What Does Not Go Up – Parashat Vayeishev
….And it was told to Tamar, saying, “Behold, your father in law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep…” – Bereishit 38:13
״…ויוגד לתמר לאמר הנה חמיך עלה תמנתה לגז צאנו….״ – בראשית לח, יג
Besides for the simple topography being described here, Rashi’s words also contain a powerful message about one’s personal Divine worship, which the Torah compares to climbing a mountain (see Tehilim 24:3).
The Torah tells us of people going up to Timnah or going down to Timnah, but never speaks of someone stationed in Timnah or simply “going” to Timnah. For on a mountain, one is either climbing or descending. If you aren’t moving upward, you will inevitably slide in the other direction.
The same is true of commitment to G-d and His service, and for this reason Divine worship is compared to ascending a mountain. We must constantly work towards developing even deeper levels of devotion, if only to maintain even the fervor that we had in the past. For on a mountain, if you are not going up in one direction, you are likely going down in the other.
—Likutei Sichos, vol. 10, pp. 127-128
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