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Have you ever dug a hole in the sand, but the loose sand backfilled the hole almost as fast as you could dig? Or the tide rolled in, and you had to retreat?
You have to be quick if you’re treasure hunting on the beach or looking for a lost toy in the sandbox.
This week’s Torah portion is Vayeitze, opening with the appearance of Jacob’s ladder. He says of the opening into the eternal realm: “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
The opportunity of a lifetime…of many lifetimes…opened before him briefly. Jacob makes a vow, then proceeds to Haran where new vows will follow. Laban is slow to perform his promises, but Jacob is faithful to keep his word. Many years later when Jacob returns to Canaan with all the wealth of his family, inexplicably he is slow to pay his vow to return to the awesome place and bring a tithe to Adonai.
If the place was so awesome, why was Jacob slow to follow through? Adonai opened the opportunity to build the dream team family, yet the window of opportunity to quickly pay his vow closed, which brought tragedy to his family, especially his daughter Dinah.
We have the rest of our lives to accomplish some spiritual services. For other kingdom things, there will be only one chance. Yeshua taught:
- “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.” (Mt 13:43-46)
If the man in these parables had delayed, not wanting to risk selling everything for the treasure, which would require effort to build again from scratch, he may have missed the opportunity. Someone else may have bought the right to dig the treasure or purchase it. It was the opportunity of his lifetime. Life. Time.
In the end, time is most valuable because we know its loss is irretrievable. “What ifs” amount to “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The sands of time quickly backfill the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Some things will wait for later or be fixed with a do-over. But some things won’t.
This week, Ulpan-Or sent this parable:
'Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev once encountered a man who was constantly delaying his repentance, believing he could always return to God later. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak responded with a parable:
He said, "Imagine a person who has been given a precious jewel.
He carries it with him everywhere, but he keeps saying he will sell it tomorrow.
One day, he loses it, and his delay costs him dearly. The time to act is now; do not wait for tomorrow, for tomorrow may never come."
This story encapsulates the urgency of spiritual action, reflecting the essence of Jacob's journey in Vayetze.
Just as the man in the parable learned, we must not postpone our spiritual commitments, for each moment is a treasure.'
Finding Yeshua as the Word of the Torah has been a treasure hidden for nearly 2000 years of our history. This is the generation being asked to sell everything so that they may fully invest in this once-in-a-lifetime window into Heaven. A once-in-two-thousand-years-opportunity. Perhaps the last window of its kind to open in this epoch of mankind’s history.
How awesome is this place!
What will you give up to obtain this precious jewel, wearable in eternity?
The sand moves quickly.
And so must we.
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