“וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו בארץ כנען.”
רש”י: אחר שכתב לך ישובי עשו ותולדותיו בדרך קצרה, שלא היו ספונים וחשובים לפרש היאך נתיישבו וסדר מלחמותיהם איך הורישו את החורים, פירש לך ישובי יעקב ותולדותיו בדרך ארוכה כל גלגולי סבתם, לפי שהם חשובים לפני המקום להאריך בהם… משל למרגלית שנפלה בין החול, אדם ממשמש בחול וכוברו בכברה עד שמוצא את המרגלית, ומשמצאה הוא משליך את הצרורות מידו ונוטל המרגלית.
Rashi: After the settlements and descendants of Eisav were written in a concise manner, as they were neither meaningful nor important enough to warrant a description of how they settled or a narrative of their wars to conquer the Churim, the Torah describes the settlements and descendants of Yaakov at length and the sequence of events that formed their origin… This is comparable to a jewel that had fallen into the sand. A person feels the sand and sifts it through a sieve until he finds the jewel. Once he finds the jewel, he discards the pebbles from his hand and takes hold of the jewel.
Modern-day treasure hunters and hobbyists employ metal detectors or radar guns in search of gold, antique coins and lost jewelry. But no such technique is available when searching for kedusha. If we desire kedusha, there is no choice but to follow the method prescribed by Rashi: “אדם ממשמש בחול” — A person feels the sand…
Kedusha in our world is to be found intertwined with the mundane. It emerges from within life, not from outside of it. Thus, a person must feel the sand— touch and feel “life” to discover the kedusha within it.
If a father expects his son to simply fall in love with learning mishnayos, he will very possibly be disappointed. (And some fathers expect much more than that.) But greatness is not often found on the surface, easily visible to the onlooker. A person feels the sand– he converses with his son and observes him as he plays games and interacts with friends. There, within his son’s simple life, he will find the maalos that can form the foundation of a connection to Torah. This is not a question of “potential”; actual maalos such as honesty, inquisitiveness, creativity, and methodological thought already exist within the child! What is required of the parent is an openness and understanding that these maalos will manifest themselves in unique and sometimes unexpected forms, within life.
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The pursuit of kedusha, however, does not end once we find the jewel, and discard the pebbles. Rashi writes, “ביקש יעקב לישב בשלוה, קפץ עליו רוגזו של יוסף” — Yaakov sought to settle in tranquility, but the troubles of Yosef were thrust upon him. Yaakov Avinu was not merely looking to take it easy and relax. After his conflicts with Lavan, Eisav, and Shechem, he thought that the בירור– the refinement– of Klal Yisroel was complete. Once he finds the jewel, he discards the pebbles from his hand and takes hold of the jewel. Eisav was a “pebble”, Yishmael was a “pebble”, the house of Lavan was a “pebble” from which the Imahos were extracted. Now this entire period of refinement had come to an end; this was the “tranquility” Yaakov expected and hoped for.
At that point, “קפץ עליו רוגזו של יוסף” — the troubles of Yosef were thrust upon him. There is an additional stage of refinement which is acquired not through conflict with the outside world, such as Eisav and Lavan, but rather through inner struggle. There are no pebbles, only jewels, yet the refinement continues. Our entire history, both as a nation and as individuals, can be categorized according to these two forms of בירור: refinement which results from struggle with the outside world, of which the archetype is Yaakov versus Eisav, and refinement which results from struggle within us, of which the archetype is Yehuda versus Yosef. But as long as we are found in this world, the בירור never ends. As Rashi continues, “צדיקים מבקשים לישב בשלוה אומר הקדוש ברוך הוא לא דיין לצדיקים מה שמתוקן להם לעולם הבא, אלא שמבקשים לישב בשלוה בעולם הזה”- the righteous desire to settle in tranquility, Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, “Is it not enough for the righteous that which is prepared for them for the world-to-come, that they also desire to settle in tranquility in this world?”