parshaמפרשי הפרשה

משך חכמה — וידבר אלהים לישראל במראות הלילה

Why specifically is Yaakov's prophecy described as occurring "בלילה" — both here at the descent to Egypt and earlier in Vayetze?

מפני שהיה מוכן לצאת לחו"ל לגור, לכן בא אליו התגלות אלוקית בלילה, להראות שאף בלילה, בחשכת הגלות, שורה שכינה בישראל, כמו שאמרו: גלו לבבל שכינה עמהם.

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משך חכמה

משך חכמה, ויגש י״א

Meshekh Chokhmah, Vayigash:11

Vayigash

Q — Why specifically is Yaakov's prophecy described as occurring "בלילה" — both here at the descent to Egypt and earlier in Vayetze?

A — Both moments are thresholds of galut — and the night prophecy teaches "גלו לבבל שכינה עמהם": even in the darkness of exile the Shechinah dwells with Israel; this is why Yaakov instituted Maariv. But that nighttime השראת שכינה is only a CONTINUATION of the daytime presence — Israel keep the Shechinah in galut only if they hold to the mesorah of the Avot, otherwise they are abandoned as a nation that has forgotten its origin.

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