The Righteous Sip a Little and the Belly of the Wicked Lacks

Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 109:1

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"Let me sip, I pray, a little water" (Genesis 24:43) - a single sip. This is what is written: "The righteous eats to the satisfying of his soul" (Proverbs 13:25) - this is Eliezer, who said, "Let me sip, I pray," a single sip. "But the belly of the wicked shall want" - this is Esau the wicked, who said to our father Jacob, "Let me gulp down, I pray" (Genesis 25:30). Rabbi Ze'ira said: that wicked one opened his mouth like a camel. He said: I will open my mouth and you keep pouring it in and it will go down, like that which we learned: one does not stuff a camel by hand but one may force-feed it down the throat. "And the man, gazing at her, kept silent" (Genesis 24:21) - he was blinking and staring at her.

Themes

RighteousEthicsWit

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