Parsha Vayetze (Rabbi Nancy)

"Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely God was in this place, and I did not know it.” (Genesis 28:16)

I have been thinking this week about times when we are convinced that nothing important is going on, just an ordinary kind of day and then suddenly a light goes on, and we see things in ways we never could have imagined.

In some cases, such flashes of insight can change a life. That is what happened for ex-Prince of Egypt, Moses, who was running away from Egypt, having slayed an Egyptian taskmaster, and now worked as a humble shephered for his father-in-law, Yitro. Following another stray sheep on yet another ho-hum day of shepherding, he stops to watch a desert bush aflame but not burning. Staring at this phenomena, G-d speaks to him and his whole life will change. "Take off your shoes” says G-d, "for where you stand is holy ground.”

That is what happened to Jacob in this week's parasha. Running away from a heap of trouble, he camped out alone with a rock for a pillow. Deceit after deceit, problem after problem, he was very much alone and troubled. Jacob wakes up having drempt that G-d was beside him with a ladder stretching into the heavens. His mindset shfits from "I am a loser and alone” to "God was here in this place, I did not know it and everyplace can be the gateway to Heaven.”

This week, on the news, I watched singer Susan Boyle performing at Rockefeller Plaza. This very plain looking woman from Blackborn, Scotland, the youngest of ten children, born with learning disabilities, bullied throughout her life, living alone with her 10 year old cat, Pebbles, took the world utterly by surprise. Few knew of her before she sang on the program Brittan's Got Talent. The judges as well as the audience were prepared to dismiss her at best, when suddenly she opened her mouth and sang with a voice so pure, so absolutely ethereal that it became one of the biggest surprises of the Western world; a privilege to witness. Her album sold one hundred, thirty four thousand the first day! Each time she performs, magic becomes possible and Cinderella lives.

Susan Boyle's story might be viewed like that sacred but common burning bush or even that desolate spot where Jacob laid his head to sleep. Susan's mindset moved from "I am alone, too plain and poor to be taken seriously” to "God was here in this place and I did not know it. Every place can be the gateway to Heaven.”

While most stories we carry in our life portfolio are not quite as dramatic as the revelation of Susan Boyle, each of us have had times when a dim, ordinary moment becomes illuminated. Jacob's story enforces that this shift into new reality is possible and inherently ours to experience. What this suggests is that revelations – whether in relationships, work, or with G-d are in large measure a matter of becoming aware of what we were formerly clueless about.

The question is how do we become more aware of that which we are unaware? How do we help switch on the light?

Buddhist teacher, Thich Nat Han suggests that if we really want to become more awake, we start the day with a smile. He says: Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion. Walking on earth is a miracle.

The Torah reminds us that we can be aware that the promises made to our ancestors by G-d are truly promises made to each of us. Not a single Biblical ancestor was perfect, each had personality weaknesses: anger, jealousy, envy, discontent, low self esteem – however with all of that, G-d made the promise to stay with us eternally – at our side, always. And G-d provides little revelations just to remind us.

The other evening we went bowling as a family. As I waited in the arcade area for the children to finish their speed driving game, the night manager approached me. At first I was a little daunted by his appearance, many piercings and more tattoos than I could count, and worried that maybe we had done something wrong. Then he spoke quietly: "Are you perhaps the rabbis who hosted a dinner for the apartment complex next to your synagogue? Yes? That was really nice of you all. Thank you.”

And then he smiled, and returned to the counter. There I was thinking, "At this bowling alley, in the noisy arcade section, with this evening manager: G-d is in this place and I did not know it. Every place CAN be a gateway to heaven.

Judaism offers us so many rituals and prayers for ordinary parts of life; to help us stay awake and mindful. We say brachot, immediately upon opening our eyes in the morning, before eating, lighting candles, smelling spices at Havdallah, washing hands, saying Sh'ma before sleep, kissing the mezuzah to bring love and focus into the home or work place, even apples and honey on Rosh Hashana. All of these and more are ways that our tradition assists us in staying alert, to recognizing G-d where before it may have been void of spirituality.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel taught: "The teaching of Judaism is the theology of the common deed. G-d is concerned with every day-ness, with the trivialities of life; of seeing the holy at the Mall, or as our rabbinic professor Dr. Eugene Borowtiz used to say, "You can make a motzi at Mc Donalds.”

Brother Jacob said it so well after waking from the Divine dream: "Wow! G-d was in this place and I did not even know it.”

Amen.