(10) Jacob left Beer-sheba, and set out for Haran. (11) Vayifga the place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. (12) He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and angels of God were going up and down on it. (13) And the LORD was standing beside him and He said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac: the ground on which you are lying I will assign to you and to your offspring.
Vayifga
NASB Translation
approach (1), attack (2), attacked (1), came (1), cut him down (1), entreat (2), fall (7), fell (4), happen (1), intercede (2), interceded (1), kill (1), make supplication (1), meet (3), meets (3), met (2), pleaded (1), reached (6), spare (1), strike the mark (1), touched (1), touched and reached (1), urge (1).
(16) As for you, do not pray for this people, do not raise a cry of prayer on their behalf, do not tifga with Me; for I will not listen to you.
איתמר רבי יוסי ברבי חנינא אמר תפלות אבות תקנום רבי יהושע בן לוי אמר תפלות כנגד תמידין תקנום...
יעקב תקן תפלת ערבית שנאמר (בראשית כח, יא) ויפגע במקום וילן שם ואין פגיעה אלא תפלה שנאמר (ירמיהו ז, טז) ואתה אל תתפלל בעד העם הזה ואל תשא בעדם רנה ותפלה ואל תפגע בי...
ומפני מה אמרו תפלת הערב אין לה קבע שהרי אברים ופדרים שלא נתעכלו מבערב קרבים והולכים כל הלילה
It was stated: Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: The practice of praying three times daily is ancient, albeit not in its present form; prayers were instituted by the Patriarchs. However, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said that the prayers were instituted based on the daily offerings sacrificed in the Holy Temple...
Jacob instituted the evening prayer, as it is stated: “And he encountered [vayifga] the place and he slept there for the sun had set” (Genesis 28:11). The word encounter means nothing other than prayer, as it is stated when God spoke to Jeremiah: “And you, do not pray on behalf of this nation and do not raise on their behalf song and prayer, and do not encounter [tifga] Me for I do not hear you” (Jeremiah 7:16). Jacob prayed during the evening, after the sun had set...
And why did they say that the evening prayer is not fixed? Because the burning of the limbs and fats of the offerings that were not consumed by the fire on the altar until the evening. They remained on the altar and were offered continuously throughout the entire night.
PaRDeS
The four basic teaching methods and means for Scripture interpretation the rabbis used can be remembered by the acronym PaRDeS (a Hebrew word meaning orchard, garden), which stands for P’shat, Remez, Drash and Sod.
- Peshat (פְּשָׁט) — simple "surface" ("straight") or the literal (direct) meaning, the intended, explicit meaning.
- Remez (רֶמֶז) — "hints" or the deep (allegoric: hidden or symbolic) meaning beyond just the literal sense.
- Derash (דְּרַשׁ) — from Hebrew darash: "inquire" ("seek") — the comparative (midrashic) meaning, as given through similar occurrences. An allegorical or homiletical application of a text. Eisegesis – reading one’s own thoughts into the text.
- Sod (סוֹד) (pronounced with a long O as in 'sore') — "secret" ("mystery") or the esoteric/mystical meaning, as given through inspiration or revelation.
(א) ויפגע במקום. פשטו של מקרא שפגע במקום אחד של ישוב. וכמו שתמצא שגמר אומר הכתוב לבסוף דכתיב ואולם לוז שם העיר הרי כי עיר היתה וילן שם בעיר ההיא...
Peshat
The peshat of this text is that he came upon the place that was a settlement. For we must recognize that at the end (after Yaakov calls the place Bet El) the pasuk says, before this city was called Luz, because this was already a city where people stopped during their travels.
(ב) ויפגע כְּמוֹ וּפָגַע בִּירִיחוֹ וּפָגַע בְּדַבָּשֶׁת (יהושע ט"ז וי"ט) וְרַבּוֹתֵינוּ פֵּרְשׁוּ לְשׁוֹן תְּפִלָּה (ברכות כ"ו), כְּמוֹ וְאַל־תִּפְגַע־בִּי (ירמיהו ז'),
וְלִמְדָּנוּ שֶׁתִּקֵּן תְּפִלַּת עַרְבִית
וְשִׁנָּה הַכָּתוּב, וְלֹא כָתַב וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל לְלַמֶּדְךָ, שֶׁקָּפְצָה לוֹ הָאָרֶץ, כְּמוֹ שֶׁמְּפֹרָשׁ בְּפֶרֶק גִּיד הַנָּשֶׁה (חולין צ"א)
Remez
(2) ויפגע AND HE LIGHTED — similar are (Joshua 16:7) “and it reached (ופגע) unto Jericho”, and (Joshua 19:11) “and reached (ופגע) to Dabesheth”. Our Rabbis explained it in the sense of “praying”, just as (Jeremiah 7:16) “Neither make intercession (תפגע) to me”. Thus we may learn that Jacob originated the custom of Evening Prayer.
Drash
Scripture purposely changed the usual word for “praying”, not writing יתפלל, “And he prayed” (which would have been the more appropriate word, but ויפגע which means to hit upon a place unexpectedly), to teach you also that the ground shrunk before him (the journey was miraculously shortened) as it is explained in the Chapter גיד הנשה (Chullin 91b).
Sod
Yaakov is the patriarch who establishes the evening prayer. The Zohar teaches that Avraham represents Chesed (lovingkindness), Yitzhak, Gevurah (judgement) and Yaakov, Tiferet (adornment). When Chesed and Gevura are in opposition to each other they require an integration- this integration is Tiferet. Yaakov and Maariv can be seen as the act of integration and allow for balance to be maintained in the world.
What is the remedy of one who has caused the rain to be withheld? He should increase his prayers, as it is stated in the same chapter: “And He has commanded it due to bemaphgia” (Job 37:12), and “pegiah” means nothing other than prayer, as it is stated: “Therefore, do not pray you for this nation, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither tiphgah Me” (Jeremiah 7:16).