Why the Righteous Did Not Rejoice in God's World

"And the Lord spoke to Moses after the death" (Leviticus 16:1). This is what Scripture says: "I said to the boastful ones, 'Do not boast'" (Psalms 75:5) — that is, to those who sow confusion, those whose hearts are filled with evil schemings. Rabbi Levi called them "woe-bringers," those who bring wailing into the world. "And to the wicked, 'Do not lift up the horn'" (ibid.) — the righteous did not rejoice in My world, yet you seek to rejoice in My world? Adam the first man did not rejoice in My world, yet you seek to rejoice in My world. Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya: The ball of the heel of Adam the first man dimmed the disk of the sun. And do not be astonished at this. In the way of the world, a person makes two trays, one for himself and one for a member of his household — for whom does he make the finer one? Is it not his own? So too Adam the first man was created for the service of the Holy One, blessed be He, while the disk of the sun was created for the service of creatures. Is it not all the more so that the ball of the heel of Adam the first man should dim the disk of the sun? And if the ball of his heel dimmed it, the radiance of his face — how much more so. Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Chama bar Chanina: The Holy One, blessed be He, tied thirteen canopies for Adam the first man in the Garden of Eden, as it is said, "You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering" (Ezekiel 28:13). Yet after all this glory: "for dust you are, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19). Abraham did not rejoice in My world, yet you seek to rejoice in My world. Abraham had a son born to him at the end of a hundred years, and the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "Take now your son, your only one" (Genesis 22:2). And he was traveling three days, as it is written, "And on the third day [Abraham lifted up his eyes] and saw" (ibid. v. 4). What did he see? He saw a cloud bound upon the mountain. He said to his son: My son, what do you see? He said to him: I see a beautiful mountain with a cloud bound upon it. He said to his lads: Do you see anything? They said to him: We see a hill. He said to them, "Stay here with the donkey" (ibid. v. 5) — with the one who resembles a donkey. He took Isaac his son and went up to the top of the mountain, and built the altar, and arranged the wood, and bound him upon the altar, and took the knife. Had the angel not said to him, "Do not stretch out [your hand against the lad]" (ibid. v. 12), he would already have been slaughtered. When he came to his mother, she said to him: What did your father do to you? He said to her: My father took me, and brought me up mountains, and brought me down valleys, and brought me up to the top of one mountain, and built an altar — and he recounted the whole matter — and had the angel not said to him, "Do not stretch out your hand," I would already have been slaughtered. She said to him: Woe to you, son of an afflicted mother! Had he not said to him, "Do not stretch out," you would already have been slaughtered! She did not manage to finish the matter before her soul departed, as it is said, "And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her" (Genesis 23:2). From where did he come? He came from Mount Moriah.