עַל־גַּ֭בִּי חָרְשׁ֣וּ חֹרְשִׁ֑ים הֶ֝אֱרִ֗יכוּ למענותם [לְמַעֲנִיתָֽם׃]
Po grzbiecie moim orali oracze, wydłużali bruzdy swoje.
Marbeh Lesaper
And great: the author of the Haggadah was curious why the word, rav, “great,” comes after the word atzum, ‘mighty” in Deuteronomy 26:5. Earlier the words appeared the other way around. Pharaoh says: “Look, the children of Israel are great (rav) and mightier (v’atzum) than us.”140Exodus 1: 9 Also in the book of Joel, we read: “A great, mighty nation.”141Joel 2:2 The word rav here is an allusion to the verse “I let you grow like the plants of the field,” and the explanation found in Sotah11b. Rabbi Awira142There is a mistake in the text – Rabbi Weil writes Akiva – the Talmud says Awira. expounded:
As the reward for the righteous women who lived in that generation, were the Israelites delivered from Egypt. When they went to draw water, the Holy One, blessed be He, arranged that small fish should enter their pitchers, which they drew up half full of water and half full of fish. They then set two pots on the fire, one for hot water and the other for the fish, which they carried to their husbands in the field, and washed, anointed, fed, gave them to drink and had intercourse with them among the sheepfolds… After the women had conceived they returned to their homes; and when the time of childbirth arrived, they went and were delivered in the field beneath the apple-tree… The Holy One, blessed be He, sent down someone from the high heavens who washed and straightened the limbs [of the babes] in the same manner that a midwife straightens the limbs of a child; ….He also provided for them two cakes, one of oil and one of honey…. When the Egyptians noticed them, they went to kill them; but a miracle occurred on their behalf so that they were swallowed in the ground, and [the Egyptians] brought oxen and ploughed over them, as it says, “The ‘ploughmen’ ploughed upon my back.”143Psalms 129:3 After they had departed, they broke through [the earth] and came forth like the herbage of the field, as it is said: “I caused thee to multiply (r’vava) like plants of the field;”144Ezekiel 16:6-7 Note that Rabbi Weil carefully edited this passage from the Talmud removing some of the proof texts and leaving the ones necessary for his explanation. and when [the babes] had grown up, they came in flocks to their homes, as it is said: “And thou didst increase and wax great and didst come with ornaments,” - read not with ornaments (ba'adei 'adayim) but in flocks (be'edre 'adarim). At the time the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself by the Red Sea, they recognized Him first, as it is said: “This is my God and I will praise Him.”145Exodus 15:2
Why do we read ba’adei adayim as ‘flocks’ instead of the plain sense meaning of the words, ‘ornaments?’ If the expression means ornaments, then how can the verse also say, “You were naked and bare;”146Ezekiel Ibid if they had ornaments then they weren’t naked. Therefore the expression must mean, ‘flocks.’ There wore their ornaments, that they were easily recognizable to their parents as we have said above. Everyone immediately knew that these children were not the offspring of loose Egyptian women.147The expression adei adayim, Weil explains refers to the children (adei) and the parents (adayim) The expression “mighty and great,” then, is a reference to this. They not only increased in number but they were only numerous in their numbers but they were born like the plants of the field and protected by God.
According to the Midrash ten thousand babies were cast into the Nile, “I let you like ten thousand plants of the field.”148Song of Songs Rabbah Parshah 2 The verse from Ezekiel is used elsewhere to explain how the Israelite babies were saved in Egypt.149Pirke D’rebbe Eliezer, chapter 32 In both of these midrashim, the word r’vava is taken in its literal sense of ten thousand. The children that were thrown into the Nile were carried away and ejected into the wilderness – this too is, “I let you grow like ten thousand the plants of the field.”
As the reward for the righteous women who lived in that generation, were the Israelites delivered from Egypt. When they went to draw water, the Holy One, blessed be He, arranged that small fish should enter their pitchers, which they drew up half full of water and half full of fish. They then set two pots on the fire, one for hot water and the other for the fish, which they carried to their husbands in the field, and washed, anointed, fed, gave them to drink and had intercourse with them among the sheepfolds… After the women had conceived they returned to their homes; and when the time of childbirth arrived, they went and were delivered in the field beneath the apple-tree… The Holy One, blessed be He, sent down someone from the high heavens who washed and straightened the limbs [of the babes] in the same manner that a midwife straightens the limbs of a child; ….He also provided for them two cakes, one of oil and one of honey…. When the Egyptians noticed them, they went to kill them; but a miracle occurred on their behalf so that they were swallowed in the ground, and [the Egyptians] brought oxen and ploughed over them, as it says, “The ‘ploughmen’ ploughed upon my back.”143Psalms 129:3 After they had departed, they broke through [the earth] and came forth like the herbage of the field, as it is said: “I caused thee to multiply (r’vava) like plants of the field;”144Ezekiel 16:6-7 Note that Rabbi Weil carefully edited this passage from the Talmud removing some of the proof texts and leaving the ones necessary for his explanation. and when [the babes] had grown up, they came in flocks to their homes, as it is said: “And thou didst increase and wax great and didst come with ornaments,” - read not with ornaments (ba'adei 'adayim) but in flocks (be'edre 'adarim). At the time the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself by the Red Sea, they recognized Him first, as it is said: “This is my God and I will praise Him.”145Exodus 15:2
Why do we read ba’adei adayim as ‘flocks’ instead of the plain sense meaning of the words, ‘ornaments?’ If the expression means ornaments, then how can the verse also say, “You were naked and bare;”146Ezekiel Ibid if they had ornaments then they weren’t naked. Therefore the expression must mean, ‘flocks.’ There wore their ornaments, that they were easily recognizable to their parents as we have said above. Everyone immediately knew that these children were not the offspring of loose Egyptian women.147The expression adei adayim, Weil explains refers to the children (adei) and the parents (adayim) The expression “mighty and great,” then, is a reference to this. They not only increased in number but they were only numerous in their numbers but they were born like the plants of the field and protected by God.
According to the Midrash ten thousand babies were cast into the Nile, “I let you like ten thousand plants of the field.”148Song of Songs Rabbah Parshah 2 The verse from Ezekiel is used elsewhere to explain how the Israelite babies were saved in Egypt.149Pirke D’rebbe Eliezer, chapter 32 In both of these midrashim, the word r’vava is taken in its literal sense of ten thousand. The children that were thrown into the Nile were carried away and ejected into the wilderness – this too is, “I let you grow like ten thousand the plants of the field.”
Kli Yakar
And I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea. This promise was given to Abraham during the Binding of Isaac [Akeidah], and there both the stars and the sand were mentioned. Apparently, the stars represent both multiplication and elevation, whereas the sand only represents multiplication alone. If so, why didn’t Jacob mention in his prayer here the comparison to stars, which are eternal? This would have been more relevant to what he was praying for — that they should endure and not be destroyed by Esau. I say that we find that Israel is compared to three things: dust, sand, and stars. In times of peace and prosperity, they are compared to stars — “exalted and lifted up very high,” and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever. This is also how Rashi explains the verse And behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven (Deuteronomy 1:10). In times of lowliness, when they are like dust to be trampled upon, it is said your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out… This was a promise about their time in Egypt, when they would be like dust that everyone plows over, as it is written The plowers plowed upon my back (Psalms 129:3). At that time, they would rise from their low state and spread westward and eastward, from one extreme to the other, as explained above in Parashat Vayetzei (28:14). And in the intermediate time between these two states — namely, when they have no rest from enemies who pursue them and stand ready to destroy them, but the Holy One, Blessed be He saves them from their hands — they are compared to this sand. Just as all the waves of the sea threaten to flood the world, but when they reach the sand they break and cannot pass beyond it, so too the nations who rise against Israel, as it is written All Your breakers and Your waves have gone over me (Psalms 42:8), cannot destroy Israel. For this reason, Israel is compared to sand. Therefore, Jacob mentioned in his prayer the promise of sand, to save him from the pursuer Esau, so that Esau would not prevail over him — just as the waves cannot prevail over the sand, so too Esau would not prevail over him.
Kli Yakar
Regarding the matter of “the dust of the earth,” it appears that this prophecy refers to the Egyptian exile. For during that time, our Sages said (Sotah 11b) that the Egyptians would plow on their backs, as it is stated The plowers plowed upon my back (Psalms 129:3). And they [the Israelites] would come to their homes in large groups [having multiplied in the field]. Thus, we find that the cause of their multiplication was because they were like the dust of the earth that is plowed upon — so too did [the Egyptians] plow upon their backs. And because of this, they multiplied abundantly within the land itself, and they became so numerous that they were sufficient to be divided into four divisions [flags/camps] in each direction. Therefore it says and you shall spread out westward and eastward, etc. And as it is written Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part of Israel? (Numbers 23:10) Which Onkelos translates as “the four camps,” telling you that they merited the four divisions [flags/camps] because Jacob was like this dust that everyone plows upon.