T orah P ortion
BY RABBI LEVI LANGER
Parshat Vayetzei
IN THIS WEEK’S Torah
reading, we are told of our
forefather Jacob who, fleeing
from his brother Esau, stops
in Bethel to spend the night
there. While sleeping, he sees
a vision of a ladder stretching
from the earth to the heavens,
with celestial angels climbing
and descending the ladder.

Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin,
a great Jewish leader and
kabbalist at the turn of the
19th century, writes that in
this vision, Jacob was taught
a profound lesson: He was
shown that he, himself a
mortal human, was really a
towering figure stretching
to the heavens, whose every
action determined even the
activities of the angels.

And it wasn’t just about
Jacob, adds Rabbi Chaim: This
idea holds true for each and
every one of us as well.

Though we may think we
are unimportant and that our
deeds are insignificant, in
reality we serve as the linchpin
which holds together all of
creation, from the earth to the
heavens — and even the angels
in heaven are impacted by the
things we do and the choices
we make.

Perhaps there is an
additional lesson here as well.

Up to this point Jacob had
been comfortably ensconced in
the home of his father, Isaac,
living without any cares. But
henceforth Jacob was to enter
a new chapter in his life. He
would encounter hardships
and challenges at every step,
and his relative Laban would
attempt to trick him and
defraud him numerous times.

It would have been easy for
Jacob to succumb to despair,
to give up in the face of all
the difficulties. That is why the
Almighty sent him a powerful
message at this moment: It is
precisely at times like these,
when we’re beset by challenges,
that the choices we make,
and the effort we put into
doing things right, are most
important. In fact, Jacob’s most
productive period in terms of
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20 NOVEMBER 11, 2021
Continued from Page 18
Global intrigue. A generally
satisfying conclusion.

In a sense, Silva offers us the
fast food of the literature world:
It’s reliable, satisfies a basic
need and it doesn’t challenge
you. It’s a formula that
obviously works, considering
that it’s Silva’s 10th straight
offering to top The New York
Times Bestseller List. Silva’s
books appear like clockwork, a
new novel dropping every year.

Nor is Silva any different
from other successful authors
who ply the same formula with
spy or cop protagonists, such
as Brad Thor (Scot Harvarth),
Jonathan Kellerman (Alex
Delaware), Douglas Preston
and Lincoln Child (Aloysius
Pendergast), Lee Child (Jack
Reacher) and countless others.

Allon’s added appeal to
Jewish readers, of course, is
that he’s an Israeli.

This time around, we
learn that our protagonist
spent the first part of the
pandemic traveling the world
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Nov. 19
spiritual growth would occur
at this time, when he had to
keep strong to maintain his
faith and his beliefs, and not
allow his personal goals to be
undermined. This is a recurring theme that
we encounter with numerous
great figures in Scripture.

Moses had a speech defect.

David was scorned and looked
down upon by his brothers.

Each of these individuals
confronted their challenges,
and undeterred they resolutely
followed their chosen path to
accomplish their goals. Each
became a heroic figure whose
living example illuminates our
own path to this very day.

It was to be a long and hard
road ahead, but at the beginning
4:29 p.m.

4:23 p.m.

of his journey Jacob was shown
the image of the ladder along
with its message: This very
moment, as he began to confront
the obstacles in his life, he was
being offered the opportunity to
climb to great heights.

And so, too, with each of us
as we face our own challenges.

We, too, may find comfort in
the image of the ladder, which
tells us of the road ahead,
which won’t be easy, but which
will provide us with oppor-
tunities to grow and become
better people. l
Rabbi Levi Langer is the dean of the
Kollel Jewish Learning Center in
Pittsburgh. This column is a service
of the Vaad Harabanim of Greater
Pittsburgh. the truth, eventually landing in
Geneva and facing off against
the Haydn Group, whose
goal is to divide the United
States (it’s not divided enough
today?), leaving Russia atop the
global food chain.

In his acknowledgments,
Silva notes that he began
writing “The Cellist” in the
late summer of 2020 — well
before the Jan. 6 insurrection
— but “resolved to include
the near death of American
democracy in my story of
Russia’s relentless war on the
West. I jettisoned my existing
ending and rewrote much of
my manuscript in a span of six
weeks.” It’s a good thing he did
because the ending is gripping.

As Mark Twain famously said,
“Truth is stranger than fiction,”
and, these days, it’s often hard
to believe some of the news
events taking place.

In summary, if you’ve liked
reading about Gabriel Allon in
the past, chances are you’ll like
doing so now. l
to buy black-market ventila-
tors, protective clothing and
testing materials for use in
Israeli hospitals. Before long,
though, he’s back to his usual
secretive ways, even if frequent
pandemic references are made.

Allon learns of the murder
in London of Russian exile
billionaire, Viktor Orlov, who
once saved his life. British
intelligence believes an inves-
tigative reporter from an
anti-Kremlin newspaper is the
culprit, but Allon is skeptical
— with good cause.

As the story unwinds, Allon agotlieb@jewishexponent.com;
travels the world to uncover 215-832-0797
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The Ladder: An Opportunity to Climb
CAN DL E L IGHTIN G