Jacob’s Radical Amazement- Vayeitzei 5785

I’d like to relate an experience to you that I’ve experienced several times- most recently on my wife and mine’s trip to Arizona last year. It’s quite similar to what happens to Yaakov at the start of parshat Vayeitzei, which we read this morning.

For our tenth anniversary, we took a trip (delayed two years due to COVID) and decided to visit Sedona and the Grand Canyon. We landed in Phoenix around 10pm, picked up our rental car, and drove to Sedona. It was pitch black and we couldn’t see any of the scenery. We got to our hotel around midnight and immediately went to sleep. 

We had planned several hikes for when we were there, and the next morning as we drove to the trailhead, our mouths were perpetually open in amazement as we saw the incredible red rock formations. For the next three days we were continually amazed at where we were, which is so unlike anything we have here (no disrespect to our home commonwealth- I love Massachusetts). We took in every sunset, explored the scenery, and spent a great deal outside. It was so therapeutic for both of us, both because we had been overdue for a kids-free vacation, and the events of October 7 were still very present for us last year, having many friends and family members in Israel. 

The Grand Canyon truly lived up to its name. We stayed at the south rim, hiked the Bright Angel trail down into the canyon, took a sunset bus tour, and saw more stars in the sky than we’ve seen in a very long time. It was so beautiful that I recited the blessing one says upon seeing the wonders of nature: Baruch atah Hashem elokheinu melekh haolam, oseh ma’aseh v’reishit. “Blessed are you, LORD our G-d, who does the work of Creation.” 

We could literally see this work being done, as the Colorado River flows through the canyon and continuously carves into the earth. The following day, after a helicopter tour of the canyon which was truly extraordinary, we drove back to Phoenix, had dinner with a friend I’ve known since childhood, and took the redeye back to Boston. Our trip ended with coffee in the airport at 7:30am. It was an amazing trip, to say the least.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel calls this feeling that we experienced “radical amazement”- to stand in wonder and awe at nature, or our most human moments, where we appreciate that we inhabit a sacred space. These moments are especially profound when they occur unexpectedly. At the start of our parsha, Yaakov is on the run from his brother Esau. He stops on the way to Haran and famously dreams of a ladder, with angels ascending and descending it. G-d is present as well- unexpectedly on Jacob’s part, it seems. The Torah teaches:

וַיִּפְגַּ֨ע בַּמָּק֜וֹם וַיָּ֤לֶן שָׁם֙ כִּי־בָ֣א הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁ וַיִּקַּח֙ מֵאַבְנֵ֣י הַמָּק֔וֹם וַיָּ֖שֶׂם מְרַֽאֲשֹׁתָ֑יו וַיִּשְׁכַּ֖ב בַּמָּק֥וֹם הַהֽוּא׃

“He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place.” (Gen. 28:11)

The Hebrew root pay-gimel-ayin, here translated as “came upon”, can actually mean “hit” or “strike”. In his bewilderment while running away, Jacob perhaps doesn’t see where he’s going, and only encounters G-d by divine luck. G-d tells him that he and his numerous offspring will inherit the land where he finds himself, to which he will return safely. Waking up from his dream, Yaakov famously says:

 אָכֵן֙ יֵ֣שׁ יְהֹוָ֔ה בַּמָּק֖וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה וְאָנֹכִ֖י לֹ֥א יָדָֽעְתִּי׃

“Surely G-d is in the place, and I did not know it” (Gen. 28:16). 

His amazement continues in the following pasuk:

 וַיִּירָא֙ וַיֹּאמַ֔ר מַה־נּוֹרָ֖א הַמָּק֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה אֵ֣ין זֶ֗ה כִּ֚י אִם־בֵּ֣ית אֱלֹהִ֔ים וְזֶ֖ה שַׁ֥עַר הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃ “And he was afraid, and said ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than G-d’s house, and that is the gateway to heaven’” (28:17).  

I knew beforehand that the Grand Canyon lives up to its name, but it was so much more than I expected- so much bigger, so much more beautiful, so much…grander. As Sam and I watched the sunset behind the canyon together, I certainly felt the way Yaakov did; it was a spiritual experience to witness such beauty, as people sometimes report when they see beautiful art or encounter nature in a pristine setting. Moreover, it was perhaps the first time when I was able to relegate events in Israel to the background of my mind, if only for a little while. 

We learned that the canyon had been a sacred site for several Native American tribes who made regularly scheduled pilgrimages there as part of their religious tradition- not at all unlike our own pilgrimage festivals, when Jews would go up to Jerusalem and visit the Beit Hamikdash three times a year. 

The 12th-century Spanish commentator Ibn Ezra writes of Yaakov’s exclamation that the “house of G-d” refers to any chosen place where a person’s supplications will be answered in their time of need. Ramban and other commentators build on this idea, teaching that Yaakov actually is sleeping at the future site of the Beit Hamikdash, which really does become G-d’s abode during the reign of King Solomon. After awakening in fear and awe, Yaakov anoints the stone he slept on and names the place where he spent the night Beit El– literally, “the house of God”. God’s location becomes centralized subsequently in the Tanakh- first in the mishkan in the desert, then in the Beit Hamikdash– but the scenes and effects of God’s handiwork may be felt and observed anywhere. 

Jacob experiences G-d’s presence at Beit El, and at the end of our parsha, after twenty years spent working for Laban and raising a family in at-times frustrating conditions, he experiences G-d’s presence again as he departs from Laban for the final time. The angels of G-d appear to him as he leaves with two wives, two maidservants, one daughter, twelve sons, and many flocks, after coming to Lavan with barely more, if anything, than the clothes on his back. He says after encountering the angels: “Mahane Elohim zeh”- “this is God’s camp”, and names the place “Mahanaim”, or “camps”. 

The Sages teach that Yaakov is credited with instituting the ma’ariv service, recited in the evening. Our Etz Hayim chumash expands on this idea, positing that the Sages may be crediting Yaakov as the first person able to find G-d in the midst of darkness. In times of travail, as well as times of joy, let us always be attuned to the shechinah, the divine presence, and realize that our world is indeed imbued with G-d’s majesty. Whether it’s the Grand Canyon, here in shul, or anywhere else we may go, let us strive to realize that G-d is wherever we may find ourselves, even if it’s hard to sense. 

In a few weeks we’ll celebrate Hanukkah, the festival of light, in the midst of the darkest part of the year. Hopefully we won’t experience too much of it, but the darkness, the dreary winter weather, and events in our lives and in the world can leave us longing for connection and relationship with others. I encourage us all to continually foster those interpersonal connections, as well as cultivate our own connections to the divine in our own way.  We recite as part of our Shabbat morning service: “V’hashem lo yanum v’lo yishan”- “God neither slumbers nor sleeps”. May we continue to be reminded of G-d’s everlasting presence, everywhere and at all times, as well as continue to kindle meaningful relationships in our community as well as outside of it.