Returning in Peace: Israel's Merit from Within

1“And I return in peace to my father's house, and Hashem will be my God.”¹ Rashi explains: “‘And I return in peace’: whole, free of sin, that I will not learn from the ways of Lavan.” But where does Rashi get this? Why did he need to take the verse out of its plain meaning, which is not his way in most places? Several times he writes, “I have come only to explain the plain meaning of the verse.” Something else is astonishing. Did Yaakov Avinu really need to ask that he not learn from the ways of Lavan? Surely, at his level, he should have asked for attainments far loftier and greater than this! We must also look closely at his words “and Hashem will be my God,” in which both the attribute of mercy and the attribute of judgment are mentioned.² What does this mean?

2The Midrash says: “‘And I return in peace to my father's house.’ R' Yehoshua of Sichnin said in the name of R' Levi: The Holy One, blessed be He, took the words of the Avos and made them a key to the redemption of their children. He said to Yaakov: You said, ‘And Hashem will be my God.’ By your life, all the good things, blessings and consolations that I give your children, I give only with this expression, as it says, ‘And it will be on that day that living waters will go forth from Yerushalayim …’”³ The wording needs a closer look. Where did Chazal see, in the words “and Hashem will be …,” a hint that Hashem promised to announce Israel's redemption with this expression, that is, that in this merit Israel will be privileged to be redeemed?

3My holy father and teacher, zt"l, explained the verse “And through you all the families of the earth will be blessed” this way.⁴ We know that when an abundance of blessing and success is to be bestowed on Israel, and Israel cannot earn it by its own merit, then in Heaven they plead on Israel's behalf. Let us see, they say, whether there is anyone like it among the other nations. When Israel is compared with the nations, Israel's superiority becomes evident of itself, for even when Israel is at a low point in serving Hashem, it still stands at a great level compared with the nations. This is the meaning of “and through you will be blessed”: when an abundance of blessing must be drawn down to Israel, “all the families of the earth” become the argument. The advocates say before the Holy One, blessed be He, “Look and see the conduct of the other nations, how base and lowly they are, and so You will agree and be satisfied that Israel deserves all good forever.” Those are his holy words.

4To explain this more fully, we may put it this way. The Noam Elimelech, by R' Elimelech of Lizhensk, teaches that there are two ways of pleading in Israel's favor and drawing down mercy on Klal Yisrael.⁵ The first is the one we saw in my holy father's teaching: in Heaven they look at how the nations conduct themselves, and so Israel's superiority over them becomes evident, and all agree that Israel deserves all good forever. As R' Baruch of Mezhibuzh, zt"l, the grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, said, the worst among Israel is better than the best of the best among the gentiles. With this the Noam Elimelech explains a teaching of Chazal: “The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Hoshea, ‘Your children have sinned …’ Hoshea said before Him, ‘Master of the world, the whole world is Yours; exchange them for another nation.’”⁶ Hoshea's argument in “Exchange them for another nation,” he explains, was this: check and see whether You have anyone like them among the other nations, and from this Israel's greatness will be seen before You.

5aBut this way of pleading for Israel is the lower one, because it requires disparaging the nations and showing how low they are, and only so finding Israel worthy. It works through the attribute of mercy toward Israel, but the attribute of judgment does not agree to it, and so only a small measure of abundance comes down. It is like a man who pities his son who has gone astray: he finds some merit in him compared with his friends, and so gives him just enough to live on. [And see below, Parshas Va'eschanan, for something similar.]

5bBut there is another way, more desirable in Hashem's eyes, blessed be He. Here there is no need to bring proof from the conduct of the nations in order to see Israel's greatness. Rather, Israel is found worthy in judgment because in its very essence it is good. Every single Jew stands on a great level by virtue of his essence, since the inner point of Jewishness is engraved in him: the portion of God from Above that is in each and every one. This matches the saying of R' Baruch of Mezhibuzh that we cited, that the worst among Israel is better than the best among the gentiles. When Israel is privileged to reveal and awaken this Divine portion, an abundance of blessing and success flows to it, because its greatness and worth are evident on its own account. In this light the holy sefarim, the Tiferes Beis Levi citing the Kedushas Levi of R' Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, explain the words of the Kohen Gadol's prayer on Yom Kippur, “that Your people, the House of Israel, not need … nor from another nation.”⁷ That is, Israel's worth should be evident by itself, with no need to bring proof from another nation. This is the ultimate perfection: mercy drawn down by virtue of the essential holiness of Israel.

6This is what Yaakov Avinu prayed for. As is well known, the service of the holy Avos works by the principle “the deeds of the fathers are a sign for the children.”⁸ He asked on behalf of Israel in the generations to come that it reach the level of perfection. There would be no need to take proof from the nations to show its merit; it would be revealed from within itself that it is good and upright. Yaakov Avinu brought this about by perfecting himself at that level. Through his holy service he established for all generations that it would be possible to plead for Israel through the power of the inner point of every Jew, as the good portion within each Jew, in the root of his soul, is awakened and revealed.

7This is what Yaakov meant by “And I return in peace to my father's house”: to his Father in Heaven. That is, Israel's merit should be recognized because the soul is a portion of God from Above, whose worth can be revealed and awakened, and which can be returned to its Source “in peace,” “whole, free of sin,” as Rashi wrote. And this is the hint in “that I will not learn from the ways of Lavan”: that there be no need to take proof from the conduct of the nations in order to teach Israel's worth and plead on our behalf.⁹ Then the rest of his words, “and Hashem will be my God,” fit well. For suppose we reach this level, where Klal Yisrael is good in its very essence and needs no proof from the nations of the world. Then even the attribute of judgment, the Name Elokim, concedes to the attribute of mercy and is reconciled with it. Judgment, too, agrees that Israel deserves an abundance of blessing and success, and an outpouring of mercy on Klal Yisrael.

8This explains the Midrash on this verse: “The Holy One, blessed be He, took the words of the Avos and made them a key to the redemption of their children.” The Gemara says that Moshiach, “the son of Dovid,” comes “only in a generation that is entirely worthy.”¹⁰ We may explain this to mean that Israel will stand at the level of perfection, where its merit is recognized in itself, as we have explained. That is “He took the words of the Avos”: He took the very idea Yaakov Avinu expressed in “and Hashem will be my God,” that even the attribute of judgment would be reconciled in Israel's favor. And “made them a key to the redemption of their children”: when Israel reveals and awakens the Divine portion within it, its worth will be seen through its essential holiness, and in this way it will be privileged to be redeemed, as the Gemara said.

9We know that when Israel stands on a great level, it brings abundance to the whole world, and all the abundance that the nations of the world receive comes down through it. Following our approach, we can also explain “and through you will be blessed” this way: blessing will come down to this world because of “you,” because Israel stands at the level where its essential holiness is evident. Through it “all the families of the earth” will be blessed, for all the nations of the world will receive abundance only in Israel's merit.

10Our prayer before the Holy One, blessed be He, is that we truly be privileged to reach this level. May we not learn from the ways of Lavan; may Israel's worth be recognized through its essential holiness, and through this may we earn Hashem's blessing. May we also be granted what is written earlier in Yaakov's vow, “and give me bread to eat and clothing to wear,” as my holy ancestor, the Rebbe of Lentshna, zt"l, taught, in words cited in the Toldos Adam.¹¹ So may we be granted all this, and through it bring the redemption near. Amen.