Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
Rav Netanel Elyashiv writes the following: “Sometimes at work, during a living room chat, or in a routine interaction with a friend – there are moments of magic and depth, but we simply overlook them. Yaakov Avinu leaves his home and lies down to sleep in a seemingly arbitrary place, but then suddenly dreams the famous dream of ‘Jacob’s ladder.’ And then it is written, ‘And Yaakov awakened from his sleep, and he said: Indeed, the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.’ We do not always encounter holiness according to plan. We live in a culture where we turn things on and off by pressing a button, switch channels by remote control, instantaneously change what is going on around us – so as to escape even the briefest moment of some unpleasant reality. When this flight from anything unpleasant becomes a way of life, we are likely to miss many golden opportunities. We risk trying to 'turn off' the situation in which we find ourselves and perhaps lose the incredible goodness that was hidden, waiting for us just below the surface. ‘Indeed, the Lord is in this place and I did not know it.’ It would be worthwhile to try and adopt an attitude of listening carefully to what is actually going on around us so that we don’t miss out.”
