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Jacob awoke from his sleep having dreamt of the ladder with angels ascending and descending between heaven and earth. He exclaimed that G-d was here and he had not known. He built an altar of the stone he had dreamt upon and communed with G-d. So, with this knowledge “he lifted his feet and went.” This phrase is vitally important to appreciate. Seemingly small things do matter much. Often lost between Jacob’s dream of the ladder and his arrival at the well with Rachel, is the manner by which he went. The Torah states that “he lifted his feet” but it does not say whether the lifting of his feet was simultaneous or sequential. Certainly, simultaneously lifting his feet and gliding away would be quite miraculous. This type of simultaneous miracle is what we would usually think of as an act of G-d. And then we would just as usually dismiss it as a childhood fantasy. But, would the sequential lifting of his feet to go on the way to his future be any less miraculous?
This type of sequential miracle of intent and performance is certainly more common and more understandable. The everyday expression of sequential miracles are so common that we may forget their miraculous character. The fact that we can be inspired to do things and then actually do them to change the world is quite wonderful and miraculous. One foot after another can carry us thousands of miles through all the diverse paths of our lives. Wonderful and great things are accomplished one step at a time. And as great as any fantastic simultaneous miracle performed for us is our participation with G-d in performing all of life’s sequential miracles. In fact, simultaneous miracles are related to sequential miracles in a sequential way and so we should be thankful. As is said in Psalm 66 “G-d opened the seas to let us walk free and there we praised G-d.” Reply