Will draws Hashem's light into any place

ברש"י ויפגע תיקן תפלת ערבית ולא כתיב ויתפלל ללמדך שקפצה לו הארץ.

In Rashi: "And he encountered" — he instituted the evening prayer (Tefillas Arvis); and it does not write "and he prayed," to teach you that the land leaped for him.

Rashi on "vayifga" (Bereishis 28:11) explains that Yaakov established Maariv, and that the Torah's unusual word "vayifga" ("he encountered," rather than "he prayed") hints that the land "leaped" — kefitzas haderech — bringing him instantly to his destination.

ואינו מובן כי לפי' הזה שתיקן תפלת ערבית מה ענין קפיצת הארץ לכאן.

And this is not understood, for according to this explanation — that he instituted the evening prayer — what does the leaping of the land have to do with it?

The Sefas Emes raises a difficulty: Rashi derives two separate lessons from one word — the founding of Maariv and the leaping of the land. What is the inner connection between establishing the evening prayer and kefitzas haderech?

אך בודאי כפי רצון האדם יכול לעורר קדושת השי"ת בכל מקום.

But surely, according to a person's ratzon (will), he is able to awaken the holiness of Hashem in every place.

The unifying idea is the power of ratzon. A person's deep desire can arouse the kedushah of Hashem anywhere at all, drawing the Divine Presence into any location through the force of his longing.

וז"ש רש"י נעקר הר המוריה ובא לכאן פי' כיון שהי' ליעקב אע"ה רצון גדול לבוא להר המורי'.

And this is what Rashi says, "Har HaMoriah was uprooted and came to here" — meaning that since Yaakov Avinu had a great ratzon to come to Har HaMoriah.

Rashi's image of the mountain itself being "uprooted" and coming to Yaakov expresses this principle. Yaakov's intense will to reach Har HaMoriah, the place of the Akeidah and future Bais HaMikdash, drew that holy place to him.

אף כי מקום הזה הי' מרוחק מאוד קפץ הר המורי' לכאן.

Even though this place was very far away, Har HaMoriah leaped to here.

Despite the great physical distance, the strength of Yaakov's desire collapsed the gap, and the holy mountain "leaped" to where he was. Will overrides ordinary distance.

וזהו עצמו פי' תפלת ערבית כי בודאי בעת חושך אין מקום להתגלות האור רק ע"י רצון האדם שלא בהדרגה ע"ז מתעורר הארה שלא עפ"י דרך הטבע.

And this itself is the meaning of the evening prayer, for surely at a time of darkness there is no place for the revelation of light, except through a person's ratzon — not in a gradual order — and by this an illumination is aroused that is not according to the way of nature.

This is why Maariv connects to the leaping land. Night is a time of darkness when no light would naturally be revealed. The only way to draw illumination then is through a person's sudden, "non-gradual" ratzon, which awakens a supernatural light that bypasses the ordinary order of nature — exactly like the miraculous kefitzas haderech.

כי הכל תלוי ברצון האדם.

For everything depends on a person's ratzon.

The governing principle: everything hinges on a person's will. The strength of one's inner desire is what determines his ability to draw down holiness and light, even against nature.

וכתיב שלום לקרוב ולרחוק פי' שאין דבר רע יוצא מהשי"ת.

And it is written, "Peace to the far and to the near" — meaning that no evil thing comes forth from Hashem.

The verse (Yeshayahu 57:19) promises peace to both far and near. The Sefas Emes reads it to mean that nothing genuinely bad issues from Hashem; even "distance" from Him is not truly evil.

א"כ הריחוק הוא ג"כ לטובה.

If so, the distance too is for the good.

It follows that even the experience of feeling far from Hashem serves a positive purpose. The "distance" is not a punishment but an instrument for good.

שע"י הריחוק נתעורר באדם רצון אמת יותר.

For through the distance, a truer ratzon is awakened in a person.

The very sense of remoteness arouses a deeper, more authentic longing. Precisely because he feels far, a person's will to draw close becomes more intense and true.

ועי"ז הרצון יכול לעורר גם במקום הרחוק הארת השי"ת כנ"ל.

And through this ratzon he is able to awaken, even in a distant place, the illumination of Hashem, as above.

That deepened will then has the power to draw the light of Hashem even into the farthest, darkest place — completing the cycle, since the distance itself generated the very desire that overcomes it.

וז"ש ללמדך שקפצה כו' שיש מזה לימוד לכל איש ישראל שידע שאין לך מקום שלא יוכל להרגיש הארה הפנימיות ע"י יגיעה של אמת כנ"ל:

And this is what is meant by "to teach you that the land leaped, etc." — that there is a lesson in this for every Jew, that he should know there is no place in which he cannot feel the inner illumination (haarah penimiyus) through true exertion, as above.

Rashi's phrase "to teach you" signals a lesson for every Jew across all generations: there is no place — however dark or distant — where one cannot reach the inner penimiyus light, provided he invests genuine yegiah (toil) born of sincere ratzon.

Summary: Rashi's two lessons from "vayifga" — that Yaakov founded Maariv and that the land leaped to him — are one idea: the power of a person's ratzon to awaken Hashem's holiness anywhere, even supernaturally and in darkness; since no evil truly comes from Hashem, even the feeling of distance serves to arouse a truer longing, teaching every Jew that through sincere exertion he can draw the inner light into any place.