"And the El Shaddai grant you mercy" (Genesis 43:14). Jacob is sending Benjamin to Egypt — his youngest, his only remaining connection to Rachel, the son he can least afford to lose. He has already sent ten sons and gotten back strange terms and a hostage. And now he has to send the one he was protecting. He says: God Almighty grant you mercy.
Psalm 139 provides the framework: "Knowledge is too formidable for me; it is concealed from me, I cannot know it" (Psalm 139:6). Jacob says something similar: "I cannot understand this matter." God had promised Abraham twelve tribes (Genesis 15:5). Jacob has twelve sons. But Joseph is apparently dead, and now Benjamin is being demanded as collateral. The math does not add up to the promise. Jacob cannot see how God will keep the covenant while simultaneously doing what seems to be happening.
The rabbis read this as the defining moment of Jacob's faith — not the dream at Bethel, not the wrestling at the Jabbok, but this. Sending the child you least want to send, in the direction you least trust, toward an outcome you cannot predict, with only God's prior promises to hold onto. "May God Almighty grant you mercy" is not a prayer of confidence. It is a prayer of someone who has run out of everything except the name of God. And the rabbis said: that is exactly enough.
Chapter (71) 72: Writings [1] A Song of Ascents. "Many times they have afflicted me from my youth, and so on" (Psalm 129:1) It is said in scriptures: "In all their affliction, He was not afflicted" (Isaiah 63:9). If Israel does the will of the Almighty in all their troubles, then He is afflicted with them, but if they do not do His will in their troubles, then He is not afflicted with them. This is evident from the incident in Egypt where the Israelites made bricks from straw and were revealed to Moses at the burning bush as if they were making them from precious stones (Exodus 24:10). Thus it is written, "I am with him in trouble" (Psalm 91:15) and "the angel of His presence saved them" (Isaiah 63:9). This angel, who sees the Almighty's face every day, is their savior. Jacob also said, "the angel who has redeemed me" (Genesis 48:16). Through His love (Isaiah 63:9) and in the merit of Abraham, who loved Him, twenty generations hated Him, but when Abraham appeared, they loved Him. Through His mercy (Isaiah 63:9) and in the merit of Isaac, who was almost sacrificed, it is written, "do not lay a hand on the boy" (Genesis 22:12). He Himself redeemed them (Isaiah 63:9) in the merit of Jacob, as it is written, "The Lord redeemed Jacob" (Isaiah 48:20). Raised them (Isaiah 63:9) from the sea and exalted them (Isaiah 63:9), in the desert, All the days of old.(Isaiah 63:9) In the land of Israel. Another interpretation: "they were sustained by manna in the desert and were lifted up (carried) in the wilderness all the days of eternity in Shiloh." Another interpretation:"And He carried them in the clouds [in the wilderness], and He raised them up in the desert [in the Promised Land], all the days of eternity [i.e. forever] in the land of Israel. Another interpretation: "And He carried them in the manna, and He raised them up in the wilderness, all the days of eternity in Shiloh." Another interpretation: "And they were sustained by manna in the first Temple, and they were lifted up in the desert, all the days of eternity in Shiloh. And they will be sustained in the future Temple, and lifted up in the second Temple, all the days of eternity, as it is said, 'One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life' (Psalms 27:4)." Alternatively, He carried them in the monarchy of the House of David, and He will lift them in the monarchy of the Messiah, all the days of this eternal world, as it is said, "The Lord will reign forever and ever" (Exodus 15:18)."
