Ilustration Credit: Rebecca Kerzner
Midrash מִדְרָשׁ
What impact do people have on their surroundings?
Our parashah begins by saying that Yaakov left Beer Sheva and went toward Haran (Bereishit 28:10). Rashi asks: Why does the Torah mention the place that Yaakov left? Wouldn’t it have been enough to just say that Yaakov was going to Haran?
Here’s Rashi’s answer, which comes from a midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 68:6):
מַגִּיד שֶׁיְּצִיאַת צַדִּיק מִן הַמָּקוֹם עוֹשָׂה רֹשֶׁם, שֶׁבִּזְמַן שֶׁהַצַּדִּיק בָּעִיר, הוּא הוֹדָהּ הוּא זִיוָהּ הוּא הֲדָרָהּ; יָצָא מִשָּׁם, פָּנָה הוֹדָהּ פָּנָה זִיוָהּ פָּנָה הֲדָרָהּ.
This tells us that the departure of a tzaddik (righteous person) makes an impact. When a tzaddik is in a city, the tzaddik is the glory, splendor, and beauty of that place. When the tzaddik leaves that place, the glory, splendor, and beauty depart as well.
According to this, the Torah stresses that Yaakov left Beer Sheva in order to teach us that it was very noticeable when he left. The town and the people there felt a big loss when he wasn’t there anymore. That’s because people feel a big difference when a righteous person is around.
- How do you affect the place where you are, or the people around you?
- What people make the world better when they’re around you? For what people does it seem sad when they’re not there?
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