Q:
What’s pshat in Rashi in this week’s parsha that the Arabs, like the ones who visited Avraham, were משתחווים לאבק שברגליהם – they worshiped the dust of their feet? What does that mean?
A:
The old Arabs, many of them were ovdei avodah zarah and they worshiped the dust of the earth.
Now pay attention. The dust of the earth deserves to be appreciated. One of the most remarkable things in the world is dirt! Dirt is a nes. The whole earth is covered with dirt. No other planet is covered with dirt. Dirt gives us life. We all come from afar, the food comes from the dirt.
And so the old Arabs used to bow down to the dirt and even the dirt on their feet they honored because the dirt comes from the soil. The soil is important.
Now we don’t worship the soil but we should appreciate the soil. In New York City it’s hard to see soil. All you see is cement. If you’re ever walking in a place, a little plot, you see a little dirt in a park or around the tree roots, a little piece of dirt, look at it and say, “Ahh! That’s a nes.”
One spoonful of dirt has more living things than all people in Greater New York! Bacteria and fungi; and they’re all necessary. Dirt is a nes and you should be excited when you see dirt. Are you excited? Ah nechtige tag.
And therefore when they came into the house after traveling outside and their feet were dirty so they reminded themselves they forgot to thank Hashem for the dirt. So they made a procedure out of it. The fact we’re washing off the dirt, don’t think we’re not appreciative, when we wash off the dirt. No, we appreciate this gift that You’re giving us, Hashem. We’re grateful to You.
Only that they went overboard and they worshiped the dirt like people worshiped any other avodah zarah. They said, “We bow down to the dirt on our feet to remind ourselves how grateful we are for the dirt.”
TAPE # E-207 (November 11, 1999)
