Stars and Sand

The Lord your God has multiplied you, and, behold, you are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.                                                               Deuteronomy 1:10

Were they indeed as the stars of heaven on that day, they were merely sixty myriads? Rather, the intention is that you are considered today as existing forever, as the sun, the moon and the stars.                           Rashi

My father noted that Rashi’s comment stresses that the blessing of the Children of Israel is one of quality, rather than quantity. Beyond the metaphor of Israel as the sun moon and stars, which “exist forever,” the blessing includes the fact that these celestial bodies illuminate our world. In a similar way, (ideally) Israel is to be a light unto the nations.

Malbim contrasts the blessing of Israel “as the stars of heaven” with that of “as the sand on the shore,” and notes that if a grain of sand is missing, it will not be noticed, however, if a single star is missing, the cosmos will be incomplete. So too with the nation of Israel, if a single Jew is lacking, the nation will be incomplete.