“And he dreamed … a ladder set up on the ground and its top reached to Heaven….” (Bereishis 28:12)
This pasuk can be interpreted as a mussar lesson that teaches us how to live a spiritually ethical life. If a person sees himself as “set on the ground,” meaning he is humble and modest, then he is uplifted and reaches the Heavens, and is raised to a high level.
Moshe Rabbeinu was exceedingly humble, and consistent with his humility he was raised to one of the highest levels that a human can reach.
The Mishna in Avos (1:13) teaches, “He who seeks renown loses his reputation…” Many have fallen into this trap. We learn that Yeravam ben Nevat lost his Olam Haba because he sought honor. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 102a) relates that Hashem grabbed Yeravam by his garment and begged him to repent and then “You and I and the son of Yishai will walk together in Gan Eden.” Yeravam asked, “Who will lead?” and Hashem told him, “The son of Yishai will walk in the lead.” Yeravam responded, “If so, I do not wish to repent.” It is noted that, in fact, Hashem had put Yeravam in the lead when He initially spoke to Yeravam, but Yeravam wanted to hear explicitly that he would be in the lead. Since Yeravam persisted in ensuring his own honor, the esteem eluded him, as our Sages tell us (Eruvin 13b), “Anyone who seeks greatness, greatness flees from him…” Yeravam was unwilling to relinquish his honor even if meant losing eternity, Olam Haba.
The word “sulam – ladder” has a numerical value of 136, the same as “mammon – money.” A person who is “set upon the ground,” – he has money and is not lacking anything, you should know that “his top reaches to Heaven.” It is because he realizes that Hashem is the source of all his money, and he is not wealthy because of his acumen or his investments.
The Ben Ish Chai speaks of an individual who does not acknowledge that his money comes from Hashem. He is proud and arrogant and looks down on those who don’t have money. In such a case the ladder is upended; the wealthy person becomes poor and the poor person becomes wealthy. Why? Because Hashem placed poor people in the world so that those with money should have the merit of supporting them.
Furthermore, our Sages derive from the pasuk in Devarim (13:18), “He will give you mercy and be merciful to you,” that (Shabbos 151b), “Anyone who has compassion for Hashem’s creatures will receive compassion from Heaven.” Our Sages also derive from that pasuk (Beitzah 32b), “Anyone who has compassion for Hashem’s creatures it is known that he is of the descendants of Avraham Avinu.”
The Talmud relates (Brachos 18b) that a pious man gave a poor man a dinar on erev Rosh Hashanah during a year of famine. When his wife berated him for his generosity, the man fled to sleep in the cemetery. In his dream he heard two spirits talking, and one told the other that whoever planted their crops in the first rainy season would lose everything. The pious man therefore planted his seeds in the second rainy season. Indeed, all the crops were smitten by hail, and his crops were saved.
HaGaon Rav Mattisyahu Salomon explained that in those years, Heavenly justice was meted out with the destruction of crops. In order for Hashem to have mercy on someone, that person would have to be merciful with Hashem’s creations, exhibiting patience, tolerance and restraint.
Because of this, the pious man was challenged with a nisayon that required him to be compassionate in difficult circumstances – to give a large coin to the poor man at a time of great famine. His patience and fortitude were then further tested when his wife rebuked him for giving tzedakah to the poor man. In return, he merited middah k’neged middah (measure for measure) that Hashem saved his crops.
We learn a very important lesson here, concludes R’ Mattisyahu. When a person is confronted with a mitzvah of chesed or tzedakah that requires mercy and patience, it may not always come his way at an opportune moment. It could be Erev Rosh Hashanah or at a time when he is preoccupied with other obligations and preparations, and the person could become upset or feel imposed upon. One should remember, then, that Hashem sent the poor or needy suppliant specifically at that moment to verify that the individual is compassionate and benevolent and merits Heavenly mercy – middah k’neged middah.
The great tzaddik, Rabbi Zelig Braverman, noticed a young boy crying bitterly in the yard of the Talmud Torah Eitz Chaim located in the Old City on Rechov R’ Yehuda HaChasid. Deeply troubled by the little boy’s tears, the tzaddik hurried over to find out why the boy was crying.
The boy explained that he had forgotten to take the sandwich his mother had prepared for him, and he had nothing to eat for the day. R’ Zelig quickly found out where the little boy lived and – although R’ Zelig was known to be a masmid (a diligent student) who never took off a moment from learning – he quickly walked the long distance to the boy’s house to get the sandwich he had left at home.
R’ Braverman discreetly returned to the yeshiva and, without any fuss, handed over the sandwich to the little boy.