Stars And Dust Forever

On VaYeirah

In Breishit 22:17 G-d says to Avraham that his offspring will be like the stars and the sand. One approach to this double image is that while both stars and sand convey the idea of a great number, there is a basic difference between them. The stars stand and shine alone. And while there may be too many to count, you can point to each star individually. On the other hand, grains of sand blend together. It is impossibly difficult to pick out one grain on its own. These are two aspects of being a Jew; we have potential as part of a nation, also each one of us needs to shine as a lone star.0hh
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Some say that the stars represent us at our height and the sand represents us at our low point. We have souls and are created in G-d’s image. On the other hand we are earthy beings with physical desires. These images remind us of our duality. Several great rabbis have suggested that we carry two cards in our pockets: one labeled "KEKOCHVEI HASHAMAYIM" and the other marked "KECHOL AL SFAT HAYAM." They say that the secret is to know when to look at which piece of paper.000000000000000000000000000000
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The Kli Yakar (Rav Shlomo Ephraim of Lenshitz, died 1619)) notes (Breishit 22:17) that there are actually three similes used for what G-d will make Avraham’s descendants like. The Jewish People are likened to stars, sand (Breishit 22:17), and also dust (Breishit 28:14). Each one of these conceptions represents a separate message. ooooooooooooooooooooooooo
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The stars represent us in our prime. In Devarim 1:10 Moshe states that G-d increased us like the stars. Rashi comments that this refers to having made us great. This is similar to English expressions such as being a shining star.
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Sand represents our survival against the nations. We endure like the sand, which breaks the waves when the oceans threaten to destroy the earth. As Dovid HaMelech describes, "All Your billows (mishbarechah) and waves have passed over me" (Tehillim 42:8). Persecution threatens to destroy us, but like the tide against the shore, it hits us, breaks, and passes. And this is why when Yaakov re-meets with Eisav, he chooses to evoke specifically the image of "the sand on the river bank." That metaphor fit the moment, representing our ability to break the blow of our oppressors.
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Although sand is often interpreted to represent us at our lowest, dust better serves to symbolize us at our most dishonorable point. Dust represents us when we hit rock bottom. It is from that state that we rise up, call to G-d and return to full strength. This is what it states in Tehillim 44:26, that we fall to dust and then cry to G-d. This is also what Yaakov was promised, that his descendants would become like dust but then regain power and spread to all corners of the earth.
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Once there was a man and, figuratively speaking, everything he touched turned to gold. His family life, his business, everything flourished. One day he was walking down the street and threw out a peach pit. As he lifted the plastic cover of the trash can he discovered a diamond resting atop the trash. He took the jewel to an appraiser and was told that it was worth roughly a billion dollars. When the man heard the news he inexplicably cried bitterly. Shortly after this event the man’s fortune turned bad. His family life crumbled and he lost all his wealth. Years went by and he found himself in a hovel eating a bowl of lukewarm water that he called soup and a chunk of plaster fell from the ceiling into his bowl. At that moment he laughed joyfully. Soon, things changed for the better; a former associate lent him money which he invested well. His business and personal life were back on track. At the very end of his life one of his sons asked, “I noticed strange behaviors of yours at two pivotal moments in your life.” He asked him to kindly explain the cryptic laughter and the mysterious tears. The man explained that when he found the diamond he cried because he realized that things had peaked for him and that it could only go down from there. When the plaster chip fell in his food he laughed because he knew he’d hit the bottom and things were bound to turn up.
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This is the way life is – highs and lows. As the Vilna Gaon commented, “We will laugh tomorrow over what we cried about today and we will cry tomorrow over what we laughed about today.” (Sichat Musar) People tend to live in the moment rather than thinking ahead, but this man in the story got it – things turn around. This fits with the saying Gam Zu Yaavor – This Too Shall Pass. (Cite Himmelman) The story is told that Dovid HaMelech once asked a jeweler to make a ring for him with a wise inscription. The ring maker asked Shlomo HaMelech for his advice as to what he could possibly write as wise words for Dovid. Shlomo said to write “Gam Zu Yaavor – This Too Shall Pass. He explained that if Dovid ever started to feel full of himself he could read the inscription and remember the other side of the story. And if he ever felt on the verge of despair all he needed to do was look at the ring and recall that things don’t stay bad forever.
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We all have highs and lows. Both when things are high as the stars or low as the dust, as hard as it is, we need to remember the other extreme.
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We possess the resilience to break the forces that we sometimes fear will drown us. May we be blessed to remember and be inspired by our being like the stars and the dust and the sand.0000000

Torah Quiz - Name 2 other parshiot with a similar, seeing related name.