Rav Yisrael Freidman, the Ruzhiner
“But for all of Bnei Yisrael there was light in their dwellings (settings)” (10:23).
What was this dirty, shapeless mass? Yankel was exasperated. He had been digging and mining for weeks. Day after day he had made his way to the mines, donned heavy work clothes and lowered himself to the seemingly bottomless pit. There, the excavations proceeded in the pitch dark, a darkness of never-ending night. One thing held him: the promises that this mine had yielded diamonds worth a fortune. He had toiled and labored in grime and dust, and at the end of each disappointing day dragged his weary aching muscles back, scrubbed off the muck and grime and filth, vowing that the next day would bring the treasure. Now his pickaxe struck something hard and he dislodged an unwilling dark, hard mass. What was it? Could it be? He washed off the clinging mud and dirt and shouted out, “Eureka! I have it!”
The other miners gathered around. “Uh, what do you have there, Yankel?” asked Moish. Moish was a bit slow. Yankel showed him the rough, uncut stone.
“What? This hunk of rock? This piece of stone? What’s so special about it?”
“What’s so special?” yelled Yankel incredulously. “Just you wait till I have it cleaned, cut, polished and set in a golden setting! Then we will see!!!”
When a person first discovers a diamond, it looks like little more than a dark, black, grimy stone. It is dirty and does not shine from its place nested in the wall of the mine. First it has to be chipped away and removed from the wall. Even then it looks nothing like a diamond. Then it must be scrubbed and cleaned. Even then it bears no resemblance. One must have it cut and polished to reveal its sparkle. Even then its true splendor is not yet revealed, for only when it is set in the proper setting of gold or silver does it glow, allowing its beauty and splendor to truly shine through.
The holy Rizhiner, Rav Yisrael, explained our pasuk using the mashal of a precious stone as follows: “But for Bnei Yisrael there was light be’Moshavosam” – in their settings, just like a precious stone needs a proper setting, as any jeweler will tell you. Every Jewish soul is a diamond in the rough. It can be in a state of lowliness and suffering, living a dark and bleak life. But even in the darkest times a Jew must remember that he has a lofty soul, a diamond that can be cleaned and polished through Torah study and mitzvah observance. But a lot depends on the setting. A Yid must be in the proper setting, in a Jewish neighborhood, in a Yiddishe home, in the Beis Medrash, Yeshiva, seminary or kollel. Then, set in its proper setting, the Jewish soul will truly shine with an otherworldly brilliance.
