Midrasch zu Schemot 32:28

And Jacob sat in the land (Gen. 37:1). Whenever Scripture uses the expression and he sat (also translated “and he dwelt”), it connotes misfortune: And Israel sat in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, … and the time drew near that Israel must die (Gen. 47:29); And the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to make merry (Exod. 32:37); And there fell of the people on that day three thousand men (Exod. 38:28); And they sat down to eat bread; and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites (Gen. 37:25); And Judah and Israel sat safely (I Kings 5:5); And the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon (ibid. 11:14); And Israel sat among the cedars, etc., and the people began to commit harlotry (Num. 25:1). You may explain every other use of “and he sat” with this negative implication. In this instance And Jacob sat is followed by and Joseph brought evil report of them unto his father (Gen. 37:2).

(Exod. 30:12): WHEN YOU TAKE <A CENSUS>. R. Joshua bar Nahmani the Priest said: The Holy One said to Moses: Go and number Israel.¹⁶PRK 2:8; Tanh., Exod. 9:1. Moses said to the Holy One: It is written (in Gen. 28:14): AND YOUR SEED SHALL BE LIKE THE DUST OF THE EARTH…; (and in Hos. 2:1 [1:10]): THE NUMBER OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SHALL BE AS THE SAND OF THE SEA…. So are you saying: Go and number Israel! Moses said to the Holy One: I am unable to hold out in counting them. The Holy One said to him: Moses, it is not as you think. However, if you wish to hold out in counting Israel, take the initial letters of the tribes. Then you shall hold out in counting them. <Take> the resh from Reuben, the shin from Simeon, the lamed from Levi, etc., for each and every tribe. To what is the matter comparable? To a money-changer who had a boy. He said to him: Count these coins for me. He said to him: How can I count them? He said to him: count the tops of the stacks of coins, and you will hold out in the calculation. So when Moses met with difficulties in the calculation of Israel, the Holy One said to him: Take the initial letters of the tribes, and you shall hold out in their calculation. The resh of Reuben equals two hundred thousand;¹⁷This and the following numbers comprise numerical equivalents of the initial Hebrew letters times one thousand. the nun of Naphtali equals fifty thousand; the shin of Simeon equals three hundred thousand; the yod of Judah <plus> the yod of Joseph <plus> the yod of Issachar equal thirty thousand; the zayin of Zebulun equals seven thousand; the dalet of Dan equals four thousand; the gimel of Gad equals three thousand; the bet of Benjamin equals two thousand; the alef of Asher equals one thousand. The result is five hundred ninety-seven thousand. Where are the three thousand (from the original six hundred thousand of Exod. 12:37)? These were the ones who fell in the days of the <golden> calf, as stated (in Exod. 32:28): SO THE CHILDREN OF LEVI ACTED ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF MOSES, AND ABOUT THREE THOUSAND OF THE PEOPLE FELL ON THAT DAY. For that reason the Holy One said to Moses: Number Israel in order to know how many are missing.

And it came to pass after these things (Gen. 40:1). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands; whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her (Eccles. 7:26). R. Judah the son of Shalum said: Nothing is more troublesome to a man than a woman. A proof of this is the incident of the golden calf. It is written concerning that event: When the golden calf was erected, there fell of the people that day about three thousand men (Exod. 32:28), while because of a single woman twenty-four thousand perished at Shittim.⁸Twenty-four thousand of the tribe of Simeon died at Shittim because Zimri had sexual relations with Cozbi, the daughter of the Moabite king, Balak. See Num. 25:1–9, 14–15) Therefore Scripture says: I find more bitter than death the woman (Eccles. 7:26). What is meant by her hands as bands? If it had not been written about woman that her hands as bands, she would grasp men in the marketplace.

When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel according to their number (Exod. 30:12).¹⁴Pesikta de Rav Kahana, Shekalim, p. 156. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Take the sum of the children of Israel. He replied: My master, it is written: And Thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth (Gen. 28:14), and it is written elsewhere: And make Thy seed as the sand of the sea (ibid. 32:13), yet you tell me now to do this. He answered: If you want to know their number, you need only add together the first letter of the names of each of the tribes and this will give you their number. The resh in the word Reuben stands for two hundred thousand; the shin in Simeon stands for three hundred thousand, the yods in the names Judah, Issachar, and Joseph total thirty thousand, the nun in Naphtali accounts for fifty thousand, the zayin in Zebulun’s name is seven thousand, the daled in Dan is four thousand, the gimmel in Gad is three thousand, the bet in Benjamin is two thousand, and the alef in Asher is one thousand—totaling five hundred and ninety-seven thousand in all. The three thousand not accounted for were slain at the time of the episode of the golden calf, as it is said: And the sons of Levi did according to the words of Moses; and there fell of the people on that day about three thousand men (Exod. 32:28). Hence the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: You are taking the count to learn how many are missing. R. Menahem said in the name of R. Bebai: This may be compared to a king who had many sheep. When wolves attacked and destroyed some of them, the king told his shepherd: “Count the sheep and find out how many are missing.” Likewise, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Go, count the Israelites, and find out how many are missing.

(Numb. 4:18) “Do not cut off.” This text is related (to Nahum 1:7), “The Lord is good, a shelter in the day of trouble; He knows those who trust in Him.” The nature of the Holy One, blessed be He, is unlike the nature of flesh and blood.¹³¹Numb. R. 5:3. In the case of a king of flesh and blood, when a province rebels against him, he acts against it with an indiscriminate punishment¹³²Gk.: androlempsia or androlepsia (“seizure of foreigners” in reprisal for murder committed abroad). and kills the good along with the bad. Now the Holy One, blessed be He, is not like that. Rather, when a generation provokes Him, He saves the righteous and destroys the wicked. The generation of Enosh sinned. He destroyed them but rescued Enoch, as stated (in Gen. 5:24), “And Enoch walked with God.” Why? (Nahum 1:7:) “[The Lord is good, a shelter] in the day of trouble; He knows those who trust in Him.” The generation of the flood provoked Him. So He destroyed them, as stated (in Gen. 7:23), “And He blotted out all existence”; but He rescued Noah, as stated (in Gen. 6:8), “And Noah found favor [in the eyes of the Lord].” And similarly with the Sodomites, He destroyed them, as stated (in Gen. 19:24), “Then the Lord rained down upon Sodom”; but He rescued Lot, as stated (in vs. 29), “and sent Lot away.” He brought darkness upon the Egyptians, but (according to Exod. 10:23) “all the Children of Israel had light in their dwellings.” Why? (Nahum 1:7:) “[The Lord is good, a shelter] in the day of trouble; He knows those who trust in Him.” They went forth from Egypt and came to the desert. [There] they committed that deed (i.e., the incident of the golden calf), [all] except for the tribe of Levi. Thus it is stated (in Exod. 32:26), “[So Moses stood up in the gate of the camp and said,] ‘Whoever is for the Lord, to me!’ And all of the sons of Levi gathered to him.” [What is the meaning of “Whoever is for the Lord?”] Whoever (in Exod. 32:3) has not given a ring for the calf, let him come unto me. [To him] the Holy One, blessed be He, said (in Nahum 1:7), “[The Lord is good, a shelter] in the day of trouble; He knows those who trust in Him.” Moshe immediately arose and killed the sinners, as stated (Exodus 32:28), “And the Children of Levi did like the word of Moses.” With reference to the tribe of Levi, however, which gave their lives for the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, He thus said to Moses and Aaron (in Numb. 4:18), “Do not cut off….” And so He says in another place (i.e., in Numb. 3:15), “Enroll the Children of Levi.” But He has also said (in Numb. 1:49), “However, you shall not enroll the tribe of Levi.” Why? In order to exclude them from the decree. As the Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that Israel was going to provoke Him and said to them (in Numb. 14:29), “In this desert shall your carcasses drop.” Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “The Children of Levi shall not be [part of] this decree, as stated (in Numb. 1:49, cont.), ‘nor shall you take a census of them as part of the Children of Israel.’ Why? Because they are Mine, as stated (Numb. 3:12), ‘and the Levites shall be mine.’” Thus when anyone offers (rt.: qrb) a little of himself, they advance (rt.: qrb) him a lot. Now they had offered (rt.: qrb) themselves, when Moses said (in Exod. 32:26), “Whoever is for the Lord, to me!” And not only that, but the Holy One, blessed be He, said (according to Numb. 1:50) “You shall enroll the Levites to be over the tabernacle of the testimony.” Thus when someone is tested in [one] area and found trustworthy, the Holy One, blessed be He, trusts him forever; for so you find in the case of Joshua.¹³³Numb. R. 1:12. When he was tested with Amalek, he prevailed against him according to the law and according to the commandment. It is so stated (in Exod. 17:13), “And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people….” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “From your tribe (Ephraim) I am raising up one to exact punishment from Amalek, as stated (in Jud. 5:14), “Out of Ephraim came those whose root is in Amalek….” What is the meaning of out of (mny) Ephraim? He appointed (mnh) Ephraim alone to destroy the seed of Amalek. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him (ibid., cont.), “’After you, Benjamin with your peoples,’ [i.e.,] leave him for Saul ben Kish, the Benjamite; he will uproot him.” Another interpretation (of Jud. 5:14), “Out of Ephraim.” Saul was tested and found untrustworthy in his commission. Rather (according to I Sam. 15:9), “But Saul and the people spared Agag.” He put him back after him (i.e., behind Ephraim, the tribe of Joshua and Samuel) and the kingdom was taken from him, as stated (in Jud. 5:14), “after you (i.e., Ephraim), Benjamin with your peoples.” And I have also tested this tribe (of Levi), and they have been found to be preserving My honor; for they have given their life for the sanctification of My name (in Exod. 32:27-28), “Let each one put his sword on his thigh [….] So the Children of Levi acted according to the word of Moses,” and they did not show favoritism. Therefore, Moses blesses them and says to them (in Deut. 33:9), “Who says of his father and mother, ‘I do not consider them […].’” And [so] I am also advancing him and making him My imperial agent.¹³⁴Lat.: frumentarius (“grain dealer”). and I am entrusting him with My house and My sanctity, as stated (in Numb. 1:50), “But you shall enroll the Levites to be over the tabernacle of the testimony….” And what was it that I told you (in vs. 49)? “However, you shall not enroll the tribe of Levi.” [This prohibition] was to exempt them from the decree which I was going to pronounce over Israel. It is simply that I am allotting them great honor. When you number them, [number them] by themselves through the Divine utterance (in Numb. 3:15), “Enroll the Children of Levi.” Now if I have honored the Levites, who bear the tabernacle, how much the more so in the case of the Children of Kohath, who bear the ark, [as stated] (in Numb. 3:31), “And their duties included the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, [….]” He therefore said to them (in Numb. 4:18), “Do not cut off [the tribe of the Kohathite families from the Levites].” The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “And if because the Children of Kohath have feared Me, I have allotted glory to them and to their children; then [I will honor] whoever stands in awe of Me and not cut off his name from the world.”¹³⁵Numb. R. 5:9. From whom do you learn this? From the children of Jonadab ben Rechab. Since they did his will, what is stated about them? (Jer. 35:19), “Someone belonging to Jonadab ben Rechab shall not be cut off from standing before Me forever.” And if in the case of those who are proselytes, because they have done My will, I have done likewise for them (i.e., what they want); in the case of Israel, when they are doing My will, how much the more shall they neither be cut off nor have their name be erased from before Me? Rather, they shall live and abide forever and ever and ever, as stated (in Deut. 4:4), “But you who clung to the Lord your God are all alive today.”

Rabbi Jehudah said: The tribe of Levi also did not associate itself in the affair of the calf, as it is said, "Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoso is on the Lord's side (let him come) unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him" (Ex. 32:26). Moses saw that the tribe of Levi was with him. He became strengthened with his might, and he burnt the calf with fire, and powdered it, like the dust of the earth, and he cast its dust upon the face of the waters, as it is said, "And he took the || calf which they had made" (Ex. 32:20). He made Israel drink the water (with the dust of the calf). Everyone who had kissed the calf with all his heart, his upper lip and his bones became golden, and the tribe of Levi slew him, until there fell of Israel about three thousand men, as it is said, "And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses" (Ex. 32:28).