The King's Open Letter and Bread for All Who Labor

Tanna Debei Eliyahu Rabbah 14:2

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

Once I was passing from place to place, and a certain man who had Scripture but had no Mishnah found me and said to me: My master, I wish to say one thing before you, but I am afraid lest you be displeased with me. I said to him: My son, if you ask me about a matter of Torah, why should I be displeased with you? And he said to me: My master, why is it said (Psalms 136:25), "He gives bread to all flesh," and it is said (Psalms 147:9), "He gives to the beast its food, to the young ravens that cry," yet for man He does not prepare it? I said to him: My son, in the proper conduct that a person does with his hand — does the Holy One, blessed be He, not bless the works of his hands? Can it be that he should sit idle from labor or from trade? The verse teaches (Deuteronomy 14:29): "So that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand that you do." And he said to me: My master, this answer that you have answered me is the first approach that I told you, and it is acceptable in my eyes. I said to him: My son, my Father in heaven has the power to grant me wisdom and understanding and knowledge and discernment, and I will answer you further concerning what you asked me. Go out and learn from the fool who passes through the marketplace: once wisdom and understanding, knowledge and discernment have been taken from him, can he sustain himself even for one hour? So with all people: when knowledge is taken from a person, behold, they are reckoned like the beast and the wild animal and the bird and the other creatures that the Holy One, blessed be He, created in His world. I call heaven and earth to witness for me that the Holy One, blessed be He, sits and apportions with His hand the food for all who come into the world and for all the works of His hands that He created, from man to beast, from creeping thing to the bird of the heavens. And the verse says (Isaiah 33:6): "The fear of the LORD is his treasure." Another interpretation: "The fear of the LORD is his treasure." A parable: to a king of flesh and blood who had many sons and servants and sought to reprove them, each one by himself, and saw that they did not accept his reproofs upon themselves. What did the king do? He wrote all the matters on a paper and hung it in the outermost courtyard, the first one, an open letter to every person, and the herald goes out from before the king and proclaims and says: Whoever comes to this letter and reads it and fulfills all that is written in it, let him come and take bread and food from before the king. So are Israel comparable in this world and in the next world by means of the words of Torah: once a person has come to Scripture and Mishnah and learns from them fear of Heaven and good deeds, they feed and sustain and provide for him until he enters his eternal home, as it is said (Isaiah 33:6): "And the faithfulness of your times shall be a store of salvation, wisdom and knowledge."

Themes

ProvidenceStudyWisdom

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