“May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man . . .” (Genesis 43:14)
Are we to understand that it is possible that our father Jacob actually blessed his children with a blessing that the man whom he thought to be a wicked Egyptian should have mercy upon them? Why did he not bless them that the man should not be able to hurt them at all, and that God would have mercy on them and save them?
We know from the Midrash (Genesis Rabbah 5:8) that the name “God Almighty” (in Hebrew, El Shaddai) is interpreted by our sages to mean “God who said ‘Enough’ to the universe.” The implication is that if God had not said “Enough” to the world, it would have continued to expand and evolve infinitely.
What really happened at the creation of the world is beyond our grasp, but this could perhaps teach us something about the present and our current circumstances. God created the world so that His sovereignty should be revealed through it. But since He created the world to run according to the laws and designs of nature, through cause and effect, there are times when a lengthy delay occurs while a situation evolves and develops before salvation comes and God’s sovereignty is revealed. An example of this is when God’s salvation and sovereignty are revealed through His healing of the sick. Since salvation and healing are camouflaged and dressed in causality, they may take the form of a particular medication or a particular doctor. The doctor must pay his visit and the medication must be purchased, etc., and so the whole process develops and evolves. But when, God forbid, the sick person is in so much danger that he will not survive while the process takes its time to evolve, then the Holy One, blessed be He, says, “Enough” to development and evolution. Then the salvation and the sovereignty of heaven are revealed immediately and straight away.
This is also the case with other forms of deliverance. When the Jewish people are unable to withstand their troubles another moment, and to continue while this nation is defeated or that nation is victorious, then God says “Enough” to the developing situation and saves them immediately.
Rashi (Genesis 1:1), commenting on the verse “On the day that YHVH-Elohim created heaven and earth” (Genesis 2:4) explains: “Originally, it arose in the Thought to create the world with the attribute of Judgment (Elohim). Seeing, however, that under these conditions alone the world could not long exist, God preceded it with the attribute of Mercy (YHVH) and associated Mercy with Judgment.”
Why was it not enough for God to merely associate Mercy and Judgment, as He ultimately does when it is needed? Why do we need to be told that God preceded Judgment (Hikdim) with the attribute of Mercy? Perhaps this was necessary because there are situations when “on time” is too late, when the universe simply cannot stand another moment without Mercy, and so it has to come before its time.
Our father Jacob could see prophetically that salvation would come eventually through this Egyptian man, but because Jacob’s suffering had reached the point of being unbearable, he said, “May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man.” That is, even before the man grants you mercy, God should have mercy and rescue you. The name of God, “El Shaddai,” is used because it is the name with which God said to His world, “Enough,” that it should no longer continue to develop and evolve naturally because salvation must come now, at this very moment.