Commento su Genesi 28:15

אנכי עמך I AM WITH THEE — God promised him this because he was in terror of Esau and Laban.

כי לא אעזבך, on the journeys,

כי לא אעזבך, when I said that after the exile you will expand in all directions of the globe, know no boundaries, this is possible only because even during the long years of exile I did not abandon you, as stated explicitly in Leviticus 26,44 לא מאסתים ולא געלתים, “I will not have rejected them, nor will I have abhorred them.”

והנה, even though you are presently fleeing, do not be afraid for אנכי, I will be with you, ושמרתיך בכל אשר תלך, both on your way out and eventually, on your way home.

והנה אנכי עמך, “and here I am going to be with you, etc.” Onkelos translated these words as והא מימרי בסעדך, “and this word (promise) will assist you.” When the Torah writes in Exodus 3,12 ואהיה עמך, “and I shall be with you,” (G’d encouraging Moses to accept the role of leader) Onkelos translates this as ארי יהי מימרי עמך, “behold My promise will be with you” The (apparently minute) difference in the way Onkelos renders G’d’s promise to Moses reflects the difference between the spiritual level of these two men at the time G’d communicated with them. Seeing that in verse 13 the Torah wrote והנה י-ה-ו-ה נצב עליו ויאמר אני י-ה-ו-ה, Onkelos was forced to use the description בסעדך similar to when the Talmud in Shabbat 89 quotes G’d as telling Moses he should have assisted Him when he saw G’d write the crowns on the Torah. Yaakov was on a level where G’d applied to him the attribute of שדי, G’d as Master of nature. Whatever assistance Yaakov would receive would not be by means of נסים גלוים, the kind of miracles which upset the laws of nature. Moses, on the other hand, was already being addressed by the Ineffable Name, by a higher attribute of G’d. Yaakov only dreamed; Moses was wide awake when he saw the burning bush. If you were to challenge my explanation by pointing out that in 46,4 Onkelos translates the words אנכי ארד עמך as אנא איחות עמך, indicating that Yaakov was on a level not inferior to that of Moses, the context of that verse forced Onkelos to translate it in the way he did. The purpose of G’d’s message at that time was to reassure Yaakov that even in exile G’d’s Presence would be with the people, i.e. the שכינה would descend to Egypt with the Israelites.

Because he feared both Eisov and Lavan. Otherwise, why does it say, “I am with you,” which implies, “I will protect you”? Yaakov was afraid on his way there, lest Eisov pursue him, and on his way back, lest Lavan do so, as it actually happened. That is why the verse continues, “I will guard you wherever you go, and I will bring you back.” (Nachalas Yaakov) אם

והנה אנכי עמך, Ich, (die den Menschen tragende Liebe), bin mit dir, und wenn du auch nichts mitnimmst als deinen Stab, so hast du Mich. Dem Abrahams- enkel wird nicht ואברכך ואגדלה שמך wie dem Abraham verheißen; er geht ins Galuth, שמירה, Schutz und Beistand wird ihm zugesagt und einstige Rückkehr. Ganz wie einst seinem Volke, als es denselben Boden verlassend ins Exil wanderte. — לא אעזכך. Ich werde so lange an dir arbeiten, so lange mich mit deinem Geschicke beschäftigen, bis du das geworden bist, was du werden sollst, und dann durch dich alle Familien der Erde gesegnet werden.

ושמרתיך, “I will guard you;” this was necessary because of Esau’s threat to kill Yaakov. והשיבותיך אל האדמה הזאת, “I will bring you back to this soil;” this promise was fulfilled as stated in Genesis 35,27: וישב יעקב אל יצחק אביו “Yaakov returned to his father Yitzchok.”

עד אשר אם עשיתי UNTIL I HAVE DONE — The word אם is here used in the sense of כי (cf. Gittin 90a).

עד אשר עשיתי את אשר דברתי עליך. to bring you back to this part of the earth, for while you are journeying, traveling, you are in need of special protection of My angels, as we know from Psalms 91,11 כי מלאכיו יצוה לך לשמרך בכל דרכיך, “for He will command His angels to protect you on all your travels.”

כי לא אעזבך עד אשר אם עשיתי, so that in effect I will never abandon you. This promise was to stand by him and his descendants during his entire life, as well as during that of his children.

עד אשר אם עשיתי, as long as I have not carried out what I have said to you now. (i.e. the part commencing with ופרצת). There are occasions when the word עד is used in the sense of בעוד, such as Song of Songs 1,12 עד שהמלך במסבו, ”while the king was on his couch.” Or, Proverbs 8,26 עד לא עשה ארץ וחוצות, “while G’d had not yet made earth or even clumps of dust.” However, once G’d would have performed this great salvation, not only would He continue to treat His people with loving kindness by not abandoning them, but He would add a new dimension to it by walking among them, as promised in Leviticus 26,12 והתהלכתי בתוככם, “I will be walking amongst you (constantly).”

, here, is used in the sense of כי. Rashi is answering the question: “I will not forsake you until” implies He surely will not forsake him until then. So why does it say אם, which implies uncertainty? Thus Rashi explains that אם means כי, which conveys certainty. Rashi is saying that since כי can mean אם, it follows that אם can mean כי.

כי לא אעזבך, “for I shall not abandon you;” on this way. את אשר דברתי לך “what I have said to you;” to bring you back to this soil. People always need protection when on a journey. For proof the author cites: Psalms 91,11: לשמרך בדרך, “to guard you while you are on the way.”

דברתי לך means I have spoken in thy interest and concerning thee: whatever I promised to Abraham regarding his seed it was in reference to you that I promised it and not in reference to Esau, for I did not say to him “Isaac shall be called thy seed” (which would have signified that all Isaac’s descendants would be regarded, also, as Abraham’s) but I said (21:12) ביצחק “In Isaac” and not all the issue of Isaac”. In the same way wherever לי or לך or לו or להם are used after a verbal form of דבר, they are used in the sense of “concerning”. This verse proves that this is so, since it cannot mean “I have spoken to thee” as He had never spoken to Jacob before this occasion.

אשר אם, this apparently superfluous repetition is meant to reinforce the promise.

For He had not spoken to Yaakov prior to this. You might ask: Perhaps אשר דברתי לך refers to what He just spoke to Yaakov: “I am Hashem...” (v. 13)? The answer is: If it referred to what He just spoke, it should have said כל אשר אני מְדַבֵר עמך, rather than דִבַרְתִי which is past tense. This is because it is one prophecy, and everything was in one dream; Yaakov did not wake up in between.