א֭וֹדְךָ כִּ֣י עֲנִיתָ֑נִי וַתְּהִי־לִ֝֗י לִֽישׁוּעָֽה׃
Je te rends grâce pour m’avoir exaucé, tu as été mon sauveur.
Kedushat Levi
Genesis 40,10. “and there were three branches on the vine.” According to one (Rabbi Eleazar hamodai) of numerous allegorical explanations in Chulin 92, the vine is symbolic of Jerusalem; whereas the three branches are symbolic of the Temple, the King, and the High Priest, respectively. The words: והיא כפורחת עלתה נצה הבשילו אשכלתיה ענבים, usually translated as: “it had barely blossomed when out of it came its blossoms and its clusters ripened into grapes,” is understood allegorically by the Talmud. The reference is to the young priests who will mature and offer libations in the Temple. In order to explain this somewhat far fetched allegory, although the one preferred by the Talmud, our author quotes Yuma 29 where the rhetorical question of why Queen Esther has been compared to an אילה, a gazelle, hind, the Talmud defining the gazelle in psalms 22,1 as אילת השחר, Queen Esther as being like a gazelle in the morning, i.e. at the end of the night, sees in Esther and her experiences the last chapter belonging to the period of history described in the Bible. No overt miracles in Jewish history have been reported in the Bible subsequent to her period.
What did the Talmud have in mind when suggesting that after Mordechai and Esther, [in whose time these ”miracles,” were already not overt, Ed.] no more miracles occurred?
We must distinguish between two kinds of wars. Usually, when we speak of “war,” we refer to an armed confrontation between warring nations.
The second type of “war,” is one that originated in G’d subjecting the Jewish people to attacks by external enemies, in order to strengthen their faith in Him when He would save them from a fate which they were powerless to escape by any other means. Psalms 91,2 refers to the psalmist acknowledging such miraculous escapes of the Jewish people. It is remarkable that the psalmist, in referring to his trust in the Lord, does so in the future tense, i.e. אלוקי אבטח בו, “my G’d in Whom I will put my trust,” instead of, as we would have expected, “in Whom I have put my trust.” The psalmist acknowledges that he now understands the purpose of the “war” that had befallen his people as having been a test, teaching the Jewish people to put their trust only in the Lord. The same theme is found in psalms 118,10 כל גויים סבבוני בשם ה' כי אמילם, “all nations have surrounded me; by the name of the Lord I will surely cut them down.” The psalmist does not predict what he is about to do, but refers to what G’d had in mind by allowing His people to face such impossible odds, i.e. to strengthen their faith when they will be saved by Him. The psalmist makes it even plainer In verse 21 of the same psalm, when the words אודך כי עניתני ותהי לי לישועה, must be understood as: “I will express my thanks to You for having afflicted me so that You could demonstrate how You will be my salvation.”
When G’d “rescues” the Jewish people, this occurs in either of two ways. The most easily recognizable way are overt miracles in which His mastery over nature is demonstrated by His breaking all the “rules” that scientists have taught us are inviolate. The best known examples of this are the 10 plagues G’d visited upon the Egyptians, crowned by the splitting of the sea of reeds in which the Egyptian army drowned to a man, while the Israelites crossed the bottom of that sea safely. Although in the song of thanks by the Jewish people after the drowning of the Egyptians the text is full of G’d being lauded for His performing “wonders,” (Exodus 15,11) what are “wonders” performed by G’d in our eyes, are, of course, nothing extraordinary when viewed from His vantage point, seeing that He had made the rules, He is certainly able to suspend them when it suits Him. The Jewish people praised Him not so much for what He had done, but for having found the Jewish people worthy to be saved by such spectacular means, involving the undoing of what G’d had done during the six days of creation.
What did the Talmud have in mind when suggesting that after Mordechai and Esther, [in whose time these ”miracles,” were already not overt, Ed.] no more miracles occurred?
We must distinguish between two kinds of wars. Usually, when we speak of “war,” we refer to an armed confrontation between warring nations.
The second type of “war,” is one that originated in G’d subjecting the Jewish people to attacks by external enemies, in order to strengthen their faith in Him when He would save them from a fate which they were powerless to escape by any other means. Psalms 91,2 refers to the psalmist acknowledging such miraculous escapes of the Jewish people. It is remarkable that the psalmist, in referring to his trust in the Lord, does so in the future tense, i.e. אלוקי אבטח בו, “my G’d in Whom I will put my trust,” instead of, as we would have expected, “in Whom I have put my trust.” The psalmist acknowledges that he now understands the purpose of the “war” that had befallen his people as having been a test, teaching the Jewish people to put their trust only in the Lord. The same theme is found in psalms 118,10 כל גויים סבבוני בשם ה' כי אמילם, “all nations have surrounded me; by the name of the Lord I will surely cut them down.” The psalmist does not predict what he is about to do, but refers to what G’d had in mind by allowing His people to face such impossible odds, i.e. to strengthen their faith when they will be saved by Him. The psalmist makes it even plainer In verse 21 of the same psalm, when the words אודך כי עניתני ותהי לי לישועה, must be understood as: “I will express my thanks to You for having afflicted me so that You could demonstrate how You will be my salvation.”
When G’d “rescues” the Jewish people, this occurs in either of two ways. The most easily recognizable way are overt miracles in which His mastery over nature is demonstrated by His breaking all the “rules” that scientists have taught us are inviolate. The best known examples of this are the 10 plagues G’d visited upon the Egyptians, crowned by the splitting of the sea of reeds in which the Egyptian army drowned to a man, while the Israelites crossed the bottom of that sea safely. Although in the song of thanks by the Jewish people after the drowning of the Egyptians the text is full of G’d being lauded for His performing “wonders,” (Exodus 15,11) what are “wonders” performed by G’d in our eyes, are, of course, nothing extraordinary when viewed from His vantage point, seeing that He had made the rules, He is certainly able to suspend them when it suits Him. The Jewish people praised Him not so much for what He had done, but for having found the Jewish people worthy to be saved by such spectacular means, involving the undoing of what G’d had done during the six days of creation.
Kedushat Levi
Genesis 21,6. “G’d has made laughter for me.” Sarah realized that if G’d had granted her children in her old age instead of during her child-bearing years, He had multiplied the joy she experienced by this birth. Had she given birth in her younger years the pregnancy and subsequent birth would have been periods of discomfort and pain for her. Now, that she had not become pregnant until she was close to 90 years old, every day of that pregnancy had been filled with joyful expectation, and even the birth itself was not felt by her as an excruciatingly painful experience. Instead of thanking G’d in His capacity as Hashem, as we might have expected, she thanked Him in His capacity as אלוקים, the attribute of Justice, realizing that during all the years she had felt deprived of the joys of motherhood, the attribute of Justice seemingly being applied to her, had enabled her to exult in joy at this time.
This feeling of Sarah is reflected in psalms 118,21:אודך כי עניתני ותהי לי לישועה, “I wish to thank You, for You have afflicted me/answered me. For through my affliction my salvation has come.” The same thought is repeated in a different nuance, when David continues (verse 22) אבן מאסו הבונים היתה לראש פנה, “the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” David adds, that it has become clear to him that all of this had been planned by G’d in advance, i.e. (verse 23) מאת ה' היתה זאת היא נפלאת בעינינו, “this is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” David too, is aware that it is far more rewarding to experience these blessings from G’d in one’s mature years than in one’s early youth. When a youth experiences all these blessings, he does not even recognize them as blessing bestowed by G’d, but credits them to chance or other circumstances. Having experienced G’d’s salvation at a relatively late stage in one’s life makes one doubly grateful to Hashem, i.e. זה היום עשה ה' נגילה ונשמחה בו, “this is the day that the Lord has made, let us exult and rejoice on it.”
When examining the manner in which G’d shares out His largesse, we must distinguish between two categories of recipients. One category enjoys the material benefits provided by Hashem for what they are worth, i.e. they consider the material part as the essential part, not considering them as a means to an end. The second category of recipients are the sages and the pious people who perceive these “gifts” as proof of the caring supervision exercised by G’d over all of His creatures, and they see in it an encouragement to never forget that there is a benevolent King Who rules over us. This is what David referred to when he said in the above-quoted hymn:זה היום עשה ה' נגילה ונשמחה בו, “this is the day that the Lord has made let us rejoice and be happy in Him.” They see in the word בו at the end of this verse a reference to G’d, not to the day.
This feeling of Sarah is reflected in psalms 118,21:אודך כי עניתני ותהי לי לישועה, “I wish to thank You, for You have afflicted me/answered me. For through my affliction my salvation has come.” The same thought is repeated in a different nuance, when David continues (verse 22) אבן מאסו הבונים היתה לראש פנה, “the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” David adds, that it has become clear to him that all of this had been planned by G’d in advance, i.e. (verse 23) מאת ה' היתה זאת היא נפלאת בעינינו, “this is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” David too, is aware that it is far more rewarding to experience these blessings from G’d in one’s mature years than in one’s early youth. When a youth experiences all these blessings, he does not even recognize them as blessing bestowed by G’d, but credits them to chance or other circumstances. Having experienced G’d’s salvation at a relatively late stage in one’s life makes one doubly grateful to Hashem, i.e. זה היום עשה ה' נגילה ונשמחה בו, “this is the day that the Lord has made, let us exult and rejoice on it.”
When examining the manner in which G’d shares out His largesse, we must distinguish between two categories of recipients. One category enjoys the material benefits provided by Hashem for what they are worth, i.e. they consider the material part as the essential part, not considering them as a means to an end. The second category of recipients are the sages and the pious people who perceive these “gifts” as proof of the caring supervision exercised by G’d over all of His creatures, and they see in it an encouragement to never forget that there is a benevolent King Who rules over us. This is what David referred to when he said in the above-quoted hymn:זה היום עשה ה' נגילה ונשמחה בו, “this is the day that the Lord has made let us rejoice and be happy in Him.” They see in the word בו at the end of this verse a reference to G’d, not to the day.