“May G-d, the L-rd of your fathers, add a thousandfold
more like you and bless you, as He spoke to you.” (Devarim/Deuteronomy
1:11)
In this week’s Torah portion, Moshe (Moses) blesses the
Children of Israel. Rashi explains that the people were unhappy with the
blessing because G-d promised them in Bereishit/Genesis 13:16 that they
would be “like the dust of the earth that is too numerous to count.”
What additional benefit would the Jewish people derive
from Moshe’s blessing if they had already received G-d’s blessing of
near infinite increase?
Rabbi Yissocher Frand cites on torah.org the explanation of
the Chasam Sofer: Moshe was testing the people. He wanted to know why they
wanted to have children. Was it in order to ease the household work burden and
provide companionship and security to the parents in old age? Or did the people
understand that children are a priceless gift containing a spark of the Divine
and a piece of the World to Come? If the people had wanted children for the
first reason, then they would have been happy with Moshe’s blessing for a
thousandfold. But the people wanted
countless children.
The differing attitudes toward children are apparent in Bereishit
33:5 when Yaakov (Jacob) reunites with his estranged brother Eisav (Esau). Before
Yaakov left, he reached an agreement with Eisav that Eisav would take this
world and Yaakov would take the World to Come. When Eisav saw all of Yaakov’s
many children, he thought Yaakov had gone back on his bargain. Eisav thought that
children are for this world, not for the World to Come.
Rabbi Frand elaborates: “The opportunity
to raise a child, to develop a Divine soul to the point where it can enter the
World to Come is a privilege of the highest spiritual worth. Yaakov wants children
for their own sake, but Eisav views them as an asset to this world.”
“The purpose of children is not for enjoying this world or
for making our lives easier. Each child represents a spiritual mission, a spark
of the Divine entrusted to our care and guidance, an opportunity to fulfill Hashem’s
desire to have this soul brought to the World to Come.”
http://torah.org/learning/ravfrand/5765/devarim.html