Bamidbar Rabbah Reader

That which the verse said: “The stout-hearted were bewildered. They fell into a stupor” (Psalms 76:6). “Were bewildered” – these were Moses and Aaron, who dispatched the spies. When they returned and said an evil report regarding the Land, they did not know what to do; rather, even Moses and Aaron were bewildered by them.

Immediately, Caleb stood and silenced the entire population, as it is stated: “Caleb silenced the people” (Numbers 13:30). He stood on the bench and he was silencing them, and saying: ‘Hush,’ and they grew silent to hear him. He said to them: “The Land is exceedingly good” (Numbers 14:7). The Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: ‘I am extremely grateful to him,’ as it is stated: “Except [zulati] Caleb son of Yefuneh” (Deuteronomy 1:36).

What is zulati? ‘This one is for Me [lazeh iti] greater that six hundred thousand of you. You did not find any recourse, but rather you reeled.’ That is why it is stated: “The stout-hearted were bewildered.” Why to that extent?

It is because these emissaries were fools. Solomon said: “One who sends things by the hand of a fool cuts off his feet and drinks rancor” (Proverbs 26:6).

“Send you men” – Rabbi Aḥa the Great began: “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8). To what is the matter comparable? It is to a king who had a beloved one and stipulated with him and said to him: ‘Go with me and I will give you a gift.’ He went with him and died.

The king said to the son of his beloved one: ‘Even though your father died, I am not retracting the gift that I said to him. You come and take it.’ So is the matter: The king is the King of kings, the Holy One blessed be He. The beloved one, this is Abraham, as it is stated: “The offspring of Abraham My beloved” (Isaiah 41:8).

The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Come, go with Me, “go you from your land, and from your birthplace, and from your father’s house”’ (Genesis 12:1). He stipulated with him that he would give him a gift, as it is stated: “Arise, walk through the land…[as to you I will give it]” (Genesis 13:17), and likewise it says: “For all the land that you see, I will give to you” (Genesis 13:15). The Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: ‘Although I stipulated to give the Land to the patriarchs and they died, I am not retracting it’; rather, “but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8).

“Send you men” – this is what the verse said: “Like vinegar to the teeth, and like smoke to the eyes, so is the idle man to his senders” (Proverbs 10:26). It was obvious that the spies were disseminating slander about the Land, as it is stated: “They drew their tongue, their bow is falsehood” (Jeremiah 9:2). To what is the matter comparable? It is to a wealthy man who had a vineyard.

When he would see that wine was of high quality, he would say: ‘Take the wine into my house.’ But when he would see that the wine is vinegar, he would say: ‘Take the wine into your houses.’ The same is true of the Holy One blessed be He. When He saw the elders, that their actions were upright, He attributed them to His name, as it is stated: “Gather to Me seventy men” (Numbers 11:16), but when He saw the spies, who were destined to sin, he attributed them to Moses’s name, “send you men.”

That which the verse said: “One who sends things by the hand of a fool cuts off his feet and drinks rancor” (Proverbs 26:6). Were the spies fools? But was it not already stated: “Send you men [anashim],” and everywhere that anashim is stated, they are righteous, as it says: “Moses said to Joshua: Select anashim for us”? (Exodus 17:9). Likewise, it says: “The man in the days of Saul was elderly and would come among men [anashim]” (I Samuel 17:12); “You will give Your maidservant a male [anashim] offspring” (I Samuel 1:11).2The child born was the prophet Samuel.

Do you call these fools? These were called fools only because they disseminated slander about the Land, as it is stated: “The disseminator of slander is a fool” (Proverbs 10:18). Nevertheless, they were great men, but rendered themselves fools. Moses said in their regard: “As they are a contrary generation; children in whom there is no loyalty” (Deuteronomy 32:20).

They were chosen from all Israel by the pronouncement of the Holy One blessed be He and by the pronouncement of Moses, as it is written: “The matter was good in my eyes and I took from you twelve men” (Deuteronomy 1:23). From here [we derive] that they were righteous before Israel and before Moses. Moses, too, did not wish to send them at his own initiative until he consulted with the Holy One blessed be He regarding each and every one, so-and-so from tribe such-and-such, and He said to him that they were worthy.

From where is it derived that the Holy One blessed be He said that they were worthy? It is as it is stated: “Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the directive of the Lord” (Numbers 13:3). Then, at the conclusion of forty days, they became contrary and caused that generation to be stricken with that blow, as it is stated: “As they are a contrary generation”; as they were evaluated as righteous and reversed: This is why it is stated: “Send you anashim”; “these are the names of the anashim” (Numbers 13:16).

Another matter, “send you men, that they may scout.” “Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses” (Numbers 12:1) and then: “Send you [men].” This is what the verse said: “They do not know and they do not understand, for their eyes are smeared and don’t see” (Isaiah 44:18). What did He see that led Him to say: “Send you men” after the incident involving Miriam?

It is, rather, that it was anticipated before the Holy One blessed be He that they would speak slander about the Land. The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘So they will not say: We did not know the punishment for slander.’ That is why the Holy One blessed be He juxtaposed one matter to the other; because Miriam spoke against her brother and was stricken with leprosy, so that all would know the punishment of slander, so that were they to seek to say slander, they would look upon what befell Miriam.

Nevertheless, they did not wish to learn. That is why it is stated: “They do not know and they do not understand, for their eyes are smeared and don’t see.”

Another matter, “Send you men”; although the Holy One blessed be He said: “Send you,” it was not from the Holy One blessed be He that they should go. Why? It is because the Holy One blessed be He had already said the praise of the Land of Israel to them: “For the Lord your God is bringing you to [a good] land” (Deuteronomy 8:7).3Therefore there was no need to send anybody to check the quality of the land.

Likewise it says: “For the land that you are coming there to take possession of it…[it drinks water from the rain]” (Deuteronomy 11:10–11). And while they were still in Egypt, He said: “I have descended to deliver them from the hand of the Egypt and to bring them up from that land [to a good and expansive land, to a land flowing with milk and honey]” (Exodus 3:8). The verse says: “The Lord was going before them by day in a pillar of cloud” (Exodus 13:21).4Therefore there was no military need to check out the land.

What is “send you men”? Rather, it was Israel that requested these matters, as when they arrived to take possession at the borders, the Holy One blessed be He said to them: “See, the Lord your God has placed the land before you, [go up and conquer]” (Deuteronomy 1:21); at that moment, Israel approached Moses, as it is stated: “All of you approached me” (Deuteronomy 1:22). That is what Ezra said: “…They did not heed your commandments.

They refused to heed and did not remember Your wonders” (Nehemiah 9:16–17). Likewise, it says: “[and the Ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them…] to scout a resting place for them” (Numbers 10:33). Nevertheless, they said: “Let us send men before us, and they will spy [the land] for us”? (Deuteronomy 1:22). It is, rather, that they did not believe.

Likewise, David says: “Because they did not believe in God” (Psalms 78:22); and it is written: “They refused to follow His Torah” (Psalms 78:10). Rabbi Yehoshua said: To what were they comparable? It is to a king who arranged for his son, a fine-looking, wellborn, and wealthy woman. The king said to him: 'I arranged for you a fine-looking, wellborn, and wealthy woman.'

The son said to him: 'I will go and see her,’ because he did not believe his father. Immediately, the matter was difficult for and troubled his father. His father said: ‘What shall I do? If I say to him: I will not show her to you, now he will say: She was ugly; that is why he does not want to show her.’

Ultimately he said to him: 'See her and ascertain whether I lied to you. But because you did not believe in me, I vow that you will not see her in your home, but rather, I will give her to your son.’ Likewise, the Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: “The Land is good,” but they did not believe, but rather, they said: “Let us send men before us, and they will spy [the land] for us.” The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘If I prevent them, they will say: It is because it is not good that He did not show it to us.

Rather, let them see it; but by My oath, not one of them will enter into it, as it is stated: “They will not see the land regarding which I took an oath to their fathers, and all those who scorned Me will not see it” (Numbers 14:23); but I will give it to their children.

When they said to Moses: “Let us send men before us,” Moses began standing and pondering, he said: ‘Is it possible for me to do anything until I consult with the Holy One blessed be He?’ He went and consulted. He said to Him: ‘Your children are requesting such and such.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘This is not a first for them.

While they were still in Egypt, they derided Me,’ as it is stated: “This was their derision in the land of Egypt” (Hosea 7:16). ‘They are accustomed to this. I need not test them,’ as it is written: “He knows what is in the darkness, and the light rests with Him” (Daniel 2:22). The Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: ‘I know what they are. However, if you asked, send them yourself.’

From where is it derived? It is as it is written: “These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to scout the land” (Numbers 13:16).

“Moses called Hoshea son of Nun, Joshua [Yehoshua]” (Numbers 13:16). What did Moses see that led him to add a yod to Joshua’s name? It is, rather, that Caleb took his reward from the Land, as it is stated: “Surely, the land on which your foot trod will be an inheritance for you and for your children forever” (Joshua 14:9), and Joshua took the reward of the ten men who constituted the spies, as an extra yod was added to him; yod equals ten. “Moses called Hoshea son of Nun, Joshua.” Alternatively, when Moses saw them, that they were wicked, he said to Joshua [Yehoshua]: “May the Lord deliver you [ya yoshiakha] from this generation.

“These were the names of the men” (Numbers 13:16). What were their names? They were “Setur son of Mikhael…Naḥbi son of Vofsi…Geuel son of Makhi” (Numbers 13:13–15). There are people whose names are pleasant but their actions are repulsive; their names are repulsive but their actions are pleasant; their names are pleasant and their actions are pleasant; their names and their actions are repulsive.

Whose names are pleasant but their actions are repulsive: This is Ishmael and Esau. Ishmael – God listens [shome’a el]; Esau – he performs [oseh] the will of his Maker [osehu]. Their names are repulsive but their actions are pleasant: These are those who ascended from the exile: “The children of Barkos, the children of Sisera, the children of Tamaḥ” (Ezra 2:53).5These are names which have no reference to anything positive, and appear to be names which were originally not used by Jews.

For example, Sisera was the name of an officer who headed an army which subjugated Israel (Judges 4:2). Their names are repulsive and their actions are repulsive, these are the spies: What is written in their regard? “Setur” – He eliminated him [shesetaro] from the world.

“Moses sent them to scout the land of Canaan, he said to them: Ascend there in the South, and ascend the highland” (Numbers 13:17). “He said to them: Ascend there in the South.” As they were ascending, Rabbi Berekhya HaKohen ben Rabbi said: They encountered three children of the giants, as it is stated: “And there, Aḥiman, Sheshai, and Talmai” (Numbers 13:22). Why was his name Aḥiman?

It is because he would say: My brethren [aḥai], who [man] will come against us? Sheshai – because he was as hard as marble [shayish]. Talmai – because he would make furrows [telamim] in the ground. When the spies saw them, they were afraid.

That is why they said: “For they are stronger than we [mimenu]”6Mimenu can be first person plural or third person singular. If it is the latter, they were saying: “For they are stronger than Him.” (Numbers 13:31). Reish Lakish said: They hurled invective toward on High. Due to that iniquity harsh decrees were decreed against them.

What did the Holy One blessed be He say to Jeremiah? ‘Go and say to them: You do not know what you expressed from your mouths. “To the sound of great commotion” (Jeremiah 11:16) that you said, what did you cause yourselves? You ignited a fire upon yourselves.’ “A day for each year, a day for each year you shall bear your iniquities” (Numbers 14:34).

They said: “We were as grasshoppers in our eyes” (Numbers 13:33). The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘I forgive them for this.’ “And likewise we were in their eyes” (Numbers 13:33). ‘Do you know what I rendered you in their eyes? Who is to say that you were not as angels in their eyes?

What have you caused yourselves?’ “In accordance with the number of the days that you scouted the land” (Numbers 14:34). That is not sufficient for them, but they also did not enter the Land. The Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: ‘In this world, because they were flesh and blood messengers, it was decreed in their regard that they would not enter the Land.

However, in the World to Come, I will send you My messenger and he will clear the path,’ as it is stated: “Behold, I am sending My messenger, and he will clear a way before Me and suddenly the Lord whom you seek will come to His Sanctuary” (Malachi 3:1).

“Moses sent them to scout the land of Canaan, he said to them: Ascend there in the South, and ascend the highland,” as merchants show the inferior merchandise first7The southern part of Israel is less fertile than the northern part. and then show the superior merchandise. “And you shall see the Land” (Numbers 13:18). Three times he said to them: “What is the Land?” (Numbers 13:18–20). Why in the first, is it: “You shall see”?

He said to them: ‘Look at the Land of Israel; there is a land that grows mighty men and there is a land that grows weak men. There is one that maximizes population, and one that minimizes population.’ Likewise he commanded them: “And the people that live in it, are they strong or are they weak, are they few or many?” (Numbers 13:18). “And what is the land in which they live?” (Numbers 13:19).

From where do you know their strength? If they dwell in open areas, they are mighty, reliant on their strength; if within fortifications, they are weak and soft-hearted. “And what is the land, is it fat?” (Numbers 13:20). Are its fruits lean or fat?

He said to them: ‘Look at their rocks and their earth; if they are of hard rock,8They do not crumble easily. they will be fat, if they are of earthenware,9They crumble easily. they will be lean.’ “The days were the days of the first grapes” (Numbers 13:20). From here they said: ‘There is no season of Tamuz without figs and grapes.’

“They ascended and scouted the land from the wilderness of Tzin to Rehov, at the approach to Hamat” (Numbers 13:21). “They ascended and scouted the land.” How? They would enter a city and a plague would afflict the prominent among them.

The residents of the city would engage in their burial, and no person would see them. That is why they said: “The land, through which we passed [to scout, it is a land that devours its inhabitants]” (Numbers 13:32). Through the miracles that the Holy One blessed be He would perform for them, they would disseminate slander. “They ascended in the South, and they came until Hebron, and Aḥiman…were there” (Numbers 13:22), as they were exceedingly mighty, as it is stated: “That you knew and you heard: Who can stand before the children of giants?” (Deuteronomy 9:2).

“Hebron was built seven years [before Tzoan of Egypt]” (Numbers 13:22), to inform you of the praise of the Land of Israel, that its inferior area10Hebron is in the south of Israel. is exceedingly superior to the superior area of Egypt. When the sons of Noah went out and inherited the world after the Flood, they built cities first, not in the superior place, but in the inferior place of the Land of Israel.

Tzoan of Egypt is the best in the land of Egypt,11See Ketubot 112a. and this preceded it by seven years. If you say: The one who built this did not build that; it is the same generation and the same family. “The sons of Ḥam: Kush, and Mitzrayim, and Put, and Canaan” (Genesis 10:6), and they went and built this one before that one. “Hebron was built seven years before Tzoan of Egypt.”

“They came to the Eshkol ravine, and cut from there a vine with one cluster of grapes, and bore it upon a pole with two, and from the pomegranates, and from the figs” (Numbers 13:23). “They came to the Eshkol ravine” – they did not wish to take from the fruits of the Land of Israel. Had it not been for Caleb, who drew the sword, ran before them, and said to them: ‘If you do not take, either you will kill me or I will kill you’hey would not have taken.

Therefore, “[Moses took an oath on that day, saying:] The land on which your foot trod will be [an inheritance] for you” (Joshua 14:9). “And bore it upon a pole with two” – there were no fewer than two poles, as it does not say “two on a pole,” but rather, “with two.” Some say three; “upon a pole” is one, “with two,” that is three. How much was the weight of each and every one of them?

It is stated regarding the stones that they took from the Jordan: “Joshua erected those twelve stones that they took from the Jordan in Gilgal” (Joshua 4:20). What was the measure of each and every one? It was the weight of forty se’a. From here, you calculate regarding that cluster; if a person can carry a burden of one se’a by himself, if another lifts it for him, he carries two se’a. If he can lift two se’a, with another, he carries three.

Go and calculate from here.12See Sota 34a, where the gemara states that a person who carries something by himself can carry one third of the weight that he can carry with somebody else. Based on that, the Etz Yosef says that if a person lifts up a burden onto his own shoulder he can lift one half of what he can lift if somebody else lifts up the burden and places it on his shoulder, and one third of what he can lift if he and somebody else lift up the burden together. Thus, the cluster weighed 120 se'a.

“They returned from scouting the land at the conclusion of forty days” (Numbers 13:25). You find that they went from the south to the north in forty days, but in forty days they traversed it in its entirety?13The land is too large to traverse by foot in forty days. Rather, it was revealed before the Holy One blessed be He that they would come and speak slander about the Land, and years of travail would be decreed upon them, one year for each day. The Holy One blessed be He miraculously shortened the path before them.

“That place he called the Eshkol ravine, because of the cluster [eshkol] that the children of Israel cut from there” (Numbers 13:24). “That place he called the Eshkol ravine” – that is what the verse said: “Telling the outcome from the outset” (Isaiah 46:10), as everything was foreseen before the Holy One blessed be He. Eshkol was Abraham’s friend,14Genesis 14:13, 24. and he was called Eshkol because of the eshkol that the children of Israel were destined to cut from there.

“They went and came to Moses, and to Aaron…. They related to him, and said: We came to the land…[and indeed it is flowing with milk and honey and this is its fruit]. But the people that dwell in the Land are powerful” (Numbers 13:26–28). This is the way of those who relate slander; they begin with something positive and conclude with the negative.

“Amalek dwells in the region of the south” (Numbers 13:29) – what did they see that led them to open with Amalek? It is analogous to a child who misbehaved and was struck with a strap. When they seek to scare him, they remind him of the strap with which he was struck. So, Amalek was an injurious strap for Israel. What did he see that led him to settle in the border region on the route of Israel’s entry into the Land? This is what his grandfather, Esau, commanded him, to encounter them on the way, so he uprooted from his place and settled on the route. “The Amalekites and the Canaanites…descended and smote them and crushed them, until Horma” (Numbers 14:45).

“Caleb silenced the people toward Moses, and said: We will ascend, and inherit it; for we can prevail over it” (Numbers 13:30). “Caleb silenced” – as at first he said to them: ‘I am with you in counsel,’ but in his heart, he intended to speak the truth, as it is stated: “I returned word to him as it was in my heart. My brethren who went up with me dissolved the heart of the people” (Joshua 14:7–8).

Likewise, the Holy One blessed be He attests in his regard: “But My servant Caleb, because another spirit was with him” (Numbers 14:24). When the spies came, they said: ‘Caleb is trustworthy for us,’ he immediately stood on the bench and silenced all of Israel, who were shouting at Moses, as it is stated: “Caleb silenced.” They believed that he was going to speak slander; that is why they were silent.

He began and said: “We will ascend, and inherit it; for we can prevail over it.” Immediately, they disputed with him and said: “We will be unable to ascend against the people…” (Numbers 13:31).

“The entire congregation raised and sounded their voice and the people wept that night” (Numbers 14:1). “The entire congregation raised and sounded their voice” – this is what is written: “The words of a grumbler are like blows, and they descend into the chambers of the belly” (Proverbs 18:8). The matters that they grumbled after the Holy One blessed be He caused them great trouble, as had they not concurred with the spies, they would not have been stricken with them, but they followed them, as it is stated: “You grumbled [vateragenu] in your tents and said” (Deuteronomy 1:27).

What is vateragenu? You sought the denigration [tartem genut] of the Land of Israel, which the Holy One blessed be He called “a good land.” “The entire congregation raised and sounded their voice” – this is what the verse said: “It has raised its voice against Me; therefore, I hated it” (Jeremiah 12:8). That voice that you cried caused you to be hated.

Regarding that generation, Isaiah said: “On the day of your planting you will flourish [tesagsegi] and in the morning your seed will blossom” (Isaiah 17:11). On the day that He said to implant you in the ground, you became dross [sigim].15Instead of being planted in the land and flourishing, you became like dross. “And in the morning your seed will blossom” – before the heat of the day arrived, you blossomed.16When the plant blossoms early, the heat of the day withers it.

Your faith withered even before you entered the heat of battle waged to conquer the Land. “The harvest will be lost on a day of affliction” (Isaiah 17:11) – on the day that I moved to give you the inheritance of your ancestors, you became a disgrace for the world. “And acute agony” (Isaiah 17:11) – this is the calamity that you sent as an inheritance for the generations, as they wept on the eve of the Ninth of Av.

The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘You wept a gratuitous weeping before Me, I will set it for you as weeping for the generations.’ From that moment, it was decreed that the Temple would be destroyed, so that Israel would be exiled among the nations, just as it says: “He raised His hand in their regard, to cast them down in the wilderness, and to cast their offspring among the nations and to scatter them among the lands” (Psalms 106:26–27). Raising the hand is corresponding to raising the voice.

“All the children of Israel complained against Moses and against Aaron, and the entire congregation said to them: If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or in this wilderness, if only we had died” (Numbers 14:2). “All the children of Israel complained against Moses and against Aaron, and the entire congregation said to them” – these are the Sanhedrins. “If only we had died in the land of Egypt” – this is analogous to a king, that one ascended to his podium to be judged.

He expressed a matter from his mouth with which he incurred liability. The king put down the bill of indictment and convicted him on the basis of what he said. He said: ‘Based on what you expressed from your mouth I am sentencing you; it will befall you just as you said.’ So, too, the Holy One blessed be He said to them: “Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness” (Numbers 14:29). “[Say to them:] As I live, the utterance of the Lord, surely as you spoke in My ears, so I shall do to you” (Numbers 14:28).

They began saying: “Why does the Lord bring us…. They said, one to another: Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt. Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces before the entire assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. Joshua son of Nun, and Caleb son of Yefuneh, from those who scouted the land, rent their garments.

They said to the entire congregation of the children of Israel, saying…If the Lord is favorably disposed to us, He will bring us…However, do not rebel against the Lord, and you…” (Numbers 14:3–9). They [the people] said to them [Moses and Aaron]: ‘You are not trustworthy for us; our brethren17The other spies. are more concerned about us than you are,’ as it is stated: “Where are we ascending? Our brethren have weakened our heart, saying” (Deuteronomy 1:28).

“The entire congregation said to stone them with stones” (Numbers 14:10) – who were they? They were Moses and Aaron. “And the glory of the Lord appeared” (Numbers 14:10) – it teaches that they were casting stones and the cloud would receive them.18The pillar of cloud absorbed the stones and protected Moses and Aaron.

“The Lord said to Moses: Until when will this people provoke Me, and until when will they not believe in Me, with all the signs that I have performed in their midst?” (Numbers 14:11). “The Lord said to Moses: Until when will this people provoke Me [and until when will they not believe in Me]” – the Holy One blessed be He said: ‘I screamed two screams19The verse includes the words “until when” twice. because of you; ultimately, you will scream four in the subjugation to the kingdoms.’

“How long, Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long must I devise plans…?

For how long will my enemies tower over me?” (Psalms 13:2–3). I screamed: “Until when, for this evil congregation…” (Numbers 14:27), ultimately, you will scream: “For I am in great terror. And You, Lord, until when?” (Psalms 6:4). I will smite them with the pestilence and eliminate them and make you a nation greater and mightier than them (Numbers 14:12).

“I will smite them with the pestilence” (Numbers 14:12) – Moses said: ‘Master of the universe, look to the covenant with their forefathers, to whom you took an oath that You would produce kings, prophets, and priests from them.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Are you not of their descendants? “I will render you a great nation”’ (Exodus 32:10). When Moses saw this, he took a different tack.

“Moses said to the Lord: Egypt will hear…and they will say regarding the inhabitants of this land” (Numbers 14:13–14) – ‘they will say that He did not have the strength to sustain them.’ He said to him: ‘But did they not see the miracles and the mighty acts that I performed at the sea?’ [Moses replied:] ‘They will say: He was able to prevail against us, but is unable to prevail against thirty-one kings.

Master of the universe, do it for Your sake: “And now, please, let the might of my Lord be great” (Numbers 14:17), and let the attribute of mercy overcome the attribute of justice. “As You spoke, saying” (Numbers 14:17) – did I not say before You: With what attribute do You judge your world; “please inform me of Your ways”? (Exodus 33:13). You passed [he’evarta] it before me: “The Lord passed [vayaavor] before him and proclaimed” (Exodus 34:6).

Fulfill that attribute that You said to me: “The Lord, the Lord, God merciful and gracious” (Exodus 34:6). “Please pardon”’ (Numbers 14:19). The Holy One blessed be He accepted his words and conceded to him: “The Lord said: I have pardoned in accordance with your word” (Numbers 14:20) – as the Egyptians would have been destined to say as you said.

“However, as I live, and the entire earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord” (Numbers 14:21). “However, as I live…” “[If] the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above [will see…]” (Numbers 32:11) – from twenty years old, whether he was with them in that counsel or whether he was not with them in that counsel. Less than twenty years old, and he has not grown two hairs,20Since he is a minor. whether he was with them in that counsel or whether he was not with them in that counsel, [he would enter].

If he grew two hairs and is less than twenty, if he was with them in that counsel, he would not enter; nevertheless, not one of them died less than sixty years old.21Reaching maturity for men has two conditions; the age of thirteen and two hairs (Nidda 45b). Those who were punished despite having been under twenty, because they had two hairs and had been with them in that counsel, did not die young.

They were not allowed to enter, but they didn’t die before surpassing the age at which one may have died because of the punishment of karet. Come and see what is “between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him” (Malachi 3:18). This is analogous to a noblewoman who had a Kushite maidservant, and her husband [the king] went to a country overseas. All night, that maidservant was saying to that noblewoman: ‘I am fairer than you and the king loves me more than you.’

The noblewoman said to her: ‘Morning will come and we will know who is fair and who the king loves.’ So, likewise, the nations of the world would say to Israel: ‘Our actions are fine and the Holy One blessed be He wants us.’ That is why Isaiah said: Morning will come and we will know whom He wants, as it is stated: “The sentry said: The morning comes and also night” (Isaiah 21:12). The World to Come, which is called morning, will come, and we will know whom He wants.

“You will return and see the difference between the righteous and the wicked” (Malachi 3:18). It is written: “Men are vanity; men are an illusion” (Psalms 62:10). Rabbi Ḥiyya said in the name of Rabbi Levi: All the vanities that Israel performs all the days of the year, “rise together on the scales [mozenayim]” (Psalms 62:10) – the Holy One blessed be He forgives them under the constellation of Libra [mozenayim] during the month of Tishrei; “For on this day he shall atone for you, to purify you” (Leviticus 16:30).

“Until when will this people provoke Me” – this is what is written: “You nullified [vatifre’u] all my counsel and are unwilling to receive my rebuke” (Proverbs 1:25). “They disdained all my rebuke” (Proverbs 1:30). What is vatifre’u? It is, rather, all the good that I counseled in your regard, you corrupted it and nullified [ufratem] it, as it is stated: “Vatifre’u all my counsel.”

“I descended to deliver you from the hand of Egypt” (Exodus 3:8), but you did not do so.22This is a reference to God's call that they should abandon the idols of Egypt, and the refusal of the nation to do so in Egypt. See Ezekiel 20:5–8. You came to the sea and immediately ruined the plan, as it is stated: “They were defiant at the sea, at the Red Sea” (Psalms 106:7). With thousands of thousands and myriads of myriads of angels I descended for your benefit, and I would give each and every one of you two angels, one would gird him with his weapon and one would place a crown on his head.

Rabbi Yehuda of Tzippori said: They tied weapons upon them. Rabbi Simai says: They dressed them in royal purple garments with the ineffable name engraved on it. All the days that it was in their possession, no evil matter would affect them, neither the angel of death, nor another matter. When they sinned, Moses said to them: “Now remove your ornament” (Exodus 33:5).

At that moment, “the people heard this evil tiding” (Exodus 33:4). What is written: “The children of Israel were stripped of their ornament” (Exodus 33:6). What did the Holy One blessed be He do at the giving of the Torah? He brought the angel of death, He said to him: 'The entire world is in your domain, except for this nation that I chose for Me.'

Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Yosei HaGelili said: The angel of death said before the Holy One blessed be He: 'Was I created in the world for nothing?’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: 'I created you so you can bereave idol worshippers, but you have no license over this nation.' See the counsel that the Holy One blessed be He counseled in their regard, that they will be alive and enduring: “But you, who cleave [to the Lord your God, all of you live today]” (Deuteronomy 4:4).

Likewise it says: “The writing was the writing of God, engraved [ḥarut] on the tablets” (Exodus 32:16). What is ḥarut? Rabbi Yehuda says: Freedom [ḥerut] from the kingdoms. Rabbi Neḥemya says: From the angel of death.

Rabbi [Yehuda Hanasi] says: From suffering. See the counsel that the Holy One blessed be He counseled in their regard, and they immediately corrupted that counsel within forty days. That is why it is stated: “You nullified all my counsel” (Proverbs 1:25). The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘I said that you will not sin, and you will live and endure like Me, just as I live and endure for all eternity.

“I had said: You are divine, like beings on High, all of you,” (Psalms 82:6), like the ministering angels that do not die. But after all that greatness, you sought to die; “yet as men [adam] you will die” (Psalms 82:7), like Adam the first man, whom I commanded one mitzva for him to perform it, and he would live and endure forever,’ as it is stated: “Behold, the man has become as one of us” (Genesis 3:22), and likewise: “God created man in his image” (Genesis 1:27) – that he would live and endure like Him. ‘But he corrupted his actions, nullified My decree, and ate from the tree.

I said to him: “For you are dust [and will return to dust]” (Genesis 3:19). You, too, I said: “I had said: You are divine,” but you corrupted yourselves like Adam. “Yet, as Adam you will die.” Who caused this for them?

“You nullified all My counsel.”’ The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘With the benefit that I brought upon you, with that, you infuriate. They came to the wilderness and I fed them manna for forty years, and not one of them needed to relieve himself for those forty years. Rather, they ate the manna and it became flesh for them,’ as it is stated: “Men ate the bread of the mighty [abirim]” (Psalms 78:25).23This is expounded as though it said eivarim, meaning limbs.

With it they infuriated Him. One says to the other: ‘Do you not know that we have not relieved ourselves for several days, and a person who does not relieve himself for four days or five days, he dies.’ “And our soul loathes the insubstantial [hakelokel] bread” (Numbers 21:5), as it was light in their intestines. The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘With what I benefitted them, they infuriated Me,’ as it is stated: “What more is there to do for my vineyard [that I did not do in it]?” (Isaiah 5:4).24In this metaphor, the Holy One blessed be He is the owner of the vineyard and Israel is the vineyard.

The spies went and saw the land. You find that every place that Israel goes, it is recognized, as it is stated: “All who see them will recognize them” (Isaiah 61:9). The Holy One blessed be He said: If the Emorites see them, they will recognize that they are Israel and will kill them. Rather, what will I do?

In each and every province that the spies would enter, the head of the province would be stricken, or its king would be stricken, so they would be occupied in taking their dead out and would not pay attention to the spies, so they would not kill them. But they infuriated with it; when they came to Moses, and to Israel, they said: ‘What is the land?’ Every place that they entered, they would see dead people, what benefit is there?

“A land that consumes its inhabitants” (Numbers 13:32) – the Holy One blessed be He said: ‘I believed that you would become like the patriarchs, “Like grapes in the wilderness” (Hosea 9:10), but I did not believe that you would become like Sodom, as it is stated: “For their vine is of the vine of Sodom”’ (Deuteronomy 32:32). “Why did I hope to produce grapes and it produced inferior ones?” (Isaiah 5:4). That is why it is stated: “Until when will this people provoke Me?”

Moses said to Him: “They heard that You, the Lord, are in the midst of this people…If You kill this people as one man [the nations who have heard your fame will say: Because of the inability of the Lord to bring this nation to the land which He swore to give them, he killed them in the desert]” (Numbers 14:14–16) – [Do not destroy them] so the nations of the world will not say that the gods of Canaan are stronger than the gods of Egypt.

The gods of Egypt are false, but those of Canaan are substantial. “They will say regarding the inhabitants of the land” (Numbers 14:14). “Due to the Lord’s lack of ability [yekholet]” (Numbers 14:16) – because He did not have the ability to continue providing them with food, He took them out to kill them in the wilderness. The expression yekholet means nothing other than food, just as it says: “Twenty thousand kor of wheat, provision [makolet] for his household” (I Kings 5:25).

Another matter, [do not destroy them] so the nations of the world will not relate to You as cruel, saying: ‘The generation of the Flood came and He eradicated them. The generation of the Dispersion came, the Sodomites came, the Egyptians came, and He eradicated them. These, too, whom He called: “My son, My firstborn” (Exodus 4:22), behold, He is eradicating them, like this Lilit,25The queen of the demons. who does not find anything, and turns against her children.’

So, it is, “due to the Lord’s lack of yekholet.”26This is expounded as though it says: The lack of victims to eradicate [lekhalot]. Moses said: ‘Master of the universe, “That with their very eyes [ayin be’ayin], You, [the Lord], were seen” (Numbers 14:14). What is “ayin be’ayin"? Reish Lakish said: That the scales are equal [me’uyan].

You say: “I will smite them with pestilence” (Numbers 14:12), and I say: “Please pardon” (Numbers 14:19). Let us see whose prevails, as it is stated: “I have pardoned in accordance with your word” (Numbers 14:20). Nevertheless, the decree of the Holy One blessed be He was not voided, as He said to Moses: “I will render you a nation greater [and mightier than they]” (Numbers 14:12), and He produced six hundred thousand from him, as it is stated: “But the sons of Rehavya were very numerous” (I Chronicles 23:17).27Rehavya was Moses’ grandson.

But in the future, the Holy One blessed be He will gather them, as it is stated: “Behold, these will come from afar, and behold, these from the North and from the West, and those from the land of Sinim” (Isaiah 49:12). The exiles will come with them; the tribes that are situated beyond the Sambatyon River and beyond the mountains of darkness, they will gather and come to Jerusalem. Isaiah said: “To say to prisoners: Emerge” (Isaiah 49:9), these are those situated beyond the Sambatyon River.

“To those in darkness: Reveal yourselves” (Isaiah 49:9), these are those situated beyond the clouds of darkness. “They will graze along the ways and on all the bare hills will be their pasture” (Isaiah 49:9), these are those who are situated in Daphne of Antioch. At that moment they will be redeemed, and come to Zion in joy, as it is stated: “The redeemed of the Lord will return and will come to Zion in song” (Isaiah 51:11).

“Until when, for this evil congregation that bring complaints against Me? I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel that they brought against Me” (Numbers 14:27). “Until when…” – halakha: A baby who has a stone in his hand, is it permitted to move him on Shabbat? Our Rabbis taught: A person may take his son even though there is a stone in his hand, and a basket with a stone inside it.

You learn it from the generation of the wilderness, as the Holy One blessed be He was, as it were, bearing them in the wilderness, “as a man would bear his son” (Deuteronomy 1:31), and there were idols in their possession, as it is stated: “They made themselves a cast figure of a calf” (Nehemiah 9:18). Likewise you find when they crossed in the sea, the image of Mikha crossed with them, as it is stated: “Trouble [tzara]28The word tzara can also mean another wife.

Thus it is used as a reference to idol worship, in which "another entity" is being brought into the relationship with God. will pass through the sea” (Zechariah 10:11). Nevertheless, the Holy One blessed be He did not abandon them. He said to Moses: ‘I split the sea for them and they infuriated Me,’ as it is stated: “How much did they defy Him?” (Psalms 78:40). ‘Here, too, they disseminated slander regarding the Land, and I am unable to tolerate it. Until when need I be tolerant of them? “Until when, for this evil congregation?”’ (Numbers 14:27).

Another matter, “Until when…” – this is what the verse said: “For from the rising of the sun to its setting, My name is great [among the nations]” (Malachi 1:11). The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘The nations of the world respect Me, but you, how many miracles have I performed on your behalf, but you infuriate Me? Would you like to know? Eglon king of Moav was an uncircumcised heathen.

Ehud son of Gera entered to him and when he mentioned My name, he accorded Me honor and rose from his throne,’ as it is stated: “Ehud said: I have the word of God for you. He rose from the throne” (Judges 3:20). This is to realize what is stated: “For from the rising…” In your regard, the Holy One blessed be He said: ‘The nations of the world respect Me and accord Me honor, but you infuriate Me and I bear you.’

Until when need I be tolerant of them? “Until when, for this evil congregation?” The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘As it were, a person purchases a slave so the slave will take the lantern and illuminate for the purchaser. But, I did not do so, but rather, you are My slaves, “for the children of Israel are slaves to Me” (Leviticus 25:55), but I take the lantern and illuminate for you. ‘Another matter, the way of the world is that a person purchases a slave so that if he sets out on the way, his slave precedes him and prepares an encampment for him.

But I did not do so, but rather, you are My slaves, and I would prepare an encampment for you, as it is stated: “The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord [was traveling before them]…to scout a resting place for them” (Numbers 10:33). ‘Another matter, the way of the world is that a person purchases a slave so that his slave would bake bread for him. But I did not do so; you are My slaves, but I baked bread from the heavens for you. As it says: “Men ate the bread of the mighty”’ (Psalms 78:25).

The Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: ‘I will eradicate them from before Me.’ He said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, you are slow to anger. A slave, if his deeds are good and he heeds his master, and his master looks upon him favorably, they do not give credit to his master. When do they give credit? It is when the slave is wayward, but his master looks upon him favorably. So, too, You, do not look upon their stubbornness, as it is stated: “Do not turn to the stubbornness of this people”’ (Deuteronomy 9:27). The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘For your sake, I will pardon them,’ as it is stated: “I have pardoned in accordance with your word” (Numbers 14:20).

“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When you will come into the land of your dwellings, that I am giving to you” (Numbers 15:2). “When you will come into the land of your dwellings” – halakha: How many matters is a person obligated to perform for his son? Our Rabbis taught: There are five matters that a father is obligated to perform for his son.1 Tosefta Kiddushin 1:8. The father is the Holy One blessed be He, and the son is Israel.

Just as the father is obligated to circumcise his son, so the Holy One blessed be He did for Israel, as He circumcised them by means of Joshua. “Make flint knives for yourself [and circumcise the children of Israel]” (Joshua 5:2). The father is obligated to redeem him, and the Holy One blessed be He redeemed Israel, as it is stated: “To redeem for Himself as a people” (II Samuel 7:23). To teach him Torah; the Holy One blessed be He taught Torah to Israel: “You shall teach them to your children” (Deuteronomy 11:19), and it is written: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you for your own benefit” (Isaiah 48:17).

To teach him mitzvot; the Holy One blessed be He taught mitzvot to Israel. To marry a wife to him; the Holy One blessed be He said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). The father is obligated to his son, to feed him and to give him to drink, to bathe him, to smear him with oil,2Oil was used as an ointment. and to clothe him. So, the Holy One blessed be He did for Israel.

“I washed you with water and rinsed your blood…[and I anointed you with oil]. I clothed you in embroidery” (Ezekiel 16:9–10); “and My bread that I gave you” (Ezekiel 16:19); “rise, well,3A well of water. call to it” (Numbers 21:17). Just as the father gives property to his son, so the Holy One blessed be He did for Israel: “I gave you a desirable land” (Jeremiah 3:19). What is the son obligated to offer up to his father?

It is a gift. So the Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: “When you will come into the land…you will perform…a burnt offering…to the Lord” (Numbers 15:2–3).

In this way, Rabbi Tanḥuma bar Abba in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina, brother of Rabbi Aḥa ben Rabbi Ḥanina began: This is the portion of libations, as it is stated: “Or for a ram, you shall perform a meal offering…and wine as libation, one-third of a hin” (Numbers 15:6–7). From here forward: “It shall be, when you eat from the bread of the land…the first of your kneading you shall separate a loaf, as a gift” (Numbers 15:19–20).

There is ḥalla below and libations above; that is why Rabbi Ḥanina began: “Go, eat your bread joyfully, and drink your wine goodheartedly” (Ecclesiastes 9:7). What is, “as God has already accepted your actions”? (Ecclesiastes 9:7). “Eat your bread joyfully” – this is the portion of ḥalla. “And drink your wine goodheartedly” – this is the portion of libations.

What is, “as God has already accepted…”? This is having Israel enter the Land, as it is stated: “When you will come into the land…” Another matter, this verse is speaking concerning Abraham. When the Holy One blessed be He said to Abraham: “Take, now, your son, your only one” (Genesis 22:2), Abraham arose early, took him with alacrity, led him, and took him up to Mount Moriah. Abraham said:4This was after the Holy One blessed be He said to him: “Do not extend your hand against the lad” (Genesis 22:12). ‘Master of the universe, did you say “take, now” to me for nothing?’

He said to him: ‘No, it is to make you known [lehodiakha] throughout the world,’ as it is stated: “For I have known him [yedativ], so that he will command” (Genesis 18:19). Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai said: The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘As you live, I ascribe to you, that had I said to you to slaughter your soul, you would not delay for the sake of My name.’ As it is written: “And you did not withhold your son” (Genesis 22:12).

It is already stated explicitly. What is the meaning of: “Your only one [yeḥidekha]”? (Genesis 22:12). This is your soul, as the soul is called yeḥida, as it is stated: “Rescue me from the sword, my soul [yeḥidati] from the grasp of the dog” (Psalms 22:21). Abraham said: ‘Master of the universe, I cannot descend from here without an offering.’

The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Your offering is prepared from the six days of Creation.’ “Abraham lifted his eyes and saw that, behold, there was a ram” (Genesis 22:13), and our Rabbis taught that Abraham’s ram was created during twilight. Abraham took it and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son, just as it said: “He took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering” (Genesis 22:13).

Is the verse incomplete? What is “in place of his son”? (Genesis 22:13). Abraham said: ‘Master of the universe, see it as though the blood of Isaac is sprinkled before You.’ He took the ram and flayed it and said: ‘So, see it as though it was the skin of Isaac that I flayed before You.’

He took it and absorbed its blood with salt, he said: ‘So, see it as though it is Isaac’s blood that is absorbed before You.’ He burned it and said: ‘So, see it as though Isaac’s ashes are piled atop the altar.’ Alternatively, what is “in place of his son”? The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘As you live, your son was sacrificed first, and the ram is in his place.’

At that moment, Abraham said: ‘I will not move from here until You take an oath to me that You will never again subject me to another ordeal, as God forbid, had I not heeded You, I would have lost everything that I strived for all my days.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘As you live, so it is,’ and He took an oath that he would not subject him to another ordeal, as it is stated: “He said: By Myself I have taken an oath, the utterance of the Lord” (Genesis 22:16).

The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Harsh afflictions and other ordeals were fit to befall Abraham, but they did not come.’ These are the afflictions; those that befell Job, were fit to befall Abraham, as it is juxtaposed to the portion: “It was after these matters, and it was told…Utz his firstborn, and Buz…” (Genesis 22:20–21). Utz was Job: “There was a man in the land of Utz, Job was his name” (Job 1:1).

At that moment, the Holy One blessed be He said to Abraham: “Go, eat your bread joyfully…as God has already accepted your actions” (Ecclesiastes 9:7). Another matter, “go, eat…” is speaking of Solomon; when he built the Temple and completed it, he made a dedication for seven days and made another seven days as a festival, but they forgot to observe Yom Kippur. Rabbi Yitzḥak said: The Divine Spirit emerged and said: “Go, eat your bread joyfully, and drink your wine goodheartedly, as God has already accepted your actions.”

Another matter, “when you will come into the land of your dwellings” – Rabbi Zakai of She’av said: Israel said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, everywhere You call it the land of Canaan, but here you call it “the land of your dwelling”?’ The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘As you live, I gave it to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all of them in the Bible;5Abraham (Genesis 15:7); Isaac (Genesis 26:3); Jacob (Genesis 28:13). that is why it is “the land of your dwelling.”’

Why did Canaan merit that the land was called by his name? It is because when he heard that Israel was coming, he evacuated the place. The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘You evacuated the place; the land will be called by your name. And I will give you a land as fine as your land.’

Which is that? It is Africa. What is written above? It is the portion of the spies: “they defiantly [vayapilu] ascended to the mountaintop” (Numbers 14:44) – they brought blackness upon its inhabitants.6Those who participated in the defiant ascent.

They were all in blackness, as “the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and Moses, did not move from the midst of the camp” (Numbers 14:44), as they did not ascend with them. Moses said to them: ‘This is what the Holy One blessed be He said to me: “Do not ascend and do not wage war, as I am not in your midst” (Deuteronomy 1:42). You said: “Where are we ascending? Our brethren have melted [hemasu] our hearts, [saying: A people greater and taller than we, cities great and fortified…]”’ (Deuteronomy 1:28).7Moses said to them: “You, yourselves, said that in terms of physical strength, they are superior.

I assured you that with God on our side we would prevail. Now that God is not in our midst, you seek to ascend?” What is “melted [hemasu] our hearts”? Our Rabbis said: From here they derived the measure of the pomegranates, as our Rabbis taught: The pomegranates from when they reach half [misheyimasu].8 Yerushalmi, Ma’asrot 1:2.

“Hemasu our hearts, saying” – Moses said: ‘From the outset, you divided it.9Your hearts. “You all approached me” (Deuteronomy 1:22) – For good:10They requested that Moses, not God, speak to them. “All the heads of your tribes approached me” (Deuteronomy 5:20) – For evil.11They requested to send spies into the Land. “You all approached me and said” (Deuteronomy 1:22), and it is written: “You murmured in your tents, and you said: In the Lord’s hatred of us”’ (Deuteronomy 1:27).

The Holy One blessed be He said: “I have loved you” (Malachi 1:2), and they say “In the Lord’s hatred of us”? They were expounding and saying: ‘Know that He hates us: A flesh and blood king has two sons and two fields, one that is watered by irrigation and one that is watered by rain. Does he not give to the one that the king loves, the one watered by irrigation, and to the one that he hates, he gives the one that is watered by rain?

The land of Egypt is watered by irrigation and we were in it. The land of Canaan is watered by rain, and he took us out of Egypt to give us the land of Canaan. Nevertheless, “You girded each man his weapons of war… The Lord said to me: Say to them: Do not ascend and do not wage war” (Deuteronomy 1:41–42). [God said:] ‘I thought to ascend with you, but now, do not ascend, because it will be a descent for you.’

Nevertheless, “you girded [vataḥgeru]” – you all became as one.’12It was as though you were fastened to one another by a belt [ḥagora]. “You prepare yourself [vatahinu] to ascend the mountain” (Deuteronomy 1:41) – what is vatahinu? They were saying: From drop to drop, the hin13A hin is a measure of volume. is filled.14Even if we no longer merit miracles, through painstaking effort we will prevail.

One verse says: “You sinned [Vatazidu]” (Deuteronomy 1:43) and one verse says: Vatahinu. What is vatazidu? They mocked [she'hezidu] the encampments of the Holy One blessed be He.15Until that point, they never left an encampment without the pillar of cloud and the Ark (see Numbers 9:15–23). “You ascended the mountain.

The Emorites…emerged [against you and pursued you as do the bees]” (Deuteronomy 1:43–44). “The bees” – just as this bee, once it strikes a person it immediately dies; you, too, once one of them would touch you, his soul would depart. Just as the bee flies, they were flying above you. In the past, they would hear of your renown and die, as it is stated: “Peoples heard, they were agitated” (Exodus 15:14).16The following verse ends: “The inhabitants of Canaan dissipated” (Exodus 15:15).

But now: “[The Emorites…]pursued…they smote you” (Deuteronomy 1:44). “You returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord did not heed” (Deuteronomy 1:45). It is, as it were, that you rendered the attribute of justice as though it were cruel.17It totally overcame the attribute of mercy, which is represented by the name “the Lord.” Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: Woe unto the wicked, as they render the attribute of justice as though it were cruel.

“The Lord said: Rise, go on a journey” (Deuteronomy 10:11) – if I come to perform justice with you, you will not enter the Land. Rather, “rise, go on a journey [before the nation, and they will come and inherit the Land]” (Deuteronomy 10:11). That is, “when you will come into the land.”

“And you will perform a fire offering to the Lord, a burnt offering, or a peace-offering to fulfill a vow, or as a pledge, or at your appointed times, to create a pleasing aroma to the Lord, from the cattle, or from the flock” (Numbers 15:3). “And you will perform a fire offering to the Lord, a burnt offering, or a peace offering” – The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘Anyone who sacrifices an offering to Me in this world does not sacrifice it for naught, but rather, he sacrifices it, and it is pleasant for Me. In the World to Come, too, he merits to sacrifice and I accept it and it is pleasant for Me,’ as it is stated: “The offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord, as in the days of old and as in former years” (Malachi 3:4).

“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, and they shall prepare for themselves a fringe on the corners of their garments for their generations, and they shall put on the fringe of the corner a sky blue thread” (Numbers 15:38). “They shall prepare for themselves a fringe” – that is what is written: “Light is sown for the righteous…” (Psalms 97:11). “The Lord desired because of his righteousness” (Isaiah 42:21) – the Holy One blessed be He sowed the Torah and the mitzvot in order to bequeath to Israel life in the World to Come.

He did not leave any matter in this world for which He did not give a mitzva to Israel. One goes out to plow – “do not plow with an ox and a donkey” (Deuteronomy 22:10); to sow – “Do not sow your vineyard [diverse kinds]” (Deuteronomy 22:9); to reap – “when you reap your harvest in your field, [and you forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not return to take it]” (Deuteronomy 24:19); kneading – “the first of your kneading, ḥalla” (Numbers 15:20); slaughtering – “he shall give the priest the foreleg, the jaw, [and the maw]” (Deuteronomy 18:3); a bird’s nest – sending away [the mother bird] from the nest;18See Deuteronomy 22:6–7. undomesticated animals and birds – “he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust” (Leviticus 17:13); planting – “you shall seal its fruit”19The fruit that grows during the first three years after a tree is planted may not be used. (Leviticus 19:23); burying the dead – “you shall not cut yourselves” (Deuteronomy 14:1); cutting hair – “you shall not round [the edge of your head]” (Leviticus 19:27); building a house – “you shall make a parapet for your roof” (Deuteronomy 22:8), “you shall write them on the doorposts” (Deuteronomy 6:9); clothing oneself with a garment – “they shall prepare for themselves a fringe.”

“They shall prepare for themselves” – not from what has already been prepared; that one should not take out strings and prepare it from them, but rather, the mitzva is to bring white and sky blue and prepare.20One should not use strings that have been left hanging at the edge of the clothing itself for the fringes. One should bring other strings and tie them as fringes. When? When there is sky blue; however, now, we have only white, as the sky blue has been sequestered.

“On the corners” – not in the middle, but only on the corner; “a thread [petil]” – one is required to twine them [lefotelan]. Rabbi Meir said: In what way is sky blue different from all sorts of colors? It is that sky blue is similar to the firmament, and the firmament is similar to the Throne of Glory, as it is stated: “They saw the God of Israel [and under His feet was like a configuration of sapphire brick and like the very heavens in purity]” (Exodus 24:10).21Sky blue is similar to the color of a sapphire brick, and in Ezekiel 1:26 the throne of God is described as having the appearance of a sapphire brick.

“It shall be for you a fringe, and you shall see it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord and perform them, and you shall not rove after your heart and after your eyes, after which you stray” (Numbers 15:39). “So that you will remember, and perform all My commandments, and be holy to your God” (Numbers 15:40). “It shall be for you a fringe” – that it should be seen. How much is its measure?

Beit Shammai say: Four fingerbreadths, and Beit Hillel say: Three. How many strings? Beit Shammai say: Four, and Beit Hillel say: Three. “And you shall see it” – to the exclusion of a night garment.

Or, is it only to the exclusion of a blind man? It then says: “So that you will remember” – it gave seeing and it gave remembering; remembering for one who cannot see, seeing for one who sees. “And you shall see it [oto]” – oto but not ota,22Masculine, nor feminine; had the reference been to the fringe [tzitzit], it would have been feminine. Therefore it must refer to the Throne of Glory; that is what you see when you look at the tzitzit. if you do so, it is as though you see the Throne of Glory, that is similar to sky blue.

“And you shall see it, and remember” – vision engenders memory, memory engenders action, as it is stated: “So that you will remember, and perform” (Numbers 15:40). Why? “For it is not an empty thing for you” (Deuteronomy 32:47). This is analogous to a homeowner who was weighing and paying taxes and writing receipts.

His father said to him: ‘My son, be careful with the receipts, as your life is subject to it.’ So, the Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: “For it is not an empty thing for you, as it is your life…” (Deuteronomy 32:47).

“You shall not rove after your heart” – the heart and the eyes are the mediators of the body, as they cause the body to stray. “So that you will remember, and perform all My commandments” – this is analogous to one cast into the water. The captain extended the rope and said to him: ‘Grasp this rope in your hand and do not let it go, as if you let it go, you will have no life.’ This, too, is what the Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: ‘As long as you cleave to the mitzvot – “but you, who cleave to the Lord your God, all of you live today”’ (Deuteronomy 4:4).

Likewise it says: “Hold fast to admonition, do not let go; safeguard it, as it is your life” (Proverbs 4:13). “And be holy” – when you perform the mitzvot, you are sanctified, and dread of you will be cast over the idolaters. If you forsake the mitzvot, you become profaned. The Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: ‘In this world, by means of the evil inclination you forsake the mitzvot, but in the future, I will uproot it from you,’ as it is stated: “And I will place My spirit within you, [and I will act so that you will follow My statutes, and My ordinances you will observe and perform]” (Ezekiel 36:27).

“Koraḥ, son of Yitzhar son of Kehat son of Levi, and Datan and Aviram, sons of Eliav, and On, son of Pelet, sons of Reuben, took” (Numbers 16:1). “Koraḥ, son of Yitzhar son of Kehat…” – this is what is written: “A treacherous [nifsha] brother is worse than a fortified city” (Proverbs 18:19). This is Koraḥ, who entered into a dispute with Moses, rebelled, and was stripped of the honor that he had acquired.

Nifsha is nothing other than rebellion, just as it says: “The king of Moav rebelled [pasha] against me” (II Kings 3:7). “And strife is like the bolts of a palace [armon]” (Proverbs 18:19) – the earth elevated its bolts1The midrash is explaining that the doors and bolts of the depths of the earth will open and swallow him. due to the iniquity relating to armon,2Armon means palace, and is deemed as referring to God and to Moses. that he entered into a dispute with Moses and with the Omnipresent.

“Took [vayikaḥ]” – vayikaḥ is nothing other than persuading with gentle words, that persuaded all the prominent leaders of Israel, and the Sanhedrin after him [Koraḥ]. In Moses’s regard, it is written: “Moses and Aaron took [vayikaḥ] these men” (Numbers 1:17); and likewise, “take [kaḥ] Aaron, and his sons with him” (Leviticus 8:2); likewise it says: “Take [keḥu] words with you” (Hosea 14:3); and likewise, “the woman was taken [vatukaḥ] to Pharaoh’s palace” (Genesis 12:15).

That is, vayikaḥ Koraḥ – he persuaded them with gentle words. “Koraḥ…took” – what led him to enter into a dispute? It was by means of Elitzafan, son of his father’s brother, who became the prince over his family, “the prince of the patrilineal house of the families of the Kehatites was Elitzafan son of Uziel” (Numbers 3:30). Koraḥ said: ‘My father and his brothers were four brothers – “the sons of Kehat: Amram and Yitzhar and Hevron and Uziel” (Exodus 6:18).

Amram, the firstborn, his son Aaron merited the High Priesthood, and Moses, kingdom. Who is worthy of taking the second position? Is it not the second, as it is stated: “The sons of Kehat: Amram and Yitzhar”? I am the son of Yitzhar, I was worthy of becoming prince of my family, but he arranged that the son of Uziel, the youngest of my father’s brothers, will be greater than I.3Uziel was the prince of the Kehat family. I will enter into a dispute with him and void everything that he has accomplished.’ That is why, “Koraḥ took.”

“Koraḥ…took” – what is written prior to this matter? “They shall make for themselves a fringe [tzitzit]” (Numbers 15:38). Koraḥ interrupted and said to Moses: ‘A garment that is crafted completely of sky blue wool, would it be exempt from tzitzit?’ He said to him: ‘It is obligated in tzitzit.’

Koraḥ said to him: ‘A garment that is crafted completely of sky blue wool does not exempt itself, but four threads exempt it? A house that is filled with Torah scrolls, would it be exempt from mezuza?’ He said to him: ‘It is obligated in mezuza.’ He said to him: ‘The whole Torah in its entirety, which consists of two hundred and seventy-five paragraphs, does not exempt the house, but one paragraph4Actually there are two paragraphs in the mezuza. that is in the mezuza exempts the house?’

He said to him: ‘You were not commanded these matters, but rather, you are fabricating them from your heart.’ That is what is written: “Koraḥ took.” Vayikaḥ is nothing other than an expression of division, like the matter that is stated: “To what does your heart take you [yikaḥakha]?” (Job 15:12). That is what Moses says to them, as it is stated: “Is it not enough…that the God of Israel has set you apart?” (Numbers 16:9).

The Sages said that Koraḥ was an extremely wise man, and among the bearers of the Ark, as it is stated: “But he did not give to the sons of Kehat, because the sacred service is upon them” (Numbers 7:9), and Koraḥ was the son of Yitzhar the son of Kehat. When Moses said: “They shall place on the fringe of the corner a sky blue thread” (Numbers 15:38), he immediately commanded, and they prepared two hundred and fifty sky blue garments, and the two hundred and fifty leaders of the Sanhedrin, who stood against Moses, as it is stated: “They arose before Moses, and two hundred and fifty people from the children of Israel, princes of the congregation, the distinguished of the convocation” (Numbers 16:2), wrapped themselves in them.

Koraḥ stood and made a feast for them and they all wrapped themselves in the sky blue garments. Aaron’s sons came to take their gifts, the breast and the thigh.5The meat at the feast was from animals which were sacrificed as peace offerings. The breast and thigh of the peace offering belonged to the priests (Maharzu). They stood and confronted them.

They said to them: ‘Who commanded you to take these, was it not Moses? We will not give anything. The Omnipresent did not say so.’ They came and informed Moses.

He went to placate them. They, immediately, stood against him to confront him – “before Moses” (Numbers 16:2). “And two hundred and fifty people of the children of Israel” – who were they? They were Elitzur son of Shedeur6He was the prince of the tribe of Reuben, and his counterparts were the princes of the other tribes.

The princes also joined the rebellion. and his counterparts – “These men who were designated by name” (Numbers 1:17). Although the verse did not make them public, it provided their distinguishing features, and from the verses, you understand that it is them. To what is this matter analogous? It is to a wellborn person who is found stealing garments from the bathhouse, but the owner of the stolen goods did not want to make him public.

He began providing distinguishing features. They said to him: ‘Who stole your garments?’ He said to them: ‘That wellborn person of stature, with fine teeth, black hair, and a fine nose.’ Once he provided his distinguishing features, they knew who he was.

Here, too, even though the verse did not identify them, it came and provided their distinguishing features, and you know who they are. It is stated elsewhere: “These are the distinguished of the congregation, the princes of the tribes of their fathers; they are the heads of the thousands of Israel. Moses and Aaron took these men who were designated by name [beshemot]” (Numbers 1:16–17). And here it is stated: “Princes of the congregation, distinguished of the convocation, people of renown [shem]. They assembled against Moses and against Aaron” (Numbers 16:2–3).

“Koraḥ took” – he took his garment and went to take counsel from his wife. When the Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: “Take the Levites from among the Israelites and purify them. So shall you do to them, to purify them…and they shall pass a razor over all their flesh” (Numbers 8:6–7), he [Moses] immediately did so to Koraḥ. He [Korah] began circulating among Israel, but they did not recognize him.

They said to him: ‘Who did this to you?’ He said to them: ‘Moses did it to me. Moreover, he took me by my arms and my legs, and they waved me, and said: You are hereby pure. He brought his brother Aaron, adorned him like a bride, and seated him in the Tent of Meeting.’

Moses’s enemies immediately began provoking Israel against him, and said: ‘Moses is king, his brother Aaron, High Priest, his sons, deputy High Priests. Teruma is to the priest, tithe,7The Levite is obligated to give one-tenth of the first tithe that he receives to the priest. to the priest, twenty-four gifts, to the priest.’ “They assembled against Moses and against Aaron, and they said to them: You have too much, as the entire congregation, all of them are holy, and the Lord is among them, and why do you elevate yourselves over the assembly of the Lord?” (Numbers 16:3).

Immediately, “they assembled against Moses.” Immediately, “they said to them.” Rabbi Levi said: At that moment, Koraḥ gathered his congregation and said to them [to Moses and Aaron]: ‘You have increased the burden upon us more than the enslavement in Egypt. It was preferable for us under Egypt than it is under your control.’

They sought to stone him [Moses]. That is why, “Moses heard and he fell on his face” (Numbers 16:4). Moses said to them: ‘It is not kingdom I seek, nor does my brother Aaron [seek] the High Priesthood, as it is stated: “Aaron, what is he that you complain against him?”’ (Numbers 16:11). Moses said [to God]: ‘Master of the universe, is this not what You commanded me: “You, draw near to you Aaron your brother and his sons with him”? (Exodus 28:1).

But they are standing against us to kill us.’ “He spoke to Koraḥ and to his entire congregation, saying: Morning, the Lord will disclose who is His, and who is holy and will bring him near to Him, and whom He shall choose, He will bring near to Him” (Numbers 16:5). He said: “Morning, the Lord will disclose who is His” – why is it so?8Why does it say “morning [boker]” and not “in the morning [baboker]”?

Rabbi Natan said: The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘If all the magicians of the world gathered and sought to transform morning into evening they would not succeed. Just as I distinguished between light and darkness, so I distinguished Aaron to sanctify him with sanctity of the highest order.’ Immediately, “Moses sent to summon Datan and Aviram, sons of Eliav, and they said: We will not go up” (Numbers 16:12).

“We will not go” and “we will not come” are not written here, but rather “we will not go up.” “A fool’s mouth is ruin for him” (Proverbs 18:7); they opened their mouths for punishment, saying that they would die in descent and not in ascent. Just as they said, so they died: “They and everything that was theirs descended alive into the abyss” (Numbers 16:33). Moses said: ‘Since they did not want to go to me, I will come to them.

Perhaps they will be ashamed, and reconsider,’ as it is stated: “Moses arose and went to Datan and Aviram” (Numbers 16:25). When they saw him, they began to curse and blaspheme, as it is stated: “Datan and Aviram emerged standing” (Numbers 16:27). Do people typically emerge sitting, kneeling, or falling? Rather, when they emerged, they were cursing and blaspheming.

Emerging and standing are stated here, and emerging and standing are stated regarding Goliath the Philistine, as it is written: “The champion emerged…[The Philistine said: I blasphemed….] The Philistine approached every morning and evening and stood for forty days” (I Samuel 17:4, 10, 16). Just as emerging and standing there was with cursing and blaspheming,9See I Samuel 17:45. here, too, it is with cursing and blaspheming.

That is why Moses began and said: “If these die like the death of all people…[God did not send me]” (Numbers 16:29), [and therefore] “the earth opened its mouth” (Numbers 16:32). Come and see how grave is dispute, as anyone who assists in a dispute, the Holy One blessed be He eradicates his memory, as it is written: “Fire emerged from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men” (Numbers 16:35).

Rabbi Berekhya said: How grave is dispute? The court on High punishes only from twenty years old and above; the earthly court, from thirteen years old and above. In Koraḥ’s dispute, day-old babies were burned and swallowed in the deepest abyss, as it is written: “[Datan and Aviram had come out and they stood at the entrance of their tents] with their wives, and their children, and their infants” (Numbers 16:27), [and it is written:] “They and everything that was theirs descended alive into the abyss” (Numbers 16:33). That is why it is written: “Koraḥ took.”

“Koraḥ, son of Yitzhar son of Kehat son of Levi” – why is it not written: Son of Jacob or son of Israel? That is what the verse said:10When Jacob blessed his children. “Let myself not come in their counsel” (Genesis 49:6) – these are the spies; “let my glory not be associated with their assembly” (Genesis 49:6) – this is Koraḥ. Jacob said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, neither regarding the spies, nor in Koraḥ’s dispute, let my name be mentioned with those wicked ones.

When should my name be mentioned? When their lineage is recorded and they are standing upon the platform’11They are performing the Levite service in the Temple. – “son of Taḥat, son of Asir, son of Evyasaf, son of Koraḥ, son of Yitzhar, son of Kehat, son of Levi, son of Israel” (I Chronicles 6:22–23). “And Datan and Aviram” – from here they said: ‘Woe unto the wicked one, woe unto his neighbor,’ as Datan and Aviram were neighbors of Koraḥ, who was situated in the south, as it is written: “The families of the sons of Kehat shall encamp on the side of the Tabernacle to the south” (Numbers 3:29).

The banner of Reuben was adjacent to them, as it is stated: “The banner of the camp of Reuben is to the south” (Numbers 2:10). But the banner of Judah was in the east, and Issachar and Zebulun were with him, as it is stated: “Those encamping at the front, to the east, are the banner of the camp of Judah” (Numbers 2:3). Moses and Aaron were adjacent to them, as it is written: “Those encamped in front of the Tabernacle, to the east, in front of the Tent of Meeting: Moses, Aaron, and his sons” (Numbers 3:38).

Because they were adjacent to the Torah, they merited becoming masters of Torah, as it is written: “Judah, My lawgiver” (Psalms 60:9), and it is written: “From the children of Issachar, possessors of understanding of the times” (I Chronicles 12:33), and it is written: “From Zebulun, those who ply the scribe’s quill” (Judges 5:14). But Datan and Aviram, who were neighbors of a disputant, were stricken with him and were eliminated from the world.

“Koraḥ assembled…against them” (Numbers 16:19) – He said to them: ‘“The entire congregation, all of them are holy” (Numbers 16:3), and all of them heard at Sinai: “I am the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:2), “and why do you elevate yourselves over the assembly of the Lord?” (Numbers 16:3). Had you heard it alone, and they had not heard, you could say it, but now, all of them heard. Why do you elevate yourselves?’

Moses was immediately shaken due to the dispute, because this was already their fourth wrongdoing. This is analogous to a king’s son who wronged his father. His dear friend placated him [the king] once, twice, three times. When he committed a fourth wrongdoing, the hands of the king’s dear friend were rendered powerless.

He said: ‘How many times can I impose upon the king?’ So it was with Moses. They sinned with the calf – “Moses prayed” (Exodus 32:11). “The people were as complainers” (Numbers 11:1) – “Moses prayed” (Numbers 11:2).

Regarding the spies – “Moses said: Egypt will hear…” (Numbers 14:13). Regarding Koraḥ’s dispute, he said: ‘How much can I impose upon the Omnipresent?’ That is why: “Moses heard and he fell on his face” (Numbers 16:4).

“He spoke to Koraḥ…Morning” – what did he see that led him to say: “Morning”? Moses said: ‘Perhaps they said this matter as a result of food and drink.’ He said: ‘Perhaps, in any case, they will repent.’ That is why it is stated: “Morning, the Lord will disclose.”

He said to them: ‘I do not have permission to enter now. There is no eating and drinking before Him; however, it is because of us, because we have eaten and drunk.’ Another matter, Moses said to them: ‘The Holy One blessed be He imposed boundaries in His world. Are you able to mix day and night?

That is what the verse said initially: “It was evening, it was morning” (Genesis 1:5); “God distinguished between the light and the darkness” (Genesis 1:4) for the use of the world. Just as He distinguished between the light and the darkness for the use of the world, so He distinguished Israel from the nations, as it is stated: “I have distinguished you from the peoples to be Mine” (Leviticus 20:26).

And so, He distinguished Aaron, as it is stated: “Aaron was set apart to sanctify Him with sanctity of the highest order” (I Chronicles 23:13). If you are able to remove that distinction that He distinguished between light and darkness, you can nullify this.’ That is why he said to them: “Morning, the Lord will disclose who is His, and who is holy, and will bring him near to Him” (Numbers 16:5) – he is already designated – “and whom He shall choose, He will bring near to Him” (Numbers 16:5).

“This you shall do: take for you fire pans, Koraḥ, and all his congregation” (Numbers 16:6). “And place fire in them, and place incense upon them before the Lord tomorrow, and it will be the man whom the Lord will choose, he is the holy one; it is too much for you, sons of Levi” (Numbers 16:7). “This you shall do: take for you fire pans…And place fire in them, and place incense upon them before the Lord tomorrow” – what did he see that led him to say so?

He said to them: ‘In the ways of the gentiles, there are many protocols and many priests. Do they all gather together at the same time? But we have only one Lord, one Torah, one protocol, one altar, and one High Priest. You are two hundred and fifty men seeking the High Priesthood.

I, too, want that. “Therefore, you and your entire congregation” (Numbers 16:11). “This you shall do: take for you fire pans, Koraḥ, and his entire congregation” – you have the service that is most beloved of all, it is the incense, more beloved than all the offerings. But a deadly poison was placed within it, by means of which Nadav and Avihu were burned.’

That is why he forewarned them: “It will be the man whom the Lord will choose, he is the holy one” (Numbers 16:7). I am telling you, so you will not incur liability. The one among you who will be chosen, will emerge alive, but all of you will be eliminated. “It is too much for you, sons of Levi” – I have told you.

Were they not fools, that he forewarned them in this manner, but they accepted the contest upon themselves? They sinned against their souls, as it is stated: “The firepans of these sinners against their souls” (Numbers 17:3). But Koraḥ, who was clever, what did he see that led him to this foolishness? His eye deceived him.

He saw a great dynasty emerging from him. Samuel, who is the equivalent of Moses and Aaron, as it is stated: “Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those who called His name” (Psalms 99:6). Twenty-four watches emerging from his descendants, all prophesying with the divine spirit, as it is stated: “All of these were sons of Heiman,12“From the sons of the Kehatites: Heiman the singer, son of Yoel, son of Samuel…son of Koraḥ” (I Chronicles 6:18, 22). [the king's seer in matters of God]” (I Chronicles 25:5).

He said: ‘Is it possible that all this greatness will emerge from me, and I will be silent?’ But he did not see well. It was because his sons repented, and they emerged from them. But Moses saw.

That is why he [Koraḥ] came to participate, based on his presumption regarding what he heard from the mouth of Moses, that all of them would be eliminated, and one would survive: “It will be the man whom the Lord will choose, he is the holy one.”