Finding Paradise | Parsha with the Chief: Vayeitzei

There is a deep psychological need to find paradise - a state of bliss without stress, duty or struggle. Entire industries are built around that longing: leisure, entertainment, escape.

Perhaps it is a yearning for the Garden of Eden we once had, and then lost. We have been searching for paradise ever since.

But what are we really seeking? And are we looking in the right place?

In this shiur on Parshat Vayeitzei, Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein explores Jacob’s dream - a ladder planted on the earth, reaching into the heavens - and reveals the Torah’s model for finding the paradise we seek.

Drawing on Pirkei Avot (2:17), “All your deeds should be for the sake of heaven,” and the Rambam’s introduction to Pirkei Avot, Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein shows how Jacob’s dream becomes a blueprint for daily life. Yaakov was about to begin an ordinary journey: earning a living, building a family, working in the marketplace. God shows him the ladder to teach him: what looks mundane can be connected to heaven.

Viktor Frankl taught that the deepest human need is not pleasure but meaning. The Torah taught this centuries earlier: paradise is not escape. It is purpose. It is living with direction, holiness, and connection to something higher.

Key Insights
We’re all searching for paradise, but often looking in the wrong place.
Jacob’s ladder shows that ordinary actions can connect earth to heaven.
“All your deeds should be for the sake of heaven” - Pirkei Avot 2:17.
The mundane can be part of a divine mission.
“God is in this place, and I didn’t know.”
Meaning, not pleasure, is the deepest human need.
The Shechinah rests with those who live for the sake of heaven.