The pasuk in the beginning of Sefer Shemos says: “And these are the names of the children of Yisroel who came to Mitzrayim with Yaakov, each man came with his household.” (Shemos 1:1) The Torah then proceeds to again list the names of the shevotim. Rashi comments: “Even though we already heard the names of the twelve shevotim during their lifetime, the Torah repeats and lists them again after their death – to show us how dear they are to the Ribbono Shel Olam, for they are compared to the stars who are brought out and brought back in by count and by name, as it is written: ‘He brings forth their legions by number, He calls to each of them by name.’” (Yeshaya 40:26) This is incredible. There are billions of stars, and they all seem the same to us. But to the Ribbono Shel Olam, each one is dear and special. When something is dear and special, you call it by its name. Similarly, Rashi here says that Klal Yisroel are like the kochavim – they too are dear to the Ribbono Shel Olam, and therefore He calls each of them by name.
I saw a comment from Rav Leib Bakst, zt”l: Why are the kochavim so dear to the Ribbono Shel Olam? Rav Bakst points out that the reason the kochavim were created in the first place was to mollify the moon. The famous Rashi in Parshas Bereishis relates that originally the Ribbono Shel Olam created the sun and the moon to be of equal size, each with an independent source of light. The moon came to the Ribbono Shel Olam with the complaint that “Two kings cannot share the same crown.” The Ribbono Shel Olam agreed with this argument and commanded the moon to reduce its size and forgo its independent power of illumination. Chazal say that to appease the feelings of the moon for this downgrade in stature, the Ribbono Shel Olam created all the stars in the universe to accompany the moon at night, and to make the moon feel better.
Rav Leib Bakst says “Something or someone that makes another person or thing feel better is dear to the Ribbono Shel Olam. The Ribbono Shel Olam loves sensitivity and loves entities that make others feel better. That is why Klal Yisroel are comparable to the stars – because they also make people feel better.”
I once heard al pi derush [homiletically] at an aufruf: The Rema writes (Shulchan Aruch Even HaEzer 61) “There are those who suggest making the chuppah under the sky.” There is a minhag Yisroel that people should get married under the sky. That is why chuppahs are typically held outdoors or under the skylight of a building. The Rema adds that this is a siman tov [fortuitous sign] that their seed will be like the stars in Heaven. The popular understanding of this Rema is that the symbolism of holding the chuppah under the stars is that it should be a segulah for having many children (“as numerous as the stars in Heaven”). This, no doubt, is the simple pshat of the Rema. But I once heard al pi derush that the symbolism is something else: Your children should be “like the stars” means your children should be the type of people who are sensitive to others and that go out of their way to appease others and make them feel better – as was the original purpose of the stars in Heaven, to make the moon feel better. (R’ Avraham Bukspan)
