Sunday, December 12, 2010

Shepherd of Love


As Yaakov begins his ברכה (blessing) to the sons of Yosef, he refers to God (Ber. 46:15) as האלהים הרעה אתי, conventionally translated as "The God who shepherded me." The Ramban points out that the root רעה can also be understood to mean love, and he therefore suggests that the meaning of this verse is "The God who loves me."
Rabbi Yitzchok Isaac of Komarna points out that the word הרעה is lacking the letter ו (vov) which should have been after the ר (reish) to emphasize the sound "oh." He says that this is because the letter vov is usually used to indicate a connection between two things (vov is used to indicate the word "and" as well as serving as the Hebrew word meaning a hook, a connector between two things). A connector is only needed between things which are separate and need a means of connection, however, in this instance, where it is referring to God's love for His nation, the connection is so intimate, that there is no need for a connector.

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