Sedra – Veyetzei
With Rabbi Shaul ROSENBLATT.
Jacob’s dream is of a ladder ascending to Heaven. The rabbis understand this as a metaphor. The way to heaven is a ladder. You climb it rung by rung. There may be the odd rung or two that you can skip, but in general, it’s a slow and continuous process.
There were no lifts or escalators at the time the Torah was written, but even if there were, the metaphor would remain a ladder. There are no shortcuts. If a person wants to become a great human being, it’s a day-to-day process, climbing one rung at a time. Living, as we do, in a quick fix generation, this can be a little hard for us to swallow. We are always looking for shortcuts. We’d rather tie our stomachs or suction out the fat instead of going on a diet; work so we can pay a nanny rather than look after the children ourselves; send an impersonal text rather than the ‘effort’ of relating to someone on a phone call – let alone meeting face-to-face.
There are many roads that offer shortcuts to Heaven – minus the real effort. Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) is one example. Learn the mystical books, wear red strings on your wrist, drink the holy water and Heaven is yours. Or the success road – make a lot of money, give it very visibly to charity and allow everyone to tell you how wonderful you are and how you are on the quick elevator that doesn’t even stop at floors along the way.
After all, when enough people tell us something, we start to believe it our- selves. But the metaphor the Torah uses is a ladder and it is a more relevant and necessary metaphor than it has ever been. You want to reach your full potential as a human being? You need to get out into the world today and find the good that you can do, seek wisdom to learn and grown. Then you need to do the same again tomorrow, the same again the day after and the same again the day after that.
The days need to become weeks, the weeks months, the months years and the years decades. And slowly, but very surely, you ascend the ladder. Slow and steady wins the race, as they say. Live a good life, live it quietly and humbly but steadily. That’s the path to greatness and the path to ultimate fulfilment in Judaism – the path to Heaven.
• Rabbi Rosenblatt is founder of Tikun UK
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
