The Eternal Covenant

אֲנִ֞י יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֗ם אֲשֶׁ֨ר הוֹצֵ֤אתִי אֶתְכֶם֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם לִהְי֥וֹת לָכֶ֖ם לֵאלֹהִ֑ים אֲנִ֖י יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃ {פ}

Numbers 15:41

I the LORD am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I, the LORD your God.

רש"י על במדבר ט״ו:מ״א:ד׳

אני ה' אלהיכם. עוֹד לָמָּה נֶאֱמַר? כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא יֹאמְרוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל מִפְּנֵי מָה אָמַר הַמָּקוֹם? לֹא שֶׁנַּעֲשֶׂה וְנִטֹּל שָֹכָר? אָנוּ לֹא עוֹשִׂים וְלֹא נוֹטְלִים שָׂכָר עַל כָּרְחֲכֶם אֲנִי מַלְכְּכֶם, וְכֵן הוּא אוֹמֵר (יחזקאל כ'), "אִם לֹא בְּיָד חֲזָקָה … אֶמְלוֹךְ עֲלֵיכֶם" (ספרי).

Rashi on Numbers 15:41:4

אני ה׳ אלהיכם I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD — Why is this stated again? In order that the Israelites should not say, “Why has the Omnipresent said it ('אני ה)? Is it not in order that we should perform the commandments and receive reward (cf. Rashi on previous verse)!? We will not perform them and we shall not receive (we shall not expect) any reward!” Therefore it states again in general terms and without reference to the Exodus from Egypt, “I will be the Lord your God: in spite of yourselves I will be your King (I will exercise My sovereignty upon you). — In a similar sense it states, (Ezekiel 20:23) “Surely with a strong hand … will I reign over you” (Sifrei Bamidbar 115:1).

יחזקאל כ׳:ל״ב-ל״ג

וְהָֽעֹלָה֙ עַל־ר֣וּחֲכֶ֔ם הָי֖וֹ לֹ֣א תִֽהְיֶ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר ׀ אַתֶּ֣ם אֹמְרִ֗ים נִֽהְיֶ֤ה כַגּוֹיִם֙ כְּמִשְׁפְּח֣וֹת הָאֲרָצ֔וֹת לְשָׁרֵ֖ת עֵ֥ץ וָאָֽבֶן׃ חַי־אָ֕נִי נְאֻ֖ם אֲדֹנָ֣י יֱהֹוִ֑ה אִם־לֹ֠א בְּיָ֨ד חֲזָקָ֜ה וּבִזְר֧וֹעַ נְטוּיָ֛ה וּבְחֵמָ֥ה שְׁפוּכָ֖ה אֶמְל֥וֹךְ עֲלֵיכֶֽם׃

Ezekiel 20:32-33

And what you have in mind shall never come to pass—when you say, “We will be like the nations, like the families of the lands, worshiping wood and stone.” As I live—declares the Lord GOD—I will reign over you with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with overflowing fury.

בכורות ח׳ ב:ט״ו

מילחא כי סריא במאי מלחי לה אמר להו בסילתא דכודניתא ומי איכא סילתא לכודנתא ומילחא מי סרי

Bekhorot 8b:15

The sages of Athens then asked another question: When salt is spoiling, with what does one salt it to preserve it? Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: With the placenta of a mule. They said to him: But is there a placenta of a mule? Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: And does salt spoil?

סנהדרין צ״ז ב:י״ד-ט״ו

אמר רב כלו כל הקיצין ואין הדבר תלוי אלא בתשובה ומעשים טובים ושמואל אמר דיו לאבל שיעמוד באבלו כתנאי ר' אליעזר אומר אם ישראל עושין תשובה נגאלין ואם לאו אין נגאלין אמר ליה רבי יהושע אם אין עושין תשובה אין נגאלין אלא הקב"ה מעמיד להן מלך שגזרותיו קשות כהמן וישראל עושין תשובה ומחזירן למוטב תניא אידך ר' אליעזר אומר אם ישראל עושין תשובה נגאלין שנאמר (ירמיהו ג, יד) שובו בנים שובבים ארפא משובותיכם אמר לו רבי יהושע והלא כבר נאמר (ישעיהו נב, ג) חנם נמכרתם ולא בכסף תגאלו חנם נמכרתם בעבודת כוכבים ולא בכסף תגאלו לא בתשובה ומעשים טובים

Sanhedrin 97b:14-15

§ Rav says: All the ends of days that were calculated passed, and the matter depends only upon repentance and good deeds. When the Jewish people repent, they will be redeemed. And Shmuel says: It is sufficient for the mourner to endure in his mourning to bring about the coming of the Messiah. Even without repentance, they will be worthy of redemption due to the suffering they endured during the exile. The Gemara notes: This dispute is parallel to a dispute between tanna’im: Rabbi Eliezer says: If the Jewish people repent they are redeemed, and if not they are not redeemed. Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: If they do not repent, will they not be redeemed at all? Rather, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will establish a king for them whose decrees are as harsh as those issued by Haman, and the Jewish people will have no choice but to repent, and this will restore them to the right path. It is taught in another baraita that Rabbi Eliezer says: If the Jewish people repent they are redeemed, as it is stated: “Return, wayward children, I will heal your iniquities” (Jeremiah 3:22). Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: But isn’t it already stated: “So says the Lord: You were sold for naught, and without money you shall be redeemed” (Isaiah 52:3)? Rabbi Yehoshua explains: “You were sold for naught” means you were sold for idol worship, which is a sin with no basis. “And without money you shall be redeemed” means you will be redeemed not through repentance and good deeds, but through the will of God.

דברים ל׳:א׳-ד׳

וְהָיָה֩ כִֽי־יָבֹ֨אוּ עָלֶ֜יךָ כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֗לֶּה הַבְּרָכָה֙ וְהַקְּלָלָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָתַ֖תִּי לְפָנֶ֑יךָ וַהֲשֵׁבֹתָ֙ אֶל־לְבָבֶ֔ךָ בְּכׇ֨ל־הַגּוֹיִ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֧ר הִדִּיחֲךָ֛ יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ שָֽׁמָּה׃ וְשַׁבְתָּ֞ עַד־יְהֹוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ וְשָׁמַעְתָּ֣ בְקֹל֔וֹ כְּכֹ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־אָנֹכִ֥י מְצַוְּךָ֖ הַיּ֑וֹם אַתָּ֣ה וּבָנֶ֔יךָ בְּכׇל־לְבָבְךָ֖ וּבְכׇל־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃ וְשָׁ֨ב יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ אֶת־שְׁבוּתְךָ֖ וְרִחֲמֶ֑ךָ וְשָׁ֗ב וְקִבֶּצְךָ֙ מִכׇּל־הָ֣עַמִּ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֧ר הֱפִֽיצְךָ֛ יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ שָֽׁמָּה׃ אִם־יִהְיֶ֥ה

Deuteronomy 30:1-4

When all these things befall you—the blessing and the curse that I have set before you—and you take them to heart amidst the various nations to which the LORD your God has banished you, and you return to the LORD your God, and you and your children heed His command with all your heart and soul, just as I enjoin upon you this day, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and take you back in love. He will bring you together again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the world, from there the LORD your God will gather you, from there He will fetch you.

ויקרא כ״ו:מ״ד

וְאַף־גַּם־זֹ֠את בִּֽהְיוֹתָ֞ם בְּאֶ֣רֶץ אֹֽיְבֵיהֶ֗ם לֹֽא־מְאַסְתִּ֤ים וְלֹֽא־גְעַלְתִּים֙ לְכַלֹּתָ֔ם לְהָפֵ֥ר בְּרִיתִ֖י אִתָּ֑ם כִּ֛י אֲנִ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵיהֶֽם׃

Leviticus 26:44

Yet, even then, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or spurn them so as to destroy them, annulling My covenant with them: for I the LORD am their God.

סידור אשכנז, ימי חול, תפילת שחרית, עמידה, אבות ג׳

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵֽינוּ אֱלֹהֵי אַבְרָהָם אֱלֹהֵי יִצְחָק וֵאלֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב הָאֵל הַגָּדוֹל הַגִּבּוֹר וְהַנּוֹרָא אֵל עֶלְיוֹן גּוֹמֵל חֲסָדִים טוֹבִים וְקוֹנֵה הַכֹּל וְזוֹכֵר חַסְדֵי אָבוֹת וּמֵבִיא גוֹאֵל לִבְנֵי בְנֵיהֶם לְמַֽעַן שְׁמוֹ בְּאַהֲבָה:

Siddur Ashkenaz, Weekday, Shacharit, Amidah, Patriarchs 3

Blessed are You, Adonoy, our God, and God of our fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, the Almighty, the Great, the Powerful, the Awesome, most high Almighty, Who bestows beneficent kindness, Who possesses everything, Who remembers the piety of the Patriarchs, and Who brings a redeemer to their children’s children, for the sake of His Name, with love.