Midrash Tanchuma Reader

"This month shall be for you" (Exodus 12:2). In the land of Egypt the Holy One, blessed be He, was revealed to them. This is one of the places where the Pure One was revealed in a place of impurity. And why all this? For the sake of Israel. "This month shall be for you" — from the hour that I created My world, I have never begun to redeem a nation from the midst of another nation; but for you I am making this thing new.

One on their descent into Egypt. Concerning Egypt it is written, with seventy souls (did your ancestors go down to Egypt) (Deuteronomy 10:22). And one on their going up, as it is said, And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, (about six hundred thousand) (Exodus 12:37). And one in the portion of Ki Tisa. And two in the book of Vaydabber (Numbers): one with the standards, and one in the division of the land. And two in the days of Saul, as it is said, And he mustered them in Telaim (1 Samuel 15:4); And he mustered them in Bezek (1 Samuel 11:8). And one in the days of David, as it is said, And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people (2 Samuel 24:9). And one on their going up from the exile, as it is said, The whole congregation together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty (Ezra 2:64). And one in the age to come, (as it is said,) The flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them (Jeremiah 33:13).

Another interpretation: "Give to a wise man and he will become yet wiser" (Proverbs 9:9). This is Bezalel. At the moment when Moses said to Bezalel, "Make a Tabernacle," Bezalel said: For what purpose is the Tabernacle? He said to him: To cause the Divine Presence to dwell within it, and to teach Israel Torah. Bezalel said: And where is the Torah to be placed? He said to him: When we make a Tabernacle, we shall make an Ark. So he began with the Ark, as it is said, "And Bezalel made the Ark" (Exodus 37:1).

"And he shall slaughter the one bird" (Leviticus 14:5). Why does he slaughter one and send away one? Rather, if he has done repentance, you do not see it [the tzaraat] again; but if you do not turn back [in repentance], the tzaraat returns upon you — just as the live bird is able to return. Therefore [it is written] (Leviticus 14:7): "and he shall send away the [live] bird etc."

"And his redeemer shall come" (Leviticus 25:25): Who was this? It was Boaz. When? At the time when Naomi sold the field, as it is said, "The parcel of land which belonged to our kinsman Elimelech, Naomi is selling" (Ruth 4:3). Thus, "and he sells some of his property." Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai said: Elimelech, Salmon, and "So-and-so" (Peloni Almoni), and Naomi's father, were all sons of Nahshon ben Amminadab. Elimelech, Mahlon, and Chilion were the providers of the generation. And for what reason were they punished? Because they went out from the land of Israel to outside the land, as it is said, "And the whole city was stirred over them, and they said, 'Is this Naomi?'" (Ruth 1:19). What is the meaning of "Is this Naomi?" Did you see Naomi, who went out from the land of Israel to outside the land — what has befallen her? "And his redeemer shall come" — this is Boaz, as it is said, "The man is near of kin to us, he is one of our redeemers" (Ruth 2:20). At that hour Ruth went to Boaz. Her mother-in-law said to her, "Behold, he is winnowing the threshing floor of barley tonight" (Ruth 3:2). He was a prince, yet he was winnowing on the threshing floor; but it was because his generation was breached in sexual immorality and in robbery, and he went out to guard his threshing floor. She said to her, "And you shall wash and anoint yourself" (Ruth 3:3), and afterward, "and go down to the threshing floor" (ibid.) — "and I shall go down" is what is written. She said to her: My merit shall go down with you. She did not do as her mother-in-law told her. What did Ruth do? After she went down to the threshing floor, she did so, as it is said, "And she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law commanded her" (Ruth 3:6). Why? Rather, she said: The generation is breached in sexual immorality — perhaps they will see me adorned and say, "Perhaps she is a harlot." "And Boaz ate and drank and his heart was merry" (Ruth 3:7). What is "and his heart was merry"? That he occupied himself with Torah, as it is said, "Come, eat of my bread" (Proverbs 9:5). "And he came to lie down at the end of the heap, and she came in stealth" (Ruth 3:7). What is "in stealth" (ba-lat)? In secret, as you say, "Behold, it is wrapped (lutah) in a cloth" (1 Samuel 21:10). "And it came to pass at midnight that the man was startled and turned (va-yilafet)" (Ruth 3:8). What is "va-yilafet"? That he seized the head, for he thought it was a spirit, as you say, "And Samson grasped (va-yilpot) the two middle pillars" (Judges 16:29). "And he said, Who are you? And she said, I am Ruth your handmaid" (Ruth 3:9). He said to her: What have you come to do here? She said to him: To fulfill the Torah — "When your brother becomes poor… and his redeemer shall come" — arise and fulfill the Torah. He said to her: Since you have come to fulfill the Torah, "Stay the night, and it shall be in the morning, if he will redeem you, good (tov)" (Ruth 3:13) — for he had another kinsman, greater than he, whose name was Tov. Rabbi Hanina said: She said to him: Are you putting me off with words? He said to her: "As the Lord lives" (ibid.) — I am not putting you off with words. "And Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there" (Ruth 4:1). He said to him: Sit, and let us look into the Torah: what is "When your brother becomes poor"? Boaz said to Tov: "The parcel of land which belonged to our kinsman Elimelech, Naomi is selling" (Ruth 4:3), "and I said I would disclose it to you, saying, Buy it" (Ruth 4:4), for you are greater than I in the right of redemption; "if you will redeem, redeem" (ibid.). "And the redeemer said to Boaz, Redeem it for yourself" (Ruth 4:6). At that hour Boaz redeemed what Naomi had sold. And from where did Boaz learn it? From this section: "When your brother becomes poor and sells some of his property" (Leviticus 25:25).

Another interpretation of "Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains" (Psalms 36:7): These are the deeds of the righteous. Just as the mountains are visible, so too are the deeds of the righteous visible, as it is said, "They shall fear You as long as the sun endures" (Psalms 72:5). "Your judgments are a great deep" (Psalms 36:7): These are the deeds of the wicked. Just as the deep is darkness, so too are the deeds of the wicked darkness, as it is said, "and their deeds are in the dark" (Isaiah 29:15).

"And it will come to pass that, when a war occurs" (Exodus 1:10) — they will be added to our enemies and go up out of the land. David said: "For our soul is bowed down to the dust" (Psalms 44:26). At that hour: "Arise, be a help to us, and redeem us for the sake of Your steadfast love" (Psalms 44:27).

Another interpretation (of Exodus 12:2): "This month shall be unto you." The Holy One, blessed be He, said: From the hour that I created My world, I was bearing the burden of reckoning [the calculations] of the months. From now on it is handed over to you; to you it is handed over, and you are not handed over into its hand.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: [In this world] human beings count you, but in the world to come I Myself will count you, and there will be no one who can number you, as it is said (Hosea 2:1 [1:10]): "And the number of the children of Israel shall be [as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered]."

Another interpretation of (Song of Songs 3:11) "on the day of his wedding": at Sinai. "And on the day of the gladness of his heart": in Jerusalem. David said (Psalms 48:3), "Fair in situation, the joy of the whole earth, etc." Like this fig, which is narrow below and wide above, as it is said (Ezekiel 41:7), "And it widened, and wound around higher and higher, etc."

"And he shall be brought to the priest" (Leviticus 14:2). What is the meaning of "and he shall be brought"? "And he comes" — that is, he comes of himself. Why? Because everyone is distant from him, for thus David said: "My friends and my companions (have distanced themselves from me); they stand aloof from my affliction, and my kinsmen stand far off" (Psalms 38:12). And so it says: "He shall dwell alone; outside the camp shall be his dwelling" (Leviticus 13:46). Therefore it is stated "and he shall be brought" — "and he comes."

Another interpretation of "Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains" (Psalms 36:7): Just as the mountains are sown and produce fruit, so too the deeds of the righteous produce fruit, as it is said, "Say of the righteous that it shall be well with him, [for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds]" (Isaiah 3:10). "And Your judgments are a great deep" (Psalms 36:7): Just as the deep is neither sown nor produces fruit, so too the deeds of the wicked do not produce fruit, as it is said, "Woe to the wicked, it shall be ill with him, etc." (Isaiah 3:11).

A story concerning Rabbi Hiyya the Great: the moon rose on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, and the cattle drovers walked by its light a distance of three mil. Rabbi Hiyya saw it, took pebbles and dust, and threw them at it. He said: "Tomorrow we are intending to renew you, yet you have risen on your own already now." Immediately it was swallowed up in its place. Why? Because it was under his authority.

Another interpretation: "Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains" (Psalms 36:7). Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said: Just as the mountains press down upon the deep, so that it does not rise up and flood the world, so does righteousness press down upon the attribute of judgment and upon punishment, so that it does not come upon the world. "Your righteousness" is over "Your judgments," like "the mighty mountains" are over "the great deep."

Another interpretation of (Psalms 36:7): "Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains; [your judgments are like the great deep]." Rabbi Judah bar Simon said: The righteousness that You performed with Noah in the ark caused his ark to rest for him upon the mountains, as it is said (Genesis 8:4): "And the ark rested [... upon the mountains of Ararat]." "Your judgments" are those which You carried out with the generation of the flood; You dealt strictly with them down to the deep, as it is said (Genesis 7:11): "On that day were split open [all the fountains of the great deep]." And after the retribution, behold: (Psalms 36:7) "Man and beast You deliver, O Lord." When? When (Genesis 8:1) "God remembered Noah."

"The joy of the whole earth" (Psalms 48:3). Rabbi Yonatan ben Eleazar said: There is a story about a certain merchant (a shepherd) who went to the Land of Israel to sell peppers. He went and sat down, but he did not sell anything. He said: Is this the place about which they said "the joy of the whole earth"? In a single hour he sold all his merchandise. He said: Surely this is "the joy of the whole earth, Mount Zion, the far reaches of the north, the city of the great King." And all this praise is on account of what? On account of its being "the city of the great King." Once Jerusalem was destroyed, all joy passed away, as it is said: "The joy of the whole earth has gone into exile" (Isaiah 24:11). What is the meaning of "has passed away (ʿarvah)"? It became dark; "qavelah" (it grew dark), as they say (in Aramaic). It is like that which is said: "and there was evening (ʿerev)" (Genesis 1:5). In this world the joy of the whole earth has ceased. When the Holy One, blessed be He, returns and rebuilds Jerusalem, He will bring back the joy, as it is said: "For the Lord has comforted Zion; He has comforted all her ruins, and He has made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of song" (Isaiah 51:3).

And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground (Gen. 4:3). The process of time (lit. “end of days”) may imply either the end of a year, the end of two years, after a certain number of days, or after forty years. Our sages, of blessed memory, said that Cain and Abel were forty years old when Cain brought of the fruit of the ground. What did he bring as his offering? He brought only the leftovers of his meal. However, the rabbis maintained that Cain brought flaxseed, while Abel brought firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof (ibid., v. 4). That is why it is ordained that wool and flax must not be mixed, as it is said: Thou shalt nor wear mingled stuff, wool and linen together (Deut. 22:11). The Holy One, blessed be He, declared: It is not fitting that a sinner’s offering and the sacrifice of a virtuous man should be coupled. Hence it is forbidden to combine them in a garment.

And Cain spoke unto Abel, his brother (Gen. 4:8). What did he say to him? He said: “Let us divide the world between us, but since I am the eldest, I shall take twice as much.” Abel replied: “Perhaps.” “If we do this,” Cain continued, “I want my share to include the place at which your sacrifice was accepted.” Abel replied: “That, you cannot have.” Thereupon, they began to quarrel, as it is said: And it came to pass while they were in the field that Cain arose (ibid.), and it says elsewhere: Zion shall be plowed as a field (Jer. 26:18).

Others contend that Cain told Abel: “Let us divide the world between us,” and Abel replied: “Certainly.” Whereupon Abel took the flocks as his share, and Cain took the land to till. They agreed that neither should take anything belonging to the other. However, after accepting the flock as his share, Abel grazed the flock upon Cain’s land. Cain pursued Abel over hill and vale, until they began wrestling with one another. At first Abel overpowered Cain and threw him to the earth. When Cain realized that he was being defeated, he pleaded: “Abel, my brother, do not harm me.” Because he was a merciful person, Abel released him. As soon as Cain arose he slew Abel, as it is said: Cain arose. The words Cain arose clearly indicate that he must have been hurled to the ground previously.

After killing Abel, he said to himself: “I must flee from my mother and father, for they will ask me where he is, since there are only the two of us.” The Holy One, blessed be He, appeared before him immediately, saying: “You can flee from your parents but not from Me, as it is said: Can any man hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? (Jer. 23:24).” The Holy One asked: Where is Abel, your brother? (Gen. 4:9), and then He continued: “Woe unto him who was merciful to you and refrained from killing you when you were beneath him. When he permitted you to rise, you killed him!”

How did he kill him? He inflicted numerous bruises upon his body with a stone. He smote him over his entire body, from his hands and feet to his throat, for he had no way of knowing from where his soul would depart. When the Holy One, blessed be He, asked him: Where is Abel, your brother? he replied: “I know not; am I my brother’s keeper? (Gen. 4:9). You are the guardian of all, yet You seek him from me!” This may be compared to a thief who steals during the night but is not apprehended while committing the crime. When the watchman seizes him the next morning and asks: “Why did you steal those utensils?”, the thief replies: “I am a thief and I did not neglect my profession. Your job is to keep watch at the gate. Why did you neglect your duties? Now you question me?” So Cain retorted: “True, I slew him, but You created the evil inclination within me. Since You are the guardian of all, why did You permit me to slay him? You who are called the I killed him, for if You had accepted my sacrifice as You accepted his, I would not have been envious of him.” The Holy One, blessed be He, replied immediately: What have you done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto Me (ibid., v. 10). This verse indicates that he inflected numerous wounds upon Abel.

The words Crieth unto Me (elai), however, may be interpreted as “Crieth against Me (‘alai).” For example, if two men are fighting together and one of them is killed while a third person stands by and does not attempt to separate them, against whom does everyone complain? Do they not complain against the third person? Hence Crieth unto Me actually means Crieth against Me.

Cain said to Him: “Master of the Universe, never before have I encountered death, nor have I beheld a dead person; how could I possibly know that if I pummeled him with a stone he would die?” The Holy One, blessed be He, answered immediately: Cursed art thou from the ground … when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth (ibid., v. 12).

Thereupon Cain cried out: “O Lord of the universe, do You have informers who denounce men to You? My father and mother are the only living human beings on earth, and they do not know that I slew him; how do You, who abidest in heaven, know?” The Holy One, blessed be He, answered: “Fool! I bear the entire world as it is said: I have made and I will bear; yea, I will carry and will deliver (Isa. 46:4).” Forthwith, Cain cried out: “You bear the entire world, yet my sin You are unable to bear. My sin is greater than I can bear (Gen. 4:13).” “Since you have confessed and repented,” said the Holy One, blessed be He, “go into exile from this place.” Thus it is said: And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelled in the land of Nod (ibid., v. 16). Wherever he wandered, the earth would quake beneath his feet; the animals and the beasts would tremble in fright, and would inquire of each other: “What is this?” And they would whisper: “He is Cain, who murdered his brother, Abel. The Holy One, blessed be He, has decreed concerning him: A fugitive and a wanderer you shall be.” Then they would say to each other: “Let us devour him.” They would gather together to attack, but as they approached, tears would well up in his eyes and he would cry out: Whither shall I go from Thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there; if I make my bed in the netherworld, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of morning and dwell in the uttermost part of the sea, even there would Thy hand lead me and Thy right hand hold me (Ps. 139:7–10).

Go forth from the ark (Gen. 8:16). Scripture says elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give thanks to Thy name; the righteous shall crown themselves because of me; for Thou wilt deal bountifully with me (Ps. 142:8). Bring my soul out of prison refers to Noah, who was imprisoned in the ark. R. Levi said: Neither Noah nor his sons were able to sleep during the entire twelve months (in the ark) because they were obliged to feed the animals, the beasts, and the birds. R. Akiba stated that they even brought into the ark tree branches for the elephants and glass beads for the ostriches. Some of the animals had to be fed at the second hour in the night and others at the third hour of the night.

Further proof that they did not sleep is presented to us by R. Yohanan. He tells us in the name of R. Eliezer the son of R. Yosé the Galilean that because Noah once delayed feeding a lion, the lion bit him so severely that he left the ark crippled, as it is said: And only Noah was left (Gen. 7:23). The word ah (“only,” also “to be afflicted”) indicates that his body was no longer whole. He became, thereby, unfit to bring sacrifices to the altar, and his son Shem had to do it in his stead. Concerning him it is said: Behold, the righteous shall be made whole in the earth (Prov. 11:31).

R. Huna said in the name of R. Yosé: He left the ark coughing and spitting blood because of a cold he had contracted, and it is for this reason that Scripture states: Bring out of prison my soul … the righteous shall crown themselves because of Me (Ps. 142:8), that is, through me the Holy One blessed be He took a crown. They shall reason: Though Noah was righteous, he was not wholly righteous. The Holy One, blessed be He, nevertheless performed miracles in his behalf, as it is said: He delivereth him that is innocent (Job 22:30). In this verse i-naki (“innocent”) should be interpreted as velo naki, that is, he was not wholly righteous. How many more miracles would He have performed in his behalf if he had been wholly righteous!

And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel (Gen. 14:1). Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: Through Thee do we push down our adversaries, through Thy name do we tread them under that rise up against us (Ps. 44:6). R. Isaac said: In the word bekha (“through Thee”) the letter bet equals two and the khaf twenty, corresponding to the twenty-two letters of the alphabet with which the Torah was given. Abraham cried out: Master of the Universe, if Your glory does not accompany me and assist me in this struggle, what can one man do against nine kings and their forces?

He giveth power to the faint (Isa. 40:29); to some by means of a chariot and to others with horses (Ps. 20:8), but I lift up my horn through Your name. How do we know that He did so? It is so written: And he divided himself against them, he and his servants by night, and he smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left of Damascus (Gen. 14:15). Our sages maintained: The night divided itself of its own accord, while R. Benjamin held: The Holy One, blessed be He, who knows its hours and its moments, computed the night to the thickness of a single strand of a hair and divided it. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Abraham: You slaughtered My enemies from the middle of the night until morning, so be assured I will bring death to the enemies of your descendants from the middle of the night until the morning. I shall exact retribution from them at that time, as it is written: And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt (Exod. 12:29). Hence Scripture says: And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel.

R. Joshua of Sikhnin was of the opinion that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave Abraham a sign that whatever happened to him would likewise happen to his descendants. He chose Abraham from among all those in his father’s house, as it is said: Thou art the Lord God who didst choose Abraham, and brought him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham (Neh. 9:7). And He selected Abraham’s sons to be His chosen ones among the seventy nations, as is said: For thou art a Holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be His own treasured nation out of all the peoples that are upon the face of the earth (Deut. 14:2). He said to Abraham: Get thee, and to Abraham’s sons, He said: I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Emorite, etc. (ibid. 3:17). He promised Abraham: And I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing (Gen. 12:2), and He told his sons: The Lord bless thee, and keep thee (Num. 6:24). To Abraham He said: I will make thee a great nation (Gen. 12:2), and to his descendants He said: And what great nation is there (Deut. 4:8). Concerning Abraham it is written: Abraham was one (Ezek. 33:24), and of Israel it is said: And who is like thy people Israel, a nation one in the earth (I Chron. 17:21). In reference to Abraham it is said: and hunger was in the land (Gen. 12:10), and about his descendants it is said: When they returned to Egypt, hunger was already in the land (ibid. 43:1). Abraham descended to Egypt because of famine, and his sons, also, descended because of famine, as is said: And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn from Egypt (ibid. 42:3). When Abraham descended the Egyptians approached him, and the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair (ibid. 12:14), and concerning his descendants, the Egyptians declared: Come, let us deal wisely with them lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that when there befalleth us any war, they also join themselves unto our enemies, and fight against us, and get them up out of the land (Exod. 1:10).

The four kings attacked Abraham, and in the future all the kings will war against Israel, as it is said: Why are the nations in an uproar, and why do the peoples mutter in vain? (Ps. 2:1), and it says elsewhere; The kings of the earth stand up, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against His anointed (ibid., v. 2). Just as in the case of Abraham, the Holy One, blessed be He, waged war against those who hated him, as it is said: Who hath raised up one from the east, at whose steps victory attendeth? He giveth nations before him, and maketh him rule over kings; his sword maketh them as the dust, his bow as the driven stubble (Isa. 41:2), so too the Holy One, blessed be He, will wage war in the future in behalf of his descendants, as is said: Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations, as when he fighteth in the day of battle (Zech. 14:3).

And the two angels came to Sodom (Gen. 19:1). May it please our master to teach us the number of death penalties the Beth Din (the court of seventy-one members) was empowered to impose? Our masters taught us as follows: Four death penalties were imposed by the Beth Din: stoning, burning, decapitation, and strangulation. Which one is the most severe? The rabbis held that death by stoning was the most severe, since it was the punishment inflicted upon blasphemers and idolaters. R. Simeon the son of Yohai maintained that death by fire was the severest punishment because it was inflicted upon the daughter of a priest who was guilty of unchastity. Proof of the seriousness of unchastity is that it was punishable by death through fire. R. Joshua the son of Levi declared in the name of Bar Kappara that the Holy One, blessed be He, forgives everything but licentiousness. R. Judah the son of Nehemiah stated: The Holy One, blessed be He, rained fire and brimstone upon the inhabitants of Sodom, and burned them to death, because they committed acts of sexual immorality, as it is said: And the Lord caused to rain down upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire (Gen. 19:24).

After they sinned, the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded his angels: “Go, destroy it.” Then they fulfilled their mission, as it is said: And the two angels came to Sodom. Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: He sent forth upon them the fierceness of His anger, wrath, and indignation and trouble (Ps. 78:49). What is meant by the fierceness of His anger? R. Simeon the son of Yohai said: Five plagues resulted from His anger, as it is said: How much more when I send My four judgments against Jerusalem, the sword and the famine and the wild beast and the pestilence (Ezek. 14:21). What is the fifth plague? The drought. How do we know this? R. Simeon the son of Yohai explained: It is written: The anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and He shut up the heavens, so that there shall be no rain (Deut. 11:17).

The word wrath (avera) indicates that He was filled with wrath against them, just as a pregnant woman (uvara) (is filled out). The word anger (zaam) implies that the Holy One, blessed be He, cursed them (from zaam = “curse”), as it is said: How shall I curse them whom the Lord hath not cursed? (Num. 23:8).

However, even when the Holy One, blessed be He, is angry, He remains merciful. He remembered Lot and rescued him because of the merit of Abraham, as is said: And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain, that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow (Gen. 19:29). In the Mishnah it was said that one should save the Sefer Torah case as well as the Sefer Torah, and the tefillin case as well as the tefillin. It teaches us: Happy are the righteous and those who cling to them. Scripture states: And God remembered Noah and every living thing and all the cattle (ibid. 8:1), all because of the merit of Noah. Similarly, God remembered Abraham and sent out Lot (ibid. 19:29). Woe to the wicked and to those who cling to them, as it is said: And He blotted out every living substance which was upon the face of the ground, both man and cattle (ibid. 7:23). Furthermore, it states: I will blot out man whom I have created (ibid. 6:7). The angels of destruction came as the emissaries of the Holy One, blessed be He, in order to destroy Sodom.

And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old (Gen. 27:1). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: Instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons, whom thou shalt make princes in all the land (Ps. 45:17). R. Eliezer the son of R. Yosé the Galilean maintained: The descendants born to every Israelite in the future will be as numerous as those who departed from Egypt, as it is said: Instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons. This verse refers to our patriarchs Isaac and Abraham. Abraham was blessed, as it is said: And the Lord blessed Abraham with everything (Gen. 24:1), and Isaac was likewise blessed, as is written: And the Lord blessed him (ibid. 26:12). Abraham begot both a righteous and a wicked son, Isaac and Ishmael; and Isaac begot both a righteous and a wicked son, Jacob and Esau. Abraham’s wife was barren (at first), and Isaac’s wife was also barren (at first).

Why were the matriarchs barren? R. Levi said in the name of R. Shila of K’far T’marta, and R. Helbo said in the name of R. Yohanan: Because the Holy One, blessed be He, desired to hear their prayers. The Holy One, blessed be He, had stated: They are wealthy and beautiful, and if I should also grant them sons they will not pray to Me. You find that everything that happened to Abraham likewise happened to Isaac. Scripture states concerning Abraham: And Abraham was old (Gen. 24:1); and about Isaac, it says: And Isaac was old (ibid. 27:1).

And God remembered Rachel (Gen. 30:22). This bears upon what is stated in the verse The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together; and all that took them captives hold them fast; they refuse to let them go. The Redeemer is strong; the Lord of Hosts is His name. He will thoroughly plead their cause (Jer. 50:33–34). The Holy One, blessed be He, does indeed executeth justice for the oppressed (Ps. 146:7).

R. Phinehas the priest, the son of Hama, said: Seventy nations lived in Egypt, but only Israel was in servitude, as is said: And they made their lives bitter with hard service … in all manner of service in the field; in all their service (Exod. 1:14). What is meant by in all manner of service in the field? It means that after they had worked all day long with mortar and bricks, and returned home to rest in the evening, the Egyptians would come and say: “Go, gather some herbs from the field for me, chop down this tree for me, fill this barrel with water.” Hence, Scripture says: in all manner of service in the field.

What is meant by in all manner of service? It means that the men were compelled to do women’s work, and the women, men’s work. An Egyptian would say to the man: “Get up! Knead the dough and bake the bread”; and to the woman, he would say: “Fill this barrel with water, chop down this tree, go out to the garden to bring me some herbs.” Who dealt justly with them? He who executeth justice for the oppressed (Ps. 146:7). He giveth bread to the hungry, because they hungered for redemption; The Lord looseth the prisoners, when He released their bonds and redeemed them, as it is said: He bringeth out the prisoners into prosperity (Ps. 68:7). Hence, He executeth justice for the oppressed refers to the Israelites.

And God remembered Rachel. Prior to this verse, it is written: And Leah conceived again, and bore a son; and she said: “This time will I praise the Lord” (Gen. 29:35). Why did she not say I will praise the Lord after the births of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and all the others, but only after the birth of Judah? This may be compared to a priest who goes to a man’s barn to collect the tithe and the priestly portion. When the owner of the barn hands the priest the priestly portion, he does not thank him, and when he gives him the tithe, he still does not thank him. But if, after he gives the priest what is due him, he adds a measure of unconsecrated food, the priest does thank him and recites a prayer in his behalf. A bystander asked the priest: “Why is it that when he gave you the tithe and the priestly portion, you did not thank him, but when he added only a single measure of unconsecrated food, you thanked him?” The priest replied: “The tithe and the priestly offering belong to me, and I merely accepted that which belonged to me, but the measure of unconsecrated food he added belonged to him, and so I thanked him for it.” Similarly Leah said: “Twelve tribes are to descend from Jacob, and since he has four wives, each of us is entitled to bear three sons. I have already given birth to three sons, my rightful share, but now a fourth son has been granted to me; surely it is fitting that I praise the Lord this time.” Therefore Rachel envied her sister (Gen. 30:1). The Holy One, blessed be He, declared: How long shall this righteous woman grieve? Is it not just that she too shall conceive? Should she not be at least equal to the handmaidens? Forthwith, And God remembered Rachel.

And God said unto Jacob (Gen. 35:1). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness; evil shall not sojourn with Thee (Ps. 5:5).

What is meant by evil shall not sojourn with Thee? It means that no impure words ever emanate from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it says: The words of the Lord are pure words (Ps. 12:4). You know this to be so from the fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Noah: Of every clean beast … and of the beasts that are not clean (Gen. 7:2). Observe that Scripture does not say “unclean beasts” but rather beasts that are not clean. R. Joshua the son of Levi said: The Holy One, blessed be He, resorts to a circumlocution of two and three words in the Torah rather than utter an impure word. And so you find that when He introduced the matter of cleft hoofs lacking in impure beasts, he mentioned the signs of their purity first, as is said: The camel, because he cheweth the cud, etc. (Lev. 11:4). This is a sign of purity in an animal. Likewise in the case of the pig, He said: The swine, because he parteth the hoof (ibid., v. 7). This too is a sign of purity. Why did He do this? So that He would not be forced to utter an unclean word. Hence, Evil shall not sojourn with Thee.

Another comment on For Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness (Ps. 5:5). R. Phinehas the priest, the son of Hama, maintained: The Holy One, blessed be He, does not desire to prove His creatures guilty, He would rather that they pray unto Him so that he might accept them. R. Isaac propounded the query: Now that we have no prophet, no priest, no sacrifice, no Temple, no altar, who will atone for us? And He explained: Even though the Temple is no more, prayer remains available to us, as Scripture states: O Lord, hear; O Lord forgive (Dan. 9:19). And did you not say: Mine eyes and My heart shall be there perpetually (I Kings 9:3).

Observe what is written: Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail; for now thou shalt go forth out of the city and shalt dwell in the field (Micah 4:10). The ketiv (traditional spelling) is “I shall dwell” (rather than the Masoretic “thou shalt dwell” as in the preceding quotation) to indicate that though I shall exile you from its midst, my Shekhinah will not depart from the city. The field mentioned here alludes only to Zion, as it is said: Zion unto a field will be plowed (ibid. 3:12). The Holy One, blessed be He, declared: You shall pray unto me in the direction of the Holy City, and I will hearken from heaven and heal your land. Therefore Jacob said to his sons: Let us arise, and go up to Beth-El. What shall we do there? they asked. And he answered: The Holy One, blessed be He, has commanded me to arise, go up to Beth-El and dwell there.

And it came to pass on a certain day, when he went into the house to do his work (Gen. 39:11). Our sages disagreed over the meaning of this verse. Some held that he went into the house to gratify his sexual desires, but that when he attempted to have intercourse with her, he found that he could not do so, as is said: And there was not a man (ibid.). Others assert that he went into the house to perform his household duties.

R. Judah maintained: A fete in honor of the Nile was being held on that day, and all the people had journeyed to the river; only she and he remained at home. She grasped his clothing and pulled him into the bed. He desired to have intercourse with her, but found that he could not do so because he beheld his father’s image before him. He threw himself to the ground and dug his ten fingers into the earth. Why did he do that? Because of the verse By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (ibid. 49:24); the Torah speaks euphemistically. Immediately thereafter He fled, and got him out (ibid. 39:12).

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: You fled, therefore be assured: The sea will flee before your coffin, as it is said: The sea saw it and fled (Ps. 114:3).

When she realized that he would not pay any attention to her, she began to complain against him to her husband, as it is said: The Hebrew servant, whom thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me (Gen. 39:17). Thereupon Joseph’s master seized him and imprisoned him for twelve years.

Our sages contend that after his master heard her accusations against him, he wanted to kill him, for it is said: His wrath was kindled (ibid., v. 19). In this instance it is written: His wrath was kindled, and elsewhere it is stated: My wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you (Exod. 22:23). However, she told her husband: “Do not waste your money, let him remain in prison unto you are able to sell him and recover your investment.” She suggested this in the hope that he would someday be reconciled to her. Each day she visited Joseph and implored him: “Comply with my request.” And he would respond: “I have taken an oath.” Then she would say: “I will blind thee,” and he would answer” The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind (Ps. 146:8). “You will remain in chains until the day of your death,” she would shout, and he would retort” The Lord looseth the prisoners (ibid.). “Then I will exile thee among people in a distant land,” she exclaimed, and he would reply: The Lord preserveth the strangers (ibid.).

Since he was sentenced to remain in prison for ten years, why were two additional years added? The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: You abandoned your trust in Me and placed your trust in the chief butler, whom you implored twice to remember you: That thou wouldst remember me and make mention of me unto Pharaoh (Gen. 40:14). Therefore, you shall be forgotten in prison for two additional years. Thus it is written: And it came to pass at the end of two years (ibid. 41:1), that is, two years after the butler had departed from prison.

R. Joshua the son of Levi declared: Observe that the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He, are not like the ways of man. A man cuts himself with a knife and heals himself with plaster, but the Holy One, blessed be He, heals with the very thing with which he wounds, as is said: For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds (Jer. 30:17). Joseph was sold because of a dream, as is said: Behold the dreamer cometh … come, let us go and sell him to the Ishmaelites (Gen. 37:27), and he governed because of a dream, as is said: And it came to pass at the end of two full years that Pharaoh dreamed (Gen. 41:1).

And God Almighty give you mercy before the man (Gen. 43:14). May it please our master to teach us the number of times a man must pray each day. Thus did our masters teach us: A man must not pray more than three times each day, as instituted by the patriarchs of the world. Abraham established the morning prayer, as it is said: And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord (Gen. 19:27). The word stood refers only to prayer, as is said: Then stood up Phinehas, and prayed (Ps. 106:30). Isaac instituted the afternoon prayer, as it is said: And Isaac went out to meditate in the field (Gen. 24:63). The word meditation is used with reference to prayer, as it is said: A prayer of the afflicted when he fainteth, and poureth out his meditation for the Lord (Ps. 102:1). Jacob introduced the evening prayer, as it is said: And he lighted upon the place (Gen. 28:11). The word vayifgah (“lighted upon”) alludes to prayer, as is said: Therefore, pray not thou … neither make intercession (tifga) (Jer. 7:16). And it is written concerning Daniel: And he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed (Dan. 6:11). However, in this verse, the time of prayer is not specified. It was David who came and set the time for prayer, by saying; Evening, and morning, and at noonday, will I complain and moan, and He hath heard my voice (Ps. 55:18). Therefore a man may not pray more than three times a day.

R. Yohanan declared: Would that men were permitted to spend the entire day at prayer. Antoninus asked our saintly Rabbi: “What if a man should pray every hour?” He replied: “That is forbidden.” “Why?” he queried. “So as not to act irreverently towards the Mighty One,” he responded. But Antoninus, however, would not accept this answer. What did our saintly Rabbi do? He arose early (the next day) and went to him and said: “O master, O ruler.” An hour later he visited him again, and said: “O emperor.” After another hour had passed, he called out: “Greetings, O king.” The king said to him: “Why do you ridicule the emperor?” And he replied: “Let your ears hear what your lips are saying. You are a mere mortal, and yet you say that the man who greets you every hour mocks you; how much more so, then, should the King of Kings, who is not a mere man, not be annoyed every hour.”

R. Yosé the son of Halafta declared: There are times that are appropriate for prayer, as it is said: Let my prayer be unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time (Ps. 69:14). When is an acceptable time? When the congregation prays together.

It is essential that a man rise early to pray, for there is nothing more powerful than prayer. A proof of this is that though at first it was decreed that Moses was not to enter or even see the Holy Land, yet because he prayed for a long time, it is written concerning him: The Lord showed him all the Land (Deut. 34:1). Similarly, because Hezekiah prayed, the decree against him was abrogated. And Jacob also prayed for his sons when he sent them to Egypt, as it is said:; And God Almighty give you mercy (Gen. 43:14).

And he sent Judah before him (Gen. 46:28). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: The envy also of Ephraim shall depart … Ephraim shall not envy Judah (Isa. 11:13). Jacob our patriarch sent Judah before him because he believed that Judah had killed Joseph at the time he brought him the coat of many colors, as it is said: And he knew it, and said: “It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him” (Gen. 37:33). An evil beast refers to Judah, since it is said: Judah is a lion’s whelp. And Jacob said to Judah: “Thou art the one who hath rent him asunder.” Whereupon Jacob rent his garments … and all his sons and daughters rose up to comfort him (ibid., vv. 34–35).

What is meant by the words Nay, but I will go down to the grave to my son mourning (ibid.)? Jacob said: “Surely I shall die the death of a wicked man in the world-to-come. The Holy One, blessed be He, promised me twelve tribes, and now one of them has been torn asunder. Perhaps I was not worthy of them, and I shall perish in both worlds.” That is why he said: I will go down to the grave to my son mourning. You know this to be so from the fact that when he saw that Joseph was alive, he exclaimed: Now let me die (Gen. 46:30). When did he say Now let me die? He said to himself: “When my sons came to me, and told me that Joseph was dead, I cried out: ‘I am destined to die twice,’ but now that I see that you are alive, I am assured that I did not die, but only now will I die.” Hence he said: Now let me die.

And his father wept for him. After that Scripture states: The Midianites sold him into Egypt (Gen. 37:36). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Judah: Until now you had no sons, and did not experience the grief caused by sons, but since you tormented your father, and deceived him with the words Joseph is without doubts torn to pieces (ibid., v. 33), by your life, you shall wed, bury your children, and suffer the grief that comes with children.” What is written after this verse? Judah went down from his brethren … and he took her … and bore a son (ibid. 38:1–2). This teaches us that Judah became separated from his brothers. If at the time he had said to them: Come, let us sell him (ibid. 37:27), he had said instead: “Come, let us return him (to father),” they would have listened to him. Therefore, Judah went down. That is, he was deposed from his role as leader.

And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite (ibid. 38:2). She bore him two sons, Er and Onan, and both of them died. During the years in which Joseph was separated from his father, Jacob was convinced that Judah had killed him. Whence do you learn this? From the episode dealing with Benjamin: Whereas Judah said to Joseph: “For thy servant is surety for the youth” (ibid. 44:32). It was only after he announced that he had pledged himself for Benjamin that Joseph disclosed his identity and Judah was exonerated from guilt in this matter. Therefore And the envy of Ephraim was turned (Isa. 11:13). Hence, Scripture states: And he sent Judah before him.

"Reuben, you are my firstborn" (Genesis 49:3). You are my firstborn, my first drop, for I lived eighty years and never even saw an emission. "You are my firstborn," resembling me. "The excellence of dignity and the excellence of strength" (Genesis 49:3): three crowns were in your hand, priesthood, kingship, and birthright. "Dignity (se'et)," this is the priesthood, as it is said: "And Aaron lifted up (va-yisa) his hands" (Leviticus 9:22). "Strength (oz)," this is the kingship, as it is said: "And He will give strength (oz) to His king" (I Samuel 2:10). "Excellence (yeter)," this is the birthright, which is a double portion, as it is said: "To give him a double portion" (Deuteronomy 21:17). And you lost them. Who caused this for you? "Unstable as water" (Genesis 49:4). Therefore, "you shall not have the excellence." What is the meaning of "pachaz" (unstable)? It is an acronym. Rabbi Eliezer says: You were unstable (pachazta), you sinned (chatata), you fornicated (zanita). Rabbi Yehoshua says: You were unstable (pachazta), you withheld (chasakhta) the yoke from your neck, you trembled (za'ta) away from the sin. Rabbi Yehudah transposes the word: You trembled (za'ta), you were terrified (charadta), your sin flew away (parach). Another interpretation: "pachaz" means: you stepped over (pasata) the law, you profaned (chillalta) your birthright, you became a stranger (zar na'aseta). "As water (ka-mayim)," what is the meaning of "as water"? If a person has in his hand a jug of water and it is spilled, nothing remains in it. But if there is oil or honey in it, some remains in it. Therefore it is said, "As water, you shall not have the excellence." "Because you went up to your father's beds" (Genesis 49:4): you went up to your father's beds. When? At the matter of the mandrakes: "Is it a small matter that you have taken my husband, etc.? Therefore he shall lie with you" (Genesis 30:15). "Then you defiled my couch." He went up, so he will be set apart until Moses comes, of whom it is written: "And Moses went up to God" (Exodus 19:3), and he will draw you near and say to you: "Let Reuben live and not die" (Deuteronomy 33:6). Reuben went out with his ears drooping. He began to call to Simeon and Levi "brothers"; brothers of Dinah, but not brothers of Joseph, for they had sold him. Rabbi Samlai said: Concerning Reuben it is written: "In order to deliver him from their hands" (Genesis 37:22). Behold, you learn that he had no part in the selling of Joseph. And Judah too said to them: "What profit is it if we slay our brother?" (Genesis 37:26). And these four were the eldest. You thus learn that Simeon and Levi sold him. For at the time they went down to Egypt, Joseph set his eyes upon Simeon, as it is said: "And he took Simeon from them and bound him" (Genesis 42:24). Therefore he called the two of them together with one expression: "Simeon and Levi are brothers" (Genesis 49:5). "Weapons of violence (chamas)." He said to them: The weapons that are in your hands are taken by violence, stolen from Esau, of whom it was said: "And by your sword you shall live" (Genesis 27:40), weapons of violence. And "chamas" refers only to Esau, as it is said: "For the violence (chamas) done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you" (Obadiah 1:10). "Mekheroteihem" (Genesis 49:5): it is a Greek term, for they call swords "makhairin." And there are those who say: "Mekheroteihem" means their dwellings, as you say: "Your origins (mekhorotayikh) and your births" (Ezekiel 16:3).

And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown up (Exod. 2:11). Does not everything grow up? Do not men, beasts, animals, and birds all grow up? Why, then, is this said? It teaches us that he matured to an unusual degree. And he went out unto his brethren. This righteous man went out on two occasions, and the Holy One, blessed be He, recorded them. This is one. The verse He went out the second day (ibid. 2:13) indicates that he went out twice. And he looked upon their burdens. What is the meaning of And he looked? He looked at the men as they labored and cried out: “Woe is me, would that I could die for them.” Though there is no labor more arduous than working with clay, he would put his shoulders to the tasks and help each one of them. Hence it is written: And he looked upon their burdens.

And he saw an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew (Exod. 2:11). Who was this Egyptian? He was the father of the blasphemer, concerning whom it is said: And the son of the Israelitish woman blasphemed the Name (Lev. 24:11). The Egyptian was beating the Hebrew who was the husband of Shelomith the daughter of Dibri. Why was he beating him? This overseer was in charge of one hundred and twenty men, whom he would dispatch to their labors every morning, at the time of the crowing of the cock. Since he was wont to send them to their respective tasks, he would enter their homes. He noticed that Shelomith the daughter of Dibri was perfectly beautiful, without blemish, and he was anxious to possess her. (So one morning,) at the time of the crowing of the cock, after he (the Egyptian) had sent the Hebrew from his home, he had intercourse with the Hebrew’s wife, who thought that it was her husband who was still with her. Her husband returned (from his tasks) and observed the Egyptian leaving the house. He asked her: “Did he perhaps touch you?” “Yes, he did,” she replied, “but I thought it was you.” When the taskmaster learned that the man was angered by what had occurred, he forced him to work harder and would beat him.

Moses perceived through the Holy Spirit what the Egyptian had done to the man’s wife and that now he was beating her husband as well, and he said to him: “Is it not enough that you violated his wife, must you then smite him also?” He became enraged at the Egyptian, And he looked this way and that way (Exod. 2:12). Obviously, he was aware that the Egyptian had violated the woman and was now smiting her husband. When he saw that there was no man there, (he knew) that the man was destined to die at his hands: And he smote the Egyptian (ibid., v. 12). With what did he smite him? Some say that he took a trowel full of clay and smashed his skull. Others insist that he invoked the Divine Name and slew him, as it says: Sayest thou to kill me? (ibid., v. 14) (i.e., “Will you kill me with a ‘saying,’ a word?).

And he hid him in the sand (ibid., v. 12). He said to the Israelites: You are likened to sand, which moves soundlessly from one place to another; so, too, no word of this must depart from your mouths. Therefore it is written: And he hid him in the sand (ibid.).

"See, I have made you a god" (Exodus 7:1). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: The wicked Pharaoh made himself a god; let him know that he is nothing. Behold, I am making you a god over him. And from where do we know that he made himself a god? As it is said: "The Nile is mine, and I made myself" (Ezekiel 29:3). Therefore he will see you and say that this one is a god. Pharaoh was one of four men who made themselves gods and were violated like women, and these are they: Hiram, Nebuchadnezzar, Joash, and Pharaoh. Hiram, from where? As it is written: "Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre: Thus says the Lord GOD, Because your heart is haughty and you have said, I am a god" (Ezekiel 28:2). And from where do we know that he was violated like women? As it is said: "Your heart was haughty in your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor; I cast you to the ground; before kings I gave you up, that they might gaze (le-raavah) at you" (Ezekiel 28:17). "Le-raavah at you" [read as le-ra'ava] means: they performed their will (desire) upon you. Nebuchadnezzar, from where do we know that he made himself a god? As it is written: "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:14). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Wicked one, "Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit" (Isaiah 14:15). What did He do to him? He exiled him to the wilderness while he was still in his kingdom, and fed him grass like cattle, as it is said: "They shall make you eat grass like oxen, and seven periods of time shall pass over you" (Daniel 4:22). And the beasts and the wild animals would see him in the likeness of a beast, and they would come and violate him, as it is said: "And the destruction of the beasts shall terrify them (yechitan)" (Habakkuk 2:14). "Yechitan" is like the matter of which it is said: "You shall not intermarry (titchaten) with them." And despite all this, "a man's heart was given to him" (Daniel 4:13), for he knew that he was king over all the world, and now he is violated by the wild animals and the cattle. And it is written concerning him: "And at the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored the One who lives forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion and whose kingdom endures from generation to generation" (Daniel 4:31). Joash, from where do we know that he made himself a god? As it is written: "And after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and bowed down to the king; then the king listened to them" (II Chronicles 24:17). What is the meaning of "they bowed down to the king"? That they made him a god. They said to him: Were you not a god, you would not have come out after seven years from the Holy of Holies. He said to them: It is so, and he took upon himself to be made a god. And from where do we know that he was violated like women? As it is written: "And it came to pass at the turn of the year that the army of Aram came up against him, and they came against Judah and Jerusalem, etc., and upon Joash they executed judgments (shefatim)" (II Chronicles 24:23-24). Do not read "shefatim" (judgments) but rather "shipputim" (acts of abuse). And it is written: "And when they departed from him, for they left him in great diseases, his servants conspired against him because of the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him on his bed and he died; and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings" (II Chronicles 24:25). Pharaoh, from where do we know that he was violated like women? As it is said: "Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am giving Pharaoh Hophra (Chofra) king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies" (Jeremiah 44:30). What is the meaning of "Chofra"? That he was a male yet uncovered himself (para) like a female. "Chofra" is as you say: "And he shall uncover (para) the head of the woman" (Numbers 5:18). And likewise the prophet says: "On that day Egypt shall be like women" (Isaiah 19:16). And what caused this for him? Because he said, "The Nile is mine, and I made myself." Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, "See, I have made you a god to Pharaoh." Why? "For one higher than the high watches, and there are higher ones over them" (Ecclesiastes 5:7). He said to him: See, I have made you a god to Pharaoh; go and deal with the one who made himself a god, who is haughty (shach) in the world because he exalted himself, as it is said: "He beholds all that is lofty; he is king over all the proud ones (benei shachatz)" (Job 41:26). And does the lofty one see while the lowly one does not see? But is it not written: "The eyes of the LORD, they range over all the earth" (Zechariah 4:10)? Rather, Rabbi Berekhiah said: These are the arrogant ones who make themselves gods; the Holy One, blessed be He, makes of them haughty ones in the world, such as Nebuchadnezzar: "And he was driven from among men, and his heart was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild asses; they fed him grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever He wills" (Daniel 5:21). And likewise Sennacherib became proud and was made haughty in the world, as it is said: "And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out and struck in the camp of Assyria a hundred eighty-five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses" (II Kings 19:35). Therefore it is written, "He beholds all that is lofty," for the Holy One, blessed be He, displays the haughtiness of the arrogant ones to all creatures. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: "Can a man hide himself in secret places that I cannot see him? says the LORD, etc." (Jeremiah 23:24). Rabbi Binyamin bar Levi said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Let a person sit in the corner of his house and occupy himself with Torah, and I will display him to the creatures. All the more so, if a person conceals himself to perform idolatry or to commit a sin, I will display him to the creatures, as it is said: "Can a man hide himself in secret places that I cannot see him? says the LORD." And what is the meaning of "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" (Jeremiah 23:24). Rabbi Chama bar Chanina said: I fill from him both the upper worlds and the lower worlds, and I display his praise to the creatures. Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, "See, I have made you a god to Pharaoh." Why? "For one higher than the high, etc." (Ecclesiastes 5:7). He said to him: See, I have made you a god to Pharaoh; go and exact retribution from him and bring upon him ten plagues. He said to Him: How shall I bring the plagues upon him? He said to him: This staff you shall take in your hand. Rabbi Yehudah said: The staff was forty se'ah in weight, and it was of sapphire, and the ten plagues were engraved upon it as an acronym: DeTzaKh, ADaSh, BeAChaB. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: With this order bring the plagues upon him.

And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth (Exod. 12:37). The distance from Rameses to Succoth is forty parasangs (approx. 43 miles), yet Moses’ voice could be heard at Succoth. Do not be surprised at this, for even the dust that Moses hurled into the air soared about for forty days, as it is said: And it shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt (Exod. 9:9). If the dust could spread over the whole of Egypt, which takes forty days to traverse, how much more likely it is that his voice could traverse forty parasangs. R. Akiba said: Succoth refers to the clouds, as it is said: For over all the glory shall be a canopy (sukkah) (Isa. 4:5). Likewise, in the future, And there shall be a canopy (sukkah) for a shadow in the daytime (ibid., v. 6). Besides children (Exod. 12:37). That is, besides little ones and women. And they baked cakes (ibid., v. 39). Actually, they did not manage to bake cakes. The word cakes refers to a cake baked on coal, as it is said: But make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it forth unto me (I Kings 17:13). An amazing miracle was performed for them by means of the cakes. They ate them twice a day for thirty days, until the manna descended for them. Neither had they prepared for themselves any victuals (Exod. 12:39). This was to demonstrate Israel’s worth, since they did not complain and say: “How can we cross the desert and the sea if we have no provisions?” This teaches us that they trusted Him. Concerning them, it is expressly stated in the post-Mosaic writing: Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem (Jer. 2:2). What was their reward for their faithfulness? Israel is the Lord’s hallowed portion (ibid., v. 3).

Now the time that the children of Israel dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years (Exod. 12:40). Yet it is written: And shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years (Gen. 15:13). Since these two verses are obviously contradictory, how can they be reconciled? The first decree was issued prior to the birth of Isaac, but after Isaac’s birth, the Holy One, blessed be He, reconsidered the matter, as it is said: Thy seed shall be a stranger, and they shall afflict them four hundred years. Abraham reflected on this subject at the time of the decree. It is written: And they shall afflict them four hundred years, but it is also written: In the fourth generation they shall come back hither (ibid., v. 16). How can these verses be reconciled? These verses suggest that, if they repent, I will redeem them after four generations, but if not, after four hundred years. And it came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years (Exod. 12:41). At the end of that time he did not delay them as long as the blink of an eye. It was on the fifteenth day of Nisan that he issued the decree and spoke to Abraham our father, at the time of making the covenant-between-the-parts. It was on the fifteenth day of Nisan that ministering angels came to inform him about the birth of Isaac; it was on the fifteenth day of Nisan that Isaac was born; it was on the fifteenth day of Nisan that they were redeemed from Egypt; and it is on the fifteenth day of Nisan that they will be redeemed from servitude to kingdoms. The same day was designated for all these events.

It was a night of watching unto the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt (Exod. 12:42). This is also the night upon which they will be redeemed, R.Joshua maintained. R. Eliezer held, however: In the future they will be redeemed in Tishri, as it is stated: Blow the horn at the new moon (Ps. 81:4). It was a night (Exod. 12:42). It was the night about which the Holy One, blessed be He, had said to Abraham, “On that night I will redeem thy sons.” Watching unto the Lord for all the children of Israel (Exod. 12:42); that is to say, all the Israelites must be watchful on that night.

And the children of Israel lifted up their eyes … and they were sore afraid (Exod. 14:10). They resorted to the practices of their fathers. It is written of Abraham: And he called upon the name of the Lord (Gen. 12:8), of Isaac it is stated And Isaac went out to meditate in the field (ibid. 24:63), and of Jacob it is stated: And he lighted upon the place (ibid. 28:11). The expression lighted upon (vayifga) is employed with reference to prayer, as it is said: Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them; neither make intercession (tifga) to Me (Jer. 7:16).

Furthermore it says: Fear not, thou worm Jacob (Isa. 41:14). Why is Israel compared to a worm? To teach us that just as a worm has only a soft and tender mouth with which to strike at a hard cedar tree, so Israel has only its prayers. Idolaters are likened to a cedar, as Scripture states: Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon (Exod. 31:3). And yea, the Lord breaketh in pieces the cedars in Lebanon (Ps. 29:5). Whenever their enemies overpowered them, the Israelites would become penitent and would plead and pray. Hence it says: I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren which I took out of the hand of the Amorites, with my sword and with my bow (Gen 48:29). Did he actually seize it with his sword and his bow? Has it not already been said: For I trust not in my bow, neither can my sword save me (Ps. 44:7)? This implies that my sword refers to prayer and my bow to beseeching. Scripture says: And this for Judah, and he said: “Hear Lord, the voice of Judah,” etc. (Deut. 33:7). Similarly, David said: Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast taunted (I Sam. 17:45). It says also: Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will make mention of the name of the Lord his God (Ps. 20:8), and it is said: There is none beside Thee to help, between the mighty and him that hath no strength; help us, O Lord our God; for we rely on Thee, and in Thy name are we come against this multitude. Thou art the Lord our God; let not man prevail against thee (II Chron. 14:10). Concerning Moses it states: And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom … how our fathers went down into Egypt, and when we cried unto the Lord, He heard our voice (Num. 20:14–15). He said to them: Ye exalt yourselves because of your fathers’ legacy to you, but the voice is the voice of Jacob, and the hands are the hands of Esau (Gen. 27:40). Thus the verse The children of Israel cried out unto the Lord indicates that they followed the practices of their fathers. After they cried out to Him, the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to them, as it is said: But from thence ye will seek the Lord thy God; and thou shall find him (Deut. 4:29).

In the third month (Exod. 19:1). Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright, He is a shield to them that walk in integrity (Prov. 2:7). R. Levi stated in the name of R. Samuel the son of Nahman: The Holy One, blessed be He, allowed nine hundred and eighty generations to pass by before giving the rite of circumcision to Abraham. (This was discussed previously in the portion Get thee out of the land.) R. Jonathan stated in the name of R. Yosé the Galilean: The Holy One, blessed be He, had permitted nine hundred and seventy-four generations to pass by before giving the law to the generation of the wilderness.

The law was given to the generation of the wilderness because it was upright. Three months after they had departed from Egypt He gave them the Torah, as it is said: In the third month. Therefore, He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright (Prov. 2:7).

"If you lend money to My people" (Exodus 22:24). This is what Scripture says: "He who has not put out his money at interest" (Psalms 15:5). Come and see: anyone who has wealth and gives charity to the poor and does not lend at interest, it is reckoned for him as though he had fulfilled all the commandments, as it is said, "He who does these things shall never be moved" (Psalms 15:5). And who was this? This was Obadiah, who was a wealthy steward of Ahab, as it is said, "And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household; now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly" (1 Kings 18:3). And he sustained the prophets from his own property throughout that famine, and he borrowed at interest from Jehoram son of Ahab. Obadiah fulfilled, "He who has not put out his money at interest." But Jehoram, who lent at interest, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: He is still alive until now; let Jehu come and kill him, as it is said, "He has given out at interest and taken increase; shall he then live? He shall not live" (Ezekiel 18:13). And it is written, "And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength and struck Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sank down in his chariot" (2 Kings 9:24), because he had pressed him hard and stretched out his arms to take the interest, to fulfill what Ezekiel said, "He has given out at interest and taken increase; he shall not live." And in Jerusalem too there were people who lent at interest, as it is said, "Your silver has become dross" (Isaiah 1:22). And what was done to them? "Rejected silver they are called, for the LORD has rejected them" (Jeremiah 6:30); therefore "your silver has become dross." And it is written, "They shall cast their silver into the streets, and their gold shall be as an unclean thing" (Ezekiel 7:19). Why? Because they transgressed the Torah, as it is said, "You shall not give him your money at interest" (Leviticus 25:37). When Solomon built the Temple, he stood in prayer and said: Master of the universe, if a person prays for wealth in this House, and You know that he will be ruined by his wealth, do not give it to him; but if You see that the wealth is good for him, give it to him, as it is said, "Then render to each whose heart You know according to all his ways, for You alone know the hearts of all the children of men" (2 Chronicles 6:30). For in this world the wicked are rich and they dwell in tranquility, because the Holy One, blessed be He, pays them in this world for the few good deeds in their hand, as it is said, "And He repays those who hate Him to their face" (Deuteronomy 7:10). And it is written, "When the wicked spring up like grass" (Psalms 92:8). But in the time to come, the Holy One, blessed be He, opens His storehouses to the righteous, His servants, in the Garden of Eden. And the wicked who consumed interest gnaw their own flesh with their teeth and grieve, as it is said, "The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh" (Ecclesiastes 4:5). And he says: Would that we had been laborers and carried loads on our shoulders, as it is said, "Better is a handful with quietness than two handfuls with toil" (Ecclesiastes 4:6). And the poor are the people of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said, "For the LORD has comforted His people and will have compassion on His afflicted ones" (Isaiah 49:13). The way of the Holy One, blessed be He, is not like the way of flesh and blood. In the way of flesh and blood, a rich man who has poor relatives hates them and does not acknowledge them, as it is said, "All the brothers of a poor man hate him; how much more do his friends keep far from him" (Proverbs 19:7). But the Holy One, blessed be He, with all His wealth and honor, shelters and has compassion on the poor, as it is said, "For the LORD has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of His people take refuge" (Isaiah 14:32). "You lend to My people." David said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the universe, "May he be enthroned in God's presence forever" (Psalms 61:8); set Your world in order with equality, the rich and the poor. He said to him: If so, "Appoint mercy and truth, that they may preserve him" (Psalms 61:8); if all were rich or all were poor, who would be able to do kindness? "You shall not be to him as a creditor" (Exodus 22:24). If you have lent to him, do not press him. Do not look upon his field and vineyard, or his house, and say to him: Take a hundred thousand from me and do business and sign over to me your field and your vineyard and your house; and tomorrow he loses, and you take his vineyard. From here you learn that anyone who lends at interest does not fear the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said, "Take no interest from him" (Leviticus 25:36). Do not lay interest upon him. Our Rabbis taught: These transgress a negative commandment: the lender, the borrower, the guarantor, the witnesses, and the scribe. Therefore all of them are flogged. And from where do we know that the borrower is flogged? As it is written, "You shall not exact interest from your brother" (Deuteronomy 23:20). To what is interest comparable? To one whom a snake bit; he did not feel it, to say who bit him, and he did not know until it swelled up upon him. So too interest: he does not feel it until it swells up upon him. "If you take your neighbor's garment in pledge" (Exodus 22:25). The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: If he owes you, you too owe Me, as it is said, "When they sin against You, for there is no man who does not sin" (1 Kings 8:46).

"And you shall make curtains of goats' hair" (Exodus 26:7). And this is what Scripture says: "I have loved you, says the LORD, yet you say, In what have You loved us?" (Malachi 1:2). This verse Malachi said when he was reproving Israel. He said to them: "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob Me" (Malachi 3:8). And they answer and say to him: "In what have we robbed You?" (Malachi 3:8). They said, of blessed memory: It was the uncle of Malachi who was reproving them, and they answer him, What is the meaning of "robbed You"? Rabbi Levi said: It is an Arabic expression. When an Arab is conversing with his fellow and says to him, Why do you rob me (gozleni)?, he says to him, Why do you kova'eni? This is to say, "In what have we robbed (keva'anukha) You?" He said to them: In the tithe and the heave-offering, for you do not bring out your tithes and your heave-offerings as is fitting. He returned and said to them: "I have loved you." They said to him: "In what have You loved us?" He said to them: "Was not Esau Jacob's brother? Yet I loved Jacob" (Malachi 1:2-3). It is the way of the world: a man who has two sons, one a firstborn and one ordinary -- who takes two portions? The firstborn. And Esau came out first, as it is said: "And the first came out ruddy" (Genesis 25:25). He was fit to take two portions, yet I did not do so; rather Jacob took two portions and Esau one portion, for Jacob eats in this world and inherits the world to come. And so Esau said to Jacob: "Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go alongside you" (Genesis 33:12). Esau said to him: Let the two of us go together. Jacob said to him: Take your world and pass on, as it is said: "Let my lord, I pray, pass on before his servant, until I come to my lord to Seir" (Genesis 33:14). Rabbi Yaakov bar Rabbi said: I searched through all of Scripture and did not find that Jacob went to Seir. And when does he go? In the world to come, as it is said: "And saviors shall come up on Mount Zion," and so forth (Obadiah 1:21). Therefore, "and I loved Jacob," who is a partner with Esau and eats in this world. But in the world to come: "He bore him on His pinions, the LORD alone did lead him," and so forth (Deuteronomy 32:11-12). And so Solomon said: "Let them be only your own, and not for strangers with you" (Proverbs 5:17). "I have loved you." The Holy One, blessed be He, said: See how much I have cherished you. From the earth to the firmament is a journey of five hundred years, and from the first firmament to the second is a journey of five hundred years, and the thickness of each and every firmament is a journey of five hundred years. They all amount to a journey of seven thousand years. And the hooves of the living creatures are a journey of five hundred and fifteen years. There is no need to measure what is above the hooves of the living creatures. And the Throne is above them all. And see how much I have cherished you, that I set aside everything and said to you, "And you shall make curtains of goats' hair" -- make for Me curtains of goats' hair, and I will come to dwell beside you. "For a tent" (Exodus 26:7) -- I made clouds for you that shield you like a tent, as it is written: "He spread a cloud for a covering" (Psalms 105:39); so you too, make a covering for the door of the tent. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: If the nations had known how beneficial the Tabernacle and the Temple were for them, they would have surrounded them with tents and encampments to guard them. Why? Because before the Tabernacle was set up, the Speech would go out and enter the houses of the nations of the world, and they would be loosened in their bowels. From where? For thus it is written: "For who is there of all flesh that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?" (Deuteronomy 5:23). You would hear His voice and live, but the nations hear and are loosened in their bowels within their tents and die. And do not say it was only the Tabernacle; rather the Temple too was beneficial for them. From where? For thus Solomon would arrange in his prayer and say: "Moreover concerning the stranger, who is not of Your people Israel, but comes from a far country for Your name's sake -- for they shall hear of Your great name and Your strong hand and Your outstretched arm -- when he comes and prays toward this house, may You hear in the heavens, Your dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calls to You for, so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, to fear You as does Your people Israel, and to know that Your name is called upon this house which I have built" (First Kings 8:41-43). But of Israel, when one prays before You in this house: "and render to each man according to all his ways, whose heart You know -- for You, You alone, know the hearts of all the children of men" (First Kings 8:39). If he asks for children, and You know that they will provoke You, do not give him. And likewise if he asks for wealth and You know that he is destined to spurn it, do not give him. But of the stranger: "and do according to all that the stranger calls to You for, so that they may know," and so forth. But Israel recognize Your name and Your glory, and You foresee from the beginning what will be in the end, "for You, O LORD, have done as You pleased" (Jonah 1:14). And do not say the Temple alone was beneficial for them; rather even Israel themselves -- were it not for them, no rain would come down to the world and the sun would not shine, for by their merit the Holy One, blessed be He, makes light shine in this world. And in the time to come the nations of the world will see how the Holy One, blessed be He, cleaves to Israel, and they will come to cleave to them, as it is said: "We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you" (Zechariah 8:23). Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said: Before the Temple was built, the world stood upon a throne of two legs. Once it was built, the world was made firm and stood settled. From where? For thus the Holy One, blessed be He, says to Gad the prophet, that he should say to David: "Go and say to My servant, to David, Thus says the LORD: Will you build Me a house for Me to dwell in?" (Second Samuel 7:5). And another verse says: "You shall not build the house, but your son who shall come forth from your loins, he shall build the house for My name" (First Kings 8:19). Yet you do build, as it is said: "And I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant him, and he shall dwell beneath it" (Second Samuel 7:10). It is not written here "and I will plant them," but "and I will plant him" forever, meaning that the world will be made firm. Before the Temple was made, the world stood upon a throne of two legs; once the Temple was built, the world was made firm. And do not say that the world was made firm by the Temple alone; rather the Tabernacle too was beneficial for the nations of the world. Why? Because before the Tabernacle was set up, the nations of the world would hear the voice of the Speech and be loosened in their bowels within their tents. Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Make Me a Tabernacle, that I may speak with you within it; and not only that, but that I yearn to dwell beside My children. When the ministering angels heard this, they began to say: Master of the universe, why do You leave the upper beings and descend to the lower beings? "O LORD our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth, who have set Your glory above the heavens" (Psalms 8:2) -- this is Your praise, that You should be in the heavens. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: By your lives, I will do as you have told Me. Habakkuk said: "God comes from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran, Selah; His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise" (Habakkuk 3:3). At first "His glory covered the heavens," and afterward "the earth was full of His praise." David said to them: He laughs at you, He sets His glory upon the earth, as it is said: "Let them praise the name of the LORD, for His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth" (Psalms 148:13), and afterward above the heavens. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: And why are you amazed at this? See how I cherish the lower beings, that I descend and dwell within curtains of goats' hair, as it is said: "And you shall make curtains of goats' hair." Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Nechemiah. Rabbi Yehudah says: There was a great clean animal in the wilderness, and from it they made the curtains. And Rabbi Nechemiah said: It was a work of miracles, and it was created for the moment and then hidden away. Know this, for it is written: "And you shall make curtains of goats' hair... the length of one curtain shall be thirty" (Exodus 26:7-8) -- from where do you bring curtains of thirty cubits? From here you learn according to the words of Rabbi Nechemiah. And do not say it was only with the curtains; rather even with the boards there was a work of miracles. And from where were the boards? Our father Jacob planted them at the time he went down to Egypt. He said to his sons: My sons, you are destined to be redeemed. From here, the Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to say to you, once you are redeemed, that you should make for Him the Tabernacle; so arise and plant cedars now, so that when He tells you to make Him the Tabernacle, the cedars will be ready for you. Immediately they arose and planted, and did so. Our Rabbis, of blessed memory, said: "And the middle bar in the midst of the boards" (Exodus 26:28) came down in the hand of our father Jacob to Egypt -- for it was difficult, since it had to reach from one end to the other. And not only that, but those cedars would sing song before the Holy One, blessed be He. How did they sing song? As it is said: "Then the trees of the forest shall sing for joy before the LORD" (First Chronicles 16:33). And "then" (az) means nothing other than song, as it is said: "Then (az) Moses sang" (Exodus 15:1). And when? When the Tabernacle was made from them. When the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke to Moses concerning the Tabernacle, He said to him: "And you shall make the boards for the Tabernacle of acacia wood, standing up" (Exodus 26:15). It does not say "and you shall make boards," but "and you shall make the boards" -- those that Jacob their father had prepared. "Standing up" -- those that had been set up beforehand. Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said: There were twenty-four kinds of cedars, and of them all only seven were chosen, as it is said: "I will set in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane, and the box tree together" (Isaiah 41:19). "Cypress" -- elatin. "Plane" -- ispu neramuz. "Box tree" (te'ashshur) -- peksinon. And it is called te'ashshur because it is the most prized (me'ushar) of all kinds of cedars. And of them all only the acacia (shittah) was chosen, as it is said: "acacia wood." Why does He call it "acacia wood"? In order to heal what they were destined to do at Shittim, as it is said: "And Israel dwelt at Shittim" (Numbers 25:1). And do not say only of the ark that Moses made, but even every ark that Israel make, they must put cedar of acacia into it. Another interpretation: They sinned at Shittim, and they were stricken at Shittim, and they are healed by the acacia (shittim). They sinned at Shittim, as it is said: "And Israel dwelt at Shittim." They were stricken at Shittim, as it is said: "And those who died in the plague were" (Numbers 25:9). And they are healed by the acacia, as it is said: "acacia wood." You find that they did not move from there until Phinehas arose and turned back the wrath, as it is said: "Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest," and so forth (Numbers 25:11). The Holy One, blessed be He, said: In the world to come I will heal Shittim, as it is said: "And it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drip new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streams of Judah shall flow with water, and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD and shall water the valley of Shittim" (Joel 4:18).

And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them (Exod. 29:1). Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: The wise shall inherit honor (Prov. 3:35). Fitting, indeed, is the honor accorded to the wise men who labor in the Torah. The Torah says: Riches and honor are with me; yea, enduring riches and righteousness (Prov. 8:18). You find that though thirty-six generations passed by between Adam and Jabez, the word honor is employed only in reference to Jabez, as it is said: And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren (I Chron. 4:9). Why was he referred to as honorable? Because he was one of the wise men who arranged public assemblies to discuss problems of law, as is said: And the families of scribes that dwelt at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, the Succathites. These are the Kenites that came of Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab (I Chron. 2:55). R. Judah the son of Shalum stated in the name of R. Aibu: Two descendants of Adam were similarly honored, etc.

Another explanation of The wise shall inherit honor. This refers to Joshua, who inherited honor from Moses, our master, when the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee (Josh. 1:5). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Put off thy shoes from off thy feet (Exod. 3:5), and to Joshua He said: Put off thy shoe from off thy foot (Josh. 5:15). Concerning Moses it is written: Then sang Moses and the children of Israel (Exod. 15:1), and about Joshua it is said: Then spoke Joshua to the Lord, in the day when the Lord delivered (Josh. 10:12). Moses led them out of Egypt, while Joshua led them into the Holy Land. Moses slew Sihon and Og, while Joshua slew thirty-one kings. Moses halted the revolution of the sun in the war with Amalek, as it is said: And Moses lifted up his hand (Exod. 17:11). The word lifted up refers to his halting of the revolution of the sun, as it is said: The deep uttereth its voice, and lifteth up its voice on high (Hab. 3:10). Joshua did likewise, as is said: Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, moon, in the valley of Aijalon (Josh. 10:12). Moses erected an altar, as it is said: And Moses built an altar (Exod. 17:15), and Joshua did likewise: Then Joshua built an altar (Josh. 8:3). Moses wrote the law, as is said: And Moses wrote this law (Deut. 31:9), and Joshua did also, as it is said: And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God (Josh. 24:26). And so this was in every instance.

However, we find that he did not live the same number of years as Moses, our teacher. It is written about Moses: And Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died (Deut. 34:7), while Joshua passed away at the age of one hundred and ten years. Why did he live ten years less? Because he spoke ten words before Moses, his master, spoke, as it is said: And Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses from his youth up, answered and said: “My lord Moses, shut them in” (Num. 11:28). That is why He shortened his life ten years. From this verse you learn that no pupil is permitted to speak before his master, and that anyone who teaches anything before his master does, or even if he does not teach but simply tells others what the law is before his master has stated it, will find his life’s span shortened. Another explanation of the verse The wise shall inherit honor. This alludes to Aaron and his sons, through whom the priesthood was established.

"According to their number." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Count Israel. He said before Him: My Master, it is written, "And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth" (Genesis 28:14), and it is written, "And I will make your seed as the sand of the sea" (Genesis 32:12), and now You say this? He said to him: If you wish to ascertain their number, take the initial letters of the tribes and you will ascertain their number: resh of Reuben, two hundred thousand; shin of Simeon, three hundred thousand; yod of Judah, yod of Issachar, yod of Joseph, thirty thousand; nun of Naphtali, fifty thousand; zayin of Zebulun, seven thousand; dalet of Dan, four thousand; gimel of Gad, three thousand; bet of Benjamin, two thousand; alef of Asher, one thousand. Behold, five hundred ninety-seven thousand. Those three thousand that remained, they are the ones who were slain over the calf, as it is said: "And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men" (Exodus 32:28). Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Count them, how many are lacking. Rabbi Menahem in the name of Rabbi Bivai said: A parable of a king who had many sheep, and wolves entered among them and tore them. The king said to the shepherd: Count the sheep, how many are lacking. So too the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Go count Israel, how many are lacking. In ten places Israel were counted: one at their descent to Egypt, as it is said: "With seventy souls your fathers went down," and so forth (Deuteronomy 10:22); and one at their going up, as it is said: "And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses," and so forth (Exodus 12:37); and one in the Book of Numbers; one with the spies; and one in the days of Joshua at the dividing of the land; and two in the days of Saul, as it is said: "And he numbered them with lambs" (1 Samuel 15:4), "and he numbered them in Bezek" (1 Samuel 11:8). And why with lambs? When they were rich, they merited, by a lamb. When they were poor through their deeds, by Bezek. And what is Bezek? He took a stone from each and every one of them and counted them by the stones. And one in the days of David, as it is said: "And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king" (2 Samuel 24:9). And one in the days of Ezra: "The whole assembly together, forty thousand" (Ezra 2:64). And one in the time to come, as it is said: "The flocks shall again pass under the hands of him who counts them" (Jeremiah 33:13). And this: "When you take the count." Rabbi Menahema in the name of Rabbi Bivai in the name of Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba in the name of Rabbi Eleazar ben Yaakov: It is written, "And the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea" (Hosea 2:1). Why were they likened to sand? To tell you: just as sand, you make a hollow in it in the evening, and in the morning you find that it has already filled up, so too all the thousands who were lacking in the days of David were filled up in the days of Solomon his son, as it is said: "Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude" (1 Kings 4:20). Rabbi Eliezer in the name of Rabbi Yose ben Zimra said: Whenever Israel were counted for a need, they did not become diminished; and when not for a need, they became diminished. And when were they counted for a need? In the days of Moses. And not for a need? In the days of David. "And they shall give every man a ransom for his soul to the LORD" in the days of Moses, "that there be no plague among them" in the days of David. "This they shall give." Rabbi Meir said: Like a coin of fire the Holy One, blessed be He, brought out from beneath the Throne of Glory and showed it to Moses and said to him: "This they shall give," like this they shall give. "Everyone who passes among those numbered," everyone who passes among those reckoned in the count.

And he made the boards for the tabernacle of acacia-wood (Exod. 36:20). R. Tahlifa of Caesarea said: The Holy One, blessed be He, taught man correct behavior. If a man desired to build a house with the wood of a fruit-producing tree, one should say to him: Since the Holy One, blessed be He, to whom everything belongs, prohibited the use of the wood of a fruit-bearing tree in building the Tabernacle, how much more so are you prohibited from doing that.

What is suggested by the word mishkan (“Tabernacle”)? If Israel is worthy (of punishment), the Tabernacle would be seized as a pledge (mashkon) for them. Moses said: Master of the Universe, when there is neither a Tabernacle nor a Temple, what will serve as a pledge for them? He answered: I shall take the righteous from among them, and they will be their pledge. Hence it says: And he that hath slain all that were pleasant to the eye (Lam. 2:4). These are the righteous. Therefore it is written: And he made the boards for the Tabernacle of acacia-wood (Exod. 36:20).

These are the accounts of the tabernacle … and the bronze of the offering (Exod. 38:21, 29). The bronze of the offering (tenufah) refers to the bronze vessels given to a bride, for in Greek they call a bride nymphé. You find that while the Israelites were making bricks in Egypt, Pharaoh decreed that they were not to sleep at home so that they would not have intercourse with their wives. R. Simeon the son of Halafta said: What did the Israelite women do? They would go to the Nile to draw water, and the Holy One, blessed be He, would fill their jugs with little fishes. They would (sell some), cook and prepare (the fish), and buy some wine (with the proceeds of the sale), and then bring it to their husbands in the fields, as it is said: In all manner of service in the field (Exod. 1:14). While the men were eating and drinking, the women would take out their mirrors and glance into them with their husbands. They would say: “I am more attractive than you,” and the men would reply: “I am handsomer than you.” In that way they would arose their sexual desires and become fruitful and multiply. The Holy One, blessed be He, caused them to conceive on the spot.

Our sages said: They bore twins. Others say: Six were formed in a single womb. Others say: twelve were born from one womb. And still other contend six hudred thousand. Those who believed that twins were born explained it by the words: Were fruitful and increased abundantly (Exod. 1:7). Those who contended that six were born based it on the words: Were fruitful and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceedingly mighty (ibid.), that is, six. Those who say that twelve were born argue that the words in this verse are in plural form, thus making twelve in all. Those who said six hundred thousand did so because it is written about fishes: Let the waters swarm abundantly (Gen. 1:20), and here it is written: Increased abundantly.

It is also written concerning them: And the land was filled with them (Exod. 1:7). That is to say, that even while they were suffering hardship, they increased and multiplied, by means of the mirrors in which they preened themselves before their husbands. They aroused their sexual desires despite the arduous labors they performed. They reared all the hosts that were to depart, as it is said: All the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt (ibid. 12:41), and also: The Lord did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts (ibid.,v. 51).

When the Holy One, blessed be He, told Moses to build the Tabernacle, all the Israelites brought their contributions. Some brought silver, others brought gold or copper or onyx stones or unset stones. They brought everything eagerly. The women asked themselves: What contribution can we make to the Sanctuary? They arose, took their mirrors, and brought them to Moses. When Moses saw them he became angry with them. He said to the Israelites: Take your canes and beat them on their shoulders. What purpose do these mirrors serve? The Holy One, blessed be He, called out to Moses: Moses, do you mistreat them because of these? These very mirrors produced the hosts in Egypt. Take them and make a basin of brass and its base for the priests, that they may sanctify the priests from it, as it is said: And he made the laver of brass, and base thereof of brass, of the mirrors of the serving women that did service (ibid. 38:8), for they had produced all the hosts. Therefore it is written: And the brass of the offering was seventy talents (ibid., v. 29), that is, the offering of the wives amounted to seventy talents.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: In this world you shall offer gifts to the Temple that it might atone for you, but in the future I shall atone for you and love you freely, as it is said: I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely (Hos. 14:5). They replied: When we have neither Tabernacle nor Temple, let the prayers of our lips be our offerings. David exclaimed: Accept, I beseech thee, the free-will offering of my mouth, O Lord (Ps. 119:108).

(Lev. 8:2) “Take Aaron and his sons.” It is written (in Prov. 3:35), “The wise shall inherit glory, but fools take up shame.” This verse functioned from the beginning of the world until now. “The wise shall inherit glory.”

This refers to Noah and his children. “But fools take up shame.” This refers to the generation of the flood. “The wise shall inherit glory.

This refers to Shem of whom it is stated (in Gen. 9:26), “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem.” “But fools take up shame.” This refers to Ham of whom it is stated (in Gen. 9:25), “And he said, ‘Cursed be Canaan (the son of Ham).’” “The wise shall inherit glory.”

This refers to Abraham. “But fools take up shame.” This refers to the kings whom he smote (in Gen. 14:15). “The wise shall inherit glory.”

This refers to Isaac. “But fools take up shame.” These are the people of Gerar. “The wise shall inherit glory.”

This refers to Jacob. “But fools take up shame.” This refers to Esau. “The wise shall inherit glory.”

This refers to Joshua. “But fools take up shame.” These are the thirty-one kings whom he smote (according to Josh. 12:24). “The wise shall inherit glory.”

This refers to David. “But fools take up shame.” This refers to Goliath. “The wise shall inherit glory.”

This refers to Eli. “But fools take up shame.” These are his sons, of whom it is stated (in I Sam. 2:12), “Now Eli's sons were scoundrels.” “The wise shall inherit glory.”

These are the sons of Aaron of whom it is stated (in Lev. 8:2), “Take Aaron and his sons….” Why is “take” mentioned here? The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, “I am indebted in taking. Hence you are to arise and magnify him through taking.”

And when did Aaron take (such that God was indebted to him for it)? When (in Numb. 17:11) wrath had gone forth upon ‘those who hate Israel’ (a euphemism for Israel), Moses said to him, “Why are you standing [here]? (At the beginning of the verse), ‘Take the fire pan, and put fire [from the altar] on it.’” Aaron said to him, “My Lord Moses, do you wish to kill me? Because my sons offered profane fire to the Holy One, blessed be He, they were [destroyed by fire], as stated (in Lev. 10:1-2), ‘[Now Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu each took his fire pan…;] and they offered alien fire before the Lord….

So fire came forth from before the Lord and consumed them.’ Now you are saying, ‘Take the fire pan!’ My sons brought in strange fire and were destroyed by fire. So should I bring forth holy fire outside?

Would I not die or be destroyed by fire?” Moses said to him, “Go and act quickly; for as you are talking, they are dying. Rather (according to Numb. 17:11, cont.), ‘Take it quickly unto the congregation and make atonement for them.’” When Aaron heard that, he said, “If I die for Israel, I would not be adequate (for such a great honor).”

Immediately (in Numb. 17:12) “Aaron took it as Moses had said.” Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses (in Lev. 8:2) “’Take Aaron.’ Magnify him through taking. Just as Aaron [is going to] save My children by taking, so you are to magnify him through taking.” Ergo (in Lev. 8:2:) “Take Aaron.”

And it was on the eighth day: Rabbi Tanchuma, Rabbi Chiya, Rabbah and Rabbi Berakhiya in the name of Rabbi Elazar [all] said, "Any place that it is stated, 'and it was (vayehi),' it is nothing but a term of grief [hinting to the sound, (vay), meaning woe]." Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said in the name of Rabbi Natan, "This midrash came up to our hands from the exile - 'Any place that it is stated, "and it was in the days of," it is nothing but a term of grief.'"

And there are five: (1) "And it was in the days of Amrafel" (Genesis 14:1). What grief was there over there? They made a war to kill Avraham, our father, as it is stated (Genesis 14:2), "made war." [It is comparable] to a dear friend of a king who entered a province, and on his account was the king [concerned] about that whole province. [Then people] came and grappled with him with words. And when he wanted to leave, they all said to him, "Woe that the king will no longer be concerned about the province as he was."

So [too,] was Avraham a dear friend of the Holy One, blessed be He - as it is written about him (Isaiah 41:8), "the seed of Avraham, My dear one"; and it is written (Genesis 12:3), "and through you shall all the families of the world be blessed." And when the kings came and grappled with him, they all said, "Woe that the Holy One, blessed be He, will not be concerned with the world as He was; since He was concerned with the world for his sake."

This is [the meaning of] that which the verse stated (Genesis 14:7), "And they came to Ein Mishpat (which can be understand as the eye of justice)" - Rabbi Acha said, "They sought to grapple with no less than the eyeball of the world." They said, "They sought to blind the eye that [suppressed] the trait of [strict] judgment in the world." [The verse continues -] "It (hee) is Kadesh," [but] it is written, "he (hu) is Kadesh"; meaning to say, he sanctified (hu kidesh) the name of the Holy One, blessed be He and went down to the fiery furnace.

When they saw that the things were like this, they cried out. (2) "And it was in the days of Achaz the son of Yoshiah, King of Yehudah" (Isaiah 7:1). What grief was there over there? "It is what is stated by the verse (Isaiah 9:11), "Aram is in front and the Philistines are behind, etc." [It is comparable] to a king that gave his son over to a mentor, and the mentor hated him. He said, "If I kill him, I will become liable for death.

Rather, I will take away his nourishment from him and he will die on his own." So did the evil Achaz say, "If there are no goats, there will be no rams; if there is no flock, there will be no shepherd, [and] where will the world be?" So did he say, "If there are no masters, there will be no students; if there are no students, there will be no sages; if there is no Torah, there will be no synagogues and study halls."

What did he do? He passed all the synagogues and study halls and sealed them. And this [is the meaning of] that which the verse states (Isaiah 8:16), "Bind up the message; seal the instruction with My disciples." And when they saw that the things were like this, they all started to cry out, "Woe that the world is being destroyed" - when [study of] the Torah was negated, that was in the days of Achaz. (3) "And it was in the days of Yehoyakim the son of Yoshiyahu" (Jeremiah 1:3).

What grief was there over there? "I looked at the earth, and behold it was empty and void; at the heavens and their light was not" (Jeremiah 4:23), [It is comparable] to edicts of the kings that were brought to the provinces of the kingdom. In each and every province, when it came to their hands, everyone would stand on their feet, uncover their heads and read them with fear, trembling and perspiration.

But when they were brought to the province of the king, they tore them up and burned them: When the Holy One, blessed be He, sends His messenger to the nations of the world, they repent, cover themselves in sackcloth and fast - as did the people of Nineveh, as it is stated (Jonah 3:7), "from the order of the king and his principals, etc." They, may their memory be blessed, said, "One who had a beam or a stone that was stolen in his house would destroy the house and remove it and return the theft."

And because of this did Yonah fear to prophesy to Nineveh. As Rabbi Tarfon said, "The fish was designated, etc." And the nations of the world are afraid in front of the Holy One, blessed be He, and [so, they are] close to repentance, whereas Israel is stiff-necked. This is what the verse stated (Jeremiah 36:23), "And it was when Yehudi would read three columns or four" - meaning to say, he read four verses - and in the fifth verse, he read, "And her tormentors became the head" (Lamentations 1:5) - and it is is written (Jeremiah 36:23), "he would tear it with a scribe's blade and throw it into the fire until the end of all of the scroll."

And when they saw this, everyone began to cry out, "Woe for the decree that is hanging over us." And the other (4) - "And it was in the days of Achashverosh" (Esther 1:1). What grief was there over there? [It is comparable] to a king that had a vineyard, and he had three enemies. What did they do?

One cut the small berries, the second ripped the clusters and the third uprooted the vines: The king is King of the kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He; His vineyard is Israel, as it is stated (Isaiah 5:7), "For a vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the House of Israel"; [And] their three enemies are Pharaoh, Nevukhadnetsar and Haman. Pharaoh began with the small berries, as it is stated (Exodus 1:22), "Any son that is born, throw him into the river."

Nevukhadnetsar ripped the clusters, as it is stated (Jeremiah 29:2), "the craftsmen and the smiths." Who are the craftsmen (charash)? These are the ones that pray the mute prayer silently, and are victorious with their prayer over all the nations of the world. The smiths?

That all the nations of the world come in a vice in front of them but [then] flee, as they put a vice on all the nations - and Nevukhadnetsar come to destroy them; and he destroyed the craftsmen and the smiths, and exiled them. The evil Haman [then] came [to] uproot the vines, as it is stated (Esther 3:13), "to annihilate, to kill and to destroy." Everyone began to cry out, "Woe," and they mourned in front of the Omnipresent. (5) "And it was in the days when the judges ruled" (Ruth 1:1) - there was famine there; and what grief is greater than famine?

And from where [do we know] that there was famine? As it is stated (Ruth 1:1), "and there was a famine in the land." And why was there a famine? Because Israel and the judges were not judging true judgement; as it is is stated, "And it was in the days when the judges ruled" - [and] we find [following it], "he", which indicates evildoers. [As] so do we find, "he was Datan and Aviram" (Numbers 26:9); "he was Achashverosh" (Esther 1:1); "he was [...]

Achaz" (II Chronicles 28:22). So too were the judges. And to what is the matter comparable? To a province that was liable a tax to the king. [So] he sent collectors to collect it.

The people of the province rose and smote the collectors and hung them. The judgment that they were liable - as they appointed other judges for themselves - they did to the collectors. So did they do at that time, as Elimelekh would judge the judges; [since] he was a strongman and there were many men below him. He saw the distress and the famine, but he did not warn the sinners to repent from their evil.

And he stopped living in Beit Lechem for himself to live in the field of Moav - to sustain his soul during the famine, and the soul of his wife during the famine, and the soul of his sons; and he did not know that [it is] the Torah that sustains its masters and not the vanities of the world. And he was one who was important, as it is stated (Ruth 1:1), "and a man went from Beit Lechem, Yehudah." And we only say, "man," about an important man, as it is stated (Numbers 12:3), "And the man, Moshe, was very humble."

As Elimelekh was an important man, as they would consider him [so] in his place - and [yet] he went to save his soul and the soul of his household, and did not trouble himself about the matters of the community; even as he was an important man and they would have believed his words, [such as] to make them repent from their evil and bring them to repentance. And therefore, it occurred to him as it is written in the verse (Ruth 1:3), "And Elimelekh, the husband of Naomi died."

And so [too,] his sons died, as it is stated (Ruth 1:5), "And [...his] two [sons,] Machlon and Khilyon died, and the woman survived her two children and her husband." As so were they judging their judges, like Sodom. Rabbi Shimon ben Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, "Any place that it is stated, 'and it was (vayehi),' it is used for grief and it is used for joy. And when for grief, there is no grief like it, and when for joy, there is no joy like it." (The text is missing the following integral part of the midrash, found in Bereishit Rabbah 42:3 and other places: Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman came and divided it, "Any place that it is stated 'it will be,' it is used for joy; [but] 'and it was' [is for] grief.")

The Sages responded, "Behold 'And God said, "Vayehi (here used as a command form, and not past tense) light"' [is] joy!" He said to them, "It too is not of joy, as the world did not merit to use that light. As so did Rabbi Yehudah bar Simon say, '[Regarding] the light that the Holy One, blessed be He, created on the first day, Adam [could] look and observe from [one] end of the world to the [other] end. [But] since the Holy One, blessed be He, saw the deeds of the generation of Enosh and the generation of the flood, He arose and hid it from them.

That is [the meaning of] what the verse states (Job 38:15), "From the wicked is their light withheld." And to where is it hidden? [It is] in the Garden of Eden, for the righteous ones, as it is stated (Psalms 97:11), "Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the straight-hearted."'" They responded to him further, "It states, 'And it was evening and it was morning, one day.'" He said to them, "On that day too, it is not of joy, as all the acts of the first day are destined to wither, as it is stated (Isaiah 51:6), 'when the heavens melt away like smoke and the earth wither like a garment.'"

They responded to him, "Behold, the [acts of] the second day, the third day, the fourth day, the fifth day, the sixth day." He said to them, "They too are not of joy, as all the acts of the six days of creation require further action - for example, wheat needs to be ground; mustard needs to be mellowed; lupine need to be mellowed." They responded to him, "[And what about,] 'And it was that the Lord was with Yosef and he was a successful man' (Genesis 39:7)?"

He said to them, "It too is not of joy, as that 'bear' chanced upon him from this, as it is stated in the verse, 'after' - 'And it was after these things, and the wife of his master raised, etc.' (Genesis 39:7)." They responded to him, "[And what about,] 'And it was that the Lord was with Yehoshua, and his reputation was in all the land' (Joshua 6:27)?" He said to them, "It too is not of joy, as Yair the son of Menashe, whose weight corresponded to the majority of the Sanhedrin, fell at that time; as it is stated (Joshua 7:5), 'And the men of Ai smote of them, like thirty-six men' - and the master said, 'That is Yair the son of Menashe, whose weight corresponded to the majority of the Sanhedrin.'"

They responded to him, "And is it not written (I Samuel 18:14), 'And it was that David was successful in all of his ways and the Lord was with him'?" He said to them, "It too is not of joy, as enmity descended into the heart of Shaul from this, as it is stated (I Samuel 18:9), 'And it was that Shaul eyed David.'" They responded to him, "And is it not written (II Samuel 7:1), 'And it was when the king sat in his house and the Lord allowed him rest from all of his enemies'?"

He said to them, "It too is not of joy, as on that same day, Natan the prophet came to David and said to him, 'However you will not build the House' (I Kings 8:19)." They said to him, "Behold, we have said what is ours; [now] say what is yours - that 'and it will be' is joy." He said to them, "'And it will be on that day that the mountains will drip with nectar' (Joel 4:18), that will be in the days of the messiah, and there will be great joy for Israel.

And so [too,] 'And it will be on that day that a man shall save alive a heifer of the herd and two sheep' (Isaiah 7:21). And so [too,] 'And it will be on that day that living waters will come out from Jerusalem' (Zechariah 14:8). And so [too,] 'And he will be like a tree planted over streams of water' (Psalms 1:3). And so [too,] 'And the remnant of Yaakov will be among many nations' (Micah 5:6)."

They said to him, "But behold, it is written (Jeremiah 38:28), 'vahaya (here used in the past tense, and not like the other examples) when Jerusalem was captured'!" He said to them, "It too is not of grief, as on that day was the verdict of Israel for their sins taken; as so is it written (Lamentations 4:22), 'Your sin has been completed, Daughter of Zion, He will not again exile you.'"