Between Pebbles and Pearls
וַיֵּשֶׁב יַעֲקֹב . . אֵלֶּה תֹּלְדוֹת יַעֲקֹב (בראשית לז, א-ב) And Yaakov dwelled...these are the descendants of Yaakov (Bereishis 37:1-2)
The Torah relates the events the events of Yaakov's life in detail, then pauses briefly to give an account of Eisav’s family and where they settled, and then resumes the story of Yaakov. Rashi explains:
The Torah describes Eisav’s settlements and his descendants only briefly. ...It describes Yaakov’s settlements, the growth of his family, and all the events that brought these about in detail, since their importance before G-d warrants dwelling upon them at length. …...This can be compared to a pearl that falls into the sand: A person searches in the sand and sifts it with a sieve until he finds the pearl. Upon finding it, he casts the pebbles from his hand and keeps the pearl.
Rashi’s analogy, which compares the history of the Jewish people vis-à-vis the other nations to a pearl lost in the sand, is not only a reference to the Torah’s detailed account of Yaakov’s life in contrast to its abbreviated history of Eisav. Rather, this analogy also alludes to the Jewish people’s task throughout history—to sift through “the settlements of Eisav.” The search for the pearl symbolizes our mission to find the holiness—the G-dly meaning and potential—hidden in the mundane world with which we constantly engage.
This explains a detail in Rashi’s parable that seems otherwise superfluous. In order to illustrate that the sand that a person sifts through is of little value in comparison to the object he is searching for, why was it necessary to note that upon finding the pearl one “casts away the pebbles?” Is it not obvious that once one has a pearl in his hands, he loses all interest in the pebbles and sand he was sifting through to find it?
By including this detail, however, Rashi teaches us that “casting away the pebbles” is indeed a crucial component of our mission. For in order to extract and elevate—and indeed be elevated by—the sparks of G-dliness found in the mundane world, we must be certain that “the pebbles”—the material setting in which those sparks lay hidden—are not what actually appeals to us. Otherwise, the materialism of the world will draw us in, instead of allowing us to draw outthe good elements that it contains. Only if we cast away any personal interest in “the settlements of Eisav,” can we successfully extract and benefit from “the pearls,” the great spiritual wealth that is hidden therein.
—Likkutei Sichos, vol. 15, pp. 305-307