The King Gave Wheat and Flax at Sinai

Once I was walking on the road, and a certain man met me and came to me on the road in heresy, and he had Scripture but had no Mishnah, and he said to me: Rabbi, Scripture was given to us from Mount Sinai, but the Mishnah was not given to us from Mount Sinai. And I said to him: My son, Scripture and Mishnah, both of them were spoken from the mouth of the Almighty. And what is the difference between Scripture and Mishnah? They told a parable: to what may the matter be compared? To a king of flesh and blood who had two servants and loved them with a great love, and he gave to this one a kav of wheat and to that one a kav of wheat, and to each one of them he also gave a bundle of flax. The clever one among them took the flax and wove a fine cloth, and took the wheat and made it into fine flour, and sifted it and ground it and kneaded it and baked it and arranged it on the table and spread over it a fine cloth, and left it until the king came. But the foolish one among them did nothing. After some days the king came into his house and said to his two servants: My sons, bring me what I gave you. One of them brought out the bread of fine flour on the table, with the fine cloth spread over it, and one of them brought out the wheat in a basket, with the bundle of flax upon it. Woe for that shame and woe for that disgrace! Which of them is more beloved? You must say: the one who brought out the bread on the table with the fine cloth spread over it. And further I said to him: My son, if I find you within the teaching of the Sages, will you make your words liars? And he said to me: Yes. I said to him: My son, when you go down before the ark on the Sabbath, how many blessings do you say? And he said to me: Seven. And I said to him: My son, and on the other days, how many do you say? And he said to me: Eighteen. And I said to him: My son, how many blessings do you say over the recitation of the Shema in the morning? And he said to me: Two before it and one after it. And I said to him: And in the evening, how many do you say? And he said to me: Two before it and two after it. And I said to him: My son, how many are called to the Torah on the Sabbath? And he said to me: Seven. And he said: On the second day of the week and on the fifth day of the week and at the afternoon prayer on the Sabbath, how many? He said to him: Three. And he said: And over the seven, how many blessings do you say? And he said to me: Two before them and one after them. And I said to him: Over the other portions, how many blessings do you say? And he said to me: One blessing before them and one blessing after them, except for the grace after meals, which is three, and with the blessing "who is good and does good" they are four. And I said to him: My son, do you then have these from Mount Sinai? Are they not only the teaching of the Sages? Rather, when the Holy One, blessed be He, gave the Torah to Israel, He gave it to them only like wheat, to bring forth fine flour from it, and like flax, to weave from it a garment, by means of general and particular, and particular and general, and general and particular and general, as it is said, "And you shall give the money for whatever your soul desires" (Deuteronomy 14:26), this is a generalization; "for cattle and for sheep, for wine and for strong drink," this is a specification; "and for whatever your soul asks of you," this is another generalization. And likewise a generalization that requires a specification and a specification that requires a generalization. And he said to me: Rabbi, is it so that from the day the world was created until that hour, everyone who does a commandment is given his reward? And I said to him: My son, the Holy One, blessed be He, fills the world from one end to the other, and the whole world entirely is His, and it is enough that the whole world is His; and were it not that Scripture is written, it would be impossible to say it, as it is said, "Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens and the heaven of heavens, the earth and all that is in it" (Deuteronomy 10:14). And it says, "Look at the heavens and see, and behold the skies that are higher than you" (Job 35:5). And not the heavens alone are the Holy One's, blessed be He, but the heavens and the heaven of heavens, the upper seven. (Another reading: And the whole world entirely is His; should He take a portion in His world that He created? Rather, it is to make known to the creatures that whoever engages in Torah in distress, so too worldly conduct is given to him, and the principal is laid up for him; for the Holy One, blessed be He, did not find among human beings those who do the Torah and the commandments in distress and built the latter House in distress and afflicted themselves over the Torah and over the commandments; therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, gave them Mishnah, for them and for their children and for their children's children until the end of all the generations. And from where that one takes his reward in His world that He created? As it is said, "For the LORD's portion is His people, Jacob the lot of His inheritance" (Deuteronomy 32:9), and it says, "For lots have fallen" and so forth.) And even though the whole world entirely is the Holy One's, blessed be He, the Holy One, blessed be He, took no portion in His world that He created except Israel alone, to make known to the creatures that anyone who engages in Torah amid distress, and all the more so if he also engages in worldly occupation together with the Torah, is given the fruits in this world and the principal is laid up for him for the world to come. And because the Holy One, blessed be He, did not find among the children of Israel those who do the Torah and the commandments amid distress like those who were building the latter House, who afflicted themselves over the Torah and over the commandments, therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, gave them a Mishnah reward, for them and for their children and for their children's children until the end of all the generations. And from where that the Holy One, blessed be He, took no portion in His world except Israel alone? As it is said, "For the LORD's portion is His people, Jacob the lot of His inheritance" (Deuteronomy 32:9), and it says, "Lots have fallen to me in pleasant places; indeed, an inheritance is beautiful to me" (Psalms 16:6). They told a parable: to what may the matter be compared? To a king of flesh and blood who builds a palace and perfects it, and in the joy with which he rejoices in it he completes within it a house for his dwelling. So too the Holy One, blessed be He: this is the reward of the land in which the Holy One, blessed be He, stood, and He created all the lands and set apart the land of Israel as a heave-offering from all the lands, and set apart Jerusalem as a heave-offering from all the land of Israel, and set apart the place of the Temple as a heave-offering from all of Jerusalem. And likewise the Holy One, blessed be He, created all the peoples entirely, and set apart Israel as a heave-offering from all the peoples; and from Israel He set apart as a heave-offering the tribe of Levi; and from the tribe of Levi He set apart as a heave-offering Aaron the priest and his sons, and He sanctified him and anointed him and honored him with the garments of priesthood and with the frontlet and with the Urim and Tummim, that he should stand before the Holy One, blessed be He, and make atonement for Israel every single year. And He brought Israel, who are a heave-offering from all the peoples, to the land of Israel, which is a heave-offering from all the lands; and He brought the tribe of Levi, who were set apart as a heave-offering from all Israel, to Jerusalem, which was set apart as a heave-offering from all the land of Israel; and He brought the sons of Aaron, who were set apart as a heave-offering from the tribe of Levi, to the Temple, which was set apart as a heave-offering from all of Jerusalem, to stand and minister before the Holy One, blessed be He, and to do His will, as it is said, "He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled the nations, and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the ancient hills sank low; the everlasting ways are His" (Habakkuk 3:6). From here they said: Anyone who studies halakhot (read as "ways," halikhot) every day is assured that he is a son of the world to come, as it is said, "the everlasting ways (halikhot) are His"; do not read "ways" (halikhot) but "laws" (halakhot). And some say: From the place where the Holy One, blessed be He, took the dust of the first man, there the altar was built, as it is said, "And the LORD God formed the man, dust from the ground" (Genesis 2:7), and it is said, "An altar of earth you shall make for Me" (Exodus 20:21). From here they said: As long as the Temple stands, the altar is an atonement for Israel in all the places of their dwellings; and at a time when the Temple does not stand, the scholars are an atonement for Israel in all the places of their dwellings, as it is said, "And if you bring a meal-offering of first fruits to the LORD, parched grain roasted with fire, fresh kernels of ripe grain, you shall bring as the meal-offering of your first fruits" (Leviticus 2:14). And it says, "And a man came from Baal-Shalishah and brought to the man of God bread of first fruits" and so forth (2 Kings 4:42). And was Elisha a priest, that he ate first fruits? And there was there neither Jerusalem nor sanctuary nor altar nor high priest, but only Elisha the prophet alone and his students who sat before him. Rather, from here they said: Anyone who attends upon the scholars and their students and provides for them, Scripture accounts it to him as though he offers first fruits and does the will of his Father in heaven. And he said to me: Rabbi, why are the nations of the world distinguished, that they eat this world? And I said to him: My son, this is their reward, because the Holy One, blessed be He, set apart Israel from among them; therefore they eat this world. They told a parable: to what may the matter be compared? To a king of flesh and blood who found a man from a large family, and this man does all the king's will; what does the king do? The king sends many gifts to all the members of that man's family, for the sake of that man who did his will. So too the idolaters: this is their reward, because the Holy One, blessed be He, set apart Israel from among them; therefore they eat this world. And he said to me: Rabbi, if so, then everyone who does a commandment is also given his reward, and everyone who commits a transgression is also given his reward? And I said to him: My son, what was the reward of the primeval serpent, who arose and corrupted the whole world entirely? And what was the reward of Adam and Eve, who transgressed the command of the Holy One, blessed be He? And what was the reward of Cain, who killed Abel his brother? And what was the reward of Lemech, who mourned over his grandfather? And what was the reward of Shem, who honored his father? And what was the reward of Ham, who did not honor his father? And what was the reward of Noah, who stood and protested before the multitudes all those hundred and twenty years until the flood came upon them? Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, testified concerning him, as it is said, "Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generations" (Genesis 6:9), and it says, "For you I have seen righteous before Me in this generation" (Genesis 7:1). And what was the reward of Shem the elder, who prophesied four hundred years and they did not receive it from him? And what was the reward of Abraham our father, who stood and demolished all the idolatry in the world; and because he said one improper word, his children went down to Egypt, as it is said, "And he said: O Lord GOD, by what shall I know that I will inherit it?" (Genesis 15:8): as the reward of that saying, his children went down to Egypt. And what was the reward of Ishmael, who arose and buried his father? And what was the reward of Isaac, who said to his father: Father, bind me well and well, and place me upon the altar, lest I kick at you, for I am young and standing in my strength, for I am thirty-seven years old, and I should be found liable for two deaths at the hand of Heaven? And what was the reward of Esau, who let fall two tears before his father? He was given Mount Seir, from which the rains of blessing never cease forever; and even the children of Seir, because they received Esau with a pleasant countenance, were given their reward. From here they said: Even if a person has in his hand neither Scripture nor Mishnah, but he sits and reads all day the verse "And Lotan's sister was Timna" (Genesis 36:22), even so the reward of Torah is in his hand. And what was the reward of Jacob our father, who acknowledged the truth and spoke truth in his heart all the days of his life? And what was the reward of the twelve tribes, who did the will of Jacob their father, as it is said, "Like grapes in the wilderness I found Israel" (Hosea 9:10)? And what was the reward of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who set the awe of the Holy One, blessed be He, in their hearts from among seventy peoples and tongues? And their merit stood for them and for their children and for their children's children until the end of all the generations.