"But Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me'" (Isaiah 49:14). And God answers — not with proof of presence but with a reminder of what "remembering" actually means. "If I remember you, Jerusalem, I remember the Torah that I gave you" (Deuteronomy 33:2). The covenant was not severed. The memory runs along the thread of Torah itself — every page a connection, every commandment a line between exile and God.
The midrash adds another layer: "If I remember you, Jerusalem, I remember all the miracles I performed for Israel at the sea." The right hand at the sea — "Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy" (Exodus 15:6) — is the same right hand that holds Jerusalem in memory during exile. The God who split the sea did not forget the city He split it for. The miracle at the sea and the exile of Jerusalem are both in the divine account.
Isaiah responds to Zion's complaint with the image of a nursing mother: "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?" (Isaiah 49:15). Even if she could forget — God cannot. Zion's name is engraved on God's palms. The exile is real; the forgetting is impossible. The city says it has been abandoned. The palms say otherwise. This is the argument the midrash keeps returning to: the feeling of abandonment is not evidence of abandonment. It is the darkness before the dawn the prophets keep promising.
Chapter (69) 70: Torah [1] "And Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt" (Genesis 42:1). This teaches us that both the ear hears and the eye sees, "The Lord has made them both" (Proverbs 20:12). Why did Solomon mention both the ear and the eye? Because not only did the Holy One, blessed be He, create them, but also all of a person's organs will be judged, except for the ear and the eye. Why? Because the eye sees what is not good for a person and the ear hears what is not good for a person. But the hands, if a person does not want to steal, he does not steal. If he does not want to burn, he does not burn. If he does not want to strangle, he does not strangle. And so too with the feet. Therefore, it is said, "The ear that hears and the eye that sees" (Proverbs 20:12). Come and see, all the time that Joseph was sold, Jacob and his sons did not know that Joseph was still alive. When the time came, the Holy One, blessed be He, gave their eyes and ears the ability to know, as it is said, "And Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt," and he said, "Behold, I have heard" (Genesis 42:1-2). [2] Alternative explanation: "An ear that hears and an eye that sees." Rabbi Ashi said in the name of Rabbi Chelkiah: "Because in this world, Israel sinned and became deaf to the Torah and blind to the Divine Presence, as it says, 'Their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot listen; behold, the word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it' (Jeremiah 6:10). Therefore, they were prevented from learning Torah, and their eyes were sealed from seeing the Divine Presence. Similarly, Isaiah cries out, 'Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see!' (Isaiah 42:18). And they say to Him, 'We grope, like blind men along a wall; Like those without eyes we grope. We stumble at noon, as if in darkness; Among the sturdy, we are-b like the dead.' (Isaiah 59:10). And they do not hear, as it says, "And I [(Israel)] was like a deaf man, not hearing [their taunts]; and as a mute, not opening his mouth." (Psalm 38:14). What does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? In the future, He will first revive them and then open their eyes and ears, as it says, 'Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped' (Isaiah 35:5). And they will hear the words of God, as it says, 'And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left' (Isaiah 30:21), and they will see how He teaches, as it says, 'And your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher' (Isaiah 30:20). At that time, the verse will be fulfilled, 'An ear that hears and an eye that sees' (Proverbs 20:12). Neither an angel nor a seraph does this, but the Lord does both." [edit. How LORD guides you? The Ruach haKodesh guides you (Megillah 14a:13)] [3] Another interpretation: "And Jacob saw" Like it is said in scriptures: that he said "Who commands the sun not to shine" and to consume (Job 9:7).Indeed, all of Job's wisdom - does he not know that if the Holy One, blessed be He, were to command the sun, moon, and stars not to shine, they would not shine, except for Jacob and his sons who are compared to the sun, moon, and stars, as it is said, "And behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were prostrating themselves to me" (Genesis 37:9). Joseph was separated from his father for twenty-two years, and the Divine spirit was withdrawn from Jacob and his sons, and he was not far from them except for three days, and they did not know that he was in Egypt. Before that, great prophets were Jacob and his sons. If you wish to know, when Joseph related his dreams to them, what did they say to him? "Are you really going to be a king and rule over us?" (Genesis 37:8). And when he was sold, they did not know where he was. Why did the Holy One, blessed be He, say this and why did He do it? In order that the prophets should not become haughty, He weakened their power and showed them that they were nothing. This is also the way Moses, the greatest of the prophets, was tested, as it is said, "The matter that is too difficult for you, you shall bring to me" (Deuteronomy 1:17). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "You can solve a difficult problem? I will test you." When the case of the daughters of Zelophehad came before him, he began to falter, not knowing what to say. He only said, "And Moses brought their case before the Lord" (Numbers 27:5). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "Moses, did you not say, 'The matter that is too difficult for you'? Behold, the women know something that you do not know, as it is said, 'So are the daughters of Zelophehad speaking'" (Numbers 27:7). The women argued more eloquently than you did. Even though Samuel was as respected as Moses, when he said to Saul "I am the one who sees" (1 Samuel 9:19), the Lord said to him, "Tomorrow I will show you if you really see, as it is written, 'Fill your horn with oil' (1 Samuel 16:1)." As soon as he went and saw Eliab, the Lord said to him, "You are the one who said 'I see,' but you did not see, as it is written, 'Do not look at his appearance' (1 Samuel 16:7). Why does one who chips away at a stone finish it? (Job 9:7). Even Elisha, a great man, accomplished double the miracles that Elijah did, as it is written, "Please let there be a double portion of your spirit upon me" (2 Kings 2:9). And there came a moment when he knew nothing, when he saw the Shunammite woman coming to him, he said to Gehazi, "Please run to meet her and ask her, 'Are you well? Is your husband well? Is your child well?'" (2 Kings 4:26). He did not know that the child had died. Eventually, he felt something and said to Gehazi, "Let her be, for her soul is bitter within her, and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me" (2 Kings 4:27). Thus, you have learned that everything is from the Almighty - if He wants people to see, they will see, and if He wants them to hear, they will hear, as it is written, "The ear that hears and the eye that sees - the Lord has made them both" (Proverbs 20:12). Therefore, it is said, "He who says to the deaf, etc." (Proverbs 27:14). [4] Another interpretation: "And Jacob saw [that there was grain in Egypt]": David said, "Happy is the one who seeks the help of Jacob's God, whose hope is in the Lord his God" (Psalm 146:5). Jacob knew that they were in Egypt, and this refers to Joseph, who was his hope (i.e., he hoped to see him again). [5] Another interpretation: "And Jacob saw that there was grain." Job said, "The eyes of the righteous will not be dimmed" (Job 36:7), referring to Jacob, who, despite the fact that the Holy Spirit had departed from him and he did not know that his son was alive, the Lord informed him, as it is said, "And Jacob saw." Therefore, it is said that "the eyes of the righteous will not be dimmed, and they will establish kings on the throne, but the throne will be exalted above them" (Genesis 41:40). And even the future anointed one*, who will stand up from Joseph, was shown to him, as it is said, "And he established them forever and exalted them" (Job 36:7) [edit: also Psalm 76:14 and *Mashiach: Isaiah 11:1-6]
