ויצא - The Discussion Between יעקב and 'ה

On Friday, Rabbi Perl came to speak to us about the פרשה. He spoke about the conversation between 'ה and יעקב in which 'ה promises that He will look out for יעקב, that He will bring him back to the land, and that He will not forsake him and יעקב replies in a way that bothers different מפרשים: namely, רשי, רמבן, ספורנו, and the נציב. The way he asks 'ה, it's like יעקב is either making a deal with or testing Him. We thought that it might have been a test because 'ה JUST told him that He would do those things and why would there need to be a deal unless there was some doubt about the promise? The מפרשים think otherwise. Also, when the translation uses the word then in the beginning of פסוק כב, the actual hebrew text does not. It just uses a "ו" like in the rest of the conversation. We wanted to figure out if the "והיה ה' לי לאלוקים" is part of the conditions for the deal, or if it is a result. Is it something that 'ה has to do for יעקב, or is it something that יעקב will do for 'ה?

רשי says that it was a deal, but that it wasn't 'ה that יעקב was doubting. It was himself and his family. He wanted to make sure that even if they sinned, 'ה would still look out for them and keep his promise. He also says that "והיה ה' לי לאלוקים" is a condition to ask 'ה to be a G-d not only for him, but also for his future generations.

רמבן, like רשי, says that it was a deal and that it was himself and his household that יעקב didn't believe in. He wanted to make sure that the promise would be kept even if any of them sinned. He says that "והיה ה' לי לאלוקים" is part of the result: that if 'ה did the previously mentioned things, THEN יעקב would serve Him. The רמבן also says that instead of translating אם as if, we should translate it as when. If we translate it like this, we can see that יעקב had no doubt that 'ה would do those things, which takes the whole challenge/test issue out of it.

ספורנו says that it was neither a deal nor a test, but that יעקב was asking for things completely different from what 'ה had promised. He was asking for 2 things. He was asking for 'ה to take away everything that could distract him from his goal, and once 'ה did that, he was asking the 'ה judge him as אלוקים with a judgmental aspect rather than the merciful one he would need with all the distractions. Without them, he would see how much he was doing for 'ה on his own and he wouldn't have an excuse or need the lenience for anything he might have done with all the distractions to confuse him. He says that "והיה ה' לי לאלוקים" means that 'ה will use his judging personality rather than his merciful one, so it would be a condition and not a result.

The נציב says that it's a deal, but יעקב is not doubting 'ה's promise; he is asking for more. Instead of 'ה bringing יעקב to the borders of the land, He should bring him all the way to the house of his father, instead of just looking out for יעקב, He should make sure he has everything he needs automatically, etc. He says that "והיה ה' לי לאלוקים" is the result. יעקב is saying that even when he gets home to his father's house, he will still depend on 'ה for everything like he had to when he was not at home. The נציב still has a problem, though with the fact that there is never a "then" in the text itself. The תורה is deliberately vague to convey that even at home, יעקב would still need 'ה to help him with his faith and trust in Him.