The name of Abraham always precedes those of Isaac and Jacob except in
one place (Lev. xxvi. 42), where it is said, "And I will remember my
covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my
covenant with Abraham will I remember;" and thus we learn that all were
of equal importance.
_Midrash Rabbah_, Gen. chap. 1.
In the Selichoth for the Day of Atonement the above reversal of
the usual order of the names of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is
thus referred to: "The first covenant Thou didst exalt, and the
order of the contracting parties to it Thou hast reversed."
Abraham deserved to have been created before Adam, but the Holy
One--blessed be He!--said, "Should he pervert things as I make them,
then there will be no one to rectify them; so behold I will create Adam
first, and if he should make things crooked, then Abraham following him
will make them straight again."
Ibid., chap. 14.
Abram was called Abraham, and Isaac was also called Abraham; as it is
written (Gen. xxv. 19), "Isaac, Abraham's son, Abraham."
Ibid., chap. 63.
"And he lay down in that place" (Gen. xxviii. 11). Rabbi Yuda said,
"There he lay down, but he did not lie down during all the fourteen
years he was hid in the house of Eber." Rabbi Nehemiah said, "There he
lay down, but he did not lie down all the twenty years in which he stood
in the house of Laban."
Ibid., chap. 68.
Vayash Kihu, "And kissed him" (Gen. xxxiii. 4), Rabbi Yanai asks, "Why
is this word (in the original Hebrew) so pointed?" "It is to teach that
Esau did not come to kiss him, but to bite him; only the neck of Jacob
our father became as hard as marble, and this blunted the teeth of the
wicked one." "And what is taught by the expression 'And they wept'?"
"The one wept for his neck and the other for his teeth."
_Midrash Rabbah_, chap. 78.
Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai in Sifri deliberately controverts this
interpretation, and Aben Ezra says it is an "exposition fit only
for children."
Esau said, "I will not kill my brother Jacob with bow and arrow, but
with my mouth I will suck his blood," as it is said (Gen. xxxiii. 4),
"And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and they
wept." Read not "and he kissed him," but read, "and he bit him." The
neck of Jacob, however, became as hard as ivory, and it is respecting
him that Scripture says (Cant. vii. 5), "Thy neck is as a tower of
ivory,"--so that the teeth of Esau became blunted; and when he saw that
his desire could not be gratified, he began to be angry, and gnashed his
teeth, as it is said (Ps. cxii. 10), "The wicked shall see it and be
grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth."
_Pirke d'Rab. Eliezer_, chap. 36.
See also the previous quotation from the Midrash Rabbah. The
Targum of Jonathan and also the Yerushalmi record the same
fantastic tradition. In the latter it is given thus, "And Esau
ran to meet him, and hugged him, and fell upon his neck and
kissed him. Esau wept for the crushing of his teeth, and Jacob
wept for the tenderness of his neck."
Abraham made a covenant with the people of the land, and when the angels
presented themselves to him, he thought they were mere wayfarers, and he
ran to meet them, purposing to make a banquet for them. This banquet he
told Sarah to get prepared, just as she was kneading cakes. For this
reason he did not offer them the cakes which she had made, but "ran to
fetch a calf, tender and good." The calf in trepidation ran away from
him and hid itself in the cave of Machpelah, into which he followed it.
Here he found Adam and Eve fast asleep, with lamps burning over their
couches, and the place pervaded with a sweet-smelling odor. Hence the
fancy he took to the cave of Machpelah for a "possession of a
burying-place."
Ibid.
Shechem, the son of Hamor, assembled girls together playing on
tambourines outside the tent of Dinah, and when she "went out to see
them," he carried her off, ... and she bare him Osenath. The sons of
Jacob wished to kill her, lest the people of the land should begin to
talk scandal of the house of their father. Jacob, however, engraved the
holy Name on a metal plate, suspended it upon her neck, and sent her
away. All this being observed before the Holy One--blessed be He!--the
angel Michael was sent down, who led her to Egypt, into the house of
Potipherah; for Osenath was worthy to become the wife of Joseph.
_Pirke d'Rab. Eliezer_, chap. 48.
In Yalkut Yehoshua 9, Osenath is styled a proselyte; and indeed
it might seem likely enough that Joseph induced her to worship
the true God. The Targum of Jonathan agrees with the version of
the Midrash above, while another tradition makes Joseph marry
Zuleika, the virgin widow of Potiphar, and says that she was the
same woman that is called Osenath (_Koran_, note to p. 193).
When Joseph's brethren recognized him, and were about to kill him, an
angel came down and dispersed them to the four corners of the house.
Then Judah screamed with such a loud voice that all the walls of Egypt
were leveled with the dust, all the beasts were smitten to the ground,
and Joseph and Pharaoh, their teeth having fallen out, were cast down
from their thrones; while all the men that stood before Joseph had their
heads twisted round with their faces toward their backs, and so they
remained till the day of their death; as it is said (Job iv. 10), "The
roaring of the lion (Judah), and the voice of the fierce lion," etc.
_Vayegash_, chap. 5.
The tradition of a legend in our possession says that Judah killed Esau.
When? When Isaac died, Jacob and (the chiefs of) the twelve clans went
to bury him; as it is written (Gen. xxxv. 29), "And his sons Esau and
Jacob buried him." In the Midrash it is, "And Esau and Jacob and his
sons buried him," which fits the legend better. Arrived at the cave,
they entered it, and they stood and wept. The (heads of the) tribes, out
of respect to Jacob, left the cave, that Jacob might not be put to shame
in their presence. Judah re-entered it, and finding Esau risen up as if
about to murder Jacob, he instantly went behind him and killed him. But
why did he not kill him from the front? Because the physiognomy of Esau
was exactly like that of Jacob, and it was out of respect to the latter
that he slew Esau from behind.
_Midrash Shochar Tov_, chap. 18.
Tradition varies respecting the tragic end of Esau. The Book of
Jasher (chap. 56, v. 64) and the Targum of Jonathan (in Vayechi)
both say that Cushim the son of Dan slew Esau at the burial, not
of Isaac, but of Jacob, because he sought to hinder the funeral
obsequies, disputing the title to the sepulchre.
"Oh, that I had wings like a dove! for then I would fly away, and be at
rest" (Ps. lv. 6). This is spoken of Abraham. But why like a dove? Rabbi
Azariah, in the name of Rabbi Yudan, says, "Because all birds when tired
rest on a rock or on a tree, but a dove, when tired of flying, draws in
one wing to rest it, and continues her flight with the other."
_Bereshith Rabbah_, chap. 39.
The Holy One--blessed be He!--said unto Abraham, "What should I tell
thee? and with what shall I bless thee? Shall I tell thee to be
perfectly righteous, or that thy wife Sarah be righteous before me? That
ye both are already. Or shall I say that thy children shall be
righteous? They are so already. But I will bless thee so that all thy
children which shall in future ages come forth from thee shall be just
like thee." Whence do we learn this? From Gen xv. 5: "And he said unto
him, So (like thee) shall thy seed be."
_Bamidbar Rabbah_, chap. 2.
"Every man ... by his own standard" (Num. ii. 2). The several princes of
Israel selected the colors for their banners from the color of the
stones that were upon the breastplate of Aaron. From them other princes
have learned to adorn their standards with different distinguishing
colors. Reuben had his flag red, and leaves of mandrakes upon it.
Issachar had his flag blue, and the sun and moon upon it. Naphtali had
on his flag an olive tree, for this reason that (Gen. xlix. 20) "Out of
Asher his bread shall be fat."
Ibid., chap. 7.
"And Abraham rose up early and saddled his ass" (Gen. xxii. 3). This is
the ass on which Moses also rode when he came into Egypt; for it is said
(Exod. iv. 20), "And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon
an ass." This is the ass on which the Son of David also shall ride; as
it is said (Zech, ix. 9), "Poor, and riding upon an ass."
_Pirke d'Rab. Eliezer_, chap. 31.
In the morning service for Yom Kippur, there is an allusion to
the Scripture passage with which our quotation opens. It is said
that Abraham in "his great joy perverted the usual order," which
a footnote explains thus--"In the greatness of his joy, that he
had thus an opportunity of showing his obedience to God, he set
aside the usual order of things, which was that the servant
should saddle the ass, and saddled the ass himself, as mentioned
Gen. xxii. 3." The animal referred to in the above remarks is
spoken of in Sanhedrin, fol. 98, col. 1, as being of a hundred
colors.
When Joseph saw the signs of Judah's anger, he began to tremble, and
said (to himself), "Woe is me, for he may kill me!" And what were these
signs? Tears of blood rolling down from Judah's right eye, and the hair
that grew on his chest rising and penetrating through the five garments
that he wore. Joseph then kicked the marble seat on which he was
sitting, so that it was instantly shattered into fragments. Upon this
Judah observed, "He is a mighty man, like one of us."
_Yalkut Vayegash._
Abraham married three wives--Sarah, a daughter of Shem; Keturah, a
daughter of Japheth; and Hagar, a daughter of Ham.
_Yalkut, Job_, chap. 8.
Rashi supposes that Keturah was one and the same with Hagar--so
the Midrash, the Targum Yerushalmi, and that of Jonathan. The
latter says, "Keturah, she is Hagar, who had been bound to him
from the beginning," but Aben Ezra and most of the commentators
contend that Keturah and Hagar are two distinct persons, and the
use of the plural concubines, in verse 6, bears them out in this
assertion.
The Holy One--blessed be He!--daily proclaims a new law in the heavenly
court, and even all these were known to Abraham.
Ibid., chap. 37.
A Gentile once asked Rabbi Yoshua ben Kapara, "Is it true that ye say
your God sees the future?" "Yes," was the reply. "Then how is it that it
is written (Gen. vi. 6), 'And it grieved Him at His heart'?" "Hast
thou," replied the Rabbi, "ever had a boy born to thee?" "Yes," said the
Gentile; "and I rejoiced and made others rejoice with me." "Didst thou
not know that he would eventually die?" asked the Rabbi. "Yes," answered
the other; "but at the time of joy is joy, and at the time of mourning,
mourning." "So it is before the Holy One--blessed be He!--seven days He
mourned before the deluge destroyed the world."
_Bereshith Rabbah_, chap. 27.
All the strength of the soul's mourning is from the third to the
thirtieth day, during which time she sits on the grave, still thinking
her beloved might yet return (to the body whence she departed). When she
notices that the color of the face is changed, she leaves and goes away;
and this is what is written (Job. xiv. 22), "But his flesh upon him
shall have pain, and his soul shall mourn over him." Then the mouth and
the belly quarrel with one another, the former saying to the latter,
"All I have robbed and taken by violence I deposited in thee;" and the
latter, having burst three days after its burial, saying to the former,
"There is all thou hast robbed and taken by violence! as it is written
(Eccles. xii. 6), 'The pitcher is broken at the fountain.'"
Ibid., chap. 100.
Job said, "Even the devil shall not dissuade me from comforting those
that mourn; for I would tell him that I am not better than my Creator,
who comforts Israel; as it is said (Isa. li. 12), 'I, even I, am He that
comforteth you.'"
_Psikta Nachmu._
Once Rabbi Shimon ben Yehozedek addressed Rabbi Sh'muel ben Nachman and
said, "I hear that thou art a Baal Aggadah; canst thou therefore tell me
whence the light was created?" "We learn," he replied in a whisper,
"that God wrapped Himself with light as with a garment, and He has
caused the splendor thereof to shine from one end of the world to the
other." The other said, "Why whisperest thou, I wonder, since Scripture
says so plainly (Ps. civ. 2) 'Who covereth Himself with light as with a
garment'?" The reply was, "I heard it in a whisper, and in a whisper I
have told it to thee."
_Bereshith Rabbah_, chap. 3.
"As the tents of Kedar" (Cant. i. 5). As the tents of the Ishmaelites
are ugly without and comely within, so also the disciples of the wise,
though apparently wanting in beauty, are nevertheless full of Scripture,
and of the Mishnah and of the Talmud, of the Halacha and of the
Aggadoth.
_Shemoth Rabbah_, chap. 23.
"Write thou these words" (Exod. xxxiv. 37). That applies to the Law, the
Prophets, and the Hagiographa, which were given in writing, but not to
the Halachoth, the Midrashim, the Aggadoth, and the Talmud, which were
given by the mouth.
Ibid., chap. 47.
Rabbi Samlai said to Rabbi Yonathan, "Instruct me in the Aggada." The
latter replied, "We have a tradition from our forefathers not to
instruct either a Babylonian or a Daromean in the Aggada, for though
they are deficient in knowledge they are haughty in spirit."
_Tal. Yerushalmi P'sachim_, v. fol. 32, col. 1.
He who transcribes the Aggada has no portion in the world to come; he
who expounds it is excommunicated; and he who listens to the exposition
of it shall receive no reward.
_Tal. Yerushalmi P'sachim, Shabbath_, xvi. fol. 30, col. 2.
"Day unto day uttereth speech" (Ps. xix. 2, 3, 4); this means the Law,
the Prophets, and the Hagiographa. "And night unto night showeth
knowledge;" this is the Mishnaioth. "There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard;" these are the Halachoth. "Their line is
gone out through all the earth;" these are the Aggadoth, by which His
great name is sanctified.
_T. debei Aliahu_, chap. 2.
Rabbi Yeremiah, the son of Elazar, said, "When the Holy One--blessed be
He!--created Adam, He created him an androgyne, for it is written (Gen.
v. 2), 'Male and female created He them.'" Rabbi Sh'muel bar Nachman
said, "When the Holy One--blessed be He!--created Adam, He created him
with two faces; then He sawed him asunder, and split him (in two),
making one back to the one-half, and another to the other."
_Midrash Rabbah_, chap. 8.
"And it repented the Lord that He had made man (Adam) on the earth, and
it grieved Him at His heart" (Gen. vi. 6). Rabbi Berachiah says that
when God was about to create Adam, He foresaw that both righteous people
and wicked people would come forth from him. He reasoned therefore with
Himself thus: "If I create him, then will the wicked proceed from him;
but if I do not create him, how then shall the righteous come forth?"
What then did God do? He separated the ways of the wicked from before
Him, and assuming the attribute of mercy, so He created him. This
explains what is written (Ps. i. 6), "For the Lord knoweth the way of
the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall be lost." The way of the
wicked was lost before Him, but assuming to Himself the attribute of
mercy, He created him. Rabbi Chanina says, "It was not so! But when God
was about to create Adam, He consulted the ministering angels and said
unto them (Gen. i. 26), 'Shall we make man in our image after our
likeness?' They replied, 'For what good wilt thou create him?' He
responded, 'That the righteous may rise out of him.' This explains what
is written, 'For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way
of the wicked shall be lost.' God informed them only about the
righteous, but He said nothing about the wicked, otherwise the
ministering angels would not have given their consent that man should be
created."
_Bereshith Rabbah_, chap. 8.
Rabbi Hoshaiah said, "When God created Adam the ministering angels
mistook him for a divine being, and were about to say, 'Holy! holy!
holy!' before him. But God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, so
that all knew he was only a man. This explains what is written (Isa. ii.
22), 'Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is
he to be accounted of'?"
Ibid.
Rabbi Yochanan saith, "Adam and Eve seemed as if they were about twenty
years old when they were created."
Ibid., chap. 14.
Rav Acha said when God was about to create Adam He consulted the
ministering angels, and asked them, saying, "Shall we make man?" They
enquired, "Of what good will this man be?" He replied, "His wisdom will
be greater than yours." One day, therefore, He brought together the
cattle, the beasts, and the birds, and asked them the name of them
severally, but they knew not. He then caused them to pass before Adam,
and asked him, "What is the name of this and the other?" Then Adam
replied, "This is an ox, this is an ass," and so on. "And thou, why is
thy name Adam?" (i.e. in Hebrew, man). "I ought to be called Adam," was
his reply, "for I was created from Adamah" (the ground). "And what is My
name?" "It is meet Thou shouldst be called Lord, for Thou art Lord over
all Thy creatures." Rav Acha says, "'I am the Lord, that is My name'
(Isa. xlii. 8). 'That is My name which Adam called Me.'"
_Bereshith Rabbah_, chap. 17.
Rabba Eliezer says Adam was skilled in all manner of crafts. What proof
is there of this? It is said (Isa. xliv. 11), "And the artisans, they
are of Adam."
Ibid., chap. 24.
"And the Lord said, I will destroy man" (Gen. vi. 7). Rabbi Levi, in the
name of Rabbi Yochanan, says that even millstones were destroyed. Rabbi
Yuda, in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, declares even the very dust of Adam
was destroyed. Rabbi Yuda, in the name of Rabbi Shimon, insists that
even the (resurrection) bone of the spine, from which God will one day
cause man to sprout forth again, was destroyed.
Ibid., chap. 28.
Concerning the bone, the _os coccygis_, there is an interesting
story in Midrash Kohelet (fol. 114, 3), which may be
appropriately inserted here. Hadrian (whose bones may they be
ground, and his name blotted out) once asked Rabbi Joshua ben
Chanania, "From what shall the human frame be reconstructed when
it rises again?" "From Luz in the backbone," was the answer.
"Prove this to me," said Hadrian. Then the Rabbi took Luz, a
small bone of the spine, and immersed it in water, but it was
not softened; he put it into the fire, but it was not consumed;
he put it into a mill, but it could not be pounded; he placed it
upon an anvil and struck it with a hammer, but the anvil split
and the hammer was broken. (See also Zohar in "Genesis," 206,
etc. etc.)
"A window shalt thou make to the ark" (Gen. vi. 16). Rabbi Amma says,
"It was a real window." Rabbi Levi, on the other hand, maintained that
it was a precious stone, and that during the twelve months Noah was in
the ark he had no need of the light of the sun by day nor of the moon by
night because of that stone, which he had kept suspended, and he knew
that it was day when it was dim, and night when it sparkled.
_Bereshith Rabbah_, chap. 31.
The transparency, ascribed to the ark, has given rise to various
conjectures. The idea of Rabbi Levi, that it was a precious
stone, has the sanction of the Targum of Jonathan; which
volunteers the additional information that the gem was found in
the river Pison.
Noah was deficient in faith, for he did not enter the ark till the water
was up to his ankles.
Ibid., chap. 32.
"And he sent forth a raven" (Gen. viii. 7). The raven remonstrated,
remarking, "From all the cattle, beasts, and fowls thou sendest none but
me." "What need has the world for thee?" retorted Noah; "thou art good
neither for food nor for sacrifice." Rabbi Eliezer says God ordered Noah
to receive the raven, as the world would one day be in need of him.
"When?" asked Noah. "When the waters are dried up from off the earth,
there will in a time to come arise a certain righteous man who shall dry
up the world, and then I shall want it." This explains what is written
(1 Kings xvii. 6), "And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the
morning."
Ibid., chap. 33.
At the time God said to the serpent, "Upon thy belly thou shalt go"
(Gen. iii. 14), the ministering angels descended and lopped off his
hands and his feet. Then his voice was heard from one end of the world
to the other.
_Bereshith Midrash Rabbah_, chap. 20.
When God said to the serpent, "And upon thy belly thou shalt go" (Gen.
iii. 14), the serpent replied, "Lord of the universe! if this be Thy
will, then I shall be as a fish of the sea without feet." But when God
said to him, "And dust shalt thou eat," he replied, "If fish eat dust,
then I also will eat it." Then God seized hold of the serpent and tore
his tongue in two, and said, "O thou wicked one! thou hast commenced (to
sin) with thy evil tongue; thus I will proclaim it to all that come into
the world that it was thy tongue that caused thee all this."
_Letters of Rabbi Akiva._
"And Noah only remained" (Gen. vii. 23), except Og, king of Bashan, who
sat on a beam of the ladders (which projected from the ark), and swore
to Noah and his sons that he would be their slave forever. Noah made a
hole in the ark through which he handed to Og his daily food. Thus he
also remained, as it is said (Deut. iii. 11), "For only Og, king of
Bashan, remained."
_Pirke d'Rab. Eliezer_, chap. 23.
"Unto Adam and his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins" (Gen. iii.
21), viz, to cover their nakedness; but with what? With fringes and
phylacteries, "Coats of skins," viz, the leathern straps of the
phylacteries; "and they sewed fig-leaves" (Gen. iii. 7), viz, fringes;
"and made themselves aprons," this means the proclaiming of the Shema,
"Hear, O Israel," etc.
_Yalkut Chadash._
The aprons, which some (as Rashi, for instance) take to denote
furs, the Targum of Jonathan says were made "from the skin of
the serpent." The wardrobe of Adam afterward came into the
possession of Esau and Jacob (see Targ. Yon. in Toledoth, and p.
199, No. 161, _ante_).
All the presents which our father Jacob gave to Esau will one day be
returned by the nations of the world to the Messiah, and the proof of
this is (Ps. lxxii. 10), "The kings of Tarshish and the isles shall
return presents." It is not written here, "They shall bring," but they
shall restore or return.
_Midrash Rabbah Vayishlach_, chap. 78.
A philosopher once posed Rabbi Eliezer with the question, "Does not the
prophet say (Mal. i. 4), 'They shall build, but I will throw down'? and
do not buildings still exist?" To which the Rabbi answered, "The prophet
does not speak of buildings, but of the schemes of designers. Ye all
think to contrive and build up devices, to destroy and make an end of
us, but He bringeth your counsels to nought. He throweth them down, so
that your devices against us have no effect." "By thy life," said the
philosopher, "it is even so; we meet annually for the purpose of
compassing your ruin, but a certain old man comes and upsets all your
projects" (namely, Elijah).
_Yalkut Malachi._
When Israel came out of Egypt, Samael rose to accuse them, and thus he
spoke: "Lord of the Universe! these have till now worshiped idols, and
art Thou going to divide the sea for such as they?" What did the Holy
One--blessed be He!--then do? Job, one of Pharaoh's high counselors, of
whom it is written (Job i. 1), "That man was perfect and upright," He
took and delivered to Samael, saying, as He did so, "Behold, he is in
thy hand; do with him as thou pleasest." God thought to divert his evil
designs by keeping him thus occupied with Job, that Israel meanwhile
might cross the sea without any hindrance, after which He would return
and rescue Job from his tender mercies. God then said to Moses, "Behold
I have delivered Job to Satan; make haste. Speak unto the children of
Israel that they go forward" (Exod. xiv. 15).
_Midrash Rabbah Shemoth_, chap. 21.
No man ever received a mite (in charity) from Job, and needed to receive
such a second time (because of the good-luck it brought along with it).
Ibid.
A superstitious belief prevails to some extent in Poland, among
the Christian population as well as the Jews, that coins
obtained in certain circumstances bring luck apart altogether
from any virtue they may be supposed to convey from the giver. A
penny obtained, for instance, the first thing in the morning, by
stumbling on it in the street, by the sale of an article in the
market, or by gift of charity, is considered to bode luck, and
cherished as a pledge of good fortune by being slightly spat
upon several times on receipt, and then carefully stowed away,
for a longer or shorter period, in some safe sanctum. Job was
the luckiest man that ever lived; his very goats even were so
lucky as to kill the wolves that came to devour them; and a
beggar, as we see, who received a mite from his hands, never
needed afterward to beg an alms from him again. (See "Genesis
according to the Talmud," p. 288, No. 16.)
"And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, etc.; for ye showed
kindness to all the children of Israel" (1 Sam. xv. 6). And did they
show kindness to all the children of Israel? No; but what is written is
to teach that he who receives a disciple of the wise as a guest into his
house, and gives him to eat and to drink, is as if he had shown kindness
to all the children of Israel.
_Midrash Sh'muel_, chap. 18.
Rabbi Levi says, "When Solomon introduced the ark into the Temple, all
the woodwork thereof freshened with sap and began to yield fruit, as it
is said (Ps. xcii. 13), 'Those that be planted in the house of the Lord
shall flourish in the courts of our God.' And thus it continued to bear
fruit, which abundantly supplied the juveniles of the priestly caste
till the time of Manasseh; but he, by introducing an image into the
Temple, caused the Shechinah to depart and the fruit to wither; as it is
said (Nah. i. 4), 'And the flower of Lebanon languisheth.'"
_Midrash Tillin Terumah._
The land of Israel is situated in the centre of the world, and Jerusalem
in the centre of the land of Israel, and the Temple in the centre of
Jerusalem, and the Holy of holies in the centre of the Temple, and the
foundation-stone on which the world was grounded, is situated in front
of the ark.
_Midrash Tillin Terumah, Kedoshim._
In Ezek. v. 5 we read, "I have set Jerusalem in the midst of the
nations and countries that are round about her." On the literal
interpretation of these words it was asserted that Jerusalem was
the very centre of the world, or, as Jerome quaintly called it,
"the navel of the earth." In the Talmud we find a beautiful
metaphor in illustration of this view. It is in the last six
lines of the ninth chapter of Derech Eretz Zuta, which read
thus: "Issi ben Yochanan, in the name of Shemuel Hakaton, says,
'The world is like the eyeball of man; the white is the ocean
which surrounds the world, the black is the world itself, the
pupil is Jerusalem, and the image in the pupil is the Temple.
May it be built in our own days, and in the days of all Israel!
Amen!'" The memory of this conceit is kept alive to this day
among the Greek Christians, who still show the sacred stone in
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. This notion is
not confined to Jewry. Classic readers will at once call to mind
the appellation Omphalos or navel applied to the temple at
Delphi (Pindar, Pyth., iv. 131, vi. 3; Eurip. Ion., 461; Æsch.
Choeph., 1034; Eum. 40, 167; Strabo, etc.).
Two sparks issued from between the two cherubim and destroyed the
serpents and scorpions and burned the thorns in the wilderness. The
smoke thereof, rising and spreading, perfumed the world, so that the
nations said (Cant. iii. 6), "Who is this that cometh out of the
wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed," etc.
_Ibid., Vayakhel._
Better to lodge in the wilderness of the land of Israel than dwell in
the palaces outside of it.
_Midrash Rabbah_, chap. 39.
"And give thee a pleasant land" (a coveted land) (Jer. iii. 19). Why is
it called a coveted land? Because the Temple was in it. Another reason
why it was so called is, because the fathers of the world have coveted
it. Rabbi Shimon ben Levi says, "Because they (who are buried) there
will be the first to be raised in the days of the Messiah."
_Shemoth Rabbah_, chap. 32.
"When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border, as He hath promised
thee" (Deut. xii. 20). Rabbi Yitzchak said, "This scroll no man knows
how long and how broad it is, but when unrolled it speaks for itself,
and shows how large it is. It is so with the land of Israel, which, for
the most part, consists of hills and mountains; but when the Holy
One--blessed be He!--shall level it, as it is said (Isa. xl. 4), 'Every
valley shall be raised and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth,'
then shall that land speak, as it were, for herself, and its extent
stand revealed."
_Devarim Rabbah_, chap. 4.
Blessed are they who dwell in the land of Israel, for they have no sin,
no iniquity, either in their lives or in their deaths.
_Midrash Shochar Tov on Ps. lxxxv._
"Better is a dry morsel and quietness therewith" (Prov. xvii. 1). This,
saith Rabbi, means the land of Israel, for even if a man have nothing
but bread and salt to eat, yet if he dwells in the land of Israel he is
sure that he is a son of the world to come. "Than a house full of
sacrifices with strife." This means the outside of the land, which is
full of robbery and violence. Rabbi Y---- says, "He who walks but an
hour in the land of Israel, and then dies within it may feel assured
that he is a son of the world to come; for it is written (Deut. xxxii.
43), 'And his earth shall atone for his people.'"
_Midrash Mishle._
See also the Talmud, Kethuboth, fol. 111, col. 1. Dr. Benisch
renders "and make expiation for His ground and His people." The
Targums of Jonathan and the Yerushalmi have, "He will make
atonement for His land and for His people;" and Onkelos puts it
thus, "He will show mercy unto His land and His people." Our
rendering, however, is in accordance with the sense given to it
in the Talmud. There are Jews who travel about the world with
bags of earth from the Holy Land, which they sell in small
quantities for high prices to such as can afford it, and believe
in its virtue as a protection against the worms of the grave.
Jerusalem is the light of the world; as it is said, "And the Gentiles
shall come to Thy light" (Isa. lx. 3). And the light of Jerusalem is the
Holy One--blessed be He!--as it is written, but "the Lord shall be unto
thee an everlasting light" (Isa. Ix. 19).
_Bereshith Rabbah_, chap. 59.
Ten portions of wisdom, ten portions of the law, and ten portions of
hypocrisy are in the world; nine portions of each are in the land of
Israel and one outside of it.
_Midrash Rabbah Esther._
"And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, and from
one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith
the Lord" (Isa. lxvi. 23). But how is it possible that all flesh shall
come every new moon and Sabbath to Jerusalem? Rabbi Levi saith, "In the
future Jerusalem will be as the land of Israel, and the land of Israel
will be as the whole world." But how will they come from the end of the
world every new moon and Sabbath? "The clouds will come and carry them
and bring them to Jerusalem, where they will perform their morning
prayer, and will carry them back to their several homes; and this is the
meaning of the prophet's saying (Isa. Ix. 8), 'Who are these that fly as
a cloud (in the morning), and as the doves to their windows (in the
evening)?'"
_Pesikta._
"He stood and measured the earth" (Hab. iii. 6). Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai
expounded "He stood and measured" thus: "The Holy One--blessed be
He!--measured all the nations, and He found none worthy to receive the
law except the generation in the wilderness. He measured all the
mountains, and He found none on which to give the law except Mount
Sinai. He measured all cities, and found none in which to build the
Temple except Jerusalem. He measured all lands, and found none worthy to
be given unto Israel except the one now called the land of Israel. This
it is that is written, 'He stood up and measured the earth.'"
_Vayekra Rabbah_, chap. 13.
"I went down to the bottoms of the mountains" (Jonah ii. 6). From this
we learn that Jerusalem is situated on seven hills. The world's
"foundation-stone" sank to "the depths" under the Temple of the Lord,
and upon this the sons of Korah stand and pray. (They) pointed this out
to Jonah. The fish said unto him, "Jonah, behold thou art standing under
the Temple of the Lord; therefore pray, and thou shalt be answered."
_Pirke d'Rab. Eliezer_, chap. 10.
"And there went out fire from the Lord" (Lev. x. 2). Abba Yossi saith,
"Two threads of fire came out from the Holy of holies, and these were
disparted into four: two entered the nostrils of the one (i.e., Nadab),
and two entered the nostrils of the other (i.e., Abihu), and thus
consumed them. Their souls were burned, but not their garments; for it
is said, 'So they went near, and carried them in their coats'" (ver. 5).
_Torath Cohanim_, sec. _Shemini_.
Rabbi Jacob teaches that he who has no wife abideth without good,
without help, without joy, without blessing or atonement, to which Rabbi
Yehoshua ben Levi adds, (yea) also without peace or life. Rabbi Cheya
says that he is not a perfect man, for it is said, "And blessed them and
called their name man" (Gen. v. 2), where both are spoken of together as
one man.
_Midrash Rabbah Bereshith_, chap. 17.
"My beloved is like a roe" (1 Cant. ii. 9). As a roe leaps and skips
from bush to bush, from covert to covert, from hedge to hedge, so
likewise does the Holy One--blessed be He!--pass from synagogue to
synagogue, and from academy to academy, that He may bless Israel.
_Pesikta._
(Cant. v. 1), "I came into My garden," the synagogues and academies; "My
sister, My spouse," the congregation of Israel; "I have gathered My
myrrh with My spice," the Bible (that is); "I have eaten My honeycomb
with My honey" (this means) the Halachoth, Midrashoth, and Aggadoth; "I
have drank My wine with My milk," this alludes to the good works which
are reserved for the sages of Israel. After that, "Eat, O friends!
drink, yea, drink freely, O beloved!"
_Yalkut Eliezer_, fol. 41, col. 2.
When Solomon brought the ark into the Temple and said, "Lift up your
heads, O ye gates! and the King of glory shall come in," the gates were
ready to fall upon him and crush his head, and they would have done so
if he had not said at once, "The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory"
(Ps. xxiv. 9, 10). The Holy One--blessed be He!--then said to the gates,
"Since ye have thus honored Me, by your lives! when I destroy My Temple,
no man shall have dominion over you!" This was to inform us that while
all the vessels of the Temple were carried into captivity, the gates of
the Temple were stored away on the very spot where they were erected;
for it is said (Lam. ii. 9), "Her gates are sunk into the ground."
_Midrash Rabbah Devarim_, chap. 15.
We are reminded of this tradition in the conclusion service for
Yom Kippur, where we repeat, "Speedily thou shalt open the
hidden gates to those who hold fast Thy law." The allusion is to
"the gates of the Temple," which "are supposed to be sunk in the
ground."
Rabbi Akiva once met on a journey a remarkably ugly man toiling along
under a great load of wood. Rabbi Akiva said unto him, "I adjure thee to
tell me whether thou art a man or a demon." "Rabbi," said he, "I was
once a man, and it is now some time since I left the world. Day after
day I have to carry a load like this, under which I am obliged to bow
down, and submit three times a day to be burned." Then Rabbi Akiva asked
him, "What was the reason of this punishment?" and the reply was, "I
committed an immorality on the Day of Atonement." The Rabbi asked him if
he knew of anything by which he might obtain for him a remission of his
punishment. "I do," was the answer. "When a son whom I have left behind
me is called up to the (public) reading of the law, and shall say,
'Blessed be the blessed Lord,' I shall be drawn out of hell and taken
into Paradise." The Rabbi noted down the name of the man and his
dwelling-place, whither he afterward went and made inquiries about him.
The people of the place only replied, "The name of the wicked shall rot"
(Prov. x. 7). Notwithstanding this, the Rabbi insisted, and said, "Bring
his son to me." When they brought him, he taught the lad to repeat the
blessing, which he did on the ensuing Sabbath at the public reading of
the law; upon which his father was immediately removed from hell to
Paradise. On the self-same night the father repaired direct to Rabbi
Akiva, and gratefully expressed his hope that the Rabbi's mind might be
as much at rest as his own was.
_Midrash Assereth Hadibroht._
There are three things which a man does not wish for: Grass to grow up
among his grain-crops; to have a daughter among his children; or that
his wine should turn to vinegar. Yet all these three are ordained to be,
for the world stands in need of them. Therefore it is said, "O Lord, my
God, Thou art very great!... He causeth the grass to grow for the
cattle" (Ps. civ. 1, 14)
_Midrash Tanchuma._
There are four cardinal points in the world, etc. The north point God
created but left unfinished; for, said He, "Whoever claims to be God,
let him come and finish this corner which I have left, and thus all will
know that he is God." This unfinished corner is the dwelling-place of
the harmful demons, ghosts, devils, and storms.
_Pirke d'Rab. Eliezer_, chap. 3.
A Min once asked Rabbi Akiva, "Who created this world?" "The Holy
One--blessed be He!"--was the reply. "Give me positive proof of this,"
begged the other. "Come to-morrow," answered the Rabbi. On coming the
next day, the Rabbi asked, "What are you dressed in?" "In a garment,"
was the reply. "Who made it?" asked the Rabbi. "A weaver," said the
other. "I don't believe thee," said the Rabbi; "give me a positive proof
of this." "I need not demonstrate this," said the Min; "it stands to
reason that a weaver made it." "And so thou mayest know that God created
the world," observed the Rabbi. When the Min had departed, the Rabbi's
disciples asked him, "What is proof positive?" He said, "My children, as
a house implies a builder, and a garment a weaver, and a door a
carpenter, so likewise the existence of the world implies that the Holy
One--blessed be He!--created it."
_Midrash Terumah._
When the Holy One--blessed be He!--created the world, it was a level
expanse free from mountains; but when Cain slew Abel his brother, whose
blood was trodden down on the earth, He cursed the ground, and
immediately hills and mountains sprang into existence.
_Midrash Vayosha._
"The Lord your God hath multiplied you, and behold ye are this day as
the stars of heaven for multitude" (Deut. i. 10). Why did He bless them
with stars? As there are degrees above degrees among these stars, so
likewise are there degrees above degrees among Israel. Again, as these
stars are without limit, without number, and of great power from one end
of the world to the other, so likewise is Israel. (Cf. 1 Cor. xv. 41.)
_Midrash Rabbah Devarim._
"Flee, my beloved" (A.V. "make haste," Cant. viii. 14). When Israel eat
and drink, and bless and praise the Holy One--blessed be He!--He
hearkeneth to their voice and is reconciled; but when the Gentiles eat
and drink and blaspheme and provoke the Holy One--blessed be He!--He has
a mind to destroy His world, until the Law enters and pleads in defense,
"Lord of the universe! before Thou regardest those that blaspheme, look
and behold Thy people Israel, who bless, and praise, and extol Thy great
Name, with the Law, and with songs and with praises!" And the Holy
Spirit shouts "Flee, my beloved! flee from the Gentiles, and hold fast
to Israel!"
_Midrash Rabbah Shir-Hashirim._
Rabbon Gamaliel called on Chilpa, the son of Caroyna, when the latter
asked the Rabbi to pray on his behalf; and he prayed, "The Lord grant
thee according to thine own heart" (Ps. xx. 4). Rabbi H----, son of
Rabbi Isaac, said, "It was not so; he prayed thus, 'The Lord fulfill all
thy petitions'; for a man often thinks in his heart to steal or commit
some other transgression, and therefore 'The Lord grant thee according
to thine own heart,' is a prayer not to be offered on behalf of every
man." But the answer was, "His heart was perfect before his Creator, and
therefore he did so pray on his behalf."
_Midrash Shochar Tov_, 20.
Thou wilt find that whithersoever the righteous go a blessing goes with
them. Isaac went down to Gerar, and a blessing followed him. "Then Isaac
sowed," etc. (Gen. xxvi. 12). Jacob went down to Laban (Gen. xxx. 27),
and Laban said, "I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed
me for thy sake." Joseph went down to Potiphar, and "the Lord blessed
the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake" (Gen. xxxix. 5). Thus also thou
wilt find it was with the ark which came down to the house of Obed-edom,
etc. (2 Sam. vi. 11). Our forefathers came into the land and a blessing
followed at their heels, as it is said (Deut. vi. 11), "And houses full
of good things," etc.
_Yalkut Ekev._
"And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth" (Num. xxiii. 5). An angel
took up his seat in Balaam's throat, so that when he wished to bless,
the angel permitted him, but when he desired to curse, the angel tickled
his throat and stopped him. "Word" in this place means simply an angel;
as it is said (Ps. cvii. 20), "He sent His word and healed them." Rabbi
Yochanan says, "There was an iron nail in his throat which permitted him
when he wished to bless, but rasped his throat and prevented him when
about to curse." "Word" in this place means only an iron nail; for it is
said (Num. xxxi. 23), "Every thing (or word, for the original has both
meanings) that may abide the fire."
Ibid.
Rabbi Avin said four kinds of excellency were created in the world: (1.)
Man's excellency over the animal kingdom; (2.) the eagle's excellency
over the feathered tribes; (3.) the excellency of the ox over domestic
cattle; and (4.) the lion's excellency over the wild beasts. All were
fixed under the chariot of God; as it is said (Ezek. i. 10), "As for the
likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, the face of a
lion, the face of an ox, and the face of an eagle." And why all this? In
order that they should not exalt themselves, but know that there is a
kingdom of heaven over them; and on this account it is said (Eccles. v.
8), "He that is higher than the highest regardeth, and there be higher
than they." This is the meaning of Exod. xv. 1: "He hath triumphed
gloriously."
_Midrash Shemoth_, chap. 23.
No man in Israel despised himself more than David when the precepts of
the Lord were concerned, and this is what he said before God (Ps. cxxxi.
1, 2), "'Lord, my heart was not haughty' when Samuel anointed me king.
'Nor were mine eyes lofty' when I slew Goliath. 'Neither did I exercise
myself in matters too great and wonderful for me' when I brought up the
ark. 'Have I not behaved myself, and hushed my soul, as a babe that is
weaned of his mother?' As a child which is not ashamed to uncover
himself before his mother, so have I likened myself before Thee, in not
being ashamed to depreciate myself before Thee for Thy glory," etc. (See
2 Sam. vi. 20, 21.)
_Bamidbar_, chap. 4.
"I sleep, but my heart waketh" (Cant. v. 2). The Synagogue of Israel
says "I sleep" with regard to the end of days, "but my heart waketh"
with regard to the redemption; "I sleep" with regard to redemption, but
the heart of the Holy One--blessed be He!--waketh to redeem me.
_Midrash Shir Hashirim._
Rabbi Ishmael saith all the five fingers of the right hand of the Holy
One of Israel--blessed be He!--are severally the efficient causes of
redemptions. (1.) With His little finger He pointed out to Noah how to
construct the ark; as it is said (Gen. vi. 15), "And thus thou shalt
make it." (2.) With the finger next to the little one He smote the
Egyptians; as it is said (Exod. viii. 19), "This is the finger of God."
(3.) With the third finger from the little one He wrote the tables; as
it is said (Exod. xxxi. 18), "Tables of stone written by the finger of
God." (4.) With the fourth finger, that which is next the thumb, the
Holy One--blessed be He!--pointed out to Moses how much the Israelites
should give as a ransom for their souls; as it is said (Exod. xxx. 13),
"This shall they give." (5.) With the thumb and the whole hand the Holy
One--blessed be He!--will in the future destroy the children of Esau,
for they oppress the children of Israel, as also the children of
Ishmael, for they are their enemies; as it is said (Micah v. 9), "Thine
hand shall be uplifted upon thy adversaries, and all thy enemies shall
be cut off."
_Pirke d'Rab. Eliezer_, chap. 48.
"For Mine own sake, for Mine own sake, will I do it" (Isa. xlviii. 11).
Why this repetition? The Holy One--blessed be He!--said, "As I redeemed
you when you were in Egypt for My name's sake"--(Ps. cvi. 8), "He saved
them for His name's sake,"--"so in like manner will I do it from Edom
for My own name's sake. Again, as I redeemed you in this world, so
likewise will I redeem you in the World to come;" for thus He saith
(Eccles. i. 9), "The thing that hath been is that which shall be" (Isa.
li. 11); "The redeemed of the Lord shall return;" not the redeemed of
Elijah, nor the redeemed of the Messiah, but "the redeemed of the Lord."
_Midrash Shochar Tov Tehillim_, 107.
"Her children are gone into captivity before the enemy" (Lam. i. 5).
Rabbi Isaac saith, "Come and see how greatly beloved are the children!"
The Sanhedrin were exiled, but the Shechinah was not exiled with them.
The Temple guards were exiled, but the Shechinah was not exiled with
them. But with the children the Shechinah also was exiled. This is that
which is written (Lam. i. 5, 6), "Her children are gone, ... and from
the daughter of Zion all her beauty (i.e., the Shechinah) is departed."
_Midrash Rabbah Eicha._
"How doth the city sit solitary!" (Lam. i. 1). Three have, in
prophesying, made use of this word "How"--Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.
Moses said (Deut. i. 12), "How can I myself bear your cumbrance!" Isaiah
said (Isa. i. 21), "How is the faithful city become an harlot!" Jeremiah
said (Lam. i. 1), "How doth the city sit solitary!" Rabbi Levi saith,
"The thing is like to a matron who has three friends; one saw her in her
prosperity, another saw her in her dissipation, and the third saw her in
her pollution. So Moses saw Israel in their glory and prosperity, and he
said, 'How can I myself bear your cumbrance!' Isaiah saw them in their
dissipation, and he said, 'How is the faithful city,' etc.; and Jeremiah
saw them in their pollution, and he said, 'How doth the city sit
solitary!'"
_Midrash Rabbah Eicha._
Hezekiah saith the judgment in Gehenna is six months' heat and six
months' cold.
_Midrash Reheh._
Gehenna has sixteen mouths, four toward each cardinal point. The
Gentiles say, "Hell is for Israel, but Paradise is for us." The
Israelites say, "Ours is Paradise."
_Midrash Aggadath Bereshith._
Rabbi Yochanan ben Zachai says, that coming once upon a man who was
gathering wood, he addressed him, but at first he made no reply.
Afterward, however, he came up and said, "Rabbi, I'm not a living man,
but a dead one." "If thou art a dead man," said I, "what is this wood
for?" He replied, "When I was alive upon earth, I and an associate of
mine committed a certain sin in my shop, and when we were taken thence,
we were sentenced to the punishment of mutual burning; so I gather wood
to burn him, and he does the same to burn me." I then asked him, "How
long are you to be punished thus?" He replied, "When I came here my wife
was _enceinte_, and I know she gave birth to a boy. May I beg thee,
therefore, to see that the child is instructed by a teacher, for as soon
as he is able to repeat, 'Bless ye the blessed Lord!' I shall be brought
up hence and be free from this punishment in hell."
_Tanu d'by Eliyahu._
Rabbi Berachia saith, "In order that the Minim, apostates, and wicked
Israelites might not escape hell on account of their circumcision, the
Holy One--blessed be He!--sends an angel to undo the effects of it, and
they straightway descend to their doom. When Gehenna sees this, she
opens her mouth and licks them." This is the purport of (Isa. v. 14),
"And she opened her mouth to those without law" (i.e., to those without
the sign of the covenant).
_Midrash Rabbath Shemoth_, chap. 19.
"God hath also set the one over against the other" (Eccles. vii. 14),
i.e., the righteous and the wicked, in order that the one should atone
for the other. God created the poor and the rich, in order that the one
should be maintained by the other. He created Paradise and Gehenna, in
order that those in the one should deliver those in the other. And what
is the distance between them? Rabbi Chanina saith the width of the wall
(between Paradise and Gehenna) is a handbreadth.
_Yalkut Koheleth._
"Those passing through the valley of weeping make it a well; also
blessings shall cover the teacher" (Ps. lxxxiv. 6, A.V.). "The valley of
weeping" is Gehenna. "Make it a well," for their tears are like a well
or spring. "Also blessings shall cover the teacher." Rabbi Yochanan
saith, "The praises of God that ascend from Gehenna are more than those
that ascend from Paradise, for each one that is a step higher than his
neighbor praises God, and says, 'Happy am I that I am a step higher than
the one below me.' 'Also blessings shall cover the teacher,' for they
will acknowledge and say, 'Ye have taught well, and ye have instructed
well, but we have not obeyed.'"
_Yalkut Tehillim_, 84.
Those of the house of Eliyahu have taught that Gehenna is above the sky,
but some say it is behind the mountains of darkness.
_Tanu d'by Eliyahu._
Gehenna was created before Paradise; the former on the second day and
the latter on the third.
_Yalkut_.
In T.B. P'sachim, fol. 54, col. 1, it is said that the reason of
the omission of the words, "And God saw that it was good," in
respect to the second day of the creative week, was because
hell-fire was then created; but see the context.
When Adam saw (through the Spirit) that his posterity would be condemned
to Gehenna, he disobeyed the precept to procreate. But when he perceived
that after twenty-six generations the Israelites would accept the law,
he bestirred himself in compliance; as it is said (Gen. iv. 1), _Adam
vero cognovit uxorem suam Hevam_.
_Yalkut_.
"And the souls they had gotten in Haran" (Gen. xii. 5). These are they
who had been made proselytes. Whoever attracts a Gentile and
proselytizes him is as much as if he had created him. Abraham did so to
men and Sarah to women.
_Bereshith Midrash Rabbah._
"Sing and rejoice" (Zech. ii. 10). The Holy One--blessed be He!--will in
the future bring all the proselytes that were proselytized in this
world, and judge all the nations of the world in their presence. He will
say to them, "Why have ye left Me and served idols, which are nothing?"
They will reply and say, "Had we applied at Thy door, Thou wouldst not
have received us." Then will He say to them, "Let the proselytes that
were made from among you come forward and testify against you."
_P'sikta._
These are the pious female proselytes--Hagar, Osenath, Zipporah,
Shiphrah, Puah, the daughter of Pharaoh (Bathia), Rahab, Ruth, and Jael.
_Yalkut Yehoshua_, 9.
"The Lord keepeth the proselytes" (Ps. cxlvi. 9). "I esteem it a great
compliment on the part of the proselyte to leave his family and his
father's house and come to Me. Therefore I on My part will command
respecting him (Deut. x. 19), 'Love ye therefore the proselyted.'"
_Midrash Shochar Tov_, 146.
"I am a God near at hand" (Jer. xxiii. 23). "I am He who drew Jethro
near, and did not keep him at a distance"; therefore thou also when a
man comes to be proselytized in the name of Heaven, draw him near, do
not repulse him or keep him at a distance. From this thou art to learn
that while one repulses with the left hand he is to draw with the right,
and not as Elisha did. (He repulsed Gehazi with both hands.)
_Yalkut Jeremiah._
Showers of rain are greater than the giving of the Law, for the giving
of the Law was a gladsome event to Israel only, but rain is a cause of
joy to the wide world, including cattle, beasts, and fowls.
_Midrash Shochar Tov_, 117.
David was a shepherd of Israel, and the Shepherd of David was the Holy
One--blessed be He!--as it is said (Ps. xxiii. 1), "The Lord is my
Shepherd."
_Midrash Rabbah_, chap. 59.
Rav Pinchas says, "David in the Psalms calls five times upon the Holy
One--blessed be He!--to arise. (1.) 'Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God!'
(Ps. iii. 7). (2.) 'Arise, O Lord, in Thine anger!' (Ps. vii. 6). (3.)
'Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail!' (Ps. ix. 19). (4.) 'Arise, O Lord;
O God, lift up Thine hand: forget not the humble!' (Ps. x. 12). (5.)
'Arise, O Lord; disappoint him!' But the Holy One--blessed be He!--said
unto David, 'My son, though thou call upon Me many a time to arise, I
will not arise. But when do I arise? When thou seest the poor oppressed
and the needy sighing, then will I arise.'" This explains what is
written (Ps. xii. 5), "For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing
of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord."
_Bamidbar Rabbah_, chap. 75.
"And Solomon's wisdom excelled" (1 Kings iv. 30). Thou findest that when
Solomon desired to build the Temple he sent to Pharaoh Necho a request
to send him artisans on hire. Pharaoh assembled his astrologers, who
pointed out to him such artisans as were destined to die in the course
of that year, and these he despatched to Solomon; but he, through the
Holy Ghost, seeing the fate that impended, provided each of them with a
shroud and sent them back to Pharaoh with the message, "Hast thou no
shrouds in which to bury thine own dead? Behold here I have provided
them with them!" "For he was wiser than all men" (1 Kings iv. 31); "than
all men," even than the first man, Adam.
_Yalkut Eliezer_, fol. 65, col. 2, n. 36.
"Ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God" (Isa. xliii. 12).
Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai expounds these words thus, "If ye are My
witnesses, then I am God; but if ye are not My witnesses, then I am not
God."
_Yalkut Jethro_, n. 271.
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter" (Eccles. xii. 13). Thou
shalt ever hear the Law, even when thou dost not understand it. "Fear
God," and give thy heart to Him. "And keep His commandments," for on
account of the Law the whole world was created, that the world should
study it.
_Koheleth, as given in Tse-enah Ure-enah._