The Requests Israel Made and the Greater Gifts God Offered

Rabbi Abbahu said: Two things Israel requested before the Holy One, blessed be He, and the prophets told them, You did not ask as is fitting. Israel requested, "And He shall come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth" (Hosea 6:3). The prophets said to them: You did not ask fittingly, for this rain—travelers are distressed by it, those who plaster roofs are distressed by it, those who tread winepresses and threshing floors are distressed by it. Rather, if you wished to ask, [you should have said,] "I will be as the dew to Israel, he shall blossom as the lily" (Hosea 14:6). And again they requested, "Set me as a seal upon Your heart" (Song of Songs 8:6). The prophets said to them: You did not ask fittingly, for this heart is sometimes uncovered and sometimes covered. Rather, if you wished to ask, [you should have said,] "You shall be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the palm of your God" (Isaiah 62:3). Rabbi Simon bar Kavi in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: Neither you nor your prophets asked fittingly; rather, if you wished to ask, [you should have said,] "Behold, I have engraved you upon the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me" (Isaiah 49:16). Just as it is impossible for a person to forget the palms of his hands, so "these may forget, yet I will not forget you" (Isaiah 49:15). The end.