Running and Returning

In Parashat Vayeitzei (Gen. 28:10-32:3), Jacob dreams of a sulam, a word that appears only once in the entire Torah—a rarity that invites interpretation. Author Isaac Moezson notes its linguistic link to the word slalom, suggesting a spiraling motion, a helix-like ascent that joins heaven and earth. In Jacob’s vision it is anchored where he slept — upon the Foundation Stone, the point from which creation itself began.

The four angels on the sulam have long been understood as symbols of the four empires that would subjugate Israel: Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Edom/Rome. Rambam teaches that each angel’s ascent and descent corresponds to the empire’s duration and fall — seventy years for Babylonia, fifty-two for Persia, one hundred and thirty for Greece. But the angel of Edom climbs out of sight, hinting that Rome’s influence would reach far into the future. Yet, Egypt and Assyria are missing because neither empire ever captured the heart of the nation — the Temple Mount—the very location of Jacob’s dream.

In our generation, the sulam can be understood as the DNA strand and the four angels evoke the four nucleotides of that ladder-like chain that carry encoded instructions up and down the strand.

Kabbalistic thought deepens this vision through the concept of ratzo v’shov — “running and returning.” This language originates in Ezekiel’s inaugural vision of the Divine Chariot, where the living creatures “ran and returned like the appearance of a flash of lightning” (Ezekiel 1:14; see also 1:4–13). The sages understood this not as simple motion, but as the very pulse of spiritual existence: an upward yearning toward divine light followed by a necessary return to earthly purpose. It is the rhythm of breath, the alternation of inspiration and action, the oscillation through which all spiritual life unfolds.

Jacob’s angels on the sulam are not merely ascending and descending; they are oscillating, moving in a divine heartbeat between realms. Their ascent expresses longing for God, while their descent reflects the commitment to carry out His will in the world. In this reading, the sulam becomes a living conduit, a bridge through which divine energy continually flows in waves, sustaining creation. This pattern, remarkably, echoes the very processes of life within the human body. DNA itself operates through cycles of separation and return: strands pull apart in replication or transcription, only to realign and rebuild. Just as the angels rise and fall in a sacred rhythm, the double helix turns through its own life-giving cadence. Both reveal the same truth — that creation moves through alternating steps of ascent and grounding, yearning and responsibility, ratzo and shov.

Just as DNA is the interface through which life unfolds, the sulam is the interface through which divine purpose enters the world. According to Midrash, God Himself shaped the dust — and the destiny — of Adam at this very spot where Jacob slept. No wonder Jhe awoke trembling, exclaiming, “This is none other than the House of God — the very gate of heaven!” From this place, God promises Jacob, his offspring will “burst forth” to the west, east, north, and south, becoming a blessing to all families of the earth.

The sulam is a vision of destiny — a blueprint for Israel’s mission. It points toward the day when God’s nation will ascend to build a House of Prayer for all nations.