can all see it together we all know the beginning of the story Jacob is leaving from Israel to go to haran where Abraham's family is still there he receives the blessing from Isaac that he steals from Asaf on the way there he encounters angels on his journey to his destination in bait l of course there he sees the latter going up to heaven and there's a lot of deep meanings there we're going to get to that in a little bit and at the end of the Parsha at the end of the whole Saga of Jacob in the Exile what happens then now he's leaving from haran to Israel it's like a reverse story and what you see is that at the end he receives a blessing not from his father but from his father-in-law look at Genesis chapter 32 verse 1. and early in the morning Laban arose and kissed his sons and daughters and blessed them then Lavon departed and returned to his place so on his way he receives the blessing of his father-in-law and then he goes and he needs Angels again both times we see the word wife got and he encountered these angels look at Genesis chapter 32 verse 2. so Jacob went on his way and the angels of God encountered him when Jacob saw them he said this is God's camp and he called the name of that place and so okay what's going on here what's going on here why is there this structure and what's happening inside this structure it's like bookends that are trying to tell us this is the story of Jacob right here pay close attention he's leaving he's coming back and in this we're encapsulating something really important and at some point a transformation happens the transformation happens right after this book end and here's what happens it enters into this week's Torah portion chapter 32 verse 25. Jacob was left alone alone and a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn so that is a critical part Jacob was Jacob before he became or before he was named Israel and there is a time where he is left alone where he has to be alone that is critical he can't blame his mother he can't blame his brother he can't blame anyone he's not relying on anyone he doesn't need to negotiate with anyone he's just alone on his journey back to the land and when you are alone and you feel alone that's actually the opening to transformation look at the next verse chapter 32 verses 24 7 and 28. then he the angel of asaph said let me go for the dawn is broken and he said I will not let you go unless you bless me he said to him what is your name and he replied Jacob so when Jacob is alone he struggles and then he has to come to grips and say his name the Angels asking him who are you you've gone through this whole structure you've left the land you've now gone through a whole process and you've come back what's your name and Jacob needs to really figure this out who am I my name is Jacob the word yaakov in Hebrew means it comes from the word heal because he grabbed onto the heel of asav but La akov also means to follow not the leader the follower not the one that goes straight but an iku is like a curve not Paving your own way it's sort of like somehow finding a roundabout way the achev the follower Jacob's life was a passive life he never really LED he was always pretty much told what to do he grew up the son of Isaac so you can understand that I mean Isaac was fully submitted to the will of God ready to self-sacrifice ready to give his life he trusted in God he trusted in Abraham he let go and let God and Jacob learned that from Isaac's house so Jacob was a righteous holy man learning from his master learning from his father saying okay I don't need to push I don't need to lead my father is a pillar of righteousness he never left the Holy Land he was a sacrifice himself I want to model my life after yaakov in his nature he was an ishtam yosev oh halim he was a pure person a dweller of tense Ace of his brother ASA means ASAP is a doer La assault means to do ready-made that's what NASA means he's already done he's so he's so good at doing he gets it done fast he's like fast food fast ASAP is a doer he's a hunter yaakov is a dweller of tense he's not doing anything his mom tells him how to go get the blessing he's just passively listening instead of confronting Asa kind of goes around the bend and does what he needs to do and then he runs away from ASAP in fact even when he has the encounters with God on his way out of Israel he doesn't Hashem he doesn't meet God like he recognizes there's something special about the place that he's in and then while he's asleep totally passive in his dreams which is absolutely submissive he receives his message he didn't do anything he just went to bed and then on the way back it's not that he does something the Angels the angels are the ones that kind of strike him he's again just so passive and think about leaving mid Jacob as the worst negotiator and that hit me this week big time seven years for us wife he would have given him Rachel probably for free he was Abraham and Isaac's son of course United work for seven years and Jacob is the worst negotiator like I'll work for seven years like wow seven years great I was gonna give you my daughter for free but you offered I guess so and then even then he gets manipulated he's like twisted around the world and he's just so submissive that he allows himself to be twisted to work another seven years where he didn't even work the first seven years and look at the wives the wives with Jacob I mean the story it's like over and over again the wives they're trading flowers for time with him it's almost like it's not his decision who he gets to spend time with he's just rented out for flowers he doesn't decide his wife decide who gets to hang out with him tonight he's just so passive and then the transformation happens Jacob is like ah what's my name I am I am the follower I've just been following the circumstances of my life over and over again finally God Appears to me in a dream and says now it's time to go home and I'm just following God trying to be righteous and then the transformation happens Genesis chapter 32 29 here's what it says no longer will it be said that your name is yaakov but Israel for you have struggled with God and with man and you have prevailed so what happens Jacob is alone no one to tell him what to do nowhere to run and know where to hide and he has to face his demons he has to face the angel of ASAP and he's fighting all night just him no one's telling him how to fight no one's telling him if he's going to win God's not there no one's there just him and his angels fighting and at that point the angel says okay it's time for you to become Israel you can't be a couv you can't be a curved follower you need to be a Shar El you need to be straight with God you need to be able to be the one that struggles with man that struggles with God and prevails you have to become Israel you can't just follow in the ways of Isaac your father and then I believe Jacob understands his dream Jacob starts off his journey with a ladder that reaches the heavens and there's so many interpretations what that means one interpretation was that listen he's leaving Israel his angels are leaving him now because you have special angels when you come into the land of Israel you have land of Israel angels that accompany you they wait for you in heaven and when you get off that plane and you arrive in the land you're outside of Israel Angels they go on vacation and your land of Israel Angels come down and you have special angels that accompany you only in the land of Israel some people as soon as they get off the plane they're like I feel it I feel it I don't exactly know what that means but spiritually I think that's represented by that idea if they're new Angels here I have a new countenance I have a new feeling here another idea in that letter is that listen in life there's going to be ups and downs with God sometimes you're going to feel so close all you're going to want to do is praise the Lord but sometimes you're going to feel so far away you'll be so down that you're going to cry out to God thank Elohim my soul is so thirsty for you longing for you like a deer on the streams my soul is yearning for you Hashem is from the word arugod that's like the arugod farm the people that are yearning to grow closer so only when you're far do you need to yearn to grow closer there's going to be ratsova Chauvin life times where you're up times when you're down sometimes when you're close sometimes when you're far and that is the path of a believer in the world but there's something really beautiful here Israel needs to be a straight Israel yashar al straight with God straight like a ladder and there's a beautiful idea written in the letter from Elijah written by Rabbi eliao destler and he says one of the most important ideas to understand is our idea of free will it's our point of choice and it exists unique to each person the average person it's not struggling to like oh I really want to Rob this old lady and murder someone on the street most people don't really struggle with that most people don't want to pray all day long and meditate on God's Oneness most people are somewhere in the middle on that Spectrum you know our Free Will is located somewhere like I shouldn't gossip right now I should probably wake up early and not press the snooze button to really give a little bit more sadaka a little bit more charity I should smile to others and eat well and you know take time to learn more Torah like that's sort of somewhere on that spectrum is where most people lie but those battles are inches and sometimes we win and sometimes we lose and each time we confront one of those challenges it's like we engage in an internal battle a struggle Israel is to struggle with God to struggle with man and to Prevail on the outside it probably doesn't look like much but inside there's a fierce spiritual battle that's happening here a battle of wills is our soul the godliness inside us going to Prevail or is the man in the flesh that is a part of us going to Prevail but if we push hard enough and we reveal our soul we activate our will and discipline on those fronts eventually it will actually become our second nature and what was once a struggle it becomes a sure Victory that's just what we're doing now and when we lose the battle we sort of retreat a step or two but the battle is always on and it's like a series of tiny gains and Tiny losses and there is no single battle that wins the war there's only a letter that ascends to Heaven meaning there is no top Heaven just keeps on going there is no destination it doesn't matter how high you reach on the ladder all that matters says is how many rungs you've climbed in your life that is your place in the world of truth because some people have a lust for things that we don't lust after at all and some people have an amazing lofty soul that we can't even dream of having they have their ladder and we have our ladder and our ladder goes all the way up to heaven and our job is to continuously Ascend the latter every day Jacob teaches us the most amazing lesson there's no pill that you can take there's no ritual that you can perform there's no declaration that you can make there is no moment that's like ah I got it I won every day Jacob worked seven years for one another seven years day after day after day but Jacob teaches us love what you do and love what you're doing it for because Jacob said when he worked for Rachel it just blew by it was like a matter of moments in his eyes because he loved what he was working for he was working for the love of his life and so when we are living our life with our dreams that God gives us what are we living for and I think the Torah teaches us the ones that are closest to us are what will give us our highest level of meaning our wives our husbands our children our parents our brothers our sisters focus on our Arc focus on the people that will come with us in our Ark when the flood hits I mean since Corona every week this Fellowship we meet we pray we align our lives with what's most important we learn the Divine wisdom of the Torah every week we climb another rung and honestly I just I don't it's hard for me when I listen to the fellowship from the very beginning now it's like that is such a cute person that Jeremy can pull over there I am a totally different person and I believe that all of us have grown together and imagine what a beautiful thing we've done what a beautiful thing we're a part of that all of us you can't even see it's such small inches another inch another inch another day another week but slowly but surely the latter that Jacob gave for us that's rooted in the land of Israel but that goes all the way up to heaven it's like a light is growing and we're Fanning the Flames together and so may we all be blessed wherever we are to take the next step one more rung another rung higher and then as we build our inner world the outside world Ari might be right it might get ugly outside I have a feeling he is right and so the stronger we are on the inside the stronger we will be for the people around us when they need it most and so may Hashem bless us with strength May Hashem bless us with light and may you all be blessed from Zion