Parashat Vayeitzei: Yaakov Avinu...and the Bishop

https://curiousrambler.com/the-upside-down-angels-of-bath-abbey/

‘And he dreamed: He saw a ladder set upon the ground, whose top reached the heavens.  On it, angels of Gd went up and came down.
The L-rd stood over him there and said, “I am the L-rd, the Gd of Avraham your father and the Gd of Yitzchak.  The land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.  Your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth and you will spread out to the west, the east, the north and the south.  Through you and your descendants, all the families of the earth will be blessed.  I am with you.  I will protect you wherever you go and I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken of to you”.  (Rabbi Sacks’ translation, The Koren Tanach, Magerman Ed.)

In August, I had the pleasure of spending a day with some very dear cousins who were visiting briefly from America.  They kindly invited me to join them on a tour of Stonehenge and Bath.  If you’ve visited the city, you might recall that the entrance to the Roman baths is situated in ‘Abbey Churchyard’ square which is dominated by the impressive West Front of Bath Abbey.

As we entered the square, our guide asked us to look at the Abbey and drew our attention to a most remarkable site.  Above the door, there is a sizeable arch, comprising of numerous windows of varying sizes which takes up most of the facade.  On either side of the glass, there is a ladder carved into the masonry which holds six angels apiece, climbing and descending the rungs.

Our guide told us that in the late 15^th century, the Bishop of Bath, Oliver King found the Abbey to be in a significant state of disrepair.  He was in a quandary as to whether he should order it to be destroyed and then rebuilt.  He prayed fervently for a Divine response.

This came to him one night where, like Yaakov, he had a dream about a ladder with accompanying angels.  He thereupon decided that, in this house of worship, he would commemorate the significance of his vision which led to the creation we see today.

Having related the story, she advised us to visit the city and return an hour later to take up our allotted place in the queue.  I waited for the others to go on their merry way and had a quiet word with the guide, telling her that Bishop King might have had a dream about ladders and angels, but he wasn’t the first to encounter this.  To my surprise, she admitted that her knowledge of the ‘Old Testament’ wasn’t too comprehensive and that she would ‘check up on this’.

True to her word, when we met later, she came over and smiled, telling me that I was ‘right, it was there in the Bible!’  I smiled sweetly and did not respond.

I don’t know whether the bishop had such a dream or quite literally ‘dreamt up’ the idea from his knowledge of the ‘Good Book’, but the uncanny resemblance of the Abbey’s frontage to the description provided in this week’s Parasha is quite astonishing.

According to Wikipedia, the Bible is the ‘best-selling publication of all time’ having sold five billion copies, although I don’t know how that number has been calculated.  If this statistic is accurate, this means that it has been read by nearly two thirds of the world’s population.

Its many stories have been ubiquitous in the development of western culture, inspiring Verdi’s ‘Nabucco’, Rembrandt’s ‘Belshazzar’s Feast’, Michaelangelo’s ‘David’ and Steinbeck’s ‘East of Eden’.  The book is continuously referenced by journalists and reporters when they describe nature’s destructive behaviour as ‘taking on Biblical Proportions’.

As someone who has always loved reading the Bible and obviously, as a Jew, the Tanach (as opposed to the New Testament), I derive a great deal of pleasure when I read of its influence on the rest of the world.  My only wish is that our fellow human beings would try to look more closely at the narrative ‘behind the stories’ that are so well known.  The Bible might have been read by five billion people but how many of these really understand its significance?

Yaakov’s dream has been interpreted in a myriad of ways by our commentators.

It is the first time that Gd appeared to him when he was 63 years old.  This is important because we know quite a bit about Yaakov Avinu from last week’s Parasha.

He was a devout man.  We learn that whilst his twin brother liked to hunt, Yaakov spent his time living in tents, which Rashi understands to mean that he studied in the presence of his wise ancestors Shem and his son Ever.

He was also conscious of his position as a grandson of Avraham and son of Yitzchak Avinu.  He knew what was expected of him and how to behave appropriately, as witnessed by his preparing a lentil stew to give to his grieving father upon the death of his own father, Avraham Avinu.

Our Sages tell us that although Yaakov had to resort to deception to receive his father’s blessing (for which he was later punished when his sons lied to him about the sale of Joseph), he was always destined to receive this from Yitzchak.  This was Gd’s intention when he spoke to Avraham regarding his descendants and of their eventual ownership of the land of Israel.

All of the above had taken place without Yaakov experiencing any communication from Gd.  His faith had sustained him until that point and now, he was running for his life from the home he had grown up in.  He was leaving behind his entire existence until that point.  It was at this very moment that Gd appeared to Yaakov and reassured him that He would never leave his side.  The angels climbing up the ladder would accompany him to the edge of the land of Israel/Canaan, as they were not allowed to leave the country and the angels who were descending would accompany him to his next destination (Rashi quoting Bereshit Rabba 68.12) and he adds that when it states that ‘The Lord stood over him’, this means that Gd was telling Yaakov that He would protect him from harm.

The examples I have cited demonstrate how our tradition of interpreting the text beyond the simple meaning adds a depth to our understanding of the message being conveyed.  The direction that the angels take is not accidental.  Similarly, regarding Gd’s communication with Yaakov precisely at that juncture in his life.

The message that Gd is conveying to Yaakov is as timely then as it is now.

He says:

I am with you.  I will protect you wherever you go and I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken of to you

During these very dark times, when there is so much to fear, I believe that we can gain some comfort from the fact that, despite all that has happened to our nation, particularly in the last month, we have returned to the land, reclaimed most of the country (despite international opposition) and Gd has not abandoned us and will never do so.

We may not be worthy to have dreams like Yaakov (I’ll let you decide whether He appeared to Bishop King!) and we might wonder whether we too are granted a set of angels (beyond Friday nights when they accompany us back from Shul).  Many of us believe that the promise Gd gave to Yaakov is as relevant today as it was when our patriarch decided to lay down for the night using a rock as a pillow (or numerous rocks according to our commentators) and dream about Gd, ladders and angels.

Setting aside the huge cultural impact of the Bible in the examples that I have cited, for us ‘The People of the Book’, it does not only inspire our music or art.  It does much more than that.  It inhabits our mind, heart and soul.

Torah Tziva Lanu Moshe, Morasha Kehillat Yaakov.  The Torah that Moshe commanded us is the heritage of the congregation of Yaakov (Devarim 33.4)

Shavuah Tov.