Komentarz do Rodzaju 32:11

The words מכל החסדים ומכל האמת correspond to the words ורב חסד ואמת in the list of G’d’s attributes in Exodus. The words ועתה הייתי לשני מחנות in our verse correspond to the words נוצר חסד לאלפים in the parallel paragraph in Exodus. G’d has preserved the חסד performed by both Avraham and Yitzchok to be credited to the account of their grandson Yaakov. The words אלפים (plural), correspond to שני מחנות, 2 camps.

קטנתי מכל החסדים I AM TOO UNWORTHY OF ALL THE MERCIES (This may be rendered “I am small — unworthy — because of all the kindnesses) — My merits are diminished in consequence of all the kindness and truth which You have already shown me. For this reason I am afraid: perhaps, since You made these promises to me, I have become depraved (נתקלקלתי) by sin (another version of Rashi has נתלכלכתי, I have become defiled by sin) and this may cause me to be delivered unto Esau’s power (Shabbat 32a).

‘KATONTI’ OF ALL THE MERCIES, AND OF ALL THE TRUTH. “My merits have diminished as a consequence of all the kindness and truth which You have already shown me. For this reason I am afraid lest I have become depraved by sin since the time You made these promises to me, and this may cause me to be delivered into the hand of Esau.” This is Rashi’s language. But it is not a correct interpretation because it does not fit into the language of the verse, [for katan refers to size, not quantity]. Furthermore, Jacob said afterwards, And Thou saidst: I will surely do thee good and make thy seed as the sand of the sea,²⁵Verse 13 here. but of what efficacy would this promise be if subsequent sin caused him to be deprived of it? Moreover, Jacob mentioned two promises which the Holy One, blessed be He, had made him — one in Beth-el,²⁶Above, 28:15. and one in Haran²⁷Ibid., 31:3. — and he first stated the promise given to him in Haran, O Eternal, who saidst unto me: Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will do to thee good,²⁸Verse 10 here. this being what was said to him when he was about to leave the house of Laban: Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred, and I will be with thee.²⁷Ibid., 31:3. Now following this promise, G-d did not bestow good upon Jacob to account for all these mercies and truths of which Jacob mentioned that his merits should be diminished on account of them.
The word katonti rather means that he is too small to have been worthy of all the mercies which He had done for him. Likewise, How shall Jacob stand? for he is small,²⁹Amos 7:2. that is, too small to be able to bear all that was decreed against him. And so the Rabbis said in Bereshith Rabbah,³⁰76:4. “Katonti. Rabbi Abba said that it means ‘I am not worthy.’” Now hachasadim (the mercies) are the kindnesses which G-d did for him without having vowed to do them, and ha’emeth (the truth) is the kindness which He promised him and fulfilled. Jacob thus said that he was unworthy of G-d’s promising him and performing those kindnesses which He promised him, nor was he worthy of those other many kindnesses which He did for him without having promised to do them.
But I have not understood the opinion of Onkelos who translated, “from all the mercies and all the good,” when he is accustomed to translate chesed ve’emeth as “mercy and truth.” Perhaps Onkelos is rendering chasadim here as referring to Jacob’s rescue, that is, the many times He had saved him from his troubles. Onkelos rendered emeth as referring to all this good which Jacob possessed, for G-d had given him sons and daughters, wealth and belongings, and honor.
The correct interpretation appears to me to be that long-lasting kindnesses such as children and wealth are called emeth, which is from the root of emunah (faith), just as: ‘Vene’eman’ (and confirmed shall be) thy house and thy kingdom forever,³¹II Samuel 7:16. This was said to David, whose kingdom was assured of existence. which connotes assured existence; His bread shall be given, his waters ‘ne’emanim’ (shall be sure),³²Isaiah 33:16. just as the prophet said, Wilt thou indeed be unto me as a deceitful brook as waters that are not ‘ne’emanu’ (sure)?³³Jeremiah 15:18.

קטנתי מכל, from qualifying for all the

קטונתי מכל החסדים, I was not worthy of all the acts of kindness I have experienced at Your hands.

קטונתי מכל החסדים, "I am not worthy of all the kindnesses, etc." Jacob first mentioned חסדים, kindness, and then אמת, divine assistance, which he felt he had qualified for. Actually, Jacob should have mentioned the אמת before mentioning the חסדים, something he was not even entitled to. He mentioned the חסדים first because they are something that it is impossible for man to repay to G'd. He called it אמת because man is incapable of requiting these acts of kindness. We know this from Job 35,7: אם צדקת מה תתן לו, "even assuming that you were righteous, what can you possibly give to Him?" This is why services rendered for the dead are called חסד של אמת, seeing that the dead cannot repay us (Bereshit Rabbah 96,5).

קטנתי, I am not asking You G’d to help me in a manner commensurate with my merits, as I am perfectly aware that these are utterly inadequate.
כל החסדים וכל האמת אשר עשית את עבדך, Yaakov described as חסד the acts of unearned love G’d had performed for him, whereas he described as אמת, “truth,” i.e. deserved compensation, that G’d would keep His promise to him. (“Here, I am going to be with you, etc.” 28,15) He feels entitled to expect G’d to keep His promises when these are of a positive nature. When G’d had said to him that He would protect him wherever he would go, this had not been a conditional promise, dependent on Yaakov being worthy of such protection. He is aware that he may have sinned, but expects the promise to be kept for the sake of his father and grandfather both of whom G’d Himself had invoked in association with this promise. He feels that he deserves such protection, having heard that Esau is an unreformed sinner, still relating to him with hostility.

And of all the truth: Onkelos translates it as, "and from all the good," which is not like his translation in every [other] place, which is "truth." And see Ramban, who explains that lasting kindnesses are called truth. And such is [also] the language of Scripture: "And the Lord is a true God, a living God and the eternal King" (Jeremiah 10:10). And in Vayikra Rabbah 26:1 (Parshat Emor), it explains that the end of the verse explains what is a true God: "Because He is 'a [living] God and the eternal King.'" [That is] to say, because He is everlasting. And [this is] like the remark in the Talmud (Shabbat 104a), "Truth is lasting." And so too is the good that is everlasting called truth. And so [Ya'akov said] that "You have done two goodnesses for me" - meaning "the kindnesses," which are the wealth; and "all the truth," which is that He chose him, such that a chosen nation will come from him and his offspring, to be everlasting. And it is for this very reason that Onkelos translated it as, "and of all the good."

קטונתי מכל החסדים, “I am unworthy of all the acts of love and kindness, etc.” According to Rashi, Yaakov means that each act of kindness performed on his behalf by G’d diminished the sum total of his remaining merit balance. Nachmanides does not accept this interpretation as linguistically correct, seeing that the words “small” and “big” are appropriate for bodies but not for concepts such as merits. These concepts are measured according to quality not according to quantity. The correct interpretation therefore is that Yaakov did not consider himself worthy of the kind deeds G’d had seen fit to perform in his interest. The difference between the חסדים and the אמת lies in deeds performed for his sake even without the benefit of his having vowed to give tithes and to build a Temple, They refer to the promises G’d had made him prior to his having made any vow whatsoever. The word אמת is a reference to assurances given to Yaakov by G’d, and these having been fulfilled (in his lifetime). They are named thus as man is entitled to expect G’d to make good on His promises. (unless he had done something to forfeit the claim these assurances were based on)

קטנתי מכל החסדים, “I am not worthy of all the kind acts You have performed for me.” This teaches us that when a person engages in prayer that he should emphasize his own inadequacies and extol the power of the One to whom he addresses his prayer. Yaakov made this point plain by describing his relationship with G’d as “your servant.” One must also mention the manifold and varied kind deeds which G’d had already performed for the supplicant. This is what King David did in Psalms 16,2 when he said אתה טובתי בל -עליך, “You are my Lord, my benefactor; there is none above You.” He meant that the experience he had had of G’d’s kind deeds had convinced him that there is no one equal to Him as a master. A master’s kindness vis-a-vis his servant is something entirely voluntary. Similarly, all the acts of kindness performed by G’d are not rooted in any claim man has upon G’d, but are totally spontaneous. Only after having expressed such sentiments as an introduction to one’s prayer does one proceed to ask for one’s specific needs. At this point Yaakov asked: “please save me!”
As to the meaning of the words ומכל האמת, “and of all the truth,” This suggests at first glance as if G’d acted out of a sense of obligation, i.e. attribute of Justice when performing these kind deeds. Onkelos, aware of our being apt to misconstrue the meaning of the word אמת in this instance, changed the meaning of the words when he translated them as מכל טבוון instead of as קשוט.
The plain meaning of the word אמת in our verse is: “seeing giving the land of Canaan to Yaakov was fulfillment of a long-standing promise by G’d to both Avraham, Yitzchak and himself, the fulfillment of that promise was not so much an act of kindness as an act of truth.” This is also the plain meaning of the verse in Micha 7,20 תתן אמת ליעקב חסד לישראל, “You give as an act of truth to Yaakov something that You promised to Avraham as an act of pure kindness.” G’d had not been under any obligation to promise the land of Israel to Avraham; He was, however, under an obligation to fulfill His promise to Avraham in Yaakov’s time.

I am unworthy, etc. - (Shabbat 32a): [Rabbi Yannai] said, "A person should never stand in a place of danger saying that they [on High] will perform a miracle for him, lest they do not perform a miracle for him. And [even] if they do perform a miracle for him, they will deduct it from his merits." Rabbi Ḥanin said, "What is the verse [that alludes to this]? When Jacob said, 'Katonti (I am not worthy) of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which You have shown unto Your servant'" (Genesis 32:11). ⁴ He explains "katonti," as my merits have become small. But ostensibly, this requires [further] study - as note that Ya'akov [only] used this expression out of modesty. So there is no hint here to the diminution of merits. And see Ramban and Maharsha, who have [already] pointed this out. But it appears to me that [its understanding] is according to that which is written in Bava Kamma 50b, "Anyone who says that the Holy One, blessed be He, is a Relinquisher will have his life relinquished." And if so, once Ya'akov said that he was not worthy of all the goodnesses; if so, they could not be done for him for free, but rather his merits [must have been] diminished.

My merits have diminished because of the kindnesses and truth... מכל החסדים means because of the kindnesses. ואת עבדך means, “That you have done with me.” Rashi is explaining that [in this verse,] את means “with.”

für mich freilich bete und bitte ich nicht, ich habe bereits so viel von dir erhalten, dass ich bereits dem mit meiner Dankespflicht nicht genügen kann, bin durch die Fülle deiner Wohlthaten ja schon ganz klein geworden. Denn nicht die absolute, sondern die aus dem Verhältnis zu dem Empfangenen sich ergebende relative Größe der Leistungen macht die Größe des Menschen aus. Wir laufen alle Gefahr, um so geringer zu sein, je mehr wir haben; —

קטונתי מכל החסדים, “I have not been worthy of all the acts of kindness;” Yaakov explains what prompts him to be so fearful; he says that G-d has already done more for him than he could have expected, seeing that he did not feel worthy of it. As a result of his unworthiness he was afraid thatEsau who had performed the commandment of honouring his father and mother all the years when he had been absent, had accumulated sufficient merits to emerge victorious in a military confrontation with him. [After all, his father had blessed him with being successful with his sword. Ed.] Whenever the expression חסד and אמת occur in the Scriptures (together), they refer to someone having performed kind deeds, beyond the call of duty. Examples Genesis 49,29, when Yaakov asks his son Joseph to transport his remains to the land of Canaan and for him to be buried next to his wife Leah, although he had buried Joseph’s mother on the roadside where she had died. We find another example in Samuel II 15,20, where David excuses Gittai, from Gat, a gentile, from endangering himself while remaining in his company while he has to flee from his own son Avshalom.

ומכל האמת [my merits are diminished in consequence] OF ALL THE TRUTH — of the true fulfillment (אמיתת) of Your promises — because You have already kept all the promises You made me

החסדים, the loving kindness as expressed by promises. We have a parallel to this in Kings I 8,64. Seeing that You have performed for me both חסדים and אמת, although I have not yet redeemed my vow to establish an altar at Beyt El and to sacrifice to You there, I am now afraid in spite of the assurances You have given me. I am aware that You do not judge man according to his good intentions but according to his carrying out such intentions, and I have been remiss in this respect. We find in connection with Chizkiyah, King of Yehudah in Kings I 20,1 that when the prophet had told him: “you will die and not live,” that the king prayed to G’d and was granted an additional 15 years of life on earth. [he was given this extension as in his prayer he had enumerated his merits, although G’d justified the extension with reference to King David, Chizkiyah’s ancestor. Ed.]

ומכל האמת, the good You did for me on account of the merit of my father and grandfather. Seeing that You have already seen fit to treat me well beyond my deserts, I beg of You to continue to do so. Our regular prayers reflect this sentiment when we use the expression כגודל חסדך, “in accordance with the greatness of Your kindness.” Moses used this expression in Numbers 14,19 when praying for forgiveness of the people after the debacle with the spies.

כי במקלי עברתי את הירדן הזה, “for when I previously crossed this river Jordan, all I possessed was my walking staff.” I used to have a problem with the expression “this river Jordan,” seeing that Yaakov’s route was far distant from the river Jordan. The Jordan constitutes the eastern boundary of the land of Israel! My brother Rabbi Yehudah answered my question by pointing out that actually it was not Yaakov who crossed the Jordan but his staff, which by splitting the Jordan (as per tradition of our sages) enabled Yaakov to cross the river. [the meaning of the prefix ב in the word במקלי is not “with” but “by means of.”] The use of the word זה, “this,” for something not at hand, is not unique. We encounter it, for instance in the line כי זה משה האיש, “for this man Moses,” (Exodus 32,1) as a reference to Moses who, at that time, was on Mount Sinai, far from the camp of the Israelites.

כי במקלי, “for with my staff, etc.” this teaches that one must remember the days of starvation during the time one has prospered in order not to forget the fact that one is so much better off now than then. Solomon also taught us this in Kohelet 7,14: ביום טובה היה בטוב, וביום רעה ראה, “in a time of good fortune enjoy the good fortune; and in a time of misfortune reflect.” What Solomon meant was: “reflect on the time when you suffered misfortune now that you enjoy good fortune.”

Lest from the time You made me the promises, I have become tainted by sin... For the reason of diminished merits alone, Yaakov would not have feared, as there is no death without sin and no suffering without iniquity (Shabbos 55a). Thus Rashi brings also the reason of “tainted by sin.” And for the reason of “tainted by sin” alone, we might think that Yaakov still need not have feared, as his merits would outweigh his sins. Thus Rashi brings also the reason of diminished merits. Due to both of these reasons, Yaakov was frightened.

Jacob also wanted to mention separately two kinds of favours that G'd had done for him. The first was the kindness that He displayed for him by providing Jacob with an abundance of material wealth. The second was the fact that G'd had enabled Jacob to hold on to his gains and that G'd did not allow Laban to steal them from him forcibly and thereby displayed His truth. You must appreciate that there are occasions when G'd does show a person kindness whereas that person is subsequently deprived of his gains by outsiders exercising their free will. G'd in turn compensates the person who has suffered such a robbery. In such instances the person in question has experienced partial comfort only. He would have felt much better if he had not been robbed of what G'd had granted him in the first place. He will never forget that he had once become the victim of a robbery. He will imagine that if he had not been robbed he would now be still better off, not realising that G'd had only compensated him for what he had been robbed of. Secondly, the fact that G'd did not interfere with the robber will continue to bother such a person. He would have felt completely at ease had G'd restored to him the very goods the robber had taken. Jacob had experienced this latter kind of personal supervision by G'd as we know from 31,9, where Jacob described how G'd had saved his cattle from Laban and restored them to him. When Jacob spoke about "all of G'd's truth," this is the kind of interference by G'd which he had in mind.

כי במקלי FOR WITH MY STAFF — I had with me neither silver nor gold nor cattle — only this staff of mine. The Midrashic explanation is, that he had placed his staff in the Jordan and Jordan had divided for him to pass over.

“Making Your words come true...” Rashi is answering the question: Just because Hashem spoke [true promises], should Yaakov’s merits diminish? For Rashi said above, “My merits have diminished.” [Therefore Rashi explains, “You have kept all the promises.”] And why did Rashi say, “You have kept,” rather than, “You have done,” as the verse says? Because [the fulfillment of] what one says is not called עשייה, but שמירה. I.e., “keeping” it is the same as “doing” it.

The Midrashic explanation is: He placed his staff into the Jordan [River] and the Jordan split. According to this, [Yaakov is saying that] Hashem did him two good deeds: the splitting the Jordan, and the [dividing into] two camps. But according to the simple meaning, there is only one kindness.