Rejoice Greatly Daughter of Zion and the Reward of the Mourners

Pesikta Rabbati 34:1

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt the foal of a she-donkey" (Zechariah 9:9). This is what was said by the holy spirit through Isaiah: "Their offspring shall be known among the nations" (Isaiah 61:9). Against whom did Isaiah say this verse? He said it concerning the mourners of Zion, to whom the Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to grant victory over their enemies, as it says, "Their offspring shall be known." Do not read zaram [their offspring] but zeroam [their arm]: who stands for them by the arm? The Holy One, blessed be He, stands for them by the arm, as it says, "O LORD, be gracious to us; we have waited for You; be their arm every morning, our salvation in time of trouble" (Isaiah 33:2). "Every morning" refers to those who rise early each morning to seek mercy. These mourners longed for the salvation evening, morning, and noon, and there was great trouble for Israel, for they were despised and mocked. When they see the decrees of the final year, in which the Messiah is revealed, coming one after another without pause, they understand and say, "Surely this is the King Messiah." Yet their minds are not settled until they are refined in the seventh year, until their faces are like the bottom of a pot. And by what are they tested? By famine, for the heart of Israel is broken only through famine. Then the righteous of the generation arise and lay their prayer before Him on the ground, saying, "Master of the world, we did not act well in all these years; like sheep we have strayed." The Holy One, blessed be He, says to them: I forgive you, and He kisses them and sets a crown upon them. "All who see them shall acknowledge them" (Isaiah 61:9): these are the mourners of Zion. The Holy One, blessed be He, set destroying angels over His world who go destroying throughout the days of redemption, yet the mourners of Zion enter and go out among them and are not harmed, like a man who enters his fellow's house and goes out unharmed. Whoever sees them sits and says, "In vain did we laugh, in vain did we mock at their words." "Behold, your king": this is the one called king, who is destined to reign over the earlier generations and the later. "Righteous and victorious is he": this is the Messiah who justifies the judgment upon Israel when they mocked him, while he sits in the prison-house, and he is called righteous; why is he called "victorious" [saved]? Because he justifies the judgment over them and says, "You are all my children; only by the mercy of the Holy One, blessed be He, are you all saved." "Humble and riding on a donkey": this is the Messiah; and why is he called humble [oni, afflicted]? Because he was afflicted all those years in the prison-house, and the transgressors of Israel mocked him. He rides on a donkey for the sake of the wicked who have no merit; by the merit of the Messiah the Holy One, blessed be He, shields them and leads them on a straight path and redeems them, as it says, "With weeping they shall come, and with supplications I will lead them; I will guide them to streams of water on a straight path where they will not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn" (Jeremiah 31:9).

Themes

ConsolationMessiahRedemption

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