Like the Dust of the Earth Each of the three Patriarchs offered a unique contribution to the creation of the Jewish people; we, as their descendants, inherit each of their spiritual qualities. Abraham pioneered. Abraham discovered G-d on his own, he had the courage to stand up to his entire pagan society and chart a new spiritual path. Abraham heeded the call of G-d to go to "the land that I will show you" and founded a nation based on the values of charity and justice. Abraham gives us the ability to discover new ideas, and to chart new paths. Yet, the pioneering spirit alone is not enough to create an enduring legacy. So often, an idea generates excitement in its initial stages, yet over time, when the idea is no longer novel, when the initial excitement dissipates, the enterprise fails. Issac perpetuated. Issac's unique contribution was the ability to preserve and perpetuate the legacy of his father. Isaac represents the commitment to an idea that someone else revolutionized. The Torah relates how Isaac re-dug the wells his father had dug: "And Isaac again dug the wells of water which they had dug in the days of his father, Abraham; and the Philistines had stopped them up after Abraham's death; and he gave them names like the names that his father had given them (Genesis 26:18).” The project might not carry his name, but it would not have survived without him affecting its perpetuation. While Abraham and Isaac began the formation of the Jewish people in the promised land, in the spiritual environment appropriate for the homeland of the Jewish people, Jacob represents the ability to live the values of his ancestors in a foreign land. Jacob, alone amongst the patriarchs, married and raised his children in the land of Charan, a land foreign to his values and void of holiness. From Jacob, we inherit the ability to live a life with the values of Abraham and Isaac in any environment we may find ourselves in. When Jacob was en route from Israel to Charan he dreamed of a ladder reaching heaven. G-d promised him: Your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall burst forth 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. (Genesis 28:14) While Abraham was told that his descendants would be like the stars of heaven, Jacob was promised descendants who would be "like the dust of the earth”. For Jacob's descents would be in exile; they would be in environments as lowly (in a spiritual sense) as the dust of the earth. Yet specifically in these hostile environments, precisely because of these challenges, they would reach far greater heights than if they had remained in a wholesome, challenge-free environment. Specifically because they were compared to the dust of the earth, they were destined to burst forth with great strength. Like Jacob, we all face the difficulty of living in a spiritually challenging environment. Each of our souls descended from heaven, the metaphorical land of Israel, to the "dust of the earth", physical existence and reality. Yet precisely because of the challenge, we are able to reveal a deeper dimension of our soul and experience a more meaningful and authentic relationship with G-d.
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