Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer Reader

Rabbi Joshua, son of Ḳorchah, said: After this section what is written? "Then came Amalek" (Ex. 17:8). Amalek came against them to punish them. He who comes from || a journey should be met on the way with food and drink. (Amalek) saw them faint and weary, owing to the Egyptian bondage and the affliction of the journey, and he did not take to heart the precept of "Honour," but he stood by the way like a she-bear, bereaved by man (and eager) to slay mother and children, as it is said, "How he met thee by the way" (Deut. 25:18).

Rabbi Azariah said: Amalek was a descendant of Esau, and because of his ancestor's enmity he came against them to punish them. The cloud was surrounding the camp of Israel like a city surrounded by a wall. The adversary and enemy were unable to touch them, but (when) anyone needed a ritual bath the cloud excluded him from the camp of Israel, because the camp of Israel was holy, as it is said, "Therefore shall thy camp be holy" (Deut. 23:14), and (then) Amalek was smiting and slaying the hindmost of those who were beyond the cloud, as it is said, "And he smote the hindmost of thee, all that were feeble behind thee" (Deut. 25:18).

Moses said to Joshua: Choose men for us, houses of the fathers, men who are mighty in strength and valour, and go forth and do battle with Amalek. Moses, Aaron, and Hur stood on a high place, in the camp of Israel, one on his right hand, and one on his left. Hence thou mayest learn that the precentor is prohibited to officiate unless there are two (men) standing with him, || one on his right hand and one on his left.

All the Israelites (were standing) outside (their tents); they had gone forth from their tents, and saw Moses kneeling on his knees, and they were kneeling on their knees. He fell on his face to the ground, and they fell on their faces to the ground. He spread out the palms of his hands towards the heavens, and they spread out their hands to heaven. Just as the precentor officiates, in like manner all the people answer after him.

The Holy One, blessed be He, caused Amalek and his people to fall into the hand of Joshua, as it is said, "And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword" (Ex. 17:13).

Rabbi Shela said: The Holy One, blessed be He, wished to destroy, to cut off all the seed of Amalek. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He put forth His right hand and took hold of the throne of His glory, and swore that He would destroy and cut off all the seed of Amalek, as it is said, "And he said, Because there is a hand against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will wage war against Amalek" (Ex. 17:16).

Rabbi Phineas said: (After) forty years Moses wished to say to Israel: Do ye remember that which ye said in the wilderness—"Is the Lord among us, or not?" (Ex. 17:7). But Moses said: If I speak thus to Israel, behold I will put them to shame, and whosoever puts (his fellow) to shame will have no portion in the world to come.

A parable—To what is the matter to be compared? To a king who had || a garden and a dog chained at the entrance to the garden. The king was sitting in his upper room, watching and looking at all that (transpired) in the garden. The friend of the king entered to steal (fruit) from the garden, and he incited the dog against him, and it tore his garments. The king said: If I say to my friend, Why didst thou enter my garden? behold I will put him to shame; therefore, behold, I will say to him: Didst thou see that mad dog, how it tore thy clothes? And he will understand what he has done. Likewise spake Moses: Behold, I will tell Israel the story of Amalek, and they will understand what is written before it; therefore Moses said: "Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, as ye came forth out of Egypt" (Deut. 25:17).

The Israelites said to our teacher Moses: Moses! One Scripture text says, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Ex. 20:8); and it is written, "Remember what Amalek did unto thee" (Deut. 25:17). How can these two texts be fulfilled? He said to them: The cup of spiced wine is not to be compared to the cup of vinegar.

This "Remember" is in order to observe and to sanctify the Sabbath day, and the other "Remember" is in order to destroy and to cut off all the seed of Amalek, as it is said, "Therefore it shall be, when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies… thou shalt not forget" (Deut. 25:19). || Israel forgot to destroy and to cut off all the seed of Amalek, but the Holy One, blessed be He, did not forget.

When Saul reigned, Samuel said to him: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel…. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have" (1 Sam. 15:2, 3). What is the meaning of "all that they have"? Even all the living male creatures.

"Spare them not, but slay" (ibid.). Saul took the men of war, and he went out to meet Amalek. When Saul came to the crossing of the ways, he stood still, and thought in his heart, as it is said, "And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and argued in the valley" (1 Sam. 15:5). Saul said: If the men have sinned, what have the beasts done amiss?

A Bath Ḳol came forth, saying to him: Saul! Be not more righteous than thy Creator, as it is said, "Be not righteous overmuch" (Eccles. 7:16).

Rabbi said: When Saul came to the camp of Amalek he saw the children of Israel tarrying in the midst of Amalek. He said to them: Separate yourselves from the midst of Amalek, as it is said, "And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them" (1 Sam. 15:6). Did Jethro show loving-kindness to all Israel? But did he not show loving-kindness to Moses our teacher alone? Hence thou mayest learn || that whosoever shows loving-kindness unto one of the great men of Israel is considered as though he had shown loving-kindness unto Israel. Because of the loving-kindness which he showed, his children were saved from among the Amalekites.

Rabbi José said: When Sennacherib came to the land (of Israel), all the nations who were in the regions round about the land of Israel saw the camp of Sennacherib, and feared greatly, and every man fled from his place, as it is said, "I have removed the bounds of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures" (Isa. 10:13). They went into the wilderness, and intermixed with the children of Ishmael, and all of them were (composed of) ten peoples, as it is said, "The tents of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia, with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also is joined with them" (Ps. 83:6, 7, 8).

All of them are destined to fall by the hand of the Son of David, as it is said, "O my God, make them like the whirling dust" (Ps. 83:13). "As the fire that burneth the forest, and as the flame that setteth the mountains on fire" (Ps. 83:14). "So pursue them with thy tempest, and terrify them with thy storm" (Ps. 83:15).

THE GOLDEN CALF RABBI SIMEON BEN JOCHAI said: When the Holy One, blessed be He, was revealed to Moses out of the thorn-bush, in order to send him to Egypt, Moses spake before the Holy One, blessed be He (saying): Sovereign of all the worlds! Swear to me that all things which I desire to do, Thou wilt do, so that I should not speak words before Pharaoh, and Thou wilt not fulfil them, for then will he slay me.

And He swore unto him that "whatsoever thou || desirest to do, I will do, except with reference to two things," (namely,) to let him enter the land (of Canaan), and (to postpone) the day of (his) death. Whence do we know that He swore unto him? Because it is said, "By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, the word is gone forth from my mouth in righteousness" (Isa. 45:23). When Israel received the commandments they forgot their God after forty days, and they said to Aaron: The Egyptians were carrying their god, and they were singing and uttering hymns before it, and they saw it before them.

Make unto us a god like the gods of the Egyptians, and let us see it before us, as it is said, "Up, make us a god" (Ex. 32:1).

They betook themselves to the one who carried out the words of Moses, (to) Aaron his brother, and Hur, the son of his sister. Whence (do we know) that Hur was the son of (Moses') sister? Because it is said, "And Caleb took unto him Ephrath, which bare him Hur" (1 Chron. 2:19). Why was Miriam's name called Ephrath?

Because she was a daughter of the palace, a daughter of kings, one of the magnates of the generation; for every prince and great man who arose in Israel had his name called an Ephrathite, as it is said, "And Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite" (1 Kings 11:26); and it says, "And David was the son of that Ephrathite" (1 Sam. 17:12). Was he then an Ephrathite? Was he not of the tribe of Judah?

But he was a nobleman, a son of kings, one of the magnates of the generation. But since Hur was of the tribe of Judah, and one of the magnates of the generation, he began to reprove Israel with harsh words, and the plunderers who were in Israel arose against him, and slew him.

Aaron arose || and saw that Hur, the son of his sister, was slain; and he built for them an altar, as it is said, "And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it" (Ex. 32:5).

Aaron argued with himself, saying: If I say to Israel, Give ye to me gold and silver, they will bring it immediately; but behold I will say to them, Give ye to me the earrings of your wives, and of your sons, and forthwith the matter will fail, as it is said, "And Aaron said to them, Break off the golden rings" (Ex. 32:2). The women heard (this), but they were unwilling to give their earrings to their husbands; but they said to them: Ye desire to make a graven image and a molten image without any power in it to deliver. The Holy One, blessed be He, gave the women their reward in this world and in the world to come. What reward did He give them in this world? That they should observe the New Moons more stringently than the men, and what reward will He give them in the world to come? They are destined to be renewed like the New Moons, as it is said, "Who satisfieth thy years with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle" (Ps. 103:5).

The men saw that the women would not consent to give their earrings to their husbands. What did they do? Until that hour the earrings were (also) in their own ears, after the fashion of the Egyptians, and after the fashion of the Arabs. They broke off their earrings which were in their own ears, and they gave (them) to Aaron, as it is said, "And all the people brake off || the golden rings which were in their ears" (Ex. 32:3).

"Which were in the ears of their wives" is not written here, but "which were in their ears." Aaron found among the earrings one plate of gold upon which the Holy Name was written, and engraven thereon was the figure of a calf, and that (plate) alone did he cast into the fiery furnace, as it is said, "So they gave it me: and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf" (Ex. 32:24). It is not written here, "And I cast them in," but "And I cast it in the fire, and there came out this calf." The calf came out lowing, and the Israelites saw it, and they went astray after it.

Rabbi Jehudah said: Sammael entered into it, and he was lowing to mislead Israel, as it is said, "The ox knoweth his owner" (Isa. 1:3).

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Israel has forgotten the might of My power, which I wrought for them in Egypt and at the Reed Sea, and they have made an idol for themselves. He said to Moses: Go, get thee down from thy greatness. Moses spake before the Holy One, blessed be He: Sovereign of all the worlds! Whilst Israel had not yet sinned before Thee, Thou didst call them "My people," as it is said, "And I will bring forth my hosts, my people" (Ex. 7:4). Now that they have sinned before Thee, Thou sayest unto me, "Go, get thee down, for thy people have corrupted themselves" (Ex. 32:7). They are Thy people, and Thine inheritance, as it is said, "Yet they are thy people and thine inheritance" (Deut. 9:29).

Moses took || the tables (of the law), and he descended, and the tables carried their own weight and Moses with them; but when they beheld the calf and the dances, the writing fled from off the tables, and they became heavy in his hands, and Moses was not able to carry himself and the tables, and he cast them from his hand, and they were broken beneath the mount, as it is said, "And Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount" (Ex. 32:19).

Moses said to Aaron: What hast thou done to this people? Thou hast made them unruly, like a woman who is unchecked owing to immorality. He said to Moses: I saw what they did to Hur, and I feared very greatly.

Rabbi said: All the princes were not associated in the affair of the calf, as it is said, "And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand" (Ex. 24:11). The word ("Azilê") means the "princes," therefore they were accounted worthy to gaze upon the glory of the Shekhinah, as it is said, "And they saw the God of Israel" (Ex. 24:10).

Rabbi Jehudah said: The tribe of Levi also did not associate itself in the affair of the calf, as it is said, "Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoso is on the Lord's side (let him come) unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him" (Ex. 32:26). Moses saw that the tribe of Levi was with him. He became strengthened with his might, and he burnt the calf with fire, and powdered it, like the dust of the earth, and he cast its dust upon the face of the waters, as it is said, "And he took the || calf which they had made" (Ex. 32:20). He made Israel drink the water (with the dust of the calf). Everyone who had kissed the calf with all his heart, his upper lip and his bones became golden, and the tribe of Levi slew him, until there fell of Israel about three thousand men, as it is said, "And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses" (Ex. 32:28).

The Holy One, blessed be He, sent five angels to destroy Israel. (The angels were) Wrath, Anger, Temper, Destruction, and Glow of Anger. Moses heard, and he went to invoke Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the Cave of Machpelah, and he said: If ye be of the children of the world to come, stand ye before me in this hour, for behold your children are given over like sheep to the slaughter. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob stood there before him.

Moses spake before the Holy One, blessed be He (saying): Sovereign of all the worlds! Didst Thou not swear to these (forefathers) thus to increase their seed like the stars of the heaven, as it is said, "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven" (Ex. 32:18).

By the merit of the three patriarchs, the three angels, Wrath, Anger, and Temper, were restrained from (doing harm to) Israel. But two (angels) remained. Moses spake before the Holy One, blessed be He: Sovereign of all the universe! For the sake of the oath which Thou didst swear unto them, keep back (the angel) Destruction || from Israel, as it is said, "To whom thou swarest by thine own self" (ibid.); and Destruction was kept back from Israel, as it is said, "But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed (them) not" (Ps. 78:88).

Moses spake before the Holy One, blessed be He: Sovereign of all worlds! For the sake of Thy great and holy Name, which Thou didst make known unto me, hold back from Israel (the angel called) Glow of Anger, (as it is said,) "Turn away from thy fierce anger" (Ex. 32:12). What did Moses do? He dug in the earth in the possession of Gad, as (though for the foundation of) a large dwelling, and he buried "Fierce Anger" in the earth, like a man who is bound in the prison.

Every time Israel sins it arises and opens its mouth to bite with its breath, and to destroy Israel. Moses pronounced against it the (divine) Name, and brought it down beneath the earth. Therefore is its name called Peor (the one who opens). When Moses died, what did the Holy One, blessed be He, do?

He put his burial-place opposite to it. Every time Israel sins it opens its mouth to bite with its breath, and to destroy Israel, but (when) it sees the burial-place of Moses opposite to it, it returns backward, as it is said, "And he buried him in the valley, in the land of Moab, over against the house of Peor" (Deut. 34:6).

Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah says: On the eve of the Sabbath, on the sixth of the month, in the sixth hour of the day, Israel received the Ten Commandments, and in the ninth hour of the day they returned to their tents. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korhah says: Forty days Moses spent on the mountain, reading the written Torah by day and repeating the written Torah by night. And after forty days he took the tablets and went down to the camp, and on the seventeenth of Tammuz he shattered the tablets.

MOSES ON THE MOUNT RABBI ELAzAR, son of 'Azariah, said: On Friday, || on the 6th of the month, at the sixth hour of the day, Israel received the Commandments. At the ninth hour of the day they returned to their tents, and the Manna was prepared for them for two days, and Israel rested on that Sabbath full of joy as (with) the joy of the festival, because they were worthy to hear the voice of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said, "For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?" (Deut. 5:26).

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses in a pure expression of speech: Go, tell the children of Israel, that for My sake they should return to their tents, (as it is said,) "Go, say to them, Return ye to your tents" (Deut. 5:30). It is possible that even thou (Moses) shouldst return. Hence thou mayest learn that from the hour when Moses brought down the Torah to Israel, he did not approach his wife, as it is said, "But as for thee, stand thou here by me" (Deut. 5:31).

Rabbi Joshua, son of Ḳorchah, said: Forty days was Moses on the mountain, reading the Written Law by day, and studying the Oral Law by night. After the forty days he took the tables (of the Law) and descended into the camp on the 17th of Tammuz, and he broke in pieces the tables, and slew the sinners in Israel. He then spent forty days in the camp, until he had burnt the calf, and powdered it like the dust of the earth, and he had destroyed the idol worship from Israel, and he instituted every tribe in its place.

And on the New Moon of Ellul the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "Come up || to me on the mount" (Ex. 24:12), and let them sound the Shophar (trumpet) throughout the camp, for, behold, Moses has ascended the mount, so that they do not go astray again after the worship of idols. The Holy One, blessed be He, was exalted with that Shophar, as it is said, "God is exalted with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet" (Ps. 47:5). Therefore the sages instituted that the Shophar should be sounded on the New Moon of Ellul every year.

Rabbi Tachanah said: The tables (of the Law) were not created out of the earth but out of the heavens, the handicraft of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said, "And the tables, the work of God were they" (Ex. 32:16). They are the tables which were of old, "and the writing" was divine writing; that was the writing which was of old, "graven upon the tables." Do not read Charuth, "graven," but (read) Chêruth, "liberty."

When the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: "Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first" (Ex. 34:1), a quarry of sapphires was created for Moses in the midst of his tent, and he cut them out (thence), as it is said, "And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first" (Ex. 34:4). Moses descended with the tables, and spent forty days on the mountain, sitting down before the Holy One, blessed be He, like a disciple who is sitting before his teacher, reading the Written Law, and repeating the Oral Law which he had learnt.

The ministering angels said to him: Moses! This Torah has been given only for our sakes. Moses replied to them: It is written in the Torah, "Honour thy father || and thy mother" (Ex. 20:12). Have ye then father and mother? Again, it is written in the Torah, "When a man dieth in the tent" (Num. 19:14). Does death happen among you? They were silent, and did not answer anything further.

Hence (the sages) say: Moses went up to the heavenly regions with his wisdom, and brought down the might of the trust of the ministering angels, as it is said, "A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty, and bringeth down the strength of the confidence thereof" (Prov. 21:22). When the ministering angels saw that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave the Torah to Moses, they also arose and gave unto him presents and letters and tablets for healing the sons of man, as it is said, "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led thy captivity captive; thou hast received gifts among men" (Ps. 68:19).

The Son of Bethera said: Moses spent forty days on the mount, expounding the meaning of the words of the Torah, and examining its letters. After forty days he took the Torah, and descended on the tenth of the month, on the Day of Atonement, and gave it as an everlasting inheritance to the children of Israel, as it is said, "And this shall be unto you an everlasting statute" (Lev. 16:34).

Rabbi Zechariah said: They read in the Torah and found written therein, "And ye shall afflict your souls" (Lev. 16:29), and on the Day of Atonement they caused a Shophar to be sounded throughout all the camp and proclaimed a fast for all Israel, old and young. Were it not for the Day of Atonement the world could not stand, because the Day of Atonement is in this world and in the world to come, || as it is said, "It is a sabbath of sabbaths unto you" (Lev. 16:31). "A sabbath" refers to this world, "sabbaths" refers to the world to come. Moreover, if all the festivals pass away, the Day of Atonement will not pass away, for the Day of Atonement effects reconciliation for serious offences as well as for slight offences. Whence do we know that the Day of Atonement effects reconciliation? Because it is said, "For on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins shall ye be clean" (Lev. 16:30). "From your sins" is not written here, but "from all your sins shall ye be clean before the Lord" (ibid.).

Sammael said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Sovereign of all the universe! Thou hast given me power over all the nations of the world, but over Israel Thou hast not given me power. He answered him, saying: Behold, thou hast power over them on the Day of Atonement if they have any sin, but if not, thou hast no power over them. Therefore they gave him a present on the Day of Atonement, in order that they should not bring their offering, as it is said, "One lot for the Lord, and the other lot for Azazel" (Lev. 16:8).

The lot for the Holy One, blessed be He, was the offering of a burnt offering, and the lot for Azazel was the goat as a sin offering, for all the iniquities of Israel were upon it, as it is said, "And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities" (Lev. 16:22). Sammael saw that sin was not to be found among them on the Day of Atonement. He said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Sovereign of all the universe!

Thou hast one people like the ministering angels who are in heaven. Just as the ministering angels || have bare feet, so have the Israelites bare feet on the Day of Atonement. Just as the ministering angels have neither food nor drink, so the Israelites have neither food nor drink on the Day of Atonement. Just as the ministering angels have no joints, in like wise the Israelites stand upon their feet.

Just as the ministering angels have peace obtaining amongst them, so the Israelites have peace obtaining amongst them on the Day of Atonement. Just as the ministering angels are innocent of all sin on the Day of Atonement, so are the Israelites innocent of all sin on the Day of Atonement. The Holy One, blessed be He, hears the prayers of Israel rather than (the charges brought by) their accuser, and He makes atonement for the altar, and for the sanctuary, and for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation both great and small, as it is said, "And he shall make atonement for the holy place" (Lev. 16:16).

Moses said: On the Day of Atonement I will behold the glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, and I will make atonement for the iniquities of Israel. Moses spake before the Holy One, blessed be He: Sovereign of all the universe! "Shew me, I pray thee, thy glory" (Ex. 33:18). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Moses!

Thou art not able to see My glory lest thou die, as it is said, "For men shall not see me and live" (Ex. 33:20); but for the sake of the oath which I have sworn unto thee I will do thy will. Stand at the entrance of || the cave, and I will make all the angels who move before Me pass before thy face. Stand in thy might, and do not fear, as it is said, "And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee" (Ex. 33:19).

When thou dost hear the Name which I have spoken to thee, there am I before thee, as it is said, "And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee" (ibid.).

The ministering angels said: Behold, we serve before Him by day and by night, and we are unable to see His glory, and this one born of woman desires to see His glory. And they arose in wrath and excitement to slay him, and his soul came nigh unto death. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He revealed Himself unto him in a cloud, as it is said, "And the Lord descended in the cloud" (Ex. 34:5). This was the seventh descent.

The Holy One, blessed be He, protected him with the hollow of His hand that he should not die, as it is said, "And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover thee with my hand" (Ex. 33:22). When the Holy One, blessed be He, had passed by, He removed the hollow of His hand from him, and he saw the traces of the Shekhinah, as it is said, "And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back" (Ex. 33:23). Moses began to cry with a loud voice, and he said: "O Lord, O Lord, a God full of compassion and gracious …" (Ex. 34:6).

Moses said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Sovereign of all worlds! Pardon now the iniquities of this people. He said to him: Moses! If thou hadst said, Pardon now the iniquities of all Israel, even to the end of all generations (He would have done so). It was an acceptable time. || But thou hast said: Pardon, I beseech Thee, the iniquities of this people with reference to the affair of the calf. He said to him: Moses! Behold, let it be according to thy words, as it is said, "And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word" (Num. 14:20).

THE ZEAL OF PHINEAS RABBI ELAzAR, son of 'Arakh, said: When the Holy One, blessed be He, descended upon Mount Sinai to give the Torah to Israel, sixty myriads of the ministering angels descended with Him, corresponding to the sixty myriads of the mighty men of Israel, and in their hands were swords and crowns, and they crowned the Israelites with the Ineffable Name. All those days, whilst they had not done that deed, they were as good as the ministering angels before the Holy One, blessed be He.

The Angel of Death did not hold sway over them, and they did not discharge any excretions like the children of man; but when they did that deed the Holy One, blessed be He, was angry with them, and He said to them: I thought that ye would be like the ministering angels, as it is said, "I said, Ye are angels, and all of you sons of the Most High" (Ps. 82:6). But now, "Nevertheless, ye shall die like men" (Ps. 82:7).

Rabbi Jehudah said: As long as a man is dressed in his garments of glory, he is beautiful in his appearance and in his honour; so were the Israelites when they apparelled themselves with that Name—they were good before the Holy One, blessed be He, like the ministering angels. But when they did that deed (of the golden calf), the Holy One, blessed be He, was angry with them. || In that night the same sixty myriads of ministering angels descended, and they severally took from each one of them what they had put upon them, and they became bare, not according to their own wish, as it is said, "And the children of Israel stripped themselves" (Ex. 33:6).

It is not written here, "the children of Israel took away," but "the children of Israel stripped themselves." Some say by itself (their adornment) was stripped off.

Rabbi said: At every place where Israel sat down in the wilderness, they made idols for themselves, as it is said, "And the people sat down to eat and to drink" (Ex. 32:6). What is written here? "And they rose up to play" (ibid.); they commenced to worship idols. One verse says, "And Israel abode in Shittim" (Num. 25:1). What is written here? "And the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab" (ibid.). They commenced to be immoral.

Rabbi Jehudah said: "The counsel of the wicked is far from me" (Job 21:16). This (text) refers to the counsel of Balaam, the wicked, who advised Midian, and there fell of Israel twenty-four thousand men. He said to them: You will not be able to prevail against this people, unless they have sinned before their Creator. They made for themselves booths outside the camp of Israel, and they sold all kinds of merchandise of the market. The young men of Israel went beyond the camp of Israel and they saw the daughters of Midian, who had painted their eyes like harlots, and they took wives of them, and went astray || after them, as it is said, "And the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab" (Num. 25:1).

Simeon and Levi were exceedingly zealous because of the immorality, as it is said, "And they said, As with an harlot should he deal with our sister?" (Gen. 34:81). Each man took his sword and they slew the men of Shechem. The prince of the tribe of Simeon did not remember that which his ancestor had done, and he did not rebuke the young men of Israel, but he himself came publicly to the Midianitish woman for an immoral purpose, as it is said, "Now the name of the man of Israel that was slain, who was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri… a prince of a fathers' house among the Simeonites" (Num. 25:14).

All the princes with Moses, Eleazar, and Phineas saw the angel who was to destroy the people, and they sat down and wept, and they did not know what to do. Phineas saw how Zimri went publicly to the Midianitish woman for an immoral purpose, and he was moved by a great zeal, and he snatched the spear out of the hand of Moses, and ran after (Zimri) and pierced him through the back, through the pudenda, and the spear went into the belly of the woman.

Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, gave a good reward to him and to his sons with the food of the shoulder. And the jaws were separated, the jaws of the man (from) the jaws of the woman; therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him and his sons a good reward with the food of the cheeks, as it is said, "And they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw" (Deut. 18:3).

He arose like a great spiritual leader and he judged Israel, as it is said, "Then stood up Phineas, || and he executed judgment" (Ps. 106:30). What is the meaning of this expression, "And he executed judgment"? Like a great judge. Just as thou dost say, "And he shall pay as the judges determine" (Ex. 21:22). And he smote the young men of Israel so that all Israel should see and fear, as it is said, "And all Israel shall hear, and fear" (Deut. 21:21). The Holy One, blessed be He, saw what Phineas had done, and forthwith was He filled with compassion; the plague was stayed, as it is said, "And so the plague was stayed" (Num. 16:50).

Rabbi Eliezer said: He called the name of Phineas by the name of Elijah—Elijah of blessed memory, (who was) of those who repented in Gilead, for he brought about the repentance of Israel in the land of Gilead. The Holy One, blessed be He, gave him the life of this world and the life of the world to come, as it is said, "My covenant was with him of life and peace" (Mal. 2:5). He gave to him and to his sons a good reward, in order that (he might have) the everlasting priesthood, as it is said, "And it shall be unto him, and to his seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood" (Num. 25:13).

Rabbi Elazar of Modein said: Phineas arose, and pronounced the ban upon Israel by the mystery of the Ineffable Name, and with the script which was written on the tables (of the Law), and by the ban of the celestial Court of Justice, and by the ban of the terrestrial Court of Justice, that a man of Israel should not drink the wine of the nations unless it had been trodden by the feet, as it is said, "And as for my sheep, that which ye have trodden with your feet they eat, and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet" (Ezek. 34:19). Because all the wine of the nations was devoted to idolatry and immorality, for they took the first of their new wine for idolatry and immorality, as it is said, "Whoredom and wine || and new wine take away the heart" (Hos. 4:11).

Rabbi Phineas said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Do ye remember what those Midianites did to you, for twenty-four thousand men fell in Israel? But before "thou art gathered in," arise, execute vengeance, (as it is said,) "Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites; afterwards shalt thou be gathered unto thy people" (Num. 31:2).

What did Moses do? He took a thousand men (and) a prince from each tribe of the tribes of Israel. Behold, (there were) twelve thousand (men), and he who had been zealous because of the immorality, was the prince over them. The holy vestments and the trumpets of alarm were in his hand, and they went, and they took captive the daughters of Midian, and they brought them (to the camp). (Moses) said to (Phineas): Because of these did not twenty-four thousand men of Israel fall? as it is said, "Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor" (Num. 31:16); and he began to be angry with them, as it is said, "And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host" (Num. 31:14). During his anger the Holy Spirit departed from him. Hence thou mayest learn that the impetuous man destroys his wisdom. Eleazar saw and he heard (the voice) behind (Moses), as it is said, "And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war… This is the statute of the Law which the Lord hath commanded Moses" (Num. 31:21). He said to them: He commanded Moses and He did not command me.

Rabbi Eliezer says: Five letters that are doubled among all the letters in the Torah are all for the mystery of redemptions. Kaf-Kaf (the final form): Abraham our father was redeemed from Ur of the Chaldees, as it is said, "Go forth (lekh lekha) from your land" (Genesis 12:1). Mem-Mem (the final form): through it Isaac our father was redeemed from the hand of the Philistines. Nun-Nun (the final form): through it Jacob our father was redeemed. Pe-Pe (the final form): through it our fathers were redeemed from Egypt, as it is said, "I have surely remembered (pakod pakadti)" (Exodus 3:16). Tzadi-Tzadi (the final form): through it the Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to redeem Israel from the subjugation of the four kingdoms. And all of them were handed over only to Abraham our father, and Abraham handed them on to Isaac, and Isaac handed them on to Jacob, and Jacob handed the mystery of redemption on to Joseph, as it is said, "And God will surely remember (pakod yifkod) you" (Genesis 50:24). And Joseph his son handed the mystery of redemption on to his brothers, and Asher handed the mystery of redemption on to Serah his daughter.

Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai opened: "On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying" (Genesis 15:18). Abraham said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of all worlds, behold, You have not given me offspring, and yet You say to me, "To your offspring I have given this land" (Genesis 15:18)? "How shall I know that I will inherit it?" (Genesis 15:8). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Abraham, the entire world stands upon My word, and you do not believe in My word? Yet you say, "How shall I know that I will inherit it?" By your life, twice shall you surely know, as it is said, "And He said to Abram, you shall surely know" (Genesis 15:13).

THE EGYPTIAN BONDAGE RABBAN JOCHANAN, son of Ẓakkai, opened (his exposition with the text): "In that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates" (Gen. 15:18). Abram said before the Holy One, blessed be He, Sovereign of all the universe! Thou hast not given me seed, yet dost Thou say, "Unto thy seed will I give || this land" (ibid.).

He said: "Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" (Gen. 15:8). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Abram! The entire world stands by My word, and thou dost not believe in My word, but thou sayest, "Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" (ibid.). By thy life!

In two ways shalt thou surely know, as it is said, "And he said to Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land which is not theirs,… and they shall afflict them" (Gen. 15:18).