Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Yitbarach (May He Be Blessed) Blessed be the name of the King of kings, the Holy One blessed be He, who lives and endures forever and ever. As it says "But as I live" (Numbers 14:21) and "The Lord God is truth" (Jeremiah 10:10). He sees births and knows what will happen in the future, as it says "Declaring the end from the beginning" (Isaiah 46:10). And no one can oppose Him, as it says "There is no one who can stay His hand" (Daniel 4:32). And it says "Where the word of a king rules" (Ecclesiastes 8:4) - God is unsearchable... He hides and conceals Himself from the sight of all living, as it says "Surely You are a God who hides Himself" (Isaiah 45:15) and it says "He sits enthroned out of sight" (Isaiah 6:1). Yet everything is revealed before Him, as it says "He reveals deep and hidden things" (Daniel 2:22). He is sublime, transcendent, majestic, praiseworthy, laudable, and abundantly purposeful in His deeds, as it says "Great in counsel and mighty in deeds" (Jeremiah 32:19). And it says "With Him are strength and sound wisdom" (Job 12:16). He is powerful in strength, His arm and might are with Him, as it says "Your arm endued with power" (Psalms 89:14) and it says "Who cuts through mountains with His power, girded with might" (Psalms 65:7). He is revered in the council of the holy, honored by the lowly, exalted by the lofty, elevated in the heights...glorious in His kingdom, His dominion is forever, His victory endures through all generations, His strength is everlasting, His remembrance is from generation to generation, forever and ever. His splendor is in holiness, His counsel immovable - who can relate it? His awesomeness, who can attain? His greatness, who can recount? His deeds, who can understand? His strength, who can tell? His might, who can speak? His thoughts, who can fathom? His achievements, who can dissuade? Who can approach His council and stand the fullness of His miracles and wonders and the multitude of creatures He created in His world? He walked on the sea yet the sea did not see Him. He left a path in the waters yet His footsteps were unknown. He came in fire yet His face was not seen, for no eye ever ruled over Him, to make known to all that He alone is God and there is none aside from Him. When the righteous do His will, they increase His strength and might, as it says "Now may the power of the Lord be increased" (Numbers 14:17). What does "be increased" mean? That His strength simply increases. And it says "Proclaim God's mighty acts" (Psalms 66:3), saying before Him: How goodly are Your works, O Lord... How awesome are Your deeds! Who can save himself on the Day of Great Judgment? As it says "Who can say 'I have kept my heart pure'" (Proverbs 20:9). And it says "Where can I go from Your spirit" (Psalms 139:7) and it says "In whose hand is the soul of every living thing" (Job 12:10). The Holy One blessed be He created His world only for the sake of Israel, so they would fear Him, as it says "In order that you fear the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 14:23) and it says "And God made them fear before Him" (Ecclesiastes 3:14). When the righteous do His will, they increase His strength and might... But if not, as it were, "The Rock who bore you, you neglected" (Deuteronomy 32:18) and it says "You have wearied the Lord with your words" (Malachi 2:17) and it says "Yet you have not called upon Me, O Jacob" (Isaiah 43:22). When Israel does the will of the Omnipresent, they make the left into the right, as it says "Your right hand, O Lord, is adorned with strength." And when Israel does not do His will, they make the right into the left, as it says "He has drawn back His right hand from before the enemy" (Lamentations 2:3). When Israel does His will, there is no rage before Him, as it says "I have no [divine] rage" (Isaiah 27:4). But when Israel does not do His will, as it were there is rage before Him, as it says "The Lord's wrath flared up." When Israel does His will, He does not sleep before Him, as it says "Behold, He neither slumbers nor sleeps." But when Israel does not do His will, as it were "He awoke as one who had slept" (Psalms 78:65). When Israel does His will, He fights for them, as it says "The Lord will fight for you." But when they do not do His will, He fights against them, as it says "He turned to become their enemy, He fought against them" (Isaiah 63:10). When Israel does His will, the Holy One blessed be He sees any righteous person among the nations and brings him to cling to Israel. So you find Jethro converted through Moses, Rahab through Joshua, and it is written of David "the Gittites, six hundred men" (2 Samuel 15:18). So too you find with Solomon that many converts came through him, as it says "King Solomon numbered all the proselytes" (2 Chronicles 2:16). And so you find in the days of Mordecai and Esther, many converted, as it says "And many from the peoples of the land became Jews" (Esther 8:17). But when Israel does not do His will, He sees any righteous person among Israel and takes him away, as it says "For the righteous is taken away from before the evil" (Isaiah 57:1). When Israel does His will, He sees their distress, as it says "In all their troubles He was troubled" (Isaiah 63:9). The Holy One blessed be He is not exacting with any nation or tongue but only with Israel, as it says "You only have I known from all the families of the earth" (Amos 3:2). Even if, heaven forbid, Israel wants to cast off His yoke from themselves, the Holy One blessed be He does not let them but forcibly imposes His kingship upon them, as it says "That which comes up into your mind shall never happen" (Ezekiel 20:32) and it says "As I live, says the Lord God, surely with a strong hand and an outstretched arm" (Ezekiel 20:33). The Holy One blessed be He never abandons Israel, but has mercy on them like a father, as it says "For I have been like a father to Israel...Ephraim is My firstborn" (Jeremiah 31:9) and it says "As a father has mercy on his children, so the Omnipresent has mercy on us and all of Israel." And say Amen.