Parashat Vayetze, 5786, 2025: “How Awesome is this Place”

Rabbi David Etengoff
 
ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
Ya’akov Avinu’s reaction to his vision of the ladder connecting Heaven and earth is one of the most celebrated passages in Sefer Bereishit:

And Ya’akov awakened from his sleep, and he said, “Indeed, Hashem is in this place, and I did not know [it].” And he was frightened, and he said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” (Sefer Bereishit 28:16-17, Parashat Vayetze, this and all Bible translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach)
 
The meaning of the expression, “Indeed, Hashem is in this place, and I did not know [it],” is difficult to comprehend. At first glance, it seems that Ya’akov’s failure to recognize Hashem’s presence was based on his inability to do so. If this was the case, however, the translation of the phrase, “and I did not know [it],” should be followed by an exclamation point, and not a period, as we find in some English translations. Nonetheless, many translations of our phrase do not follow this approach. This leads to the following question: “Is the expression, ‘Indeed, Hashem is in this place, and I did not know [it],’ an exclamatory or declarative statement?” That is, did Ya’akov berate himself for failing to perceive Hashem’s presence, or did he simply acknowledge his inability to sense the nearness of the Shechinah? This is a fundamental query as the answer leads us to a deeper understanding of Ya’akov’s spiritual persona.
 
The Spanish exegete, Rabbi Avraham Saba zatzal (1440-1510), in his classic work of Torah analysis “Tzror Hamor,” maintains that our phrase is a declarative statement, since Ya’akov “was not a famous prophet on the level of Eliyahu and Elisha who said, ‘Let her be, for her soul is bitter to her, and Hashem hid it from me and did not tell me.’” (Sefer Melachim II: 4:27, this and the following Tzror Hamor translations and brackets my own) This pasuk suggests that based on his extraordinary prophetic powers, Eliyahu should have been able to perceive the bitterness of soul of the woman standing before him yet was prevented by Hashem from so doing. In stark contrast, Ya’akov lacked Eliyahu’s ability to perceive Hashem’s presence, the recognition of which caused him to declare, “Indeed, Hashem is in this place, and I did not know [it].”
 
At this point Rav Saba analyzes the nature of knowing, and the recognition of that which is known, to foster our understanding of Ya’akov’s behavior in the context of this prophetic experience:

It is well-known that an individual who comprehends a certain matter does so based upon two possibilities, either because he has prepared himself to do so or because of the preparation fostered by the environment. This is the case, since, on occasion, a person who is unprepared will be helped by the preparation afforded by the environment. A case in point is when our Sages, may their memory be a blessing stated, “The air of the Land of Israel makes one wise.” So, too, did Kohelet declare, “I am Kohelet, I was King over Israel in Jerusalem.” (Sefer Kohelet 1:12) This suggests that Kohelet gathered [mastered] all the various branches of knowledge. As it states, “And he was wiser than all men…” (Sefer Melachim I:5:11) The reason for this is because he was the King of the Jewish people, a wise and discerning nation. So, too, was he in Yerushalayim, the very place where knowledge and wisdom stood at the center of the world.
 
Armed with this analysis, Rav Saba examines Ya’akov’s failure to recognize Hashem’s presence:

Ya’akov really was saying that I could see on my own that I was unprepared because of the trials and tribulations of traveling, and the anguish, anxiety and fears generated by my brother, Eisav. It is very well known that the Schechinah will only dwell with an individual who is experiencing joy Nonetheless, I saw visions of Hashem! Given this was the case, what enabled me to experience these visions? I analyzed this and determined that it happened because this holy place prepared me to do so.
 
We can now understand our initial pasukim. In Rav Saba’s view, “indeed, Hashem is in this place,” connotes the idea that “based on the nature of this place [I have now been able to perceive Hashem’s presence,] since, on my own it is obvious that I was not prepared to do so.” Moreover, “this, then, is the correct way to interpret, ‘and I did not know [it].’ It means that on my own I have been unable to find sufficient preparation to merit this vision.” Little wonder, then, that given Ya’akov’s awareness of his lack of preparation to perceive the Schechinah, he proclaimed, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Clearly, he participated in a miraculous and awe-filled experience, recognizing it as a life-transforming event when he declared the land upon which he stood to be “none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
 
Unlike Ya’akov Avinu we continue to live in a seemingly never-ending period of hester panim. Nevertheless, we must ever recognize that we, too, experience wonders and miracles. As Chazal teach us in Birkat Hoda’ah in the Shemoneh Esrai, “We gratefully thank You … for Your miracles that are with us every day, and for Your wonders and favors in every season—evening, morning and afternoon.” (Translation, The Complete Artscroll Siddur)
 
May the Holy One blessed be He bring Mashiach soon and in our days and rebuild the Beit HaMikdash; for then we will stand shoulder to shoulder as one united and holy nation and declare, “How awesome is this place!” V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom
 
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