From here, I would like to move to a wonderful section passage brought in the sefer Zera Bareich (Vayechi). Chazal say (Yalkut Shimoni 834), when a human king sends his legions to war, if he doesn’t provide for their needs, they won’t go out. אֲבָל מִי שׁ ֶאָמַר וְהָיָה הָעוֹלָם אֵינוֹ כֵּן – But He who spoke and the world came to be is not so. He fed us, and we have only Him; He starved us, and we have only Him – לֹהֵינוּ ה' אֶ חָ ד-ה' אֱ. So too, we find in Iyov: ה' נָתַן וַה' לָקָח – Hashem gave, and Hashem took. But the wicked are not so and their response is unlike ours.
וְהָיָה כִּי יִרְ עַב וְהִתְ קַצֵף וְקִ לֵּל בְּמַלְכּוֹ וּבֵאלֹהָיו – And it will be when he is hungry and angry, he’ll curse his king and god.
The Zera Bareich says: לֹהֵינוּ ה' אֶחָד-שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל ה' אֱ – Yaakov said to his sons, "Know that even when Hakadosh Baruch Hu acts with the Attribute of Justice and when He acts with the Attribute of Mercy, He is always our G-d and He is always One! He said to them, בָּרוּך שׁ ֵם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד – we must always bless Hakadosh Baruch Hu 'forever and ever,' even when the situation, seemingly, is not 'blessed'!
וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת ה' אֱ -׃ וּבְכׇל־מְאֹדֶך וּבְכׇל־נַפְשְׁך בְּכׇל־לְבָבְך לֹהֶיך
You shall love Hashem your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
The Gemara says (Brachot 54a): With all your heart means with both inclinations, the good inclination (Yetzer HaTov) and the evil inclination (Yetzer HaRah). With all your soul means even if He takes your soul. And with all your might means with all your wealth. Another interpretation of וּבְ כׇ ל־מְ א ֹדֶ ך is in every measure He allots or dispenses to you, whether reward or punishment, be thankful to Him.
Why did Yaakov Avinu recite Shema when he met Yosef after twenty-two years of separation? Everyone knows to answer, “it was because it was the time for reciting Shema." So, if it was the time for Shema, why didn’t Yosef also recite it? The Netivot Shalom says, Yaakov wanted to fulfill the words of Chazal regarding וּבְכׇל־מְאֹדֶך – With all your might; despite his great love for Yosef, he wanted to show that his love for Hakadosh Baruch Hu was greater.
Another explanation is brought in the name of the Gaon Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch. When the brothers returned from Egypt and told Yaakov that the viceroy was tormenting them and demanding they bring their youngest brother, Yaakov said: לָמָה הֲרֵעֹתֶם לִי לְהַגִּיד לָאִישׁ הַעוֹד לָכֶם אָח – Why have you done me harm by telling the man you still have a brother? Chazal say, Yaakov Avinu never spoke an idle word, but rather Hakadosh Baruch Hu said, "I am busy making his son king in Egypt, and he says, 'Why have you done me harm?'" This is what he said ל ֹהַ י -נִסְ תְּ רָ ה דַּ רְ כִּ י מֵ ה' וּמֵ אֱ – My way is hidden from Hashem and from my G-d. The commentators say, Yaakov said to Yosef, "You are greater than me, for I asked ‘לָמָה הֲרֵעֹתֶם לִי’, while you, despite twelve years in prison, not once did you ask ‘why?' " This was Yaakov Avinu’s Shema.
For twenty-two years, Yaakov Avinu experienced Midat HaDin, during which he did not merit to see his beloved son Yosef, to whom he transmitted all the Torah he received in the yeshiva of Shem and Ever. But after twenty-two years, he hears that his beloved son is viceroy of Egypt – then he understands that what he thought was Midat HaDin was not true at all. Hakadosh Baruch Hu prepared the way for him to descend to Egypt with honor – as the father of the viceroy! Thus, when Yaakov meets Yosef, he says, שׁ ְ מ ַ ע י ִ ש ׂ ְ רָ א ֵ ל. “Hear, O Israel” or “Hear, O Yaakov” – he spoke to himself! He told himself there is ה' – the Midat HaRachamim that prevailed until Yosef was taken from him; but there was also לֹהֵינוּ-ה' אֱ – Midat HaDin, which prevailed with him for twenty-two years after Yosef was taken. When he asked לָמָה הֲרֵעֹתֶם לִי, he was saying, “Now that I met my son, I understand that ה' אֶ חָ ד – everything I went through was all Rachamim!”
Now it becomes clear why Yosef didn’t also recite Shema. It is because he saw everything that happened around him as Midat HaRachamim. Therefore, he never asked, "Why have you done me harm?" – for to him, it was all mercy! Thus, the ל ֹהֵ ינוּ -ה' אֱ of Shema – the Midat HaDin – didn’t apply to him.
Zera Bareich says, Yaakov gave his sons a guiding principle for how to endure the exile. "Always remember," Yaakov said, "ל ֹהֵ ינוּ ה' אֶ חָ ד -שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל ה' אֱ." For in exile, we don’t always see the Midat HaRachamim [ה'], but most often we see the Midat HaDin [ל ֹהֵ ינוּ -אֱ]. He taught his sons, “But know that even if it appears as justice, בָּרוּך שׁ ֵם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד – even that stems from the source of Rachamim!”
