And G-d said to Avram: "Go outside and count the stars.. if you can count them, so will be your descendants."

The normative meaning of this verse is that G-d blessed Abraham with being the father of a numerically superior nation.

The problem, of course, is that throughout history Jews have always been numerically insignificant. The Arabs, on the other hand, who are also the recipients of Abraham's blessing to Ishmael - "I will surely multiply your seed" - number in excess of one billion.

Clearly, there must be another and deeper meaning to Abraham's blessing.

We are living in a time when every year more and more power is packed into less and less space.

Computer mainframes, which used to fill whole buildings, have now been replaced by more powerful machines that comfortably sit on your desktop or laptop.

Tape and record libraries of music and lectures that in the past would fill rooms, now snugly fit into a tiny iPod or  iPhone. You can literally carry the wisdom of the ages in the palm of your hand!

And there is no sign of this progress in miniturisation abating - with nanotechnology clearly the way of the future.

But in spite of all this progress, the human body remains the greatest wonder of all. How many are aware that all the computers in the world today would not have sufficient power to fully model ONE human body in all its intricacies?!? This according to Francis Collins, the famous father of the Human Genome Project.

Just as with the tiny atom there exists enormous nuclear power, so also within every human being - not only the Einsteins among us - exists enormous computing power.

This then is the meaning of the verse that compares the Jewish People to the stars. The Baal Shem Tov explains that although the stars appear small, each is a mighty sun, and many are surrounded by a constellation of planets. Similarly, every Jew, no matter how seeingly insignificant, is blessed with enormous spiritual energy and the ability to influence others.

As a people our contribution to the world has far outweighed our numbers. In the fields of religion, medicine, science and finance - we have been major players throughout history.

What remains is for us to feel that this enormous power is not only the province of the nation as a whole - but of each of us as individuals. Each of us possesses enormous powers of creativity and influence - should we only choose to tap into them. 

~ RBZ Shabbos Vayera 5775