“At the entrance [petaḥ] of the tent [ohel]” – [God said to Abraham:] ‘You opened a good opening [petaḥ] for passersby, you opened a good opening for proselytes. [Moreover,] were it not for you, I would not have created heaven and earth, as it is stated regarding them: “He stretched them like a tent for dwelling” (Isaiah 40:22).11Abraham provided the opening [petaḥ] that allowed God to create heaven and earth, which are referred to as tents.
Were it not for you, I would not have created the orb of the sun, as it is stated: “In a tent within, He placed the sun” (Psalms 19:5). Were it not for you, I would not have created the moon, as it is stated: “Behold, even the moon does not shine [yaahil]”’ (Job 25:5). Rabbi Levi said: In the future, Abraham will sit at the entrance of Gehenna and will not allow any circumcised person of Israel to descend into it.
But those who sinned greatly,12And rightfully deserve to go to Gehenna. what does he do to them? He removes the foreskin from babies who died before they were circumcised, and he places it upon them,13Making them appear uncircumcised. and sends them down to Gehenna. That is what is written: “He raised his arms against his comrades, violating his covenant” (Psalms 55:21).14"Covenant” referring to the covenant of circumcision.
“In the heat of the day” – when that day will come in whose regard it is written: “For, behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven” (Malachi 3:19). “In the heat of the day” – Rabbi Yishmael taught: “In the heat of the day” – this is speaking of the sixth hour [of the day.] How then do I explain [the verse regarding the manna]: “The sun grew hot and it melted”? (Exodus 16:21).15The implication is that it was hot only in the sun, but not in the shade.
It is at the fourth hour. You say that it is the fourth hour, but perhaps it is really at the sixth hour? When it says: “In the heat of the day” – that [expression] is speaking of the sixth hour. Or, perhaps it is the reverse, “in the heat of the day” refers to the fourth hour, and “the sun grew hot and it melted” refers to the sixth hour.
You must admit, however: How can you explain “in the heat of the day” to be the fourth hour? Is it not so that at the fourth hour, the heat is only in a place where the sun shines? At the fourth hour, the shade is cool while the sun is hot. At the sixth hour, the shade and the sun are equally hot.
Therefore, you should not say in accordance with the second formulation, but rather like the first formulation: “In the heat of the day” refers to the sixth hour, and “the sun grew hot and it melted” refers to the fourth hour, as only in the place where the sun shone did it melt. Rabbi Tanḥuma says: It [the sixth hour] is at a time when people do not have a shadow at the bottom of them.16The sixth hour is at noon, when one’s shadow cannot be seen, as the sun is directly overhead.
Rabbi Yanai said: He pierced a hole from Gehenna and heated up the entire world along with its inhabitants for a brief moment, for the Holy One blessed be He said: ‘The righteous are suffering and the world is comfortable?’17God unleashed the heat of Gehenna for Abraham’s benefit, even though it was inconvenient for the rest of the world. This teaches that heat is effective for a wound.