Rabbi Yonatan and the Samaritan on Mount Gerizim

"And the mountains were covered" (Genesis 7:19). Rabbi Yonatan went up to pray in Jerusalem. A certain commoner accompanied him. As he passed by this Platanus, a certain Samaritan saw him and said to him, "Where are you going?" He said to him, "To pray in Jerusalem." He said to him, "Would it not be better to pray on this blessed mountain rather than at that dunghill?" He said to him, "In what way is it blessed?" He said to him, "Because it was not flooded by the waters of the flood." The law slipped from the mind of Rabbi Yonatan for the moment. The donkey-driver said to him, "Rabbi, permit me and I will answer him." He said to him, "Yes." He said to the Samaritan: "This mountain, what category do you make it? If you make it one of the high mountains, behold it is written, 'And all the high mountains were covered.' And if you make it one of the low hills, Scripture paid it no heed and did not reckon it as anything." At that moment Rabbi Yonatan brought him down from the donkey and made him ride three miles, and he proclaimed over him three verses: "You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be male or female barren among you or among your cattle" (Deuteronomy 7:14), even among the cattle that are yours, and this one; "No weapon formed against you shall prosper," and this one; "Your temple is like a slice of pomegranate" (Song of Songs 4:3), the empty ones among you are crammed with answers like a pomegranate. "Fifteen cubits upward." Rabbi Yehuda says: fifteen over the mountain and fifteen over the valley. Rabbi Nechemiah says: fifteen over the mountain, but over the valley however much there was. "All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life" (Genesis 7:22). Here he treats neshamah and ruach, and so forth, as written above. "Of all that was on the dry land they died." This excludes the fish; and some say even they were among those gathered, except that they fled to the great sea. "And only Noah remained" (Genesis 7:23). "Only" is a limiting term, for he too was spitting blood because of the cold. Shmuel said: the head does not exempt in the case of premature infants, as it is said, "all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life"; wherever there is the breath of the spirit of life in the nostrils, its head counts, and otherwise its head does not count. We learned: he who comes after premature infants, even though its head came out alive, and a nine-month child whose head came out dead, is a firstborn for inheritance but not a firstborn for the priest. This is a refutation of Shmuel; it is a refutation. Rabbi Yochanan said: no flood came down upon the Land of Israel. And Resh Lakish said: a flood did come down upon the Land of Israel. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish challenged Rabbi Yochanan: "Of all that was on the dry land they died." "It works well for me, that is why they died; but for you, of what did they die?" "Of the heat," for Rav Chisda said: the generation of the flood corrupted with boiling heat and with boiling heat they were judged. Some say it was Rabbi Yochanan who challenged Resh Lakish: "Of all that was on the dry land they died." "It works well for me, that there was dry land; but for you, what dry land?" "The dry land from the outset," and so forth. "And He wiped out every living thing" (Genesis 7:23). If man sinned, how did the beast sin? It was taught in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha: A parable of a man who made a wedding canopy for his son and prepared in it every kind of feast. In time his son died. He arose and broke up the canopy. He said, "Did I make it for anything but for my son? Now that my son is dead, why do I need a canopy?" So too the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Did I create beast and animal for anything but for man? Now that man has sinned, why do I need animal and beast?" Rav Ami said: "You have hemmed me in behind and before" (Psalms 139:5); "behind" with respect to the work of creation, and "before" with respect to punishment, as it is written, "And He wiped out every living thing, from man to beast," first man and then beast. Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Yose the Galilean says: "only," "but," and "from" are limiting terms. How does "only" limit? "And only Noah remained," why does the verse say "only"? Because Noah too was spitting blood in the ark because of the cold. Similarly you say, "But on the tenth of the month" (Leviticus 23:27); one might think it atones for the penitent and the non-penitent, so the verse says "but," limiting the atonement. How does "but" limit? "For I said, there is but no fear of God"; one might think they had no fear of God at all, so the verse says "but": say from now that until they heard with their ears they had no fear, but once they heard with their ears they did fear, as it says, "And the men were greatly afraid" (Genesis 20:8). Similarly, "And the king said to him, How many times must I adjure you that you speak to me but the truth"; this teaches that he did not speak it with his whole heart, but only because Yehoshafat king of Judah was there. How does "from" limit? "And the people stood about Moses from the morning until the evening" (Exodus 18:13); one might think he was judging the whole day, but if so when did they study? The verse says "from," limiting: he judged only until the sixth hour. Similarly, "The LORD thundered from heaven" (II Samuel 22:14); one might think the thunder was heard from all the corners of heaven, so the verse says "from," that it is heard only from the province against which it is summoned, as it says, "God thunders wondrously with His voice."