Yaakov’s Ladder: Bridging the Worlds of Rachel and Leah

Rav Daniel Frisch zt’l , the renowned mekubal and author of the Matok M’Devash on the Zohar, recounted a striking story from the days of the Old Yishuv in Jerusalem.

During this era, secular-minded individuals sought to introduce modern, secular education and culture into the insular, Torah-centered Yishuv. These efforts faced fierce opposition from the community's leaders, prompting the secularists to employ covert tactics to infiltrate this stronghold of religious life.

Among them was a man whom Rav Frisch referred to as one of the Machrivei Karta (destroyers of the city). He disguised himself as a member of the Perushim—followers of the Vilna Gaon who had established the Yishuv. Dressed in a tallis and tefillin, he spent his days sitting in the beis midrash, studying and writing a sefer to establish his credibility. When the time came to publish his work, he sought an endorsement from none other than the Rav of the Yishuv, Rav Yehoshua Leib Diskin. Such an endorsement would ensure hi…