The Month of Spring When Some Wept and Some Sang

Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben Yochai 13:3

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"This day you are going out, in the month of Aviv [spring]" (Exodus 13:4) — in a month that is fit, neither hot nor cold. And so it says, "God settles the solitary in a home, He brings out prisoners into prosperity [ba-kosharot]" (Psalms 68:7). "Into prosperity [ba-kosharot]" — through the deeds of fit ones [kesherim]: these are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Another interpretation: this refers to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Another interpretation: "ba-kosharot" — read it as "bekho shirot" [weeping and songs]: these wept and those sang. And so it says, "It is in vain for you who rise early, who sit up late, who eat the bread of toil; so He gives sleep to His beloved" (Psalms 127:2).

Themes

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