26 Dec PARSHAS VAYECHI THE ANGEL WHO REDEEMED HIM

Yaakov Invokes
Heavenly Blessings
for His Grandchildren
From “The Angel
Who Redeemed
Him”

“And he blessed Yosef and said ‘the
L-rd before whom my fathers walked,
the L-rd who has taken care of me until
this day, the Angel who redeems me
from all evil, He shall bless the young
lads…” [Bereishis 48:15-16]. This pasuk
[verse] is familiar those who say it with
our children at night before they go to
bed. However, if we think about the
pasuk, we will discover a basic difficulty.
Yaakov began giving this blessing to
Yosef by referring to the L-rd (haElokim)
with whom his forefathers traveled. We
would expect that Yaakov would invoke
the help of G-d in the blessing of the
children. However, in the middle of the
blessing, Yaakov suddenly switched and

started talking about “the Angel”.
Yaakov invoked the blessing of the
Angel rather than the blessing of G-d.
Wouldn’t G-d’s blessing be better than
an Angel’s blessing?
I saw a beautiful explanation in the
Limudei Nissan (Rav Nissan Alpert).
There was a very big difference between
the relationship that G-d had with
Avraham and Yitzchak and the
relationship that He had with Yaakov.
The first two generations of Patriarchs
merited a relationship with G-d that was
built upon open miracles. Avraham, even
amongst his peers, was crowned: “a
Prince of G-d are you in our midst”
[Bereishis 23:6]. Everyone appreciated
who he was. Likewise, Avimelech
initiated a peace covenant with Yitzchak
because he realized who Yitzchak was.
They merited a treatment by G-d that
was apparent to everyone.

Yaakov is the Patriarch who
symbolizes the Jew in Exile. He
existed and lived in exile and passed
on to his children and his descendants
the ability to survive in exile. The
providence that Yaakov had was one
in which G-d always saved him, but
the salvation came in a way which was
much more hidden than that
experienced by Avraham and Yitzchak.
Look at Yaakov’s life. He had
troubles from Eisav. Then he had
troubles with Lavan. Then he had
troubles with Dena. Then he had troubles
with Yosef. Then he had troubles with
Shimon. Then he had troubles with
Binyamin. Yaakov literally lived a life of
troubles. But G-d was always there. In
all of these instances, in the final analysis,
goodness sprouted from what was
perceived as evil.
The twenty years spent with Lavan
were the twenty years in which
Yaakov built the future Tribes. The
incident with Yosef is what
eventually sustained them in the
years of famine. All of these things
eventually had a silver lining – but
as they were happening, they were
all highly traumatic situations. It
was certainly true that at all times
G-d was “pulling the strings”, but
it was not necessarily apparent that
this was the case.
This typifies Jewish life in the
Exile (Galus). In Galus, we live a
life in which the Divine Face of
G-d is Hidden (Hester Panim) from
us. This means that G-d is there,
calling the shots, but He is behind a
cloud. It is often difficult to identify
the “Hand of G-d” in that which
transpires around us. It is difficult
to perceive that what occurs to us
is “for the best” rather than
sometimes calamitous. This is our
life in Exile.
Yaakov is about to bless his
grandchildren, Menashe and
Ephraim, who are the first Jews
born into Exile. Their experience
in the Egyptian Exile would

foreshadow the Jewish experience in
many future countries of exile. Yaakov
wanted them to realize that the “Hand of
G-d” would not always openly intervene
on their behalf. At times, G-d’s presence
would not be apparent to them at all.
Therefore, precisely for this reason,
Yaakov gave them the blessing of “the
Angel who redeemed me from all evil…”
In Galus, G-d does not deliver the
salvation Himself in an open and
apparent way as it was with the earlier
patriarchs. Rather, “the Angel (Malach)
who redeems” delivers the salvation. In
Galus, G-d has his representatives
(Malachim, literally Angels) who come
to deliver salvation.
The entire blessing can be understood
in this light. “The L-rd before whom my
forefathers Avraham and Yitzchak
walked” – openly basking in His
Salvation. “The G-d who shepherds me”
– this is the same G-d who is like a
shepherd to me. [The sheep do not know
that the wolf is lurking in the background,
but it is the shepherd who is always there
to make sure that nothing happens. This
is the type of Providence that I merited
to have in Exile.] And this same
Providence – that G-d should watch out
for you in Exile even in hidden and
indirect ways – is my blessing to you:
“The Angel who redeems me from all
evil, he too should bless these young
boys…” And if you can see this hand of
G-d in all that occurs and you will remain
upright and steadfast, then “… my name
will be called upon you, as well as the
names of my forefathers…” – eventually
you will merit to have the open
Providence of G-d which was
experienced by Avraham and Yitzchak.