Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Jewish
When the Holy One is a No-Show (Parshat Vayetze (Genesis 28:10-32:3)

When the Holy One is a No-Show (Parshat Vayetze (Genesis 28:10-32:3)

Last updated on: November 20, 2017 at 9:29 am by Hebrew College

When the Holy One is a No-Show (Parshat Vayetze (Genesis 28:10-32:3) 2017-11-20T09:29:18-04:00 Hebrew College

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

By Rabbi Jordan Braunig, Rab`14

Perhaps the most memorable words from this week’s parasha, Parashat Vayetze, are the oft-quoted words of Jacob, who having awoken from a holy vision of a ladder connecting the heavens and earth says:

אכן יש ה במקום הזה ואנוכי לא ידעתי
Surely Adonai was in this place, and I…I didn’t know it.

The line is in some ways the quintessential expression of spiritual awakening. Eyes are opened to a new world of metaphysical possibility, and it was all there before—just unnoticed. So, our teachers and rabbis have expounded on these words to remind us that opportunities to commune with the Divine are all around us. On subway cars, at political rallies, in the grocery store, a homeless shelter, the gas station, a soccer game—we have been given countless examples of people surprised by a chance encounter with the Transcendent. We hear it time and again, “the Holy One was right here and I didn’t even know it.” Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining; it is good Torah. We need the reminder!

That being said, we might also want to remind ourselves that, for all the resonance and truth that lay in the words of our forbearer, life is not always so generous in doling out the powerful religious moments. Sometimes, in fact, we might be tempted to express the exact inverse of Jacob’s words. “I expected God to be here, and God wasn’t.”

It is not so hard to imagine feeling this way. I have been to shul’s where these words might as well have been inscribed across the aron. In services on our holiest days, at weddings and b’nai mitzvot, even at the holiest sites of our people, it’s possible to feel like we’re getting stood up. “I am here. Where is God?”

No encounter with the Divine this Shabbat, no “ah-ha” moment at the Passover seder, no still, small voice in my morning meditation.

You’d think that we might take the hint! And, yet, we also find ourselves profoundly surprised. Did I really just have a chance meeting with Holiness in the arboretum? Did I find myself crying as we made Havdallah? Was I moved (transformed!) by a conversation with an octogenarian at Kiddush luncheon? It goes to show that there is no way of knowing which experience might strike that chord deep within us. And this is essentially Jacob’s message. When we come upon Divinity, we should take note of it, remember it. Jacob builds an altar; we might make a bracha.

In her commentary on Vayetze, Nechama Leibowitz points out that after his stone stacking and promise making at Beit El, the Torah employs curious language to describe Jacob’s departure from the sacred space.

וישא יעקב רגליו
Jacob lifted his feet.

The phrase is only used to mark the beginning of a journey in this one spot in the Torah. Picking up on its singularity, Leibowitz presents a midrash that attempts to interpret the phrase.

“In the ordinary way, men are carried along by their feet, whereas, this one [Jacob] carried his feet. Out of his longing for that place, he was deeply reluctant to leave it and had to force his feet to carry him” (Midrash Or HaAfela, quoted in Torah Shleimah).

Having experienced God’s presence, who can blame Jacob for dragging his feet? “Give me one more moment at this holy place.” Yet, I might assert that high moments are not the only times that we are reluctant to move forward. In our missed connections, we may also experience a desire to simply stop searching. “How long can I keep seeking God out with no luck?” And yet, “Jacob lifted his feet”, comes to remind us of our spiritual empowerment and to impel us to pull our heavy feet off the ground and continue our search for Holiness and for meaning. My prayer this Shabbos is that we all be blessed in our journeys to have the strength to just keep lifting our feet, whether we are coming down from a religious high or just hoping to move on from an inevitable spiritual low.

Rabbi Jordan Braunig Rab’14 was ordained at the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College in Newton, MA and is Director of the Initiative for Innovative Community Building at Tufts University Hillel.

Interested in a possible career in the rabbinate? Read Rabbi Dan Judson’s article “Jewish Lessons on Meaningful Work.“ Rabbi Judson teaches history, oversees the professional development program, and serves as the placement director for the Hebrew College Rabbinical School. He has a PhD in Jewish history from Brandeis University.

Jewish Studio Project

Previous Post

November 13, 2017

Bringing the Personal into the World

Next Post

November 28, 2017 Are these blessings really mine?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month April 2026 March 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz