Your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you and your descendants.
(B’reysheet / Genesis 28:14)
Rabbi Aharon Levin1 begins his comment by noting that the people of Israel are compared to three things in the various blessings given by God to the patriarchs: stars, sand, and dust of the earth. Rabbi Levin then elaborates on the qualities represented by each.
Stars. Each star stands distinct and apart from every other star without any connection amongst them.
Sand. While each grain of sand rests next to other grains of sand each grain remains separate.
Dust of the earth. Only the dust has as an essential attribute, that it sticks together forming clumps and clusters.
This is God’s unique blessing and challenge to Jacob and his descendants, that if they bind themselves together and remain connected to each other like the dust of the earth, then they will proliferate and be very successful.
Rabbi Levin clearly saw the growing divisions within the Jewish community of his era and recognized the perils this presented for the Jewish people, a challenge which has only grown in the decades since. Unifying factors, from the era of Jacob’s sons through the period of the Israelite monarchy and up to our own day, have proven ephemeral, especially those which sought to impose or coerce that unity.
Cha”zal, our ancient sages of blessed memory, attempted to address this propensity towards polarization by embracing a model of Torah which affirmed diverse understandings, encouraged discourse and debate, and ultimately validated a multiplicity of religious practice. I believe what undergirded this was a deep and abiding respect for those with whom they differed and acceptance of their alternate pathways into the presence of the Divine One.
Shabbat Shalom –
Rabbi David M. Eligberg
1 Rabbi Aharon Levin (1880-1941) was born into a distinguished rabbinical family in Poland and was renowned from a young age for his brilliant mind. He served as Rav in Sambor and following his father’s passing in 1926 he succeeded him as Rav in Reisha. Rabbi Levin, in addition to his rabbinical duties, served as a member of the Polish Sejm (Parliament) as a representative of Agudas Yisroel.
Rabbi Levin authored a commentary on the Torah entitled Hadrash V’ha-iyun, which is quoted above.
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