Two Minute Torah Podcast

Vayetze 5771 by Rabbi Jerome M. Epstein

Most of us seek increased spirituality: a deeper connection with God. We sometimes fantasize what it would be like to feel the same level of intimacy with God experienced by Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Rachel, Leah, Moses, Jeremiah,and Isaiah. It is the quest of the religious human to feel God in the synagogue; but not only in the synagogue. We want that same intimacy as we live our daily lives. So, why is that intimacy so elusive?

Parshat VaYetze gives us a possible path to making God a more vital part of our lives. We are told that (Gen. 28;16) "Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, 'surely God is in this place and I did not know it.'" Rashi, by way of explanation, fills in Jacob's words by adding, "For, had I known that God was present, I would not have slept in this holy place." It was inconceivable to Rashi that anyone knowing that God was present would actually fall asleep.

Since God is by definition omnipresent and we daily sleep in God's presence, what could Rashi have meant by saying that we should not sleep in a place where God is found? I think that Rashi understands "sleep" as the state of 'being oblivious", "being unaware" and "not being conscious". When we see the miracle of new life and we are not emotionally moved, we are asleep. When we experience the beauty of nature and we take it for granted, we are asleep. When we witness spontaneous acts of kindness and are not touched, we are asleep. When we observe or benefit from the miracles of medicine and we are blasˇ, it is as if we are asleep in God's presence.

The narrative and Rashi's understanding of it challenge us to live our lives awake and engaged. A conscious effort to be aware of even the small traces of God in so much of what we see, hear and do will give us the intimacy we desire. A determined decision to both see and appreciate the Divine in the world around us offers us an opportunity to feel the impact of God in our lives. Let us seize that opportunity and become intimate with God