גָּ֖ד גְּד֣וּד יְגוּדֶ֑נּוּ וְה֖וּא יָגֻ֥ד עָקֵֽב׃ (ס)
Gad, suatu pasukan akan menyerbu keluar darinya, dan ia akan kembali menurut jejaknya.
Kedushat Levi
Genesis 49,19. “Gad shall be raided by raiders, but he shall raid at their heels.” We can best understand this blessing by referring to the Talmud shabbat 151 where we are told that when human beings demonstrate that they are merciful to G’d’s creatures, G’d in turn will have mercy on them.” Man’s actions trigger responses in heaven; in this instance, positive responses. What possible example of Gad’s having preformed acts of mercy do we know of? We have learned on folio 104 of the tractate Shabbat that the very sequence of the letters ג and ד which make up Gad’s name are an acronym meaning גומל דלים, “relating with loving kindness to the poor.” When a person deals charitably with the poor and he expects that G’d will in turn reward him for this by causing him to forget about the impending reward at the time the charitable deed is performed, so that this person has attained an even higher spiritual level thereby. Yaakov alludes to this when saying words which at first glance sound as if he is repeating himself, whereas actually he hints that certain actions inspired by one consideration may prove to be even more profitable (spiritually) when carried out altogether altruistically. The word עקב in our verse may be understood as in Deut. 7,12 והיה עקב תשמעון, “it will be as a result (automatic) of your hearkening to G’ds laws, etc.” In that verse G’d promises that He will honour the terms of His covenant with the Jewish people. The word גוד may be related to Daniel 4,11 (Aramaic) גודו אילנא, “cut down the tree,” i.e. when the Jewish people perform deeds of loving kindness their enemies will be cut down by G’d. According to Targum Onkelos on Deut.7,12 who renders עקב תשמעון as חלף תקבלון, “what you will receive in exchange,” this is what is meant in our verse as יגוד, “as reward for forgetting about any reward”.
Kedushat Levi
Genesis 21,25. “Avraham rebuked Avimelech on account of the well, etc.” Avimelech rejected the accusation, claiming he had not known about what his servants had done.
Normally, we have a rule that when a tzaddik engages in rebuking someone, he points out that the trespass committed by the wicked concerned was a sin against G’d and His Torah.
In this instance, Avraham accused Avimelech of having committed a wrong when it had been his servants who had stolen the water from Avraham. He reminded Avimelech that G’d created the world, and that He gave us laws by which to conduct ourselves, and that robbery was definitely forbidden. The person violating G’d’s law receives a warning in the form of the tzaddik rebuking him. The letters in the words uttered by the tzaddik when he rebukes the sinner light up in the face of the guilty party, thus affording him an opportunity to immediately do penance.
One of the names of G’d is: מי, as we know when Pharaoh challenged Moses by saying: מי ה'? This is what Avimelech meant when he said to Avraham לא ידעתי מי עשה את הדבר הזה, “I do not know of this מי who has done this;” i.e. “I have never heard of a Creator who has created the universe, hence I do not know of a prohibition to steal or rob.” Another one of G’d’s names is the word זה, as we know from Exodus 15,2 זה א-לי ואנוהו, “זה is my G’d and I will glorify Him.” We also find the word as a reference to one of G’d’s names when Isaiah 25,9 said זה ה' קוינו לו, “we have been hoping for the Lord זה.” Avimelech tells Avraham that he had heard of all this theology only from the mouth of Avraham, he had never previously been informed of this. He adds that even now he has not heard or “seen” the letters that make up the alphabet of the Torah from Avraham’s mouth, i.e. גם אתה לא הגדת לי. The word הגדת, derived from גד, is similar to גד גדוד יגודנה in Genesis 49,19, where it refers to “good fortune,” similar to what Gad’s mother proclaimed בגד, viewing herself as having good fortune seeing that she had born 6 of the twelve tribes. (Genesis 30,11) The word is a simile for good fortune in the sense of מזל טוב. Avimelech had not yet seen the letters that would trigger his doing teshuvah for the wrong he had been guilty of. The word אתה is an allusion to the letters from א to ת in the Hebrew alphabet, the letters of the Holy Tongue.
When Avimelech adds: וגם אנכי לא שמעתי בלתי היום, “and I also have not heard about all this until this day,” he uses the word אנכי, the first word of the Ten Commandments with which G’d revealed Himself at Mount Sinai, as meaning that on this day G’d’s sovereignty was revealed to him, and he could now perceive these letters of the Holy Tongue. On that day Avimelech had learned from Avraham about three aspects of G’d, i.e. מי, זה, אנכי.
Normally, we have a rule that when a tzaddik engages in rebuking someone, he points out that the trespass committed by the wicked concerned was a sin against G’d and His Torah.
In this instance, Avraham accused Avimelech of having committed a wrong when it had been his servants who had stolen the water from Avraham. He reminded Avimelech that G’d created the world, and that He gave us laws by which to conduct ourselves, and that robbery was definitely forbidden. The person violating G’d’s law receives a warning in the form of the tzaddik rebuking him. The letters in the words uttered by the tzaddik when he rebukes the sinner light up in the face of the guilty party, thus affording him an opportunity to immediately do penance.
One of the names of G’d is: מי, as we know when Pharaoh challenged Moses by saying: מי ה'? This is what Avimelech meant when he said to Avraham לא ידעתי מי עשה את הדבר הזה, “I do not know of this מי who has done this;” i.e. “I have never heard of a Creator who has created the universe, hence I do not know of a prohibition to steal or rob.” Another one of G’d’s names is the word זה, as we know from Exodus 15,2 זה א-לי ואנוהו, “זה is my G’d and I will glorify Him.” We also find the word as a reference to one of G’d’s names when Isaiah 25,9 said זה ה' קוינו לו, “we have been hoping for the Lord זה.” Avimelech tells Avraham that he had heard of all this theology only from the mouth of Avraham, he had never previously been informed of this. He adds that even now he has not heard or “seen” the letters that make up the alphabet of the Torah from Avraham’s mouth, i.e. גם אתה לא הגדת לי. The word הגדת, derived from גד, is similar to גד גדוד יגודנה in Genesis 49,19, where it refers to “good fortune,” similar to what Gad’s mother proclaimed בגד, viewing herself as having good fortune seeing that she had born 6 of the twelve tribes. (Genesis 30,11) The word is a simile for good fortune in the sense of מזל טוב. Avimelech had not yet seen the letters that would trigger his doing teshuvah for the wrong he had been guilty of. The word אתה is an allusion to the letters from א to ת in the Hebrew alphabet, the letters of the Holy Tongue.
When Avimelech adds: וגם אנכי לא שמעתי בלתי היום, “and I also have not heard about all this until this day,” he uses the word אנכי, the first word of the Ten Commandments with which G’d revealed Himself at Mount Sinai, as meaning that on this day G’d’s sovereignty was revealed to him, and he could now perceive these letters of the Holy Tongue. On that day Avimelech had learned from Avraham about three aspects of G’d, i.e. מי, זה, אנכי.