Climbing

The Torah teaches that when our father Yaakov encountered the place that would one day be host to the glorious Holy Temple, he had a prophetic dream. He beheld a ladder standing on the ground, reaching all the way up until the heaven, with angels climbing up and down the ladder. Our Sages explain that this ladder represents the ladder of prayer. Prayer connects us, down here, with G-d in heaven. Prayers that are recited with care and intention are transformed into angels that fly upward and beseech G-d for mercy, leading other angels to come down to us and pour blessings upon us and our families. The precise order of the prayers was ordained by the divinely inspired Sages. A ladder has many rungs to get to the top, and our prayers also ascend, rung after rung, from the Morning Blessings, all the way up until the Amida and beyond, when we are standing before G-d's throne. May we find endless inspiration in our holy prayers, and may all of our collective Torah study, prayer, and good deeds hasten the immediate revelation of Moshiach now!