(ב) וְאֶֽעֶשְׂךָ֙ לְג֣וֹי גָּד֔וֹל וַאֲבָ֣רֶכְךָ֔ וַאֲגַדְּלָ֖ה שְׁמֶ֑ךָ וֶהְיֵ֖ה בְּרָכָֽה׃
(2) And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you are a blessing.
(ה) וַיּוֹצֵ֨א אֹת֜וֹ הַח֗וּצָה וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הַבֶּט־נָ֣א הַשָּׁמַ֗יְמָה וּסְפֹר֙ הַכּ֣וֹכָבִ֔ים אִם־תּוּכַ֖ל לִסְפֹּ֣ר אֹתָ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ל֔וֹ כֹּ֥ה יִהְיֶ֖ה זַרְעֶֽךָ׃
(5) And He brought him outside, and said: ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars, if you are able to count them’; and He said to him: ‘So shall be your seed.’
Rav Beinish Ginsburg
Whenever we finish one of the five books of the תורה, we say the words, "חזק חזק ונתחז?". Why do we say the word חזק twice? Why can't we just say, "let's be strong" once? Is it not clear?
The answer is that one person probably won't be strong by himself. We are saying that you must be strong, you must be strong, we must all be strong... together!
(ב) וַיִּסְע֣וּ מֵרְפִידִ֗ים וַיָּבֹ֙אוּ֙ מִדְבַּ֣ר סִינַ֔י וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר וַיִּֽחַן־שָׁ֥ם יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל נֶ֥גֶד הָהָֽר׃
(2) And they departed from Rephidim, and were came to the Sinai desert. And Israel encamped in the wilderness before the mountain.
(ב) ויחן (singular) שם ישראל. כאיש אחד בלב אחד, אבל שאר כל החניות בתרעומת ובמחלוקת:
(2) "Israel camped there" - Like one person with one heart. But all of their other encampments took place with complaining and disagreement. (Mechilta)
- Only when we stopped arguing and came together as one were we worthy of receiving the Torah.
Rav Meir Goldvicht
Unity has many words. The word אגדה means coming together. It is spelled with the letters ה ,ד ,ג ,א. The word does not contain the letter ב, why?
On the second day of creation, Hashem split the waters- the raki'ah. It was a day of separation. When we use the word אגדה, we don’t use the letter ב in order to show that when we come together, we cannot be divided!
(טו) וַתִּסָּגֵ֥ר מִרְיָ֛ם מִח֥וּץ לַֽמַּחֲנֶ֖ה שִׁבְעַ֣ת יָמִ֑ים וְהָעָם֙ לֹ֣א נָסַ֔ע עַד־הֵאָסֵ֖ף מִרְיָֽם׃
(15) And Miriam was closed out of the camp for seven days; and the people didn't continue their journey until Miriam was brought back in.
(יז) כִּֽי־בָרֵ֣ךְ אֲבָרֶכְךָ֗ וְהַרְבָּ֨ה אַרְבֶּ֤ה אֶֽת־זַרְעֲךָ֙ כְּכוֹכְבֵ֣י הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וְכַח֕וֹל אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־שְׂפַ֣ת הַיָּ֑ם וְיִרַ֣שׁ זַרְעֲךָ֔ אֵ֖ת שַׁ֥עַר אֹיְבָֽיו׃
(17) that in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
Leah Moskovich
What's the difference between stars and sand? Why does Hashem compare us to BOTH? One star has tremendous mass. One star on its own can be a leader of others. One star in its own is significant. However, what about one grain of sand? One grain of sand is incredibly small. One grain of sand is meaningless. One grain of sand is insignificant. A single grain of sand is of no particular consequence; but together, these grains of sand form a border against the ocean, establishing dry land and enabling life to exist.
Hashem tells us that we will be great like stars, that we will be leaders and that we will shine bright. And simultaneously it teaches us humility. A star can shine so bright, but it needs to be humbled by the fact that it is also one in a million. We can't always shine brighter than the rest. Regarding sand, it is so humbling to see ourselves as a whole, and to remember we are nothing but אפר ועפר compared to Hashem.
(כח) בְּרָב־עָ֥ם הַדְרַת־מֶ֑לֶךְ וּבְאֶ֥פֶס לְ֝אֹ֗ם מְחִתַּ֥ת רָזֽוֹן׃
(28) In the multitude of people is the king’s glory; But a lack of people is the ruin of the prince.
אמר עולא נקיטינן אין אוכלוסא בבבל תנא אין אוכלוסא פחותה מששים רבוא ת"ר הרואה חכמי ישראל אומר ברוך שחלק מחכמתו ליראיו...
'Ulla said : We have received a tradition that there is no crowd in Babylon. It has been taught: A crowd must not consist of less than sixty myriads (600,000). Our Rabbis have taught: Who beholds the Sages of Israel should say, "Blessed... Who hast imparted of Thy wisdom to them that fear Thee"...
Intense Story :)
Let me tell you a story. It was some years ago, in a small town called Tzvat. There was this chassidish guy who was going to the mikvah. But this wasn’t just any chassidish guy, he was ba’al teshuva, grew up in really not affiliated in the least. And he gets to the mikva and finds a spot to put down his stuff. He takes his shirt and people are starting to look. Upon his back, there was a large tattoo of Moshe smashing the luchot. It was colorful, vibrant, detailed. The man started to feel uncomfortable. As he walked to the mikva, he tried to keep his back against the wall so people wouldn’t stare, but it was of no use. Eventually an old man walks up to him, in front of everyone. And shows him the numbers on his arm and says softly, “Don’t worry brother, I too went through some hard times.”
The Doggy Bag
We are all familiar with this situation, where there’s that kid… that guy who just doesn’t fit in. And we’ve also all been in that position. We all have our cliques, and our friends, but we see from Miriam, that even if one person is excluded, the rest can’t go on.
Do you feel connected to everyone here? Are there cliques or kids who are excluded?
What can we do on JOLT to bring us closer together?
BONUS: Do you know why the second Beis HaMikdash was destroyed??