Reuben Opens the Way of Rescue and Earns the Cities of Refuge

"And they saw him from afar, and before [he came near]" (Genesis 37:18). They said, Let us set the dogs upon him. "And they said, Here comes the master of dreams" (Genesis 37:19). His own comes, loaded with his dreams. Rabbi Levi said: This one is destined to marry us off to mistresses [to make us slaves]. (Genesis 37:20.) The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: You say, "and we shall see what will become of his dreams" now we shall see whose word will stand, Mine or yours. "And Reuben heard, and he delivered him from their hand" (Genesis 37:21). And where had he been? Rabbi Yose said: Each one served his father on his appointed day, and that day was Reuben's. Rabbi Nehemiah said: He reasoned, I am the firstborn, and all the blame will be laid only upon me. The Rabbis said: He counted me among my brothers, as it is written, "and eleven stars" and I do not save him? The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: You opened first with rescue; by your life, the cities of refuge will be set apart first only within your territory, as it is written, "Bezer in the wilderness, in the tableland country, for the Reubenites" (Deuteronomy 4:43). The Torah taught you proper conduct: when a person does a commandment, let him do it with a glad heart. For had Reuben known that the Holy One, blessed be He, was writing of him, "and Reuben heard and delivered him from their hand," he would have carried Joseph on his shoulders to his father. Had Aaron known that the Holy One, blessed be He, was writing of him, "and behold, he comes out to meet you" (Exodus 4:14), he would have gone out to meet him with drums and dances. Had Boaz known that it would be written of him, "and he handed her parched grain" (Ruth 2:14), he would have brought fattened calves and fed her. In former times a person would do a commandment and the prophets would write it down; now that there are no prophets, who writes it? Elijah and the Messiah, and the Holy One, blessed be He, sets His seal upon it, as it is written, "Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another, [and the LORD listened and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him]" (Malachi 3:16).