Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Mga Awit 106:46

THAT HE MAY SEND AWAY YOUR OTHER BROTHER, AND BENJAMIN. In line with the literal interpretation of Scripture, it would seem that Simeon was not a favorite of his father because of the Shechem affair.¹⁷⁷Above, 34:25-30. This was why he did not say, “My son Simeon, and Benjamin,” as he would not mention him by name, and as he left him in Egypt for a long time. Indeed, had there been food in his house, he would not yet have sent Benjamin, and he would have left him [Simeon] in Egypt.
Now Rashi wrote, “The other one: the spirit of prophecy was enkindled within Jacob so as to include Joseph.” In Bereshith Rabbah¹⁷⁸92:3. they also said: “That he may send away your brother: this refers to Joseph. The other one: this refers to Simeon.” This is correct, for at the moment of prayer, Jacob directed his heart to pray in a general manner for the other one [Joseph] also, for perhaps he is still alive.
There in Bereshith Rabbah,¹⁷⁸92:3. the Rabbis expounded on the verse in yet another way, saying, “Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi interpreted the verse as alluding to the exiles: And G-d Almighty give you compassion before the man — this is a reference to the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said, The Eternal is a man of war,¹⁷⁹Exodus 15:3. and it is written, And He gave them compassion before their captors.¹⁸⁰Psalms 106:46. That he may send away your brother — this alludes to the Ten Tribes exiled by the Assyrians.¹⁸¹II Kings 17:6. The other one, and Benjamin — this refers to the exile of Judah and Benjamin. And as for me, bereaved by the First Destruction [brought about by the Babylonians], I am bereaved by the Second Destruction [caused by the Romans], but no more will I be bereaved.”¹⁸²Following the redemption from the Roman exile, there will no longer be a destruction. See Ramban’s work, Sefer Hage’ulah (Book of Redemption) in my Kitvei Haramban, Vol. I, where he expounds this theme at great length. This is the language of the Rabbis, may their memory be blessed.
The intent of this text is to suggest that Jacob’s going down to Egypt alludes to our present exile at the hand of Edom, as I will explain,¹⁸³See the beginning of Seder Vayechi. and the prophet [Jacob] saw this matter at its very inception, and so he prayed about it in a general way, which was applicable to the moment as well as to the future.¹⁸⁴See Ramban above, 12:6. This verse, according to their interpretation, contains a great mystic thought. Jacob was saying: “And G-d Almighty, by the Divine attribute of justice, give you the compassion that is before Him,” meaning that “He should direct you upward from the Divine attribute of justice to that of compassion.” The student versed in the mystic teachings of the Torah will understand.

According to Tanchuma Miketz 10 the reason Yaakov invoked the attribute of Shaddai when he blessed his sons here was that Yaakov reminded himself of the many afflictions he had already experienced, commencing even before he was born when his twin brother quarreled with him inside his mother’s womb. Subsequently he had had to flee for his life on account of Esau; then he had experienced 20 years of frustrations at his uncle Lavan, etc. When he had finally left Lavan, Esau set out to kill him. Later on his daughter Dinah had been raped. Shortly thereafter his beloved wife Rachel died as a young woman and he was not even able to give her the funeral which befitted her status. Thereafter he suffered the disappearance of Joseph, to be followed by Shimon’s internment in Egypt. Now he was faced with the potential loss of Binyamin. One could truly apply to him the verse in Job 3,26: “I had no repose, no quiet, no rest, and trouble came.” He therefore hinted in his prayer שדי, “that it was enough” already. He meant that the One who had said די,”enough” to the evolutionary activities of the universe during the six days of creation, should now similarly proclaim די, “enough!” to his own problems.
Our sages in Berachot 64 interpret Psalms 20,2: “May the Lord answer you in time of trouble, the name of Yaakov’s G’d keep you safe;” as a reference to this attribute Shaddai. This was the reason that David mentioned only the G’d of Yaakov in that hymn and not that of Avraham and Yitzchak. We learn from here that one should always get hold of the thickest part of a beam when trying to move it.
Rabbi Joshua son of Levi interpreted the use of the attribute Shaddai here as an allusion to future exile, comparing it to Psalms 106,46 ויתן אותם לרחמים לפני כל שוביהם, “He made all their captors kindly disposed toward them.” [In both verses the attribute רחמים, mercy, is also mentioned. Ed.]
The words לפני האיש, are a veiled reference to G’d who is described in Exodus 15,3 as איש מלחמה, “a man (Master) of war.” He interprets the words: “and may He release to you your other brother,” as a reference to the ten tribes who were exiled before the tribes of Yehudah and Binyamin. When Yaakov completed his prayer with the words וכאשר שכלתי שכלתי, “if I am to be bereaved, so I have been bereaved,” he referred to the respective destruction of both the first and the second Temple. At the same time he implied that after the destruction of the second Temple there would not occur another destruction of a Temple.
In Bereshit Rabbah 92,3 we read as follows: “Another approach to the words “may the man grant his mercy, etc.” “The man” is G’d; Yaakov meant that this attribute of Mercy, one of G’d’s attributes, should stand by his sons in the forthcoming encounter. A prophet, even when praying for relief in a current crisis never fails to also address future crises the Jewish people may be faced with, and he orients himself so that his words cover both situations. In this instance Yaakov prayed that the benevolent Presence of G’d, שכינה, accompany the Jewish people also when they would be in exile. The word רחמים, refers to G’d’s attribute of Mercy. It is possible that the proof that the word האיש was also a reference to G’d is the fact that grammatically speaking it could not apply to Joseph. Yaakov had already said: שובו אל האיש, “return to the man”. Why would Yaakov use the same word twice to describe Joseph? All he had to say here was ויתן לך רחמים לפניו, referring to Joseph with the pronoun ending ו. Seeing that the words of a prophet are based on a careful evaluation of the meaning of the words he employs, it was necessary to interpret that the word האיש in our verse is not a mindless repetition of something Yaakov had already said. If Yaakov did not choose to refer to the attribute Shaddai he had mentioned previously as לפניו using the suffix ו, this is because he wanted to allude to the additional attribute of G’d האישin the sense it has been used in Exodus when G’d was the Master warrior against the Egyptians. In Midrash Shir Hashirim we are taught in the name of ben Nezira that when G’d is referred to there as אשכל, that this is a combination of איש כל, “someone who combines within himself every quality, every attribute,” i.e. G’d.

It is quite possible that these words were meant to allude to happenings in the future, and that the oppression which Joseph underwent in that dungeon foreshadowed the exile of the Jewish people which has also been compared to a בור, a pit, a dungeon. This may have been the origin of the prayer in which we ask יעלה ויבא, “may He arise and arrive,” a request voiced in our prayers on days when we are especially conscious of the absence of the Temple service and the benefits it had conferred upon the Jewish people. It is a reference to the ascent of the Shechinah. Anyone who finds himself imprisoned in a dungeon needs to literally “arise” in order to get out of there. Just as the Shechinah did not forsake Joseph when he was in jail, so the Shechinah will not forsake the Jewish people just because they are in exile. Just as the Torah wrote concerning Joseph (Psalms 105,18) ברזל באה נפשו, “an iron collar was placed around his neck,” it is also written concerning Israel in exile (Psalms 107,10) יושבי חשך וצלמות אסירי עני וברזל, “some lived in deepest darkness, bound in cruel irons.” Just as we read concerning Joseph ויט אליו חסד, “He endowed him with kindness,” (verse 21) so we find concerning Israel in exile that the prophet says (Isaiah 54,10) וחסדי מאתך לא ימוש, “but My kindness will not depart from you.” Concerning Joseph the Torah writes (21) ויתן חנו בעיני שר בית הסוהר, “He put his favour in the eyes of the prison warden.” We find a corresponding statement in connection with Israel in exile when the psalmist writes (Psalms 106,46) ויתן אותם לרחמים לפני כל שוביהם, “He made all their captors kindly disposed toward them.” Just as Joseph eventually was released from prison and rose to unprecedented power and prominence, so the Jewish people will be redeemed from their exile as is written in Daniel 12,4 “as for you Daniel, obscure the matters and close the book and seal it until the time of the end; let many muse and let knowledge increase.”

And say, “Save us At the end of the Psalm (106:42), which speaks about captivity: “And their foes oppressed them, and they were humbled under their hand,” it is written thereafter, (ibid. verse 46): “And He caused them to be pitied by their captors.” Now, it is appropriate to say, “Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from the nations,” as You have done to them. In Psalms, it does not say, “And say, save us” but only, “Save us,” because that is the appropriate wording. For the following reason, David recited these two psalms when he brought the Ark: It is explained in Genesis Rabbah (54:4): “since the cows, when they sang, recited these two psalms.” Rabbi Samuel the son of Nahmani said: (I Sam. 6:12): ‘And the cows sang.’ What song did they sing? ‘Give thanks to the Lord, call out in His name.’ Rabbi Eleazar says: ‘Sing to the Lord, all the earth, etc.’” Therefore, David instituted them to recite them before the Ark, one psalm in the morning and one psalm in the evening. Quoted from Rabbi Eleazar the son of Meshullam of blessed memory.