R. Simeon b. Jose b. Lakunia said:
In this world Yisraelim are
likened to rocks, as it says,
"For from the top of the rocks1
I see him" (BaMidbar 23:9);
"Look unto the rock whence ye were hewn"
(Yeshayahu 51:1). They are compared to stones, as
it says, "From thence the shepherd of the
stone of Yisrael" (Bereishit 49:24);
"The stone which the
builders rejected" (Tehillim 118:22).
But the other nations are likened to potsherds, as it says,
"And He shall break it as a potter's vessel is
broken" (Yeshayahu 30:14). If a stone falls
on a pot, woe to the pot! If a pot falls on a stone, woe to the pot! In either
case, woe to the pot!