03 Dec VAYEITZEI: THE BLESSING EMERGES FROM LOWLINESS

In Yaakov’s famous
dream of a ladder at
the beginning of
Parshas Vayeitzei,
Hashem appears to
him and tells him –
among other things –
“Your offspring shall
be as the dust of the earth and you shall spread
out powerfully westward, eastward,
northward, and southward…” [Bereishis
28:14]. The Sforno wonders about the nature
of this blessing. It seems to be expressed in
imagery that is perhaps not especially
complimentary. After all, the dust of the earth
is something that people trample on! The
imagery used elsewhere of “descendants as
numerous as stars in the heaven” is much more
noble and uplifting than “descendants that
shall be as the dust of the earth.”
The Sforno writes that this language in fact
foreshadows Jewish history. Our history has
been that just when Klal Yisrael finds
themselves to be at their lowest point
(represented by the dust of the earth), that is
precisely when they will merit receiving the
blessing “you will spread out powerfully
westward, eastward, northward, and
southward.” The two sections of the pasuk that
at first seem to be incongruously combined

are, in fact, dependent upon each other. It is
exactly the state lowliness that precedes the
state of dynamic growth and expansion. This
is comparable to the common saying “night is
always at its darkest immediately before
dawn.”
The Kli Yakar quotes a similar idea from a
Medrash Shochar Tov: “Salvation only comes
to Israel at a time when they have reached the
ultimate in lowness (tachlis haShiflus), as it is
written ‘For prostrated to the dust is our soul,
stuck to the earth is our belly’ [Tehillim 44:26]
and immediately thereafter we find ‘Arise!
Assist us And redeem us for the sake of Your
kindness!’ [Tehillim 44:27].”
The reason for this phenomenon, the Kli
Yakar writes, is that as long as the Jews are
mired in the depths of lowliness, they place all
their trust in G-d. When things are going
better, they make plans for human schemes
and intervention to rescue themselves and do
not place their hope in Hashem. However,
when they see that there is no hope and no
value in relying on human intervention, then
they turn to Hashem as their only hope. When
they sincerely call out to Him, recognizing
that He is their only hope, then, in fact,
salvation will dramatically follow.
This is the meaning of our pasuk in Parshas

Vayeitzei as well. When it will be that your
children are like the dust of the earth —
meaning they have reached the lowest of
points with no hope for self-preservation —
and out of hopelessness, they turn to Hashem
for salvation, that is precisely when salvation
will come and it will be dramatic and
expansive. “You will spread out powerfully
westward, eastward, northward, and
southward.”
The Almighty Rewards Every Act of
Kindness
Following the enumeration of the birth of
Leah’s six sons the Torah states: “Afterwards,
she bore a daughter and she called her name
Dinah.” [Bereishis 30:21] The Talmud
[Brachos 40a] says that the name Dinah comes
from the fact that Leah judged herself (dana
Din b’atzmah). She calculated that she already
had six of the twelve sons her husband Yaakov
was destined to father. Since Bilhah and Zilpah
each already had two sons, if the child she was
now carrying would be another son, that
would cause her sister Rochel to be the mother
of fewer tribes than even Bilhah or Zilpah, the
handmaidens. Leah therefore pronounced
judgment on herself and prayed that the child
she was carrying (who Chazal say was a male)
be changed to a female! In fact, Chazal say
that Rochel at this time was pregnant with a

girl and the two fetuses were miraculously
switched, such that Rochel gave birth to Yosef
and Leah gave birth to Dinah.
G-d does not deny any creature their due
reward. The wheels of Divine Providence may
turn very slowly but they turn with great
precision. What happened to Dinah? She was
violated by Shechem and became pregnant
with a girl. The daughter of Dinah and
Shechem was Osnas. Yosef wound up in Egypt
and was given Osnas as a wife. From Yosef
and Osnas were born Menashe and Ephraim.
Yaakov promised that he would consider
Ephraim and Menashe to be like Reuven and
Shimon [Bereishis 48:5]. In other words, G-d
paid Leah back. She gave up one potential
Tribe (by praying that her seventh pregnancy
not be a male child) and in return, became the
great grandmother of two more tribes in Israel,
through that daughter!