The brazen theft of over $100 million worth of France's Crown Jewels from the Louvre has rocked Paris to its core. Empress Marie-Louise must be turning over in her imperial crypt now that her emerald necklace has been nicked, and it's difficult to broach the subject of Empress Eugenie's stolen reliquary brooch. Where could these jewels have gone? Well, if you're at a wedding and the mother of the kallah seems a little too bedazzled for the typical crowd at Ateres Shprintzah, that would be your signal to call Interpol. Until then, reactions have ranged from shock to outrage to embarrassment at the lax security. But a proper Talmudic response to this story would be, גם זו לטובה: This, too is for the good. 

How could we respond so blithely to France's national disgrace? Two reasons: 1) The stolen brooch in question contained diamonds gifted to Louis XIV in 1661. Ever since the Sun King ordered the expulsion of all Jews from French colonies in a 1685 Code Noir, perhaps some harbored resentment is appropriate. 2) The Gemara in Taanis 21a presents a story about stolen crown jewels whose moral is גם זו לטובה:

Once, the Jews wished to send a gift to the house of the emperor. They said: Who should go and present this gift? Let Nachum Ish Gam Zu go, as he is accustomed to miracles. They sent with him a chest full of jewels and pearls, and he went and spent the night in a certain inn. During the night, these residents of the inn arose and took all of the precious jewels and pearls from the chest, and filled it with earth. The next day, when he saw what had happened, Nachum Ish Gam Zu said: This too is for the good.

When he arrived there, at the ruler’s palace, they opened the chest and saw that it was filled with earth. The king wished to put all the Jewish emissaries to death. He said: The Jews are mocking me. Nachum Ish Gam Zu said: This too is for the good. Eliyahu the Prophet came and appeared before the ruler as one of his ministers. He said to the ruler: Perhaps this earth is from the earth of their father Avraham. As when he threw earth, it turned into swords, and when he threw stubble, it turned into arrows, as it is written in a prophecy that the Sages interpreted this verse as a reference to Avraham: “His sword makes them as the dust, his bow as the driven stubble” (Isaiah 41:2).

There was one province that the Romans were unable to conquer. They took some of this earth, tested it by throwing it at their enemies, and conquered that province. When the ruler saw that this earth indeed had miraculous powers, his servants entered his treasury and filled Nachum Ish Gam Zu’s chest with precious jewels and pearls and sent him off with great honor.

So the precious gems were replaced with earth that Eliyahu HaNavi endowed with miraculous properties akin to Avraham Avinu's days, and Nachum Ish Gam Zu ended up returning with the emperor's crown jewels. But the Gemara brings us way back to Parshas Lech Lecha by referencing a remarkable Midrash about Avraham's military involvement in the War of the Four and Five Kings (Bereishis Rabba 43:7):

הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (ישעיה מא, ב): יִתֵּן לְפָנָיו גּוֹיִם וּמְלָכִים יַרְדְּ, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה וְרַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אָמַר אַבְרָהָם הָיָה מַשְׁלִיךְ עֲלֵיהֶם עָפָר וְהוּא נַעֲשָׂה חֲרָבוֹת, קַשׁ וְנַעֲשָׂה חִצִּים. וְרַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה אָמַר יִתֵּן עָפָר לֹא נֶאֱמַר אֶלָּא (ישעיה מא, ב): כְּעָפָר, הֵן הָיוּ מַשְּׁלִיכִים חֲרָבוֹת עַל אַבְרָהָם וְנַעֲשִׂין עָפָר, חִצִּים וְהֵן נַעֲשִׂים קַשׁ, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (ישעיה מא, ג): יִרְדְּפֵם יַעֲבוֹר שָׁלוֹם

That is what is written: “He subdued nations before him and subjugated kings; [He made his sword like dust, his bow as driven stubble]” (Isaiah 41:2) – Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya, Rabbi Yehuda said: Avraham would cast dust at them and it became swords, straw and it became arrows. Rabbi Neḥamya said: “He made [his sword] dust” is not stated, but rather, “[He made his sword] like dust” (Isaiah 41:2) – they would cast swords on Avraham and they became dust, arrows, and they became straw.

The message of the Midrash is more about spiritual tools than magical properties. The dust Avraham utilized here must be understood in light of his later statement to Hashem (Bereishis 18:27):

הִנֵּה־נָ֤א הוֹאַ֙לְתִּי֙ לְדַבֵּ֣ר אֶל־אֲדֹנָ֔י וְאָנֹכִ֖י עָפָ֥ר וָאֵֽפֶר׃

Here I venture to speak to my lord, I who am but dust and ashes.

While interceding for Sodom, Avraham expresses profound humility and awareness of his mortality and insignificance before God. The midrashic sword story, in turn, shows that this same "earth" can become a tool for divine will when wielded by a righteous person. Unlike other kings and conquerors, Avraham does not rely solely on brute force. He depends on God, embodying a new paradigm of leadership based on faith and divine support rather than worldly power. His grandson Yaakov would follow suit by framing his military conquests as achieved בְּחַרְבִּי וּבְקַשְׁתִּי, with my sword and my bow (Bereishis 48:22), which Chazal read as חָכְמָתוֹ וּתְפִלָּתוֹ, his wisdom and prayer. 

It is Avraham's quality of וְאָנֹכִ֖י עָפָ֥ר וָאֵֽפֶר that saves the day for him, and later for Nachum Ish Gam Zu, and today for us, their spiritual heirs. This is a characteristic that I perceive as lacking within many segments of the Jewish world, and is of great concern. Humility encourages us to think and dream beyond ourselves and our narrow, sectarian existence. We display a dangerous imbalance in the two pouches famously described by Rav Simcha Bunim of Peshischa:

Everyone should have two pouches, which they will use when they need to. In one pouch it should be written – בִּשְׁבִילִי נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם, For me the world was created (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5), and in the other pouch – וְאָנֹכִי עָפָר וָאֵפֶר, And I am but dust and ashes.

Rav Simcha Bunim added: Many err and use the opposite pouch from the one they need.

Our two pouches balance us out: “For me the world was created” makes a person feel self-confident and possess a sense of worth and power, but it can also lead to pride and a lack of consideration for others. “And I am but dust and ashes” engenders humility and modesty, but it can also lead to worthlessness and despair. We have to figure out which pouch to access at a particular moment.

Many of the crown jewels of the Jewish people were on display in Yerushalayim on Thursday, as hundreds of thousands of men amassed for a colossal demonstration and prayer gathering against the Israeli government's drafting and jailing of yeshiva students. The great chassidic rebbes and roshei yeshiva of the chareidi universe united to champion this cause. These are tumultuous times both internally and externally, and the divisions within Israel are more painful and damaging than the challenges without. 

Particularly distressing for me to identify is an attitude of בִּשְׁבִילִי נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם, the world was created for me, that permeates these types of gatherings. It is the notion that my world is the only world that matters and that anything which threatens my lifestyle is automatically evil and illegitimate and must be fought tooth and nail. Because בִּשְׁבִילִי נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם, the kollel segment of the Jewish people is the only one that protects and defends, and to leave that cultural milieu is to secede from the Jewish people. That there are severe national security issues related to multiple enemies on multiple fronts matters not, because בִּשְׁבִילִי נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם. Whether or not it is wise or warranted to conscript yeshiva students, strident declarations like "It is better to die than to join the IDF" and categorizations of the State of Israel as the enemy of the People of Israel cause significant pain within the outside world, whose existence barely registers. All this on the day after a father of five was laid to rest, murdered by terrorists who breached the ceasefire.

A reach into the pouch of humility, of וְאָנֹכִי עָפָר וָאֵפֶר, would look like this: Expressing gratitude to the families whose sons do populate the many battlefields, acknowledging their sacrifice and disproportional suffering. Gathering en masse to celebrate Israel's successes, not just attack its institutions. Sending busloads of people to attend the funerals of the young men who will not be coming home to their families ever again. Refraining from caustic language that demonizes and undermines אחדות. Recognizing that the world that was created for me exists in the context of a general society, and that there is no wall high enough to shield me from that reality. Avraham threw a pocketful of humble earth to vanquish the enemy.  

There is another version of Rav Simcha Bunim's aphorism, brought in the name of Rabbi Avraham "the Angel":

If precious gems were placed in one pocket, and ordinary stones in the other pocket, there is no reason for the first pocket to feel superior to its companion, because it is simply a pocket, a receptacle. In addition, the pockets are nothing more than different components of one garment.

Every Jew who believes they possess the authentic crown jewels must acknowledge the stones in the other pockets of the Jewish people, for no one exists in a vacuum, no one has the luxury of arrogantly living their lives in complete denial of the benefits they derive from others. This is true for every segment of the population. Even if we cannot agree as a society on a proper way forward, and even if each side remains stubborn and steadfast in their position, appreciating the world beyond "me" would allow us to say: גם זו לטובה.