Prayer and Blessings
"And Even to Old Age I Am He; And Even to Gray Hair I Will Carry You; I Have Made You, and I Will Bear; I Will Carry, and I Will Save"
Question
After Aleinu in Shacharit, the siddur includes the following verses:
"Do not fear sudden terror, or the devastation of the wicked when it comes," "Take counsel together, and it shall come to nothing; speak a word, and it shall not stand, for Hashem is with us," "And even to old age I am He; and even to gray hair I will carry you; I have made you, and I will bear; I will carry, and I will save" - my question is: about whom is it said, "...and even to gray hair I will carry you; I have made you, and I will bear; I will carry, and I will save"? Every time I say this verse, I feel discomfort - as though I am supposed to suffer until old age and bear everything, and in the end be saved.
I would appreciate an explanation. Thank you.
Answer
Hello and blessings
This is said about the Creator of the world
Malbim, Isaiah chapter 46, verse 4
(4) And even to old age. He says, however, that Hashem's bearing His children is greater than the bearing of parents of their children, for they do not carry their children except until they grow up, but afterward the matter is reversed, because after the children grow up and the parents grow old, then the children support their fathers and provide for all their needs. But I, even to old age, I am the one who carries, not you; and even to gray hair, which is even more than old age, I will bear you and you will not bear Me. I have made. He says in his eloquent style: behold, the idols are carried by their worshipers, since their worshipers made them, and therefore they need to carry them because they are the work of their hands. But I, did I not make you? Therefore I will carry the work of My hands, and I will bear all their needs and save them from every harm. And therefore:
With blessings,
Binyamin Shmueli
