Modern Masters: Stairway to Heaven | Rabbi Sam Shor | November 26th 2025

Uh this our learning this morning is dedicated the father of our dear friend Kim on the occasion of his yard site. So, our learning should be as everybody's might you might tell from the sticky title I put on the source sheet. Um, this this stairway to heaven is a famous of course famous probably the most famous rock and roll song of all time by Led Zeppelin. Um but uh in this context we're talking about the the sulam the the the latter that appears to yakov auino in his famous dream and we're going to talk about that sulam. We're going to look at again my my course is called modern masters. We're going to look at the story of the salam of that mysterious dream that Yakovino has of the of the ladder that is placed on earth and it's the top of the ladder reaches the heavens and we're going to see that theidic masters and some of the other masters of Jewish thought and interpreters of the kumsh um offer um very very different interpretations and see very great significance of the imagery of this proverbial ladder and we're gonna just delve right in and hear from some of those masters. Again, I know that my my dear colleague in Kusa, Rabbi Goldshider, normally teaches um from the the school of Rafuk, both Rafuk's own Torah as well as the Torah of his students in this course. So, we're actually going to learn from a little bit of Rafuk and Rufk's students as well in addition to several kasidic masters. Okay, so we're going to just jump right in. If you turn your page over, we begin with Absukin, which we just discussed outside. If you turn your page over, we'll begin with that of course is the son of and explains our pukin and that the the ladder was placed towards earth and it its top reached the heavens. It doesn't say that the the the um the latter was placed on earth. It was placed towards earth. It wasn't that this ladder was placed was sitting on on the ground, but rather it surrounded all of heaven and all of earth. That God's great name, lofty name belongs in his dwelling place, meaning the heavens. Okay? The ladder is rooted in the heavens and it's pointed from the heavens placed from the heavens down towards earth. So the imagery of of the of the latter says okay is what the idea that there's something coming down from the heavens. It represents what? That everything that comes into existence is rooted where? in the heavens that says is the message however offers a completely different interpretation and look at really the polar opposite interpretation text number three on our sheets if you look at refers Rhir by the way we we always refers in English anyone know want to know take guess why >> exactly refers is the original really really the original art scrollers wrote his perish on kish in the contemp ary language of of his community which was German. So his work is is is written in German. So if we're going to learn and translate it doesn't make sense just to translate it to Hebrew for us to then translate it to English. So we're translating to directly to the English. And Rafers says the following. What does it mean? A ladder. A ladder is shown to him. What does that signify? That there is a link between the terrestrial and celestial realms. There's a link between heaven and earth. The latter is mutab. It is not there by chance but rather was set up there by a higher power. It represents what? Hashem placing the ladder on earth. More moreover was set up arza toward the earth. This means that the higher power which set up the ladder is not on earth but above. From on high the ladder was lowered and set down on the earth. So far consistent with right. But now he's going to take it in a different direction. The latter's purpose, however, is not descent from heaven to earth, but ascent from earth toward heaven. This is the first of three truths that are shown to Yakov. First he has shown that the destiny of all life on earth of all life on earth and thus all also the life of man including his own is not to be sought below or in Yakov's case in a journey from Beva to Karan but should be sought above from where this destiny has been set. Okay. The purpose of life is ascent. Okay. Is growth is looking to ascend. Everything on earth is summoned and destined to rise and ascend toward a lofty heavens set goal says reverse. This goal, this aspiration to ascend is not a man-made myth but an existing enduring reality. Its origin is in heaven and its direct fulfillment is on earth. The purpose of life says of hers in this beautiful teaching is what? Is ascent growth to try to elevate our consciousness to try to elevate to grow in kadusha to try to act heavenly to work towards lifting our consciousness towards raising ourselves up. Ruk not on your sheets but rakuk in a very very famous teaching that was made into a popular song. We began by quoting a popular secular song, right? So, Rufk has a there's a very very essential teaching of RVuk in Oro Takodesesh that was made into a popular Israeli song and the words are as follows. I'll just read them to you. Ben Adam, okay, you you human being alle you shall ascend to the heavens. Okay, you should ascend heaven words. you shall ascend because there's strength within you. You have the wings of spirit. You're endowed with the wings of of a strong eagle. You we every one of us has the capacity what to lift ourselves to fly literally to fly. You should not ignore this these capacities in order that what they shouldn't be lost to you when you seek them. You seek to really become who you're meant to be. They'll be revealed to you immediately. A person has to recognize that what Hashem endows us with great spiritual strength. The capacity to fly to ascend to the highest heights says of cook. The capac the the question is do we tap into that capacity? Do we try to cultivate the capacity? Do we try do we embrace this idea of elevating ourselves of ascending of flying spiritually or do we let those innate talents those innate capacities lay dormant? And really the challenge of life as we heard from Rahers in this beautiful piece beforehand is what? No the purpose of life is to ascend is to grow is to fly as Ruk says to use those caf those those wings of spirit to elevate ourselves. Okay, the slimmer in text number four, he takes us a little bit uh in a little bit different direction also. Um and we're just going to go five lines down where it says the word starts in the beginning line that what is the vision of the of the dream that Hashem first reveals to him an imagery of the way in which we're meant to serve God. It's the imagery of what? A ladder where a person is meant to what? Go from one level to the next. One step, one rung at a time. And the imagery of the angels of God also going up and down up and down the the the ladder. Now listen to the son's beautiful words that even our what when we go down even when we stumble and fall okay we have to recognize that those those missteps are also part of what as long as we see our life as being attached to the proverbial ladder of holiness there'll be moments where we're achieving what we're meant to achieve and going higher. And then there'll be moments where we might stumble and fall. We might slip and miss a rung and go down a rung. But as long as we see that as being part of our process, a part of our journey, as long as we don't when we stumble, give up and turn away and run away from our trajectory. Then will what merit that Hashem will bless us to be with us every step of the way. So here's a big that the son of Rebi is communicating and that is what even our yerid dot are part of the ladder. Okay are connected to ladder. Hashem was with with us in our asense and also when we stumble and fall okay so so far we've seen some and heard a number of beautiful ideas. We're now going to go back to a couple of the earlier masters of we're going to learn from the relich in text number five. Okay. There's a source sheet here if you want to just hand it to her. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Could you just pass it through? Let me hand it to her. Sorry. Okay. So, text number five offers the following beautiful insight. He says when a person begins to serve God in the simplest level, what happens? He's motivated by some excitement in his heart to what? To accomplish. because he thinks that what that when he does good what's going to happen all the worlds are going to be elevated. Okay, that's the simplest level of he says that a person is motivated to serve God and recognizes that through his actions that not only does it have an implication for me as an individual but for the entire world around us. Okay. And when when we begin to serve God on that level, it strengthens in our heart because we look ourselves in the mirror and say what just like RV cook said that what every single one of us is endowed with innate spiritual powers capacities capacities to lift ourselves but it's not just ourselves that we can lift says it's the entire world we can lift. Our actions have an implication not only for ourselves but for the entire world. And when a person comes to that realization, he is strengthened in his faith in in Hashem. By the way, the great master tells us that just as a person has to believe in them in Hashem, the necessary outcome of that idea of believing in Hashem is what that we have to believe in ourselves. If we believe that every single one of us, okay, has within us a spark of divinity, that the is actually a a portion of divinity that's endowed within every single one of us, then if we say we believe in and that Hashem can do the miraculous, then we have to also recognize that what Hashem endows us with great kak and great as well. And therefore the necessary to the necessary result of that belief in God is that we have to believe in ourselves. self-esteem. We can believe we can achieve, we can elevate ourselves and we can elevate the world around us which is what says is the natural trajectory of of Hashem. And then he says and afterwards when he has already been strengthened in his in his service of Hashem that we get what's the higher level when we think about nothing else but what but God everything we do is not about me me having a better situation. It's not about even bettering the situation of others around me. It's just about doing thee and that's the higher level of consciousness and Hashem will rejoices in the fact that the individual creates himself allows himself to become a what a vessel for Hashem's presence in this world. So basically a vehicle of Hashem's presence to be manifest in this world. Basically what Rabbi Viet is saying is that the imagery of a ladder is the imagery of how we ascend in terms of spiritual consciousness. There is the first step of what of serving God and realizing that when we do good, it has an implication for me as well as for others. But as we ascend and go higher on that proverbial spiritual ladder, we get to the point that we're no longer motivated by what? By improving my reality. We're only motivated motivated by one thought and that thought is what we want to serve Hashem. Okay. So there's two levels of ascent okay that are happening here. Says says it's like the latter the imagery of the latter represents a dual meaning. There's the ascent of a me as the individual and me realizing that my actions have an implication for me and for others to be improved and to have an improved situation of circumstances. But then there's the higher level of ascending to the spiritual consciousness awareness. Okay. All right. Right. So those are that now we're going to hear from another early master and that's the rebi rebu of a also known as the o is his known as o the one who loved the Jewish people and the says the following. He says this is six on our sheets. Okay. The first thing that we have to rec understand represented by this dream is that we have to perceive ourselves and imagine and our thoughts and consider ourselves as if what we are the proverbial we are the proverbial ladder that's placed on earth from from above. Okay. That we are placed here within the physical realm of earth. who are shamot descend from above and were placed here on earth. So says thei the first idea that we have to glean from the story of the dream of Jacob's dream and the imagery of Jacob's dream is what that every single one of us is a proverbial ladder. Okay, that's the first idea. All right. But even though we're placed here, we're the top of the ladder goes all ascends all the way to the heavens. That is that our intellect and the source of our soul is connected above in heaven. What about the imagery of the angels going up and down? When a person serves God and elevates his consciousness, not only has a [clears throat] implication for me as the human being, but what we allow the we cause the malim to ascend higher in the heavens. Okay, the Malik the human being and by we see this in numerous kazal those of us that learn together on shàuote we talked about this on shave night there are numerous um mam kazal that describe humanity being greater than the angels a malik has a very specific task that they're meant to complete here in the world in the in the universe and and and that's it a very limited role human beings have the capacity what to affect everything around them. Okay. So when we ascend, okay, the imagery when we become the proverbial ladder and we lift our consciousness from earth towards the heavens, then what are we causing to happen? We're causing the mal so to speak to rise even higher in the heavens as well. Okay. And the opposite is true says the rabbi that if we god forbid what stumble that it causes the malim to descend. Okay. And therefore, therefore the imagery of the latter, okay, is what? This idea of essence, okay, and recognizing that every single one of us has the capacity to not only reach the highest heights individually in terms of our spiritual consciousness, but to affect everything around us to reach the highest heights. As R cook, as we said earlier, as R Cook told us that we have we're endowed with these great spiritual powers. We just have to recognize them and tap into them and believe that anything is possible. Okay. So speaking of we're now going to learn from his one of his muim that's actually is important name for the those of you living in this neighborhood because he was the rav in this neighborhood. He was also the first roshiva of the yeshiva measuk. Okay, Rav Cook when he established his yeshiva was actually established in his in his in his little house. If anyone has never visited Beta Ravk, the museum betuk, I encourage you to do so. Actually, we've we've done this povish a every couple years. Maybe we'll do it this year in El for his yard site where we'll go and do a day of learning there in Betarav and we actually learn of Cook's Torah in his the B midash where most of that Torah emanated from. And it's a very small little place, but it's a beautiful little bit midash. And uh and after Rafkuk passed away, it's Raf Karlop and Rut Yehuda, Rafkuk's son who really build the small central yeshiva, the Rufkook envision into becoming the massive center that it is today and called me Rufka Meazi. And after his pet, they called the yeshiva meazar. Okay. the the central yeshiva that the rav envisioned that RKO envisioned. So Rafalap is the first is the first uh rashiva of that institution and his farm called Mayar and this is a short snippet from the safer Mayar about the imagery of the Carab says the following. Okay. Not only does the salam introduce us the idea of what? Of the asense but also at the same time the red the desense. Listen to this beautiful idea. We have to recognize that even what those desents those moments when we're when we're climbing down a rung when we're stumbling that's all part and parcel of what? The process of of aliyah of going up. because this is the nature of ascent. Okay? To try to ascend but also be pulled back down towards earth at the same time. The tragedy occurs. Okay? Or devastation occurs only when what? When we become disconnected from the salam from the proverbial ladder the imagery of the latter is what to see that our aliot are connected to are connected to the aliot. If we don't see life as a proverbial ladder, says Rav Karl, then what happens? Then when we stumble, we we get depressed and we lose hope and we fall even further. But if we see that life is meant to be a ladder, then what happens? If you if you're walking up a ladder and you make a misstep, what do you do? You pick yourself back up and you go back on the ladder and you climb even higher. Okay? So listen to his words. What does it mean that the ladder is placed on earth and it's the top reaches the heavens? He says that what we have to recognize that as long as we see that our part of the process of growth, okay, what we call bashame aliyah, sometimes in life there are moments where we have to take a step back in order to ground ourselves to gather ourselves in order that what we can move even further, even higher, ascend even higher. And therefore the imagery of the ladder and going and the angels going up and down the ladder simultaneously says Carl is to teach us that every single one of us have to see our lives as what? A proverbial ladder. And there'll be moments where we are going to be reaching towards the top of the ladder. And there'll be moments where we maybe have to take a step back and gain perspective and and and ground ourselves before we can ascend even further. Okay. You with me so far? Okay. So now we're hear a totally different take on the imagery of the latter and then we're actually going to bring this all back to Khan because we're in the in the zone of Kislave and looking at the Khan. Okay. So we're going to learn now from the beer Mosha. Okay, who is the Rebi of Oz and the Bear Moshe lived in the beginning of the 20th century. So he says the following. We're just gonna we're not going to learn this whole piece. We can just learn a few lines here and there in this piece. So we're going to begin the first two lines are just a quote from our puk. So we're going to begin on the third linearote. It's already been established and that the that the wordam okay is is what is roat leo mala. The word sulam is made up of the same letters or the first letters the words sudat mala which is what the idea of malava mala what's malava mala that after shabas there's an idea of having we have three sudat on shabbat and there's an idea that after shabas to have a fourth suda to bring the kadush of shabbat into the rest of the week okay this meal most of us think that it doesn't have any significance, right? It's not as important to us. We don't give as much thought to what we're going to do for malava as we give to the other meals over Shabas. Everyone, you know, today you see people writing out, you know, their menu for Shabas and they leave it attached, you know, uh to their refrigerator, everything they're going to serve for each meal. I don't know if this is true for everybody here, but I know that in our family, the ladies in the family like to plan their menu and they and they and they attach it to the refrigerator so they know exactly what they're going to serve throughout all three meals of Shabas. But says says the rebu there's a fourth meal that often what is overlooked. People don't write their their menu from a lava mal on the refrigerator. He says, he says it's what it's considered and most of us look at as what? It's earthly. It's not important. But the truth is what? It's very important. It's it's the top of the proverbial ladder of the mala reaches the heavens. And he goes, "Now I'm going to explain the the the the go down to line 17." Okay. Okay. Line 16 talks about this the that there's a famous medish that says the imagery of the of the angels going up and down up and down the the the ladder is to those are the angels that escorted Jacobu. Okay. He had he had a certain set of Malik that escorted him when he was in Aris is and he had a certain different set of that escort him when he was in. And therefore uh as he's coming from Karan to where he arrives he that that first set of malim that escorted they ascend to the heavens and a new set of malim that are going to escort him while he's in in init descends. That's the imagery. So he says so too since we have this idea of the malim that escorted Jakenu init and and and he was they were exchanged for a different set of Malikim when he came to Israel. He says, "So too, a Jew has that escort him a set of that escort him during the week and a set of a different set of that [snorts] escort him on Shabas that even on Shabas we have this idea of the coming and going ascending and descending the weekday ascend to the heavens." That's why when we sing on Friday night we say the is what we're welcoming the shabas and at the end we say why because we're saying to the weekday because the weekday are ascending and the and the are coming down to escort us and to honor us and that's why we say You see this? Every single one of us has two that are with us always. And when we leave on Friday night and we come to the Travis table, we have been escorted by two new our previous are going to ascend to shim. That's why we say shalom and we say shalom to the new they've joined us to escort us home from the bass. Okay. So I'll just skip down in the next paragraph to line three in the middle of the line. And therefore a person always has to have a meal. He says just as on Friday night the shabas come down and the the shabas the weekday descend once again to escort the person into the week to bring to know that we have those that shir that heavenly protection even during the week not just on Shabas but even during the week. Okay. So we we've now learned from numerous masters of Jewish thought um about the the sedra and about this idea of the proverbial proverbial stairway to heaven as we mentioned the ladder to heaven and the signance of that imagery. I want to talk a m moment because this sedra is always read in the weeks leading up to Kaneka. So I want to switch gears for a moment and talk for a moment about Kaneka. Khan as we know that is one of the probably the only mitzvah that every single Jew that does this mitzvah does the mitzvah in the most what mhudar mahad and mahadrin way right because we all know that to what's the mitzvah of lighting a candle on how do we fill a mitzvah near kaneka the garra tells us what one candle every single night meaning on the third night of kaneka even if there's 25 people lighting together Okay, if we lit one candle and said the braha, we are y the mitzvah fully. Okay, that's the simplest way to fulfill a mitzvah. The mahajin way to fulfill a mitzvah. The next best way to fulfill a mitzvah is what? That every single individual in the household lights one candle. So on the fourth night of Kaneka, if there's seven of us lighting together, the household would light seven candles. Not 28 candles, seven candles. That's already mahadran. That's already doing it in a strict way. And the mahadron minadrin. Okay. The strictest way to do it is what? Okay. Then there's a makus. As we know the gamarra tells us the makus between shami. Okay. And we're just going to learn this gar the famous gar quickly. Now our rabbis taught mitzvah near. Okay. The mitzvah of Kaneka is that on the every night of Kaneka there's one candle that's lit lit for the entire household. The mahadrin. And the more beautiful way to do it, a candle for every single member of the household says what says what? We on the first night we light one candle and every night going forward we what? We add one and we ascend in holiness. the mo and the re rationale for bas hill's opinion is what that we always ascend in holiness and we don't descend. So listen, we're now going to learn part of a beautiful sika from a modern master that many of us probably have never heard of and that's Rabbi Rabbi Gaml Rabanovich. Rabbi Gaml Rabanovich is a great mubal. He lives in the neighborhood of Zikra Moshe just a few minutes a walk from here. And um Rav Gamu has a beautiful safer on of his various teachings on and we're just going to learn a short snippet um from Rav Gam and he says the following the mitzvah of lighting candles teaches us how we can strive and reach the highest most complete feeling of of holiness. Mahad until we reach what the level of mahadra the most beautiful way of serving God and we're not to be satisfied with what serving God just in a beautiful way but to do it in the most beautiful way and certainly not by simply doing the simple letter of the law of lighting one simple candle below and certainly not by doing the simple level of lighting one candle without any excitement and without any beautifification. Okay, again as we said every this is the probably the one mitzvah in the entire can of all the mitzvah where where every single Jew does it in the most beautiful way the strictest way. So now listen how he explains this was but the way in which how what's the way how do we achieve this level of living a life of ascending to this level of spirituality of the the was established like and listen what he says that you begin with one one simple candle and every single day We're meant to add and continue. They had one more candle every day to teach us the way of which a Jew is meant to grow spiritually in a sense spiritually one candle at a time. one candle after the next. Shaloo and not to run and and skip different from one level to the 10th level in one jump, but rather you should just take one step at a time each step of the way. How do we how do we guarantee that we will continue to grow one step to ascend from one level to the next and not to dive take on too much at once and go too far too fast too far too fast. uh so that we don't what stumble by going too far too fast. How do we ensure that? And by doing so, we're not we're not we're not really connecting and really grasping each step we're meant to take. And if we do that, what will happen? We will eventually stumble. The way to grow to ascend spiritually and it says Gaml Rabanovich and which is encrypted in the message of how we light our Kaneka candles is what? To grow one candle at a time. Take one step at a time. One ascend one rung on the proverbial ladder at a time. Okay? And if we're able to do that, if we're able to take our time patiently with per patience and perseverance and dedication, then we can indeed reach the highest heights spiritually to ascend to the level of fulfilling a life living a life not of simple and not of but a mahad minahadrin to serve God in the most beautiful way. And that only occurs when we take our time and we grow. one step at a time and we take it cautiously with patience and perseverance. Okay. And so my bra for all of us as we prepare for part to read par and we look at the awesome is we should take to all these beautiful messages that we should be able to indeed ascend on the proverbial ladder one rung at a time that we should ascend in kaduca okay by lighting one candle at a time and not and not taking on too much too fast too much too soon which could cause us forbid to stumble and lose our way but rather to ascend One step, one candle, one rung at a time. Have a great week.