Holy Exile!

At the beginning of this week’s parsha, Yaakov is on the run, fleeing the country, heading north for Charan. One night on the road out, Yaakov goes to sleep and hears G-d’s voice for the first time. As we shall see, this was no run of the mill prophecy. G-d was presenting a policy statement of eternal consequence.

I am G-d, Lord of Avraham your father and Lord of Yitzchak. I will give to you and your descendants the land upon which you are lying.
Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth. You shall spread out to the west, to the east, to the north and to the south. All the families on earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.
I am with you. I will protect you wherever you go and bring you back to this land – I will not abandon you until I have done what I have promised you. (Bereishit 28:13-15)

Sounds familiar enough. Gift of Israel, numerous descendants, blessing to all of humanity – we’ve heard this before. G-d made these same promises to Avraham and to Yitzchak. However, there is a lot that is new here. Let’s take another look.

Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth. You shall spread out to the west, to the east, to the north and to the south. All the families on earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.

This paragraph begins with the blessing of numerous descendants and ends with a blessing to all of humanity, but in the middle we find something new. “You shall spread out to the west, to the east, to the north and to the south.” What does that mean?

The Talmud (Shabbat 118a) highlights the significance of this line:

…Not like Avraham who was told to “walk the length and breadth of the land” [the length and breadth and no more – Rashi], not like Yitzchak who was told “to you and your descendants I give these lands” [these lands but no more – Rashi], but like Yaakov who was told “You shall spread out to the west, to the east, to the north and to the south.”

This is not expansionism. The borders of Israel are well defined by the Torah. G-d made Himself clear at the beginning of the prophecy: “I will give to you and your descendants the land upon which you are lying.” The idea here is not building an empire, but spreading out beyond the borders of Israel. G-d is talking about exile.

Yaakov is leaving Israel and he is not happy. He would much prefer to stay home and have his father send a servant to find him a wife, just as Avraham did for Yitzchak a generation earlier. Yaakov is being forced out of Israel by Esav, and G-d has come to console him:

“Yaakov, I know you are unhappy, but greater forces are at play. Like your father and your grandfather before you, the events of your life are inexorably tied up with the future history of the Jewish nation. Israel is your land, but exile is part of your destiny. You must leave Israel and foreshadow the Diaspora of your descendants. Why? Because through you and them blessings are to flow to all the families of the earth. And in order for that to happen, Jews must be everywhere.”

Things are getting interesting. Let’s continue our rereading of this prophecy.

I am with you. I will protect you wherever you go and bring you back to this land – I will not abandon you until I have done what I have promised you.

That last phrase sounds unnecessary and is mildly disturbing. Does it imply that once G-d has fulfilled His promise to return Yaakov to Israel all bets are off? “I will protect you” is limited to “wherever you go” but upon return to Israel Yaakov can expect divine abandonment? What does this phrase mean?

The Rashba (Responsa 4:187) uses this verse to prove that the Hebrew word “ad,” usually translated as “until,” does not necessarily indicate a stopping point. Otherwise, this prophecy would “not be a blessing of providence but a curse of abandonment afterwards.” However, the Rashaba wrote this to a priest in refutation of an attack on Judaism – the Rashba did not have to be perfectly honest. (See Emes L’Yaakov, footnote to pg. 219.)

The simple meaning of the text is inescapable – divine protection in Charan and abandonment upon return to Israel. Indeed, Yaakov enjoys great success in Charan, building his family and his fortune. But when Yaakov gets home he is struck with multiple tragedies: Rachel’s death, the rape of Dina, the loss of Yosef and, ultimately, famine and a return to exile. What does this say for the destiny of the nation? Well, we know our history. Take a look at these verses:

G-d said to Moshe, “When you go and lie with your ancestors, this nation shall rise up and stray after the alien gods of the land into which they are coming. They will thus abandon Me… and I will abandon them.
…They will then say, ‘It is because my G-d is no longer with me that these evils have befallen us.’” (Devarim 31:16-17)

There we have it. When the Jews are in exile, G-d grants them divine protection and promises to never abandon them. But when they’re in Israel there are no such guarantees.

Why is this so? Isn’t it kind of backwards? Shouldn’t G-d be closer to His nation when they are in the Holy Land?

Yes and no. Yes, Israel is G-d’s palace and a Jew who is privileged to live there is closer to G-d than those who live outside the land. But this additional closeness demands a higher standard of religious life. You can’t misbehave in the palace. If you do, don’t expect divine protection, expect exile.

Exiled from the land and distant from G-d, the Jew might feel abandoned, but this is where special divine providence kicks in. The reason is obvious. There is simply nowhere else to go. We can’t be exiled from exile! To ensure the survival of the nation, G-d must step in and provide security.

This was the promise to Yaakov and this is the promise to us. There will be exile and suffering, but we will never vanish. G-d personally guarantees our national survival and identity until the day that He brings us all home.