Blessings of Issachar, Dan, and Joseph and the Test of Rabbi Matya

"Issachar is a strong-boned donkey" (Genesis 49:14). Just as this donkey breaks the bone, so his tribe would break all Israel in halakhah, as it is said, "And of the sons of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times" (1 Chronicles 12:33), for he raised up two hundred heads of Sanhedrin courts. "Dan shall be a serpent on the way" (Genesis 49:16-17). This is Samson, whom our father Jacob foresaw standing between the pillars, and he prayed for him that the Holy One, blessed be He, would give him strength, "O LORD God, remember me and strengthen me" (Judges 16:28). There was a certain man who said to them, "Judge my case." They said, Learn from this that he comes from Dan, as it is written, "Dan shall judge his people." Rabbi Yohanan said: Samson judged Israel as their Father in heaven, as it is said, "Dan shall judge his people as one." Rabbi Yohanan said: Balaam was lame in one leg, as it is said, "and he went limping" (Numbers 23:3); Samson on both his legs, as it is said, "a viper on the path." "Naphtali is a hind let loose" (Genesis 49:21). This teaches that he leaped to Egypt and brought a document in his hand from the cave to bury his father. "Gad, a troop shall raid him" (Genesis 49:19). For the whole tribe of Gad, when one of them went out to war he would be victorious, and their slain were recognizable, "and he tears the arm, even the crown of the head" (Deuteronomy 33:20). "From Asher, his bread shall be rich" (Genesis 49:20), for they supplied the anointing oil for the Temple. "Joseph is a fruitful son" (Genesis 49:22) — this teaches that the evil eye has no power over the seed of Joseph. "Daughters strode upon the wall" — for the Egyptian women, daughters of kings, sought to look upon the face of Joseph, and he did not fix his eyes upon any of them nor entertain a thought of any of them; therefore he merited to inherit two worlds. There was an incident with Rabbi Matya ben Heresh, who was sitting in the house of study occupied with Torah, and the radiance of his face was like the sun, and the form of his face was like the ministering angels, for in all his days he never lifted his eyes toward a woman in the world. Once Satan passed by and grew jealous of him. He said: Is it possible that such a man has not sinned? He said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the universe, what is Rabbi Matya ben Heresh before You? He said to him: He is wholly righteous. He said before Him: Give me permission and I will incite him. He said to him: You cannot prevail over him. Nevertheless, He said to him: Go. Satan made himself appear to him as a beautiful woman the like of whose form had never been since the days of Naamah the sister of Tubal-Cain, over whom the ministering angels erred, as it is said, "And the sons of God saw the daughters of men" (Genesis 6:2). He stood before him. When Rabbi Matya saw him, he turned his face and set it behind him. Again Satan came and stood at his left side; he turned his face to the right. Satan kept turning to him from every side. He said: I am afraid lest the evil inclination overcome me and make me sin. What did that righteous man do? He called to the student who served before him and said: Go and bring me fire and a nail. He brought him nails and he set them into his eyes. When Satan saw this, he was shaken and fell backward. At that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, called to Raphael and said to him: Go and heal Rabbi Matya ben Heresh. He came and stood before him and said: Who are you? He said: I am Raphael, whom the Holy One, blessed be He, sent to heal your eyes. He said to him: Leave me; what was, was. Raphael returned before the Holy One, blessed be He, and said: Master of the universe, thus and thus Matya said to me. He said to him: Go and tell him that I am a surety that the evil inclination shall not rule over him. Immediately he healed him. From here the Sages said: Everyone who does not gaze upon women, all the more so upon the wife of his fellow, the evil inclination does not rule over him. "Benjamin is a wolf that tears" (Genesis 49:27). As it is written, "and you shall see, and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out... and you shall seize." Another explanation: this is Ehud, "And Ehud made for himself a sword."