Jacobs ladder through the eyes of a Jewish Scholar.

[Sojourner]

Greetings All,

I recently dug out one of my favourite books for another read, it is called "Living a Life that Matters - resolving the conflict between conscience and success", by Rabbi Harold S Kushner.

If that name sounds familar, that is because Harold Kushner is the Author of several popular books, including one that is quite famous called "Why Bad Things happen to Good People".

Before I quote from his book I would like to supply a link to the book online as its only fair I suppose that if I quote from his work that he should then gain the opportunity to sell the said book! I got mine from Borders in Rundle Mall if its any help!

http://www.amazon.com/Living-Life-Matte ... 0385720947

I found this quote very interesting. It takes place after Jacob has tricked his brother into selling him his birthright for a bowl of soup and his brother turns on him. There is heaps more about Jacob in this book and an awsome piece about what Jewish scholars believe may have happened when he wrestled overnight with the angel, yet if you want to read more then you will have to get yourself a copy!

"On his first night away from home, Jacob, a frightened adolescent ashamed of what he has done, goes to sleep on the desert floor and has a dream. He dreams of a ladder reaching from earth to heaven. At the top of the ladder, he senses (rather than sees) God, who assures him that his life will turn out well, that he will one day return home safely and go on to be a special person and do great things. The symbol of the ladder will be an important theme in Jacob's life. When we first get to know him, there is a lot about him that is not very likeable. But what fascinates us about Jacob and what makes the story of his life a story that can teach us, is that he is a person who grows. If the ladder that bridges heaven and earth represents the distance between Jacob as he is and Jacob as he would like to be, then his life story is the account of his struggle to climb that ladder, to ascend from a lower level of behaviour to a higher one, and to become a more complete person not through disguise or misinterpretation but through sacrifice and growth"

Pan McMillan Ltd
20 New Wharf Rd
London
ISBN 0 330 490540