Sunday, December 4, 2011
Like the dust of the earth
IN this week's parsha, G-d tells Yaakov to spread out like the dust of the earth. This phrase is constantly repeated throughout Bereshit; why is the spreading out of the Jewish people constantly likened to dust? I came up with some possible answers. The dirt beneath our feet is one of the building blocks of this planet. It helps sustain life by enabling us to grow food to eat, trees so we can breathe, and numerous other benefits. It is therefore a great blessing to be likened to dirt because this could be a way of making the analogy that the Jewish people make things flourish. Wherever we are, whatever we do, we accomplish great things and help mankind. This could also be a reference to the fact that people come from the dust of the earth. We come from dust, and when we die we will return to dust.
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I agree with Emma. I would like to add a possibility. Since dust is what people and as you mentioned, really everything comes from, it can be assumed that the 'dust of the Earth' will always be there. The dust will never just disappear. For Life to continue as it is, the dust of the earth must be part of life. In this comparison, clearly the dust is like the Jews. We are not going anywhere, and we will be around forever. The Jews will not die out or simpily dissapear or assimilate. Jews are a part of life, and the world can not continue without us.
ReplyDeleteVery insightful. I agree with Emma and Alyssa.
ReplyDeleteI want to add that being "as many as the stars" is a blessing as well. Stars are always there, night and day, even when you don't see them. Stars are a source of warmth and growth (the sun!) which could be a blessing- the Jews being a source of warmth and growth = being kind, caring, and always striving to help others grow and do better.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with all three of you that Hashem is promising to Avraham that his nation will always be there and maybe that reassurance counts for us as a nation too because times at war people become scared and people are scared that our enemies will destroy us but we can always think of the promise to Avraham that we will always be here and be as many as the stars in the sky and the dust in the earth and you can also see this as Hashem being there always and everywhere he is in the sky and on the ground and everywhere in between
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