I've been thinking about Jacob's dream, where he sees a ladder rising up to Heaven, with angels ascending and descending it. It just struck me: why do angels need a ladder in the first place? Can't they fly? Forgetting that question for a moment, lets consider the technical specifications of a ladder to Heaven.
First of all, without any clarification in the torah, artists are free to imagine what the ladder to Heaven might look like. Artist William Blake created a beautiful painting about Jacob's ladder, but where does it even imply that the ladder is a spiral staircase under a tent?? Nowhere! (Although Blake's work does conjure up a dreamy image that does feel sacred) I , however, would like to examine the ladder as a ladder, without much embellishment. I'd like to consider the ladder as a LADDER! This means that it would look more like something you'd find at Home Depot, rather than at the Guggenheim.
Let's consider some physical facts when trying to visual Jacob's ladder.
Clouds are roughly a mile above the ground : about 6500 feet) (source: here) So, what should we consider when constructing a ladder that's 6500 feet high?
First thing I thought of was "how many rungs are on this ladder?" "How far apart should they be?"
I figured that government engineers might have some standards I could use as a starting point. According to the OSHA website, "The minimum clear distance between the sides of individual-rung/step ladders and the minimum clear distance between the side rails of other fixed ladders shall be 16 inches (41 cm)." (source: here --scroll to 1926.1053(a)(4)(i))
So...the answer to the question, "how many rungs are on the ladder to Heaven" is roughly 4333. (If you assume that the rungs are spaced apart accoring to OSHA standards (i.e. 16 inches apart) AND you take into account the width of each rung (I assumed a 2 -inch rung size), then the formula for number of rungs on the ladder to Heaven becomes...the length of earth to sky (i.e. 78000 inches), DIVIDED BY 18 (i.e. the number of inches from rung-to-rung; 16" being the OSHA standard for distance between ladder rungs + the width of each rung, which I've assumed to be 2 inches) comes out to roughly 4333 rungs.
Once I had a clearer vision of what an actual ladder to Heaven would have to require from an engineering standpoint, my vision of what the angels looked like started to change. Initially, a had a sweet vision of fresh faced choir members floating around the ladder, as if they were are all riding an escalator in a department store.
A DRASH OF THE RIDICULOUS: Is there wisdom in laughter?
But as the details of the ladder came into clearer focus (due to my calculations), my impression of angels ascending and descending a ladder changed: I began to imagine what someone climbing up and down a ladder would look like: it's not as graceful as I'd initially imagined! I saw figures holding onto the ladder they would fall, straining to hang on as they strained to get up and down each step. Or do angels show signs of strain at all? My image of angels ascending and descending a ladder to Heaven became more absurd and grotesque, the more literal I tried to make that vision. I also began to worry about someone ascending and descending a ladder which was over a mile high. Yikes!
Jacob's dream had a meaning. So why does its "message" seem to change when I focus on the technical specifications of Jacob's Ladder? Does my turning to OSHA standards make it ridiculous? Maybe...but why? There has go to be SOME specifications for a ladder. I mean, Bezalel was given very specific instructions from G-d re: how to build a tabernacle. So why should a ladder be any different?
First of all, without any clarification in the torah, artists are free to imagine what the ladder to Heaven might look like. Artist William Blake created a beautiful painting about Jacob's ladder, but where does it even imply that the ladder is a spiral staircase under a tent?? Nowhere! (Although Blake's work does conjure up a dreamy image that does feel sacred) I , however, would like to examine the ladder as a ladder, without much embellishment. I'd like to consider the ladder as a LADDER! This means that it would look more like something you'd find at Home Depot, rather than at the Guggenheim.
Clouds are roughly a mile above the ground : about 6500 feet) (source: here) So, what should we consider when constructing a ladder that's 6500 feet high?
First thing I thought of was "how many rungs are on this ladder?" "How far apart should they be?"
I figured that government engineers might have some standards I could use as a starting point. According to the OSHA website, "The minimum clear distance between the sides of individual-rung/step ladders and the minimum clear distance between the side rails of other fixed ladders shall be 16 inches (41 cm)." (source: here --scroll to 1926.1053(a)(4)(i))
So...the answer to the question, "how many rungs are on the ladder to Heaven" is roughly 4333. (If you assume that the rungs are spaced apart accoring to OSHA standards (i.e. 16 inches apart) AND you take into account the width of each rung (I assumed a 2 -inch rung size), then the formula for number of rungs on the ladder to Heaven becomes...the length of earth to sky (i.e. 78000 inches), DIVIDED BY 18 (i.e. the number of inches from rung-to-rung; 16" being the OSHA standard for distance between ladder rungs + the width of each rung, which I've assumed to be 2 inches) comes out to roughly 4333 rungs.
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| "This works out my leg muscles real good!" (image source: Comic Book Siddur) |
Once I had a clearer vision of what an actual ladder to Heaven would have to require from an engineering standpoint, my vision of what the angels looked like started to change. Initially, a had a sweet vision of fresh faced choir members floating around the ladder, as if they were are all riding an escalator in a department store.
A DRASH OF THE RIDICULOUS: Is there wisdom in laughter?
But as the details of the ladder came into clearer focus (due to my calculations), my impression of angels ascending and descending a ladder changed: I began to imagine what someone climbing up and down a ladder would look like: it's not as graceful as I'd initially imagined! I saw figures holding onto the ladder they would fall, straining to hang on as they strained to get up and down each step. Or do angels show signs of strain at all? My image of angels ascending and descending a ladder to Heaven became more absurd and grotesque, the more literal I tried to make that vision. I also began to worry about someone ascending and descending a ladder which was over a mile high. Yikes!
Jacob's dream had a meaning. So why does its "message" seem to change when I focus on the technical specifications of Jacob's Ladder? Does my turning to OSHA standards make it ridiculous? Maybe...but why? There has go to be SOME specifications for a ladder. I mean, Bezalel was given very specific instructions from G-d re: how to build a tabernacle. So why should a ladder be any different?
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