And Yaakov left Beer Sheva, and he went to Charan. (Breishis 28:10)

And Yaakov left: Scripture had only to write: “And Yaakov went to Charan.” Why did it mention his departure? But this tells [us] that the departure of a righteous man from a place makes an impression, for while the righteous man is in the city, he is its beauty, he is its splendor, he is its majesty. When he departs from there, its beauty has departed, its splendor has departed, its majesty has departed. – Rashi

This is a very beautiful testimony to Yaakov whose departure was felt in Beer Sheva. Rabbi Shraga Silverstein wrote a book of personal aphorisms, “It’s easy to make your presence felt but it’s hard to make your absence felt.” So true and certainly applicable to Yaakov Avinu.

I heard such a smart question last year accompanied by a beautiful and wise answer. Why is that same description not mentioned before about either of the two previous Avos – Fathers? They traveled to and from a number of places but the impact of their leaving a place is never explicitly or implicitly worthy of mention. Why not?

Avraham and Yitzchok were people who, in the course of their life, achieved much wealth and fame. They were men of influence and renown. They lived large on the stage of history at various times in their adult life. Of course, their arrivals and departures were felt. It’s almost too obvious to be worthy of mention.

Yaakov however, was characterized as a simple man who dwelled in tents. He was a student of Torah and he lived a quiet, humble, and unassuming life. During his days and years in Beer Sheva he might as well have been an invisible man. Who could have and would have known about his scholarship and righteousness. Everything he did was not evident to the eye of society. He was practically hidden in plain sight. His world was an inner world. How could he be recognized as the glory and splendor of the city while he was still there? It was not apparent at all.

However, after his departure the true stature of who it was that they had in their midst became discernable. Then it became clear and palpable. The sun suddenly set on Beer Sheva. Such a shame to wake up after the fact and to be aware when it’s already too late. So, what was Yaakov doing for Beer Sheva while living a private life and pursuing Torah scholarship? What was that splendor and glory? How would we know to appreciate today even if it was staring us in the face?

When I heard this beautiful idea, it occurred to me that this is perhaps the reason that Yaakov was shown and we are treated to for all time a vision of the ladder stretching from earth to heaven. Reb Chaim Velozhin explains the ladder in Nefesh HaChaim as a continuum of human potential. This is the paradigm of a human being spanning and bridging large and disparate continents. The angels that are depicted traveling up and down are the results of what the man is doing down here in the world of action.

His every thought, speech, and deed generate ripples and waves up to the heavenly realm and then their echo reverberates and rains back down on to the earth their profound influence. This is the awesome power of who we really are. That’s the good news and the bad news. The good news is that every thought we think and each word we utter and any move we make is shaking the higher and lower worlds. The bad news is that every thought we think and each word we utter and any move we make is shaking the higher and lower worlds.

Now we can understand that Avraham and Yitzchok sent out horizontal waves as well, influencing the world in ways that could be seen and measured. They were also shaking up the world in a vertical direction but that became known to us and the world through Yaakov. That a man can sit alone, remaining undetected, and with his holy thoughts, and utterances, and private deeds be lighting up a city and the world could not have been understood or appreciated until Yaakov left and the ladder revealed the reality of realities.