Pesikta de-Rav Kahana Reader

The commandment of the Omer. "What profit has a person in all his toil at which he toils under the sun?" (Ecclesiastes 1:3). Rabbi Benjamin bar Levi said: The Sages sought to hide away the book of Ecclesiastes, because they found in it words that incline toward heresy. They said, was it fitting for Solomon to say, "What profit has a person in all his toil at which he toils under the sun?" One might suppose that even the toil of Torah is included. They reconsidered and said: had he said "in all toil" and fallen silent, we would say even the toil of Torah is included; but since he says "in all his toil," it is in his own toil that there is no profit, while in the toil of Torah there is profit. Rabbi Samuel bar Isaac said: The Sages sought to hide away the book of Ecclesiastes, because they found in it words that incline toward heresy. They said, was it fitting for Solomon to say, "Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes" (Ecclesiastes 11:9)? Moses said, "You shall not go astray after your own heart and your own eyes" (Numbers 15:39), yet Solomon said, "walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes." The strap has been loosed [restraint is gone]; there is no judgment and no Judge! But once he said, "yet know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment" (Ecclesiastes 11:9), they said: Solomon spoke well. Another interpretation: "What profit has a person in all his toil?" Rabbi Yudan said: under the sun he has none, but above the sun he has profit. Rabbi Huna and Rabbi Aha in the name of Rabbi Halafu said: the toil is under the sun, but the treasure is above the sun. Rabbi Levi said: whenever people increase commandments and good deeds in this world, it is enough that the Holy One, blessed be He, makes the sun shine for them, as it says, "the sun also rises, and the sun goes down" (Ecclesiastes 1:5). The Rabbis said: whenever the righteous increase commandments and good deeds in this world, it is enough that the Holy One, blessed be He, renews their faces like the disc of the sun, as it says, "and those who love Him are like the going forth of the sun in its might" (Judges 5:31). Rabbi Yannai said: In the way of the world, a person buys himself a pound of meat from the market; how he labors over it, how much trouble he takes with it before he cooks it! Yet while people sleep on their beds, the Holy One, blessed be He, sends the winds, raises the clouds, brings down the rains, sprouts the dew, grows the plants, and fattens the fruit, and you will not even give Him the Omer. Rabbi Phineas said: In the way of the world, a person washes his garment in the rainy season; how he labors over it, how much trouble he takes with it before it dries! Yet while people sleep on their beds, the Holy One, blessed be He, sends the winds, raises the clouds, brings down the rains, sprouts the dew, grows the plants, and fattens the fruit, and you will not give Him the Omer. Rabbi Abin said: Come and see how much Israel troubled themselves over the commandment of the Omer, as we have learned there: they reaped it and placed it in baskets, brought it to the Temple court, and singed it in fire so as to fulfill the commandment of parched grain in it (the words of Rabbi Meir); but the Sages say with reeds and stalks they beat it so that it would not be crushed. They put it into a perforated tube so that the fire would reach all of it, spread it out in the court while the wind blew on it, put it into the mill for groats, and brought forth from it a tenth-measure that was sifted through thirteen sieves. Rabbi Levi said: Behold, you have toiled and plowed and sown and weeded and pruned and hoed and reaped and bound and threshed and made it into a heap; if He does not bring out for you a little wind to winnow it, from where would that man live? Behold, you do not even give Him the reward for the wind, "what profit has he that he toils for the wind?" (Ecclesiastes 5:15). Rabbi Levi said: It is written, "they do not say in their heart, let us now fear the LORD our God, who gives the rain, the early and the latter rain, in its season" (Jeremiah 5:24). "Who gives": He has given you everything; you no longer have need of Him. "He keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest" (Jeremiah 5:24): He keeps for us against the scorching heat and against the harsh winds. And which are these? These are the seven weeks between Passover and Atzeret [Shavuot]. Rabbi Hiyya taught: "seven complete weeks they shall be" (Leviticus 23:15) — when are they complete? When there is no Yeshua and Shekhanyah among them [no failure of the harvest]. Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said: Where is your guard? You do not give me my guard-fee. Rabbi Berekhiah said: If I am from your group, you do not let me taste of your dish so that I may know what they need. That is what David says, "a generous rain You poured down, O God; You confirmed Your inheritance when it languished" (Psalms 68:10): if it needs rain, "a generous rain"; if it needs dew, "You poured down, O God"; "Your inheritance, when it languished, You established." Rabbi Banaiah said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: My children, when I was giving you the Omer, I gave to each one of you an Omer, "an omer for each head" (Exodus 16:16); but now that you give Me the Omer, I have only a single Omer from all of you, and not only that, but it is not of wheat but of barley. Therefore Moses warns Israel and says to them, "you shall bring the Omer of the first of your harvest to the priest" (Leviticus 23:10).

"Whose harvest the hungry eats up, taking it even out of the thorns, and the snare gapes for their wealth" (Job 5:5). "Whose harvest" — this is Nimrod. "The hungry eats it up" — this is our father Abraham. "Taking it even out of the thorns" — not with weapon and not with shield, but with prayer and supplication, "and when Abram heard that his kinsman was taken captive, he led forth his trained men" (Genesis 14:14). Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish in the name of Bar Kappara said: Eliezer alone, and the numerical value of "Eliezer" is three hundred and eighteen (Genesis 14:14). "And the snare gapes for their wealth" (Job 5:5) — who pressed in upon the wealth of Nimrod? Abraham and all who joined themselves to him. Another interpretation: "Whose harvest" — this is Pharaoh. "The hungry eats it up" — this is Moses and Aaron. "Taking it even out of the thorns" — not with weapon and not with shield, but with prayer and supplication, "and the LORD said to Moses, why do you cry out to Me?" (Exodus 14:15). "And the snare gapes for their wealth" — who pressed in upon the wealth of Pharaoh? Moses and Aaron and all who joined themselves to them. Another interpretation: "Whose harvest" — this is Sihon and Og. "The hungry eats it up" — this is Moses and Aaron. "Taking it even out of the thorns" — not with weapon and not with shield, but with prayer and supplication, "and the LORD said to Moses, do not fear him, for into your hand I have given him" (Numbers 21:34). And so it presses in upon the wealth of Sihon. Another interpretation: "Whose harvest" — this is Sisera. "The hungry eats it up" — this is Deborah and Barak. "Taking it even out of the thorns" — not with weapon and not with shield, but with prayer and supplication, "from heaven they fought" (Judges 5:20). And so for the wealth of Sisera, Deborah and Barak and all who joined themselves to them. Another interpretation: "Whose harvest the hungry eats up" — this is Sennacherib. "The hungry eats it up" — this is Isaiah and Hezekiah. "Taking it even out of the thorns" — not with weapon and not with shield, but with prayer and supplication, as it is written, "and Hezekiah the king and Isaiah son of Amoz the prophet prayed" (II Chronicles 32:20). And so for the wealth of Sennacherib, Hezekiah and Isaiah and all who joined themselves to them. Another interpretation: "Whose harvest" — this is Haman. "The hungry eats it up" — this is Mordecai and Esther. "Taking it even out of the thorns" — not with weapon and not with shield, but with prayer and supplication, "sackcloth and ashes were spread out for many" (Esther 4:3). And so for the wealth of Haman, Mordecai and Esther and all who joined themselves to them. Another interpretation: "Whose harvest" — these are the thirty-one kings. "The hungry eats it up" — this is Joshua and Caleb. "Taking it even out of the thorns" — not with weapon and not with shield, but with prayer and supplication, "and the LORD said to Joshua, get up, why have you fallen on your face?" (Joshua 7:10). And so for the wealth of the thirty-one kings, Joshua and Caleb and all who joined themselves to them. And by what merit did Israel merit to inherit the land of Canaan? You must say it is by the commandment of the Omer. Therefore Moses warns Israel and says, "you shall bring the Omer of the first of your harvest to the priest" (Leviticus 23:10).

"And he shall wave the Omer before the LORD for your acceptance" (Leviticus 23:11). How did he wave it? Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Ukba in the name of Rabbi Yose bar Hanina said: he moved it back and forth to annul harsh winds, and raised it up and brought it down to annul harmful dews. Rabbi Simon in the name of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said: he moved it back and forth to the One to whom the whole world belongs, and raised it up and brought it down to the One to whom the upper and lower realms belong. Rabbi Abin and Rabbi Judah and Rabbi Nehemiah hold this view.

Rabbi Jacob bar Abbai in the name of Rabbi Judah bar Simon; Rabbi Yohanan and Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish. Rabbi Yohanan said: Never let the commandment of the Omer be light in your eyes, for through the commandment of the Omer our father Abraham merited to inherit the land of Canaan, as it is written, "and I will give to you and to your seed after you the land of your sojournings" (Genesis 17:8), on condition: "and you shall keep My covenant" (Genesis 17:9). Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish said: Never let the commandment of the Omer be light in your eyes, for through the commandment of the Omer the Holy One, blessed be He, makes peace between a man and his wife, as it is written, "and the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring her offering" (Numbers 5:15), a tenth-measure of barley meal. Rabbi Abbahu said it, Rabbi Simon said it, Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said it: This is what stood by them in the days of Gideon, "and Gideon came, and behold, a man was telling his fellow a dream and said, behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread" (Judges 7:13). What is "a cake [tzelil]"? The Rabbis said: because that generation was emptied [tzalal] of the righteous. And by what merit were they saved? By the merit of the cake of barley bread. And which is this? This is the commandment of the Omer. Rabbi Samuel bar Nahman said: This is what stood by them in the days of Hezekiah, "and every passage of the appointed staff" (Isaiah 30:32). And were there waving-wars in that generation? Rather you must say this is the commandment of the Omer. And the Rabbis said: This is what stood by them in the days of Ezekiel, "and you, take for yourself wheat and barley and beans and lentils and millet and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make them into bread for yourself" (Ezekiel 4:9), and Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina said: he put in much barley. Rabbi Samuel bar Nahman said: things that loosened the bowels. Samuel said: there they say, they make of it a cake for the dog, and it does not taste it. A noblewoman asked Rabbi Yose ben Halafta, saying to him: How much that righteous man troubled himself! How many servants and maidservants he had, and they squander it on food and drink. He said to her: This is to teach you that wherever Israel is in distress, the righteous who are alive are with them in their distress. Rabbi Levi said: This is what stood by them in the days of Haman. You find that when Mordecai saw Haman coming toward him with the horse in hand, he said: It seems to me that this wicked man comes to kill me. He said to his students: Flee for yourselves, lest you be scorched by my coal. They said to him: Whether in life or in death, we are with you. What did he do? He wrapped himself in his prayer shawl and stood to pray. That wicked one came and sat down beside them. He said to them: With what are you occupied? They said to him: With the commandment of the Omer that Israel used to offer in the Temple. He said to them: And this Omer, of what was it, of silver, of gold, of wheat, of barley? They said to him: Of barley. He said to them: And what was its price, ten centenaria? They said to him: Far more, ten maneh would suffice. He said to them: Arise, for your ten maneh have overcome my ten thousand centenaria of silver! When he had finished praying, Haman said to him: Take this garment and put it on. He said: Will you so despise the kingdom? Is there a man who puts on the king's garment without bathing? Haman went seeking a bath-keeper and found none. What did he do? He girded his loins, went and bathed him. When he came out, Haman said: Take this crown and put it on. He said: Will you so despise the kingdom? Is there a man who puts on the king's crown without being groomed? Haman went seeking a barber and found none. What did he do? He went to his house and brought his own barber's tools and sat grooming him. He began to sigh. Mordecai said to him: Why do you sigh? He said: Woe to that man's father, who used to make his son a high official, and now he is made a bath-keeper and a barber! Mordecai said to him: And were you not the barber of the village of Karyanos? Then Haman said to him: Get up and mount this horse. Mordecai said: I have no strength, for I am an old man. Haman said: Are you not the very one who brought this upon yourself? He said: Get up, for I will bend my neck and you will tread upon it and mount, to fulfill what Scripture says, "and you shall tread upon their high places" (Deuteronomy 33:29). And when he had mounted the horse, Mordecai began to praise the Holy One, blessed be He, and said, "I will extol You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up and have not let my enemies rejoice over me; O LORD my God, I cried to You and You healed me; O LORD, You brought up my soul from Sheol, You kept me alive from going down to the pit" (Psalms 30:2-4). His students, what did they say? "Sing praise to the LORD, O you His faithful ones, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness; for His anger lasts but a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning" (Psalms 30:5-6). That wicked one, what did he say? "And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved; O LORD, by Your favor You made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, I was dismayed" (Psalms 30:7-8). What did Esther say? "To You, O LORD, I called, and to the LORD I made supplication; what profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise You? Shall it declare Your truth?" (Psalms 30:9-10). What did Israel say? "Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me; O LORD, be my helper; You have turned my mourning into dancing for me, You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness" (Psalms 30:11-12). Rabbi Phineas said: He was occupied with the recitation of the Shema and did not interrupt, "so that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent" (Psalms 30:13). It is finished.

"Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Your judgments are a great deep" (Psalms 36:7). Rabbi Ishmael and Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Ishmael said: With the righteous, who fulfill the Torah given from the mighty mountains, the Holy One, blessed be He, deals charitably like the mighty mountains, "Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains." But with the wicked, who do not fulfill the Torah given from the mighty mountains, the Holy One, blessed be He, is exacting with them down to the great deep, "Your judgments are a great deep." Rabbi Akiva said: With both these and those the Holy One, blessed be He, is exacting. He is exacting with the righteous and collects from them the few evil deeds they did in this world, in order to give them their full reward in the world to come; and He bestows ease on the wicked and pays them for the few good deeds they did in this world, in order to exact from them in full in the world to come. Rabbi [Judah the Prince] said: He likened the righteous to their dwelling and the wicked to their dwelling. The righteous to their dwelling: "in a good pasture will I feed them, and on the mountains" (Ezekiel 34:14). And the wicked to their dwelling: "thus says the LORD, on the day it went down to Sheol I caused mourning, I covered the deep over it" (Ezekiel 31:15). Rabbi Judah son of Rabbi said: "I caused mourning" — it is written "I caused to wither." A parable: one does not make a cover for a barrel of silver, gold, bronze, iron, tin, or lead, but of clay, each kind with its own kind. So the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Gehinnom is darkness and the deep is darkness and the wicked are darkness; let darkness come and cover darkness, "for in vanity it comes and in darkness it goes, and its name is covered in darkness" (Ecclesiastes 6:4). Rabbi Jonathan in the name of Rabbi Josiah reordered this verse: Your righteousness is upon Your judgments like the mountains upon the great deep. Just as these mountains press down upon the deep so that it does not rise and flood the world, so the deeds of the righteous press down upon calamity so that it does not come into the world. Another interpretation: just as these mountains have no end, so there is no end to the reward of the righteous in the world to come; just as the deep has no end, so there is no end to the measures of punishment of the wicked in the world to come. Another interpretation: just as these mountains are revealed, so the deeds of the righteous are revealed; just as the deep is hidden, so the deeds of the wicked are hidden. Another interpretation: just as these mountains are sown and yield fruit, so the deeds of the righteous yield fruit; just as the deep is not sown and yields no fruit, so the deeds of the wicked yield no fruit. Another interpretation: "Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains." Rabbi Yudah son of Rabbi Simon said: The charity You did with Noah in the ark was like the mighty mountains, "and the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat" (Genesis 8:4); and the judgments You did with his generation, You were exacting with them down to the great deep, "on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth" (Genesis 7:11). And not only that, but You remembered him; You did not remember him alone, but him and all who were with him in the ark, "and God remembered Noah and every living thing" (Genesis 8:1). Rabbi Joshua ben Levi went up to Rome and saw there pillars of marble wrapped in covers, in the heat lest they crack and in the cold lest they freeze; and he saw there one poor man with a reed mat beneath him and a reed mat over him. Of the pillars he recited, "Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains" — where You give, You give abundantly; and of the poor man he recited, "Your judgments are a great deep" — where You strike, You are exacting. Alexander of Macedon went to the king Katzia beyond the mountains of darkness. He came to a province named Carthage which was all women, and they came out before him and said: If you make war with us and conquer us, your name will go out in the world that you destroyed a province of women; and if we make war with you and conquer you, your name will go out in the world that women made war with you and conquered you, and you will no longer be able to stand before a king. When he left he wrote on the city gate: I, Alexander of Macedon, was a fool until I came to the province of Carthage and learned counsel from women. He went to another province named Africa, and they came out before him with golden apples, golden pomegranates, and golden bread. He said to them: Is gold eaten in your land? They said to him: Did you not have this in your own land, that you came to us? He said to them: I did not come to see your wealth; I came to see your justice. While they sat there, two men came for judgment before the king. One said: I bought a ruin from this man, and I cleared it and found in it a treasure, and I said to him, take your treasure, for I bought the ruin and did not buy the treasure. The other said: My lord, when I sold this man the ruin, I sold him all that is in it. The king called one of them and said: Have you a son? He said: Yes. And to the other he said: Have you a daughter? He said: Yes. He said to them: Go, marry them to one another, and let the two of them enjoy the treasure. Alexander began to wonder. The king said: Why do you wonder, did I not judge well? He said: Yes. He said: And had this case come before you in your land, what would you have done? He said: We would have removed the head of this one and the head of that one, and the treasure would have gone to the king. The king said: And does the sun rise upon you? He said: Yes. And does rain fall upon you? He said: Yes. He said: Perhaps there is small cattle in your land? He said: Yes. He said: May that man's spirit expire! It is by the merit of the small cattle that the sun rises upon you and the rain falls upon you; by the merit of the small cattle you are delivered. This is what is written, "man and beast You save, O LORD" (Psalms 36:7): man, for the sake of beast, You save, O LORD. Israel said: Master of the worlds, we are man, and like cattle You save us, for we are drawn after You like cattle, "draw me after You, let us run" (Song of Songs 1:4) — like cattle so are we drawn after You. To where? The school of Rabbi said: to the Garden of Eden, "they are filled from the fatness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your delights [adanekha]" (Psalms 36:9). Rabbi Eleazar son of Rabbi Menahem said: it is not written "Your delight" but "Your delights," teaching that every single righteous one has a delight of his own. Rabbi Isaac said: the law of man and the law of beast. The law of man, "and on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised" (Leviticus 12:3); and the law of beast, "and from the eighth day onward it shall be accepted" (Leviticus 22:27).

Rabbi Tanhuma opened: "Who has given to Me first, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine" (Job 41:3). Rabbi Tanhuma interpreted the verse concerning a bachelor who dwells in a city and pays the wages of teachers of Scripture and of Mishnah. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: It is upon Me to repay him his recompense and to give him a male son. Rabbi Jeremiah son of Rabbi Eleazar said: In time to come a heavenly voice will burst forth upon the mountaintops and say: Whoever has acted with God, let him come and take his reward. This is what is written, "at the appointed time it shall be said to Jacob and to Israel, what has God wrought" (Numbers 23:23) — whoever has acted with God, let him come and take his reward. And the Holy Spirit says: "Who has given to Me first, that I should repay him?" Who praised before Me before I gave him breath? Who circumcised before Me before I gave him a male son? Who made fringes for Me before I gave him a garment? Who made a mezuzah for Me before I gave him a house? Who made a parapet for Me before I gave him a roof? Who made a sukkah for Me before I gave him a courtyard? Who set aside for Me the corner of the field before I gave him a field? Who set aside for Me heave-offering and tithes before I gave him a threshing floor? Who set aside for Me an offering before I gave him an animal? "An ox, or a sheep, or a goat" (Leviticus 22:27).

Rabbi Jacob bar Zavdi in the name of Rabbi Abbahu opened: "and it shall no longer be for the house of Israel an object of confidence, bringing iniquity to remembrance" (Ezekiel 29:16). It is written, "seraphim stood above Him, each had six wings" (Isaiah 6:2). "With two he flew" (Isaiah 6:2) — for praise. "With two he covered his face" (Isaiah 6:2) — so as not to gaze upon the Divine Presence. "With two he covered his feet" (Isaiah 6:2) — so that the feet should not be seen before the Divine Presence, as it is written, "and their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot" (Ezekiel 1:7), on account of "it shall no longer be for the house of Israel an object of confidence, bringing iniquity to remembrance" (Ezekiel 29:16). There we learned: all shofars are valid except that of a cow, because it is the horn of a calf, on account of "it shall no longer be for the house of Israel an object of confidence, bringing iniquity to remembrance." And we learned there: "you shall kill the woman and the beast" (Leviticus 20:16). If the person sinned, what did the beast sin? Rather, because mishap came to a person through it, therefore Scripture said it should be stoned. Another interpretation: so that the beast should not pass through the marketplace and people say, this is the one through which so-and-so was stoned, on account of "it shall no longer be for the house of Israel an object of confidence, bringing iniquity to remembrance." And it was taught: why did they say a madwoman should not drink from her companion's cup? So that people should not say, from this cup her companion drank and died, on account of "it shall no longer be for the house of Israel an object of confidence, bringing iniquity to remembrance." So too, "an ox, or a sheep, or a goat, when it is born" (Leviticus 22:27). But is an ox born, and not a calf born? Rather, because it is written, "they made for themselves a molten calf" (Exodus 32:8), therefore Scripture called it an ox and did not call it a calf, "an ox, or a sheep, or a goat, when it is born" (Leviticus 22:27).

"That which has been is now, and that which is to be has already been" (Ecclesiastes 3:15). Rabbi Judah and Rabbi Nehemiah. Rabbi Judah said: If a person says to you that had Adam not sinned he would be alive and existing until now, say to him, "it already is" — Elijah, remembered for good, who did not sin, is not alive and existing until now. "And that which is to be has already been": if a person says to you that the Holy One, blessed be He, will in the future revive the dead, say to him, "it already has been" — did He not already do so through Elijah and through Elisha and through Ezekiel? Rabbi Nehemiah said: If a person says to you that the whole world was once water within water, say to him, "it already is" — the ocean, is it not all water within water? "And that which is to be has already been": if a person says to you that the Holy One will in the future make the sea into dry land, say to him, "it already has been" — did He not already do so through Moses, "and the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea" (Exodus 14:29)? Rabbi Aha in the name of Rabbi Simeon bar Halafta said: Everything the Holy One, blessed be He, will do in the world to come, He has already done a portion of it in advance through the righteous in this world. The Holy One said He will revive the dead — He already did so through Elijah, Elisha, and Ezekiel. The Holy One said He will make the sea dry land — did He not already do so through Moses? The Holy One said He will open the eyes of the blind (Isaiah 35:5) — did He not already do so, "and God opened the eyes of the young man" (II Kings 6:17)? The Holy One said He will remember the barren — did He not already do so, "and the LORD remembered Sarah" (Genesis 21:1)? The Holy One said, "kings shall be your foster fathers and their princesses your nursing mothers, with faces to the earth they shall bow down to you" (Isaiah 49:23) — did He not already do so? Was not Nebuchadnezzar a king, and to whom did he bow? To Daniel, "then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and paid homage to Daniel" (Daniel 2:46). "And God seeks the pursued" (Ecclesiastes 3:15). Rav Huna in the name of Rav Yosef said: In the future the Holy One, blessed be He, will demand the blood of the pursued from the hand of their pursuers. A righteous man pursuing a righteous man, "and God seeks the pursued." A wicked man pursuing a wicked man, "and God seeks the pursued." A wicked man pursuing a righteous man, "and God seeks the pursued." Even if you say a righteous man pursuing a wicked man, in any case "and God seeks the pursued." Know that this is so: Abel was pursued by Cain, and God sought the pursued, "and the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering" (Genesis 4:4). Noah was pursued by his generation, and God sought the pursued, "and Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD" (Genesis 6:8). Abraham was pursued by Nimrod, and God sought the pursued, "You are the LORD God who chose Abram" (Nehemiah 9:7). Isaac was pursued by the Philistines, and God sought the pursued, "and they said, we have surely seen that the LORD was with you" (Genesis 26:28). Jacob was pursued by Esau, and God sought the pursued, "for the LORD has chosen Jacob for Himself" (Psalms 135:4). Joseph was pursued by his brothers, and God sought the pursued, "and the LORD was with Joseph and he was a prosperous man" (Genesis 39:2). Moses was pursued by Pharaoh, and God sought the pursued, "He said He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen one" (Psalms 106:23). Israel is pursued by the nations of the world, and God seeks the pursued, "and the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own treasure" (Deuteronomy 14:2). Rabbi Yudah son of Rabbi Simon in the name of Rabbi Yose bar Nehorai said: So too here, the ox is pursued by the lion, the sheep by the wolf, the goat by the leopard; the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Do not bring an offering before Me from the pursuers but from the pursued, "an ox, or a sheep, or a goat, when it is born" (Leviticus 22:27).

"My people, what have I done to you, and how have I wearied you? Testify against Me" (Micah 6:3). Rabbi Acha said: Testify against Me and receive a reward; but do not testify against your fellow, lest you receive over it judgment and reckoning. Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said: In three places the Holy One, blessed be He, came to argue His case with Israel, and the nations of the world rejoiced. When He said, "Come now, and let us reason together, says the LORD" (Isaiah 1:18), the nations rejoiced and said: How can these argue their case with their Creator? Now He will wipe them out of the world. But when the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that the nations of the world were rejoicing, He turned it to their good: "Though your sins be as scarlet" (ibid.). The nations of the world were astonished: Is this a rebuke? Is this an argument? He came only to be reconciled with His children. And when the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Hear, O mountains, the LORD's controversy" (Micah 6:2), the nations of the world rejoiced and said: How can these argue with their Creator? Now He will wipe them out of the world. But when the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that the nations were rejoicing, He turned it to their good: "My people, what have I done to you, and how have I wearied you? Testify against Me. My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised" (Micah 6:3, 5). And when He said, "The LORD has a controversy with Judah" (Hosea 12:3), the nations of the world rejoiced and said: Now He will wipe them out of the world. But when the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that the nations were rejoicing, He turned it to their good: "In the womb he took his brother by the heel" (ibid. 4). This is like a woman who was lodging a complaint against her son before a judge. When she saw that the judge was sitting and judging and sentencing men to death, she said: If I make known to this judge the offense of my son, he will put him to death now. What did she do? She kept pressing until he had finished his cases, and when he had finished his cases he said to her: What is this son of yours's offense against you? She said to him: When he was in my belly he kicked me. He said to her: And now does he do anything to you? She said to him: No. He said to her: There is no offense at all in this matter. The nations of the world were astonished and said: Is this a rebuke? Is this an argument, one after another? He came only to be reconciled with His children. "And how have I wearied you" (Micah 6:3). Rabbi Berekhiah said: This is like a king who sent his official proclamation to a province. What did all the people of the province do? They took it and stood on their feet and bared their heads and read it with awe and fear, with trembling and quaking. So said the Holy One, blessed be He, to Israel: My children, this recitation of the Shema is My official proclamation. I did not trouble you. I did not tell you to read it while standing on your feet or with your heads bared, but rather "when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way" (Deuteronomy 6:7). Another interpretation of "And how have I wearied you" (Micah 6:3). Rabbi Yudah son of Rabbi Simon said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Ten clean animals I handed over to you, three in your domain and seven not in your domain. These are in your domain: "the ox, the sheep, and the goat" (Deuteronomy 14:4). And these are not in your domain: "the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the antelope" (ibid.). I did not trouble you. I did not tell you to climb the mountains and weary yourselves in the fields and bring before Me an offering from those not in your domain, but only from those in your domain that grow up at your stall: "When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born" (Leviticus 22:27).

"Behold, you are nothing, and your work is nought" (Isaiah 41:24). "Behold, you are nothing" (me-ayin) [from nothing] means from utter nothingness, foul brine. "And your work is nought" (me-efa) [from a cry] means from the hundred cries (pi'ot) that a woman cries out when she sits upon the birthing stool, ninety-nine for death and one for life. "An abomination is he who chooses you" (ibid.). Even though this infant comes out of his mother's belly soiled and dirtied, full of mucus and blood, all embrace him and all kiss him, and all the more so when it is a male. Another interpretation of "Behold, you are nothing" (ibid.). Rabbi Berekhiah said: It is the Greek tongue, as you say ina [one]: you are one (ina) to Me from among the nations of the world. "From nothing" (me-ayin) means from those of whom it is written, "All the nations are as nothing before Him" (ibid. 40:17). "And your work is from a cry" (ibid. 41:24). Rabbi Levi said: All the good deeds and consolations that the Holy One, blessed be He, will in the future do with Israel are only the reward of one cry that you cried out before Me at Sinai, when you said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do and we will hear" (Exodus 24:7). "An abomination is he who chooses you" (Isaiah ibid.): that abomination of which it is written, "a molten calf" (Exodus 32:4), from that very abomination they brought before Me an offering, "an ox or a sheep or a goat" (Leviticus 22:27).

"In their evil they make a king glad, and in their lies, princes" (Hosea 7:3). And why did He see fit in the ox to make it head of all the offerings? Rabbi Levi said: This is like a noblewoman against whom an evil report went out, accusing her with one of the great men of the kingdom. The king investigated the matter and found no substance in it. What did he do? He made a great feast and seated that man at the head of the reclining guests. Why all this? To make known that the king had investigated the matter and found no substance in it. So too, because the nations of the world were taunting Israel and saying to them, "You made the calf," and the Holy One, blessed be He, investigated the matter and found no substance in it, therefore the ox was made head of all the offerings: "an ox or a sheep or a goat" (Leviticus 22:27).

Rabbi Chuna and Rabbi Idi in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman: Israel was saved from that deed, for if Israel had made the calf they would have said, "These are our God, O Israel." Rather, it was the converts who had come up with them who made the calf, and they were taunting Israel and saying to them, "These are your God, O Israel" (Exodus 32:4). Rabbi Yudah son of Rabbi Simon said: It is written, "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib" (Isaiah 1:3). And did they not know? Rather, they trampled with the heel. And similarly, "For My people are foolish, they do not know Me" (Jeremiah 4:22). And did they not know? Rather, they trampled with the heel. And similarly, "And she did not know that I gave her the grain" (Hosea 2:10). And did she not know? Rather, she trampled with the heel.

"An ox" (Leviticus 22:27), by the merit of Abraham, as it is written, "And Abraham ran to the herd" (Genesis 18:7). "A sheep," by the merit of Isaac, as it is written, "And behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by its horns" (ibid. 22:13). "A goat," by the merit of Jacob, as it is written, "Go now to the flock and fetch me from there two good kids of the goats" (ibid. 27:9). What is the meaning of "good"? Rabbi Berekhiah in the name of Rabbi Chelbo said: Good for you and good for your children. Good for you, for through them you receive blessings; and good for your children, for through them atonement is made for your children on the Day of Atonement, as it is written, "For on this day He shall make atonement for you" (Leviticus 16:30).

"And it shall be seven days under its mother" (Leviticus 22:27). Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin in the name of Rabbi Levi: This is like a king who was entering a province, and he sent out a herald and said: All guests who are present shall not see my face until they first see the noblewoman. So said the Holy One, blessed be He, to Israel: My children, do not bring an offering before Me until a Sabbath has passed over it, for there are no seven days without a Sabbath, and there is no circumcision without a Sabbath. Rabbi Yitzchak said: The law of a man and the law of a beast. The law of a man: "And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised" (Leviticus 12:3). The law of a beast: "And from the eighth day onward it shall be acceptable as an offering by fire to the LORD" (Leviticus 22:27).

"And an ox or a sheep, it and its young" (Leviticus 22:28). Rabbi Berekhiah in the name of Rabbi Levi: It is written, "A righteous man knows the soul of his beast, but the mercies of the wicked are cruel" (Proverbs 12:10). "A righteous man knows the soul of his beast": this is the Holy One, blessed be He, who wrote in His Torah and said, "You shall not take the mother with the young" (Deuteronomy 22:6). "But the mercies of the wicked are cruel": this is Sennacherib the wicked, of whom it is written, "The mother was dashed in pieces upon her children" (Hosea 10:14). Another interpretation: "A righteous man knows the soul of his beast": this is the Holy One, blessed be He, who wrote in His Torah and said, "And an ox or a sheep, it and its young you shall not slaughter on one day" (Leviticus 22:28). "But the mercies of the wicked are cruel": this is Haman the wicked, of whom it is written, "to destroy, to slay, and to annihilate all the Jews, young and old, children and women, on one day" (Esther 3:13). Rabbi Levi said: Woe to the wicked who busy themselves with evil counsels against Israel, each one saying, My counsel is better than yours. Esau said: Cain was a fool, for he killed his brother in his father's lifetime, and did not know that his father would still be fruitful and multiply. I will not do so, but rather, "Let the days of mourning for my father draw near, and I will kill my brother Jacob" (Genesis 27:41). Pharaoh said: Esau was a fool for saying, "Let the days of mourning for my father draw near," and did not know that his brother was being fruitful and multiplying in his father's lifetime. I will not do so, but rather while they are little under their mothers' wombs I will strangle them, as it is written, "Every son that is born you shall cast into the river" (Exodus 1:22). Haman said: Pharaoh was a fool for saying, "Every son that is born you shall cast into the river, but every daughter you shall let live" (ibid.), and did not know that the daughters would marry men and be fruitful and multiply. I will not do so, but rather, "to destroy, to slay, and to annihilate all the Jews, young and old, children and women, on one day" (Esther 3:13). Rabbi Levi said: Even Gog in the future to come is destined to say so: The earlier ones were fools who busied themselves with evil counsels against Israel, and did not know that they have a Patron in heaven. I will not do so, but rather first I will engage their Patron in battle, and afterward I will engage them, as it is written, "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His anointed" (Psalms 2:2). The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: Wicked one, you have come to engage Me in battle? By your life, I will make war with you, as it is written, "The LORD goes forth like a warrior, He stirs up His zeal like a man of war" (Isaiah 42:13), and "Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations" (Zechariah 14:3).

"And when you sacrifice a thanksgiving offering to the LORD, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted" (Leviticus 22:29). Rabbi Pinchas, Rabbi Levi, and Rabbi Yochanan in the name of Rabbi Menachem of Gallia: In the future to come all the offerings will be abolished, but the thanksgiving offering will never be abolished; all the thanksgivings will be abolished, but the thanksgiving of the thanksgiving offering will never be abolished. This is what is written: "The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those saying, Give thanks to the LORD of hosts, for the LORD is good, for His mercy endures forever" (Jeremiah 33:11), these are the thanksgivings. "And those who bring a thanksgiving offering to the house of the LORD" (ibid.), this is the thanksgiving offering. And so David says, "Upon me, O God, are Your vows; I will pay" (Psalms 56:13). It is not written there "a thanksgiving to You," but rather "I will pay thank offerings to You" (ibid.), thanksgiving and a thanksgiving offering. The end.

"You shall surely tithe" (Deuteronomy 14:22). [1] "A man with an evil eye hastens after wealth, and does not know that want will come upon him" (Proverbs 28:22). Rabbi Chanina applied the verse to Ephron, for Rabbi Chanina said: every "shekel" stated in the Torah is a sela, in the Prophets a litra, and in the Writings a centenarius (a large weight). Said Rabbi Yudah son of Rabbi Pazi: except for the shekels of Ephron, which were centenarii, as it is written, "for the full price let him give it to me" (Genesis 23:9). And because he cast a grudging eye upon the money of our father Abraham, Scripture deducted a letter vav from his name. This is what is written, "My lord, hear me: a land of four hundred shekels of silver, between me and you, what is that?" (Genesis 23:15), meaning: if you wish to give me four hundred centenarii of silver from the doorposts of your house, you are able to give it to me. And because he cast a grudging eye upon the money of our father Abraham, Scripture deducted a vav, as it is written, "And Abraham weighed out for Ephron" (Genesis 23:16). "Ephron" is written there spelled deficiently [without the vav]. Rabbi Ammi applied the verse to a man who was too stingy to hire two cows, so he borrows one and hires one, "and does not know that want will come upon him" (Proverbs 28:22), for it is written, "if its owner is not with it, he shall surely make restitution" (Exodus 22:13). Rabbi Yitzchak applied the verse to one who lends to an Israelite at interest, and was too stingy to lend to him without interest, so he lends at interest, "and does not know that want will come upon him" (Proverbs 28:22), for it is written, "He who increases his wealth by interest and usury gathers it for one who is gracious to the poor" (Proverbs 28:8). And who is the one who is gracious to the poor? This is wicked Esau. But is wicked Esau not an oppressor of the poor? It is like those guardians who go out to the village and plunder the tenant farmers, and yet to the city they say, "Gather the poor, for we wish to do a charitable deed with them." There is a proverb that says: he steals from the orchards and distributes to the beggars. Rabbi Levi applied the verse to one who does not bring out his tithes as is fitting, for Rabbi Levi said: there was a case of a man who used to bring out his tithes properly. He had one field that produced a thousand measures, and he would set aside a hundred measures from it as tithe. From it he was sustained all his days, and from it he was supported all his days. At the hour of his death he called his son and said to him, "My son, give your attention to this field. So much it produced, and so much I would set aside from it as tithe, and from it I was sustained all my days, and from it I was supported all my days." In the first year the son sowed it and it produced a thousand measures, and he set aside a hundred measures as tithe. In the second year he cast a grudging eye upon it and reduced the tithe by ten, and it reduced its yield by a hundred; he reduced by ten and it reduced by a hundred, until it stood at the level of its tithe alone. When his relatives saw what had happened to him, they put on white garments and wrapped themselves in white and came in to him. He said to them, "Why have you come to rejoice over a man who has been brought low?" They said to him, "Heaven forbid, we have come only to rejoice with you. Formerly you were the householder and the Holy One, blessed be He, was the priest; now you have become the priest and the Holy One, blessed be He, has become the householder." Said Rabbi Levi: who diminished it year by year? The year, in its own due season. Therefore Moses warns Israel and says to them, "You shall surely tithe all the produce of your seed" (Deuteronomy 14:22).

[2] "Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness" (Psalms 37:3). Rabbi Chaggai in the name of Rabbi Yitzchak rearranged this verse: "do good and trust in the LORD." This is like a tax assessor who went out to assess the measures, and a certain man saw him and began to hide from him. He said to him, "Why are you hiding from me? Assess your measures and do not be afraid." This is what is written, "do good and trust in the LORD" (Psalms 37:3). "Dwell in the land" (ibid.): the Divine Presence of the land will be made to dwell. Therefore sow, therefore plant. "Cultivate faithfulness" (ibid.): tend the faithfulness of the fathers, "My eyes are upon the faithful of the land" (Psalms 101:6). Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin in the name of Rabbi Levi: by the merit of two things Israel is made beloved before the Omnipresent, by the merit of the Sabbath and by the merit of tithes. By the merit of the Sabbath, from where? "If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath" (Isaiah 58:13), and what is written after it? "Then you shall delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride upon the heights" (Isaiah 58:14). By the merit of tithes, from where? "And you shall rejoice in all the good that the LORD your God has given to you and to your household, you and the Levite and the stranger who is in your midst" (Deuteronomy 26:11). Another interpretation: "And you shall rejoice in all the good" (ibid.) and "good" means nothing other than words of Torah, for it is written, "For I have given you a good teaching; do not forsake My Torah" (Proverbs 4:2). Therefore Moses warns Israel and says to them, "You shall surely tithe" and so forth (Deuteronomy 14:22).

[3] "Honor the LORD with your substance and with the first of all your produce" (Proverbs 3:9): that if you were handsome, do not be loose with sexual sin, so that people will not say, "So-and-so is handsome but is not guarded against immorality," on account of "Honor the LORD with your substance" [read as "from what He graced you with"]. Another interpretation: "Honor the LORD with your substance" (ibid.): that if your voice was pleasant, lead the Shema and pass before the ark, on account of "Honor the LORD with your substance" (ibid.). Rabbi Chiyya bar Adda, the son of the sister of Bar Kappara, had a pleasant voice, and Bar Kappara would say to him, "My son, lead the Shema and pass before the ark on account of 'Honor the LORD with your substance' (ibid.), from that with which He graced you." Another interpretation: "Honor the LORD with your substance" (ibid.): act with your substance [be-honkha] before you act without your substance [be-lo honkha]. There was a case of a man who used to store up wine and oil and would not bring out his tithes as is fitting. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He brought into him a spirit of frenzy, and he took a stick and began to smash the jars. A member of his household rebuked him. What did he do to him? He took the stick and split it over his head. He said to him, "Instead of helping me, you rebuke me?" The other said, "Give me the stick and I too will smash." He gave him the stick, and that one was smashing them one at a time while this one was smashing them two at a time. What caused this for him? Because he would not bring out his tithes as is fitting. For Rabbi Levi said: there was a case of a man who used to bring out his tithes properly, and he had one field, and the Holy One put it in his heart, and he made half of it for sowing and half of it a reservoir for water. A year of drought came, and they were announcing and saying, "A se'ah of wheat for a sela, a se'ah of water for three sela'im," and he would announce and say, "Who wants a se'ah of water that produces three se'ah of wheat?" What caused this for him? Because he used to bring out his tithes properly. Therefore Moses warns Israel and says to them, "You shall surely tithe all the produce of your seed" (Deuteronomy 14:22).

[4] "She does not fear for her household because of the snow, for all her household is clothed in scarlet [shanim]" (Proverbs 31:21). Chizkiyah said: the judgment of the wicked in Gehinnom is twelve months, six months in heat and six months in cold. At first the Holy One, blessed be He, brings into them an itch, and He brings them into Gehinnom in the heat, and they say, "This is the Gehinnom of the Holy One, blessed be He." And afterward He brings them out to the snow, and they say, "This is the cold of the Holy One, blessed be He." At first they say "Vah" [ah], and at last they say "Vai" [woe]. This is what David says, "He brought me up out of the pit of tumult, out of the miry clay" (Psalms 40:3). What is "the miry clay"? From the place where they say "vah" and "vai." And where do they yield up their souls? Yehudah son of Rabbi said: in the snow, as it is written, "When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it snowed in Tzalmon" (Psalms 68:15): the snow is their Tzalmon [their place of darkness]. One might think Israel is also so; therefore the text states, "She does not fear for her household because of the snow, for all her household is clothed in scarlet [shanim]." "Clothed in shanim" [read as "in twos"]: circumcision and uncovering, fringes and phylacteries, "you shall surely give a gift [hasheward]" (Deuteronomy 15:14), "you shall surely give" (Deuteronomy 15:10), "you shall surely open" (Deuteronomy 15:8), "you shall surely tithe." Therefore Moses warns Israel and says to them, "You shall surely tithe" and so forth (Deuteronomy 14:22).

[5] "The land is defiled beneath its inhabitants" and so forth (Isaiah 24:5). Rabbi Yitzchak said: you suppose you flatter it, but it flatters you. It shows you standing grain but does not show you the sheaf; it shows you the sheaf but does not show you the threshing floor; it shows you the threshing floor but does not show you the heap. Why? "Because they transgressed the laws [torot]" (ibid.): because they transgressed two Torahs, the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. "They changed the statute [chok]" (ibid.): they changed the statute of tithes. "They broke the everlasting covenant" (ibid.): they broke the covenant of the fathers. Therefore Moses warns Israel and says to them, "You shall surely tithe" and so forth (Deuteronomy 14:22).

[6] "Keep, my son, the commandment of your father, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother" (Proverbs 6:20). Rabbi Chuna said: the first fathers set aside terumah and tithes. Abraham set aside the great terumah, "I have lifted up my hand to the LORD" (Genesis 14:22), and "lifting up" means nothing other than terumah, as you say, "and you shall lift up [set aside] from it the terumah of the LORD" (Numbers 18:26). Isaac set aside the second tithe, "And Isaac sowed in that land" and so forth (Genesis 26:12). Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: but does the blessing not rest upon what is measured, nor upon what is weighed, nor upon what is counted? Then why did he measure it? In order to tithe it. This is what is written, "and the LORD blessed him" (ibid.). Jacob set aside the first tithe. This is what is written, "and of all that You give me I will surely tithe to You" (Genesis 28:22). A certain Samaritan came and asked Rabbi Meir, saying to him, "Do you not say that this Jacob, your father, was truthful?" He said to him, "Yes, for it is written, 'You shall give truth to Jacob' (Micah 7:20)." He said to him, "He set aside the tribe of Levi, one out of ten of the tribes; should he not have set aside also from the second [group]?" He said to him, "You say they were twelve, but I say they were fourteen, 'Ephraim and Manasseh shall be to me like Reuben and Simeon' (Genesis 48:5)." He said to him, "And here is the trouble, that you give me no help: when you add flour, you add water." He said to him, "Do you not concede to me that there were four matriarchs?" He said to him, "Yes." He said to him, "Take out from them the four firstborn of the four matriarchs, for the firstborn is not tithed. Why? Because he is already holy, and the holy does not bring forth holy [a holy one cannot serve as the tenth]." He said to him, "Happy is your nation; what is within it!" "And do not forsake the teaching of your mother" (Proverbs 6:20): your nation. This is what David says, "To do Your will, my God, I desire, and Your Torah is within my innermost parts" (Psalms 40:9). Rabbi Acha bar Ulla said: is there Torah within the innermost parts? Is it not written, "upon their heart I will write it" (Jeremiah 31:32)? Rather David said, "Let it come upon me if any thing went down into my innermost parts before I had tithed it." This is what is written, "and over the king's storehouses was Azmaveth son of Adiel, and over the storehouses in the field, in the cities, and in the villages" and so forth (1 Chronicles 27:25). Therefore Moses warns Israel: "You shall surely tithe" (Deuteronomy 14:22).

[7] "If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together" (Job 31:38). They said to Job: do you have anything upon it [the earth] except three cubits at the hour of your death, that you say, "If my land cries out against me" (ibid.), as though it were yours? Rabbi Chiyya the Great said: it is like a man who was selling a cloak in the market, and another passed by and saw it and said, "It is mine." He said to him, "Wrap yourself in it; if it fits you, it is yours, and if not, it is not yours." So the Holy One said to Job: am I not the One of whom it is written, "Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?" (Jeremiah 23:24), and you say, "If my land cries out against me" (Job 31:38), as though it were yours? And Rabbi Shimon ben Chalafta said: it is like a man who was selling a maidservant in the market, and another passed by and saw her and said, "She is mine." He said to him, "Rebuke her; if she obeys you, she is yours, and if not, she is not yours." So the Holy One said to Job: am I not the One of whom it is written, "He looks at the earth and it trembles, He touches the mountains and they smoke" (Psalms 104:32), and you say, "If my land cries out against me" (Job 31:38), as though it were yours? In that hour Job said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the worlds, I did not speak before You thus; rather in this manner I spoke before You, "If my land cries out against me" (Job 31:38), if I did not bring out its tithes as is fitting. "And its furrows weep together" (ibid.), if I sowed it with forbidden mixtures. "If I ate its strength without money" (Job 31:39), this is the second tithe, of which it is written, "and you shall turn it into money and bind up" and so forth (Deuteronomy 14:25). "And caused the life of its owners to expire" (Job 31:39), this is the tithe of the poor. "And if I did not do so, let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley; the words of Job are ended" (Job 31:40). Rabbi Hoshaya taught: the Torah has taught you proper conduct, that a field which brings up thorns is good to sow with wheat, and a field which brings up foul weeds is good to sow with barley. And what is the reason? "Instead of wheat let thorns come forth" (ibid.). Until now he goes on prophesying many prophecies, yet you say, "the words of Job are ended" (ibid.)? Rather Job said: if I did not do so, let my words be ended and let me have no opening of the mouth to say before You, "I have removed the holy thing from the house" (Deuteronomy 26:13). Therefore Moses warns Israel and says to them, "You shall surely tithe" (Deuteronomy 14:22).

[8] "To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, and to us shame of face, as on this day" (Daniel 9:7). Rabbi Yudah son of Rabbi Lai said: idolatry crossed the sea with Israel. And what is the reason? "And he shall pass through the sea of distress [tzarah]" (Zechariah 10:11), and this expression "tzarah" means nothing other than idolatry, as it is written, "the molten image is too narrow [tzarah] when one gathers oneself up" (Isaiah 28:20). Rabbi Yudan said: it is written, "And the house of Joseph also went up, they too, to Bethel, and the LORD was with them" (Judges 1:22). They were going to serve idolatry, and yet you say, "and the LORD was with them." Is there a greater righteousness than this? Therefore, "To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, and to us shame of face" (Daniel 9:7). Rabbi Yudah son of Rabbi Simon said: it is written, "And they took what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him" and so forth (Judges 18:27). "They took what Micah had made": the idol. "And the priest who belonged to him": the idolatrous priest. "And they came to Laish" (ibid.): a peaceful place. "To a people quiet and secure" (ibid.): they worshiped idolatry, and it prospered in their hands, and you say "to a people quiet and secure" (ibid.). Is there a greater righteousness than this? Therefore, "To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, and to us shame of face" (Daniel 9:7). Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said: you find that on the day the manna came down for Israel, on that very day Israel served idolatry; and not only that, but they took from it and offered it to their idolatry. This is what is written, "and My bread which I gave you, fine flour and oil and honey I fed you, you set it before them" (Ezekiel 16:19). And even so, you did not withhold the manna from them. Is there a greater righteousness than this? Therefore, "To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness" (Daniel 9:7). Rabbi Eleazar said: when Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah came out of the fiery furnace, they recited this verse. You find that when they came up from the furnace, all the kings of the nations of the world gathered against them, and the nations were spitting in their faces until they made of them a clod of spittle, and Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah lifted their faces upward and said, "To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, and to us shame of face" (Daniel 9:7). It was taught in the name of Rabbi Nechemiah: in the way of the world, a man has a field and gives it out for a half, a third, or a quarter share; but the Holy One, blessed be He, is not so. The Holy One makes the winds blow and raises the clouds and brings down the rains and makes the dews come forth and grows the plants and fattens the fruits, and He told us to set aside only one in ten. Therefore Moses warns Israel and says to them, "You shall surely tithe" (Deuteronomy 14:22).

What is written above on this matter? "You shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to the stranger who is within your gates" (Deuteronomy 14). Rabbi Azariah and Rabbi Jonathan ben Haggai and Rabbi Isaac bar Marion, in the name of Rabbi Yose bar Hanina, said: One who eats his produce while it is still tevel [untithed, forbidden until tithes are separated] is like one who eats carcasses and torn animals. And what is the reason? "You shall not eat anything that dies of itself" (ibid.). Rabbi Abba bar Huna in the name of Rav said: One who eats his produce untithed of the poor man's tithe is liable to death. Rabbi Isaac said: In three places it is written, "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk." One refers to its own subject, one to the matter of Torah, and one to the matter of tithes. For its own subject, what is written? "The first of the first fruits of your land" (Exodus 23:19); and what is written after it? "Behold, I send an angel before you" (ibid. 20). For the matter of Torah, what is written? "The first of the first fruits of your land" (Exodus 34:26); and what is written after it? "And the LORD said to Moses, Write for yourself these words" (ibid. 27). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Moses, while the sandal is still on your foot, press down the thorn [act while you can] — from "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk" comes "Write for yourself these words." For the matter of tithes: "You shall not eat anything that dies of itself, you may give it to the stranger who is within your gates" (Deuteronomy 14:21), and it is written after it, "You shall surely tithe" (ibid. 22). Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Do not cause Me to boil the kids while they are still in their mothers' wombs. For if you do not bring out your tithes as is fitting, I send one east wind and it blasts them, as you say, "And blasted before it was grown up" (II Kings 19:26).

"You shall surely tithe" (Deuteronomy 14:22) — that you not become impoverished. Tithe [aser] so that you grow rich [titasher]. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Tithe what is Mine, and I will enrich what is yours. "All" (ibid.) — Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: This is a hint to merchants and seafarers, that they too should set aside one part in ten for those who labor in Torah. "The produce of your seed that comes out of the field" (ibid.) — if you are worthy, in the end you go out to sow in the field; and if not, in the end the one who comes out of the field provokes you. And who is this? This is wicked Esau, of whom it is written, "a man who knew hunting, a man of the field" (Genesis 25:27). Another interpretation: "the produce of your seed that comes out of the field" — if you are worthy, in the end you go out to your field and see the world needing rain, and you pray and are answered; and if not, in the end the enemies of Israel go out to bury their children in the field. "Year by year" (ibid.) — one does not tithe from one year for another; these are the words of Rabbi Akiva. "And you shall eat before the LORD your God" (Deuteronomy 14:23) — if you are worthy it is your grain, and if not it is My grain, as you say, "And I will take back My grain in its time" (Hosea 2:11). If you are worthy it is your new wine, and if not it is My new wine, "and My new wine in its season" (ibid.). Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I told you to bring out your tithes from the choicest. How? When the Levite comes to you, if you gave him the choicest, then I too have the choicest to give you: "The LORD shall open to you His good treasury" (Deuteronomy 28:12). But if you gave him the diggings and the small leavings, then I too have the diggings and small leavings to give you: "The LORD will make the rain of your land powder and dust" (ibid. 24). "And the Levite shall come, for he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the stranger" (Deuteronomy 14:29). Rabbi Lulianus of the South said in the name of Rabbi Judah bar Simon: The Holy One said: You have four members of your household, and I have four members of My household. You have four members of your household — your son and your daughter and your manservant and your maidservant. And I have four members of My household — the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow. And all of them are in a single verse: "And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your manservant and your maidservant and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are within your gates" (Deuteronomy 16:11). The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I told you to gladden Mine and yours on the festivals I gave you. If you do so, I too will gladden yours and Mine — both these and those I will gladden in the future in the chosen house, "and I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer, for My house" (Isaiah 56:7). The section is ended.

"And it came to pass when Pharaoh let the people go." "When the LORD is pleased with a man's ways, He makes even his enemies be at peace with him" (Proverbs 16:7). Rabbi Meir says: This is the dog. Rabbi Joshua ben Levi says: This is the snake. Rabbi Meir says it is the dog: A shepherd was curdling milk into cheese. A snake came and ate from it. The dog saw it. When they sat down to eat, the dog began barking at them, but they paid no attention. In the end the dog rose and ate from it and died. They buried it and made it a monument, and to this day it is called "the dog's monument." Rabbi Joshua ben Levi says it is the snake: A certain man crushed garlic. A mountain snake came and ate from it. The house snake saw it. When they sat down to eat, it began scattering dust over them, but they paid no attention. In the end it threw itself into the dish [to stop them eating]. Rabbi Abbahu went to Caesarea, and he happened upon a certain man who had set his dog beside him. He said to him: After all this disgrace [of keeping a dog at table] do I owe you peace? He said to him: My master, I owe it great kindness. Once captives entered the town, and one of them came wishing to seize this man's wife, and the dog rose and bit off his testicles. Rabbi Yohanan said: "When the LORD is pleased with a man's ways, He makes even his enemies be at peace with him" (ibid.) — this is his wife, as it is written, "a man's enemies are the men of his own house" (Micah 7:6), this is his wife. For Rabbi Yohanan said: A robber's wife is like a robber. There was a case of a woman who brought a complaint against her husband to the judge, and he sentenced the husband to have his head cut off; afterward the husband found a pretext against her and killed her. Rabbi Samuel bar Nahman said: "When the LORD is pleased with a man's ways" — this is the good inclination. "He makes even his enemies be at peace with him" — this is the evil inclination. By the way of the world, a man grows up with his fellow two or three years in a town and forms a bond of love with him; but this one [the evil inclination] grows up with a man from his youth to his old age, and if it finds a way to bring him down, it brings him down within twenty years, within sixty years, within eighty years. They said of Yohanan the High Priest that he served in the high priesthood eighty years and in the end became a Sadducee. This is what David said: "All my bones shall say, LORD, who is like You, delivering the poor from one too strong for him?" (Psalms 35:10) — this is the good inclination from the evil inclination. "The poor and the needy from one who robs him" (ibid.) — is there a greater robber than this? Rabbi Berekhiah used to read concerning it, "If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat" (Proverbs 25:21) — feed it the bread of Torah; "and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink" (ibid.) — the wine of Torah. Why? "For you will heap coals of fire on his head, and the LORD will reward you" (ibid. 22) — the LORD will make peace [the verb reread from "reward"] for you. And Rabbi Berekhiah said: "His enemies," "even his enemies" — to include flies and hornets, gnats and fleas. And the Rabbis said: "When the LORD is pleased with a man's ways" — these are Israel, as it is written, "and every man of Israel" (I Samuel 17:24). "He makes even his enemies be at peace with him" — this is Pharaoh, who said, "The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil" (Exodus 15:9). You find that when Moses came to Pharaoh and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, Let My people go that they may serve Me" (Exodus 8:16), that wicked one said, "Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice? I do not know the LORD, and I will also not let Israel go" (ibid. 5:2). The mouth that said, "Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice," turned back and said, "The LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked" (ibid. 9:27). The mouth that said, "I do not know the LORD, and I will also not let Israel go," went around to the dwellings of Israel and said, "Go out in peace, go in peace." Therefore it is said, "And it came to pass when Pharaoh let the people go" (Exodus 13:17).

"A rebuke enters deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool" (Proverbs 17:10). Rabbi Ishmael taught a parable: To a king who said to his servant, Go out and bring me a fish from the market. He went and brought him a rotten fish. The king said to him: By your life, one of three you will not escape — either you eat the fish, or you receive a hundred lashes, or you pay a fine. He said: I will eat the fish. He had not finished eating it before his stomach turned against him, and he said: I will take the lashes. He had not finished taking fifty lashes before he said: I will pay the fine. So he was found eating the fish, taking the lashes, and paying the fine. So too the Holy One, blessed be He, said to wicked Pharaoh: By your life, you will receive ten blows in succession, and you will pay your money, and you will send Israel away. "You will receive ten blows in succession" — these are the ten plagues. "You will pay your money" — "and they despoiled Egypt" (Exodus 12:36). "And you will send Israel away" — "And it came to pass when Pharaoh let the people go" (Exodus 13:17).

"Has He struck him as He struck those who struck him? Or has he been slain as those slain by Him were slain?" (Isaiah 27:7). Rabbi Judah and Rabbi Nehemiah differed. Rabbi Judah said: With the very staff with which the Egyptians struck Israel, they themselves were struck. And Rabbi Nehemiah said: With the very legion-weapon with which the Egyptians struck Israel, they themselves were struck. "In full measure" (ibid. 8) — measure for measure [reading the doubled word as a seah for a seah]. It was taught in the name of Rabbi Meir: By the measure with which a man measures, it is measured back to him. "By driving them out You contend with them" (ibid.) — He smote, and afterward sent away. Therefore it is said, "And it came to pass when Pharaoh let the people go" (Exodus 13:17).

"Do not multiply talk so very proudly; let no arrogance come from your mouth" (I Samuel 2:3). Rabbi Eleazar and Rabbi Joshua ben Levi and the Rabbis differed. One said: With the rod with which they extended their hand against Israel, it was extended against them; by the kneeling with which they bent Israel down, He bent them down. And another said: With the dish in which they cooked, it was cooked for them, as you say, "And Jacob cooked a stew" (Genesis 25:29). And the Rabbis said: With the scheme they devised, He devised against them, as you say, "And if a man schemes against his neighbor" (Exodus 21:14). "He executes judgment for the oppressed, He gives bread to the hungry" (Psalms 146:7). "He executes judgment for the oppressed" — these are Israel, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together" (Jeremiah 50:33), "their Redeemer is strong, the LORD of hosts is His name, He will surely plead their cause" (ibid.). The mouth that said, "Every son that is born you shall cast into the river" (Exodus 1:22) — The rest of the passage is as written above.

"A locked garden is my sister, my bride; a locked spring, a sealed fountain" (Song of Songs 4:12). Rabbi Judah bar Simon in the name of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi gave a parable: To a king who had grown daughters and had not managed to marry them off, and he went off to a country across the sea. The daughters arose and saw to themselves and married men, and each one took her husband's signet and his seal. After some days the king came back from across the sea and heard the voice of people slandering his daughters, saying that the king's daughters had been promiscuous. What did he do? He issued a proclamation: Let everyone come out to the parade ground. He called his first son-in-law and said to him, Who are you? He said, I am your son-in-law. He brought out the signet and said, Whose is this? He said, Mine. He brought out the seal and said, Whose is this? He said, Mine. And so with the second, and so with the third. The king said: My daughters saw to themselves and married, and you say the king's daughters were promiscuous! So too: because the nations of the world taunted Israel, saying to them that they were the children of the Egyptians — for they had ruled over the bodies of Israel, all the more so over their wives — Rabbi Hoshaya said: At that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, called to the angel appointed over conception and said to him: Go and form for Me the shape of the child in the likeness of its fathers. This is what is written, "of Reuben, the family of the Reubenites; of Simeon, the family of the Simeonites" (compare Numbers 26:7, 14). Rabbi Marinus son of Rabbi Hoshaya said: like a man who says, my son, my likeness, my image. Rabbi Iddi said: the letter heh at the head of the word [Ha-Reubeni] and the letter yod at its end — Yah testifies concerning them that they are the children of their fathers. And what is the reason? "For there the tribes went up, the tribes of Yah, a testimony for Israel" (Psalms 122:4) — that they are the children of their fathers. Another interpretation: "A locked garden is my sister, my bride, a locked spring" (Song of Songs 4:12) — these are the virgins; "a locked spring" — these are the married women; "a sealed fountain" — these are the males. It was taught in the name of Rabbi Nathan: "a locked garden, a locked spring," twice, [guarded] in the natural way and in an unnatural way. Rabbi Hunia in the name of Rabbi Hiyya bar Ba: Sarah went down to Egypt and fenced herself off from immorality, and all the women were fenced off by her merit. Rabbi Hiyya bar Ba said: It was worthy enough that he who fences off immorality for himself, that Israel should be redeemed by his merit. Rabbi Huna in the name of Bar Kappara said: By the merit of four things Israel was redeemed from Egypt — that they did not change their names, that they did not change their language, that there was no slander among them, and that there was no licentiousness among them. They did not change their names: Reuben and Simeon went down, Reuben and Simeon came up. They did not change their language: "for it is my mouth that speaks to you" (Genesis 45:12), and he spoke in the holy tongue. There was no slander among them: "Speak now in the ears of the people, and let them ask" (Exodus 11:2) — you find that the matter was entrusted to them a full twelve months and not one of them was found who informed on his fellow. There was no licentiousness among them: know that this is so, for there was one woman and Scripture publicized her, "and his mother's name was Shelomith bat Dibri of the tribe of Dan" (Leviticus 24:11). Rabbi Pinhas in the name of Rabbi Hiyya bar Ba: By the merit that Israel went down to Egypt and fenced themselves off from immorality, by that merit "your shoots" (Song of Songs 4:13) — your being sent forth [reread as your release]. Therefore it is said, "And it came to pass when Pharaoh let the people go."

[7] "And it came to pass [va-yehi]" (Exodus 13:17). Who cried "Woe [vai]"? The Egyptians cried "Woe." Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai taught: It may be compared to a man who inherited an estate in a land across the sea. The heir was lazy, and he went and sold it for a trifling sum. The buyer went and dug in it and found a treasure in it, and built a palace from it; and he would walk about the marketplace with attendants before him and attendants behind him. And the seller began to choke, saying, "Woe, what have I lost!" So too, when Israel encamped on the shore of the sea, they resembled the retinue of kings, and the Egyptians were choking and saying, "Woe, that we sent them away from our land!" Rabbi Yose said: It may be compared to a man who inherited a field of a kor's size that was a waste pit. The heir was lazy, and he went and sold it for a trifling sum. The buyer went and dug in it and found a spring, and made of it gardens and orchards. The seller began to choke and say, "Woe, what have I lost!" So too, when Israel encamped on the shore of the sea, they resembled the retinue of kings, and the Egyptians were choking and saying, "Woe, that we sent them away from our land!" Rabbi Nathan said: It may be compared to a man who inherited a stand of cedar. The heir was lazy, and he went and sold it for a trifling sum. The buyer went and made of it tablets, chairs, and benches. The seller began to choke and say, "Woe, what have I lost!" So too, when Israel encamped on the shore of the sea, they resembled the retinue of kings, and so forth.

[8] "And God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines" (Exodus 13:17). This teaches that He did not conduct them according to the way of the world. Rabbi Levi in the name of Rabbi Hama bar Hanina said: In this matter there are eight lines. The way of the world is that the water is above and the bread is below; but here the bread was above and the water below. The bread was above: "Behold, I will rain down for you bread from heaven" (Exodus 16:4). And the water below: "Then Israel sang this song: Spring up, O well, sing to it" (Numbers 21:17). The way of the world is that the pupil bears the burdens and walks before the master; but here, "the pillar of cloud did not depart by day," and so forth (Exodus 13:22). The way of the world is that the pupil walks first and the master behind him; but here, "And the LORD went before them by day" (there, the same, 21). The way of the world is that the pupil washes the master; but here, "And I washed you with water" (Ezekiel 16:9). The way of the world is that the pupil clothes the master; but here, "And I clothed you with embroidered cloth" (there, the same, 10). Rabbi Simoi said: purple robes; Aquilas translated: cloaks. The way of the world is that the pupil puts shoes on the master; but here, "And I shod you with fine leather" (there, the same, 10). The way of the world is that the pupil carries the master; but here, "And I bore you on eagles' wings" (Exodus 19:4). The way of the world is that the master sleeps and the pupil stands over him on guard; but here, "Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep" (Psalms 121:4).

"For it was near" (Exodus 13:17). Near was the punishment of wicked Pharaoh, that the Holy One, blessed be He, would exact retribution from them. Another interpretation: "For it was near": near was the punishment of the Egyptians, that the Holy One, blessed be He, would exact retribution from them. Another interpretation: "For it was near": near was the kindness that the Canaanites did with our father Jacob, this is what is written, "And when the inhabitant of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning" (Genesis 50:11). Rabbi Lazar said: Because they loosened their belts. And Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish said: Because they untied the knots of their shoulder-garments. And the Rabbis said: Because they stood up straight. Rabbi Yudan said: Because they pointed with their finger. And the matter is an argument from the lesser to the greater: if the Canaanites, who did kindness neither with their hands nor with their feet but only by pointing with their finger, were saved from punishment, then our brothers Israel, who do kindness with their great ones and with their small ones and with their sages, how much more so! Another interpretation: "For it was near": near was the oath that Abimelech made our father Abraham swear, this is what is written, "Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son" (Genesis 21:23). For how many generations did he make him swear? For three generations did he make him swear: "that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son", with me and with my son and with my son's son. "And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves" (Genesis 21:28). Rabbi Joshua of Sikhnin in the name of Rabbi Levi said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: You gave them seven ewe lambs; by your life, the Ark of the Covenant shall remain among them seven months, this is what is written, "And delivered his strength into captivity" (Psalms 78:61). "And delivered his strength into captivity": this is the Ark of the Covenant, "And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months" (1 Samuel 6:1). "and his glory into the enemy's hand" (Psalms 78:61): these are the garments of the high priesthood, "And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty" (Exodus 28:2). Rabbi Joshua of Sikhnin in the name of Rabbi Levi: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: You gave them seven ewe lambs; by your life, they are destined to slay seven righteous men of your descendants, and these are they: Saul and his three sons, and Eli, and Hophni, and Phinehas. And some say Samson and not Eli. Rabbi Joshua of Sikhnin in the name of Rabbi Levi: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: You gave them seven ewe lambs; by your life, they are destined to destroy seven sanctuaries of your descendants, and these are they: the Tent of Meeting, and Gilgal, and Shiloh, and Nob, and Gibeon, and the eternal Temple twice.

"For God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war" (Exodus 13:17). And who were they? The Rabbis said: They were the sons of Ephraim and the sons of Shuthelah, who, because they erred concerning the calculation of the appointed end by eighty years, fell, one hundred and eighty thousand of them. This is what is written, "The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle" (Psalms 78:9).

[11] "And God led the people about, by the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea" (Exodus 13:18) — this teaches that He led them around by the way of the wilderness. "And the children of Israel went up armed [va-hamushim] out of the land of Egypt" (ibid.) — this teaches that they were armed with five [hamishah] kinds of weapons. Another interpretation: "and they went up armed [va-hamushim]" — this teaches that only one in five [hamishah] came up in their possession. Others say: one in fifty. Others say: one in five hundred. Rabbi Nehorai said: By the Temple service! Not even one in five hundred came up in their possession. Rabbi Yose said: "and they went up armed [va-hamushim]" — at the end of five [hamishah] generations they went up. "And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty" (Exodus 1:7). There were two Amoraim. One said: If you would compare them to the greatest among the creeping things, behold, the mouse gives birth to six at a time; and if you would compare them to the smallest among the creeping things, behold, the scorpion gives birth to sixty at a time.

"And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him" (Exodus 13:19). This is to make known the praise of Moses, that while all Israel were occupied with the spoil, Moses was occupied with the bones of Joseph. This is what is written: "And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him" (ibid.). What is the meaning of "with him"? Rabbi Yohanan said: with him in the camp of the Levites. Who informed Moses where Joseph was buried? They said: Serah daughter of Asher was in that generation, and she said to Moses, "Moses, Joseph is buried in the river Nile." Moses went and stood by the river Nile and said: "Joseph, Joseph, the hour has arrived for the Holy One, blessed be He, to redeem His children. The Divine Presence is held back for you, Israel is held back for you, the clouds of glory are held back for you. If you make yourself known, well and good; and if not, then we are clear of the oath by which you adjured our fathers." Immediately the coffin of Joseph floated up and rose. And some say: he took a shard and wrote upon it the Ineffable Name and cast it into the Nile, and immediately the coffin of Joseph floated up and rose. And there were two sorcerers' dogs there, and they began barking at Moses. Moses said: "O people, you see that dogs of truth do not bark, but dogs of falsehood bark." Rabbi Yudan said: according to this proverb the dog wags its tongue, but here "to none of the children of Israel shall a dog whet its tongue" (Exodus 11:7). Two coffins traveled with Israel in the wilderness, the coffin of Joseph and the coffin of the Life of the Worlds [the Ark of the Covenant], and the nations of the world would say: "What is the nature of these two coffins?" And Israel would say to them: "This is the coffin of Joseph who died, and this is the coffin of the Life of the Worlds." And the nations of the world would taunt Israel and say to them: "And what is the way of the ark of God to be traveling alongside the coffin of a dead man?" And Israel would say: "The dead one who lies in this coffin fulfilled all that is written in this Ark."

Rabbi Yochanan was sitting and expounding: How were the waters made for Israel, like a wall? Rabbi Yochanan expounded: like these lattices. Serah daughter of Asher leaned over and said: I was there, and they were only like these latticed windows.

Rabbi Yohanan was sitting and expounding how the waters were made for Israel like a wall. Rabbi Yohanan expounded: like these lattices. Serah daughter of Asher peered down and said: "I was there, and they were not so, but rather like these clear windows." Rabbi Yohanan was sitting and expounding: "All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, who came out of his loins," etc. (Genesis 46:26), "and Joseph and his two sons" — yet behold, they are short by one. Rabbi Levi in the name of Rabbi Hama bar Hanina: this is Jochebed, who was born between the walls of Egypt [at the very entry into Egypt]. And some say: Serah daughter of Asher completed the number of Israel: "I am of the peaceable and faithful of Israel" (2 Samuel 20:19) — [read:] I completed the number of Israel, I completed the faithful for the faithful. Rabbi Tanhum bar Hanilai said: the Holy One, blessed be He, entered with them in His glory. And what is the reason? "He is your praise, and He is your God" (Deuteronomy 10:21); what is written after it? "With seventy souls your fathers went down into Egypt" (ibid. v. 22).