Dear Friends,
Sometimes, we don’t know what is magnificent, and right in front of us, until we get an “Aha” experience.
For instance, it is wonderful to do weddings for couples from the City, who come up to our Hudson Valley to be wed, so they might enjoy our serenity and majestic views. However, we live here and drive the local roads daily, go to markets and manage affairs, and might not realize that we live in paradise. That is, until an “Aha,” when we see crowds of visitors on the streets of Beacon or the waterfront of Newburgh. We need those “Aha’s.”
Torah states this in this week’s portion. We read that Jacob was traveling, and resting for the night, he laid his head on a rock and dreamt of a ladder with angels going up and down. Then, God stood above it and pledged to bring Jacob back and that his descendants would be as many as the dust of the earth.
Jacob awoke from the dream and pronounced, “Truly, the Eternal is in this place, and I, I did not know it! How awe-inspiring is this place! This is none other than the House of God!” (Genesis 28:6-7)
It is powerful and inspiring to be in the presence of such excitement and inspiration. Too often we just meander through our mundane matters, and fail to recognize how wonderful are our neighbors, how compelling our community, how beautiful our landscape. We miss the truth that God is in our place, too!
Jacob’s discovery was not for his day, alone. Nor was his discovery just for that locale, which later became Beth El. Rather, I believe, Jacob was speaking for the potential of sacred space and sacred encounters in every place and every day, and for all of us. It wasn’t a one-time experience.
Jacob charged us to live with awareness and opportunity in our daily lives. Jacob wanted us to open our eyes and to behold. He wanted us to live with passion and possibility, and to participate in the wonders of God’s world, and God in the world.
Jacob wanted us to share in his “Aha!”
Let’s give it a try! Why should the City visitors get the “Aha’s” to themselves? The “Aha’s” belong to us, as well!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Sometimes, we don’t know what is magnificent, and right in front of us, until we get an “Aha” experience.
For instance, it is wonderful to do weddings for couples from the City, who come up to our Hudson Valley to be wed, so they might enjoy our serenity and majestic views. However, we live here and drive the local roads daily, go to markets and manage affairs, and might not realize that we live in paradise. That is, until an “Aha,” when we see crowds of visitors on the streets of Beacon or the waterfront of Newburgh. We need those “Aha’s.”
Torah states this in this week’s portion. We read that Jacob was traveling, and resting for the night, he laid his head on a rock and dreamt of a ladder with angels going up and down. Then, God stood above it and pledged to bring Jacob back and that his descendants would be as many as the dust of the earth.
Jacob awoke from the dream and pronounced, “Truly, the Eternal is in this place, and I, I did not know it! How awe-inspiring is this place! This is none other than the House of God!” (Genesis 28:6-7)
It is powerful and inspiring to be in the presence of such excitement and inspiration. Too often we just meander through our mundane matters, and fail to recognize how wonderful are our neighbors, how compelling our community, how beautiful our landscape. We miss the truth that God is in our place, too!
Jacob’s discovery was not for his day, alone. Nor was his discovery just for that locale, which later became Beth El. Rather, I believe, Jacob was speaking for the potential of sacred space and sacred encounters in every place and every day, and for all of us. It wasn’t a one-time experience.
Jacob charged us to live with awareness and opportunity in our daily lives. Jacob wanted us to open our eyes and to behold. He wanted us to live with passion and possibility, and to participate in the wonders of God’s world, and God in the world.
Jacob wanted us to share in his “Aha!”
Let’s give it a try! Why should the City visitors get the “Aha’s” to themselves? The “Aha’s” belong to us, as well!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn