48 Hour Witness to a “Jacobic” Promise: Breadth and Depth on the Streets of Rome Parshat Vayetse begins with Jacob’s famous dream. In it, he is given the promise of eretz Yisrael (Gen 28:13) הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֤ר אַתָּה֙ שֹׁכֵ֣ב עָלֶ֔יהָ לְךָ֥ אֶתְּנֶ֖נָּה וּלְזַרְעֶֽךָ׃ the ground on which you are lying I will assign to you and to your offspring. And the promise continues in the next pasuk…(Gen. 28:14) וְהָיָ֤ה זַרְעֲךָ֙ כַּעֲפַ֣ר הָאָ֔רֶץ וּפָרַצְתָּ֛ יָ֥מָּה וָקֵ֖דְמָה וְצָפֹ֣נָה וָנֶ֑גְבָּה וְנִבְרְכ֥וּ בְךָ֛ כׇּל־מִשְׁפְּחֹ֥ת הָאֲדָמָ֖ה וּבְזַרְעֶֽךָ׃ Your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. In identifying the role of that second pasuk, the Em HaMikra and the HaEmek Davar, Rabbi Elijah Benamozegh and Rabbi Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, also known as the Netziv, (both 19th century rabbis) share that this is actually a promise that we will be spread throughout the earth, not on...