פּירוש אויף בראשית 28:12

“He dreamed that there was a ladder” [28:12]. He had a dream in which a ladder extended from the earth to the heaven.

“Angels of God were going up and down on it” [28:12]. Angels were going up that ladder to heaven and they went down again. Rashi asks a question here. The angels live in heaven. It should say that the angels came down and it should say that they went up again to heaven. The explanation is that the angels accompanied him outside of Israel had no power in the land of Israel. Therefore, that night Jacob was on the boundary of the land of Israel. The angels from outside of the land went up and other angels came down to accompany him in the land of Israel.¹¹Rashi, Genesis, 28:12.

Hizkuni writes. The angels who accompanied him went up to other angels and called them down to see the visage of Jacob, since Jacob’s visage was engraved on the Throne of Glory. The angels went up and saw the visage on the Throne of Glory and again went down and saw if the visage was the visage of the Throne of Glory. So writes Bahya.¹²Hizkuni, Genesis, 28:12; Bahya, Genesis, 28:12.

עלים וירדים ASCENDING AND DESCENDING — It states first ascending and afterwards descending! Those angels who accompanied him in the land of Israel were not permitted to leave the Land: they ascended to Heaven and angels which were to minister outside the Land descended to accompany him (Genesis Rabbah 68:12).