The Messiah, say the rabbis, will be greater than all the patriarchs — greater than Abraham, greater than Isaac, greater than Moses. This is the reading Aggadat Bereshit makes of Isaiah's servant passage: "Behold, My servant will prosper; he will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted" (Isaiah 52:13). "High" refers to Abraham, "lifted up" to Moses, and "greatly exalted" surpasses them both.
The mountain that falls away — "Who are you, O great mountain?" (Zechariah 4:7) — is the question posed to every great obstacle that stands between Israel and redemption. Zechariah's answer: it becomes a plain. The Messiah does not go around the mountain. He makes it level. The rabbis saw in this image a statement about the nature of the messianic era: it is not just the removal of enemies. It is the removal of the conditions that made enemies possible. The landscape of suffering becomes the landscape of peace.
The Psalm of Ascents runs through this section — "I lift my eyes to the mountains; from where does my help come?" (Psalm 121:1). The answer in the messianic reading is the Messiah himself — the one who surpasses the mountains that were the patriarchs, who levels the mountains that are the kingdoms, who makes it possible at last to look toward the hills without fear.
Chapter (43) 44: Prophets [1] "And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the Lord" (Micah 5:6). This means that our roots are open like water [and dew remains on my branches during harvest] (Job 29:19). The people of Israel said this because our children engage in Torah study, which is compared to water, as it is written, "Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters" (Isaiah 55:1). Therefore, blessings come upon us, as it is written, "And my roots will be open to the water." When did God come back to the world to give them the Torah? As it is written, "The Lord came from Sinai" (Deuteronomy 33:2). They did not seek to receive it, but when it came to Israel, they immediately accepted it, as it is written, "And all the people answered together and said, 'All that the Lord has spoken we will do'" (Exodus 19:8). God said to them, "If so, the blessings are for yourselves," as it is written, "And He will give you" (Genesis 27:28). Therefore, "my roots are open to the water" and "dew remains on my branches during harvest. [2] another explanation: "And the remnant of Jacob shall be like dew." Israel said to God, "You make us like dew." He replied, "When you merit it." As it says, "And Israel shall dwell securely, alone, on a land of grain and wine, and with dew from the heavens above" (Deuteronomy 33:28). Why like dew? To teach that even the righteous who are among the righteous have no control over dew; only God does. Want to know when Elijah stood up and swore, "As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there will be no rain or dew these years" (1 Kings 17:1), and God did not listen except for the dew that fell? How do we know that? Because God said to Elijah, "Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth" (1 Kings 18:1). It does not say "dew," but rather, "rain." From here, we learn that dew fell every day, because no one has control over dew except for God. So God said to Israel, "When you do My will, just as no creation has control over dew, so too, there is no creation that has control over you." As it says, "And the remnant of Jacob shall be like dew." [3] another explanation: "And the remnant of Jacob shall be like dew." The dew is greater than the rain of seven days. We mention the dew on the first day of Passover, but we mention the rain on the last day of the festival. The dew is so great that if a person were to say during the hot days of summer that rain should fall, they would be answered, but if they were to say that dew should fall during the rainy days, they would not be answered. The dew is so great that Rabbi Taanit decreed that rain should fall, and an elderly woman made a pit and placed it on the roof to catch rainwater. Everyone was praying for rain, but the woman prayed for drought, saying not to listen to them until her pits were dry. God granted her request, as it says, "I will be like dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily" (Hosea 14:6). [4] Another explanation: "And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the Lord." Two things that Israel requested unfairly: they said, "Set me as a seal upon your heart" (Song of Songs 8:6), and it has already been written in Pesikta until "I will be like dew to Israel" (Hosea 14:6). Why is dew a good symbol for the resurrection of the dead? Because it says, "Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise" (Isaiah 26:19). Rabbi Berechiah said that Isaiah cried out before the Holy One, blessed be He, "Your dead shall live, their bodies shall rise." Those who were willing to be degraded for the sake of God: This one is crucified—why? Because he circumcised his son. That one is burned at the stake—why? For keeping Shabbat. That one is decapitated—why? For studying Torah. Therefore it says, "For your dew is a dew of light" (Hosea 14:6*). [*לְבָנוֹן Lebanon = "whiteness"]
