Midrasch zu Bereschit 10:9

“It was during the days of Aḥashverosh; that [hu] Aḥashverosh who reigned from India to Kush, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces” (Esther 1:1). Hu [appears] five [times] for evil, and five for good. Five for evil: “He [hu] was a mighty hunter”⁴Nimrod. (Genesis 10:9); “he is [hu] Esau, father of Edom” (Genesis 36:43); “this is [hu] Datan and Aviram” (Numbers 26:9); “he is [hu] King Aḥaz” (II Chronicles 28:22); “that [hu] Aḥashverosh” (Esther 1:1). Five for good: “Abram, he is [hu] Abraham” (I Chronicles 1:27); “that [hu] Aaron and Moses…that [hu] Moses and Aaron” (Exodus 6:26–27); “David was [hu] the youngest” (I Samuel 17:14); “he [hu], Yeḥizhiyahu” (II Chronicles 32:30); “he [hu], Ezra, came up from Babylon” (Ezra 7:6). Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of the Rabbis from there: We have one that is better than all of them: “He is [hu] the Lord our God; His judgments are throughout the land” (Psalms 105:7), whose attribute of mercy is forever.

(Gen. 43:14:) AND³⁵Sections 11, 12, and 13 are missing from Buber’s Oxford MS and are added by Buber from Codex Vaticanus Ebr. 34. MAY GOD ALMIGHTY GRANT YOU MERCY. Let our master instruct us: How many Tefillot³⁶The Tefillah, also called the Eighteen Benedictions or the ‘Amidah, forms the central intercession of the Jewish liturgy. is one obligated to pray in a day?³⁷Tanh., Gen. 10:9. Thus have our masters taught: One does not pray more than the three Tefillot which the ancestors of the world instituted.³⁸Ber. 26b (bar.); yBer. 4:1 (7a); cf. Ber. 4:1; Abraham instituted the morning Tefillah, as stated (in Gen. 19:27): NOW ABRAHAM WENT EARLY IN THE MORNING UNTO THE PLACE WHERE HE HAD STOOD ('MD) BEFORE THE LORD. Isaac instituted the Tefillah of the minhah (the Tefillah in the afternoon), as stated (in Gen. 24:63): NOW ISAAC WENT OUT TO BOW DOWN (rt.: SWH) IN THE FIELD TOWARD EVENING. Jacob instituted the evening Tefillah, as stated (in Gen. 28:11): WHEN HE CAME (rt.: PG')³⁹The parallel text in the traditional Tanhuma (Gen. 10:9) explains that ‘MD, SWH, and PG‘ all denote prayer and finds the evidence in Ps. 106:30, Ps. 102:1, and Jer. 7:16 respectively. TO A CERTAIN PLACE.⁴⁰See Acts 10:9. Now it is also written about Daniel (in Dan. 6:11): AND THREE TIMES A DAY [HE KNELT ON HIS KNEES]. But < the text > did not explain at what hour. David came and explained (in Ps. 55:18 [17]): EVENING, MORNING, AND NOON < I COMPLAIN AND MOAN; AND HE HEARS MY VOICE >. Therefore, one is not authorized to pray more than three Tefillot in a day.⁴¹TBer. 3:8; Ber. 31a; see yBer. 4:1 (7a). But R. Johanan said: And would that one might go on praying all day long!⁴²Cf. Deut. R. 2:1 and M. Sam. 2, which argue against reciting the three services at one time. Antoninus asked Our Holy Rabbi: Is it permitted to pray at every hour? He said to him: It is forbidden. He said to him: Why? He said to him: Lest you treat the Most High with frivolity. He did not accept < this answer > from him. What did he do? He went to him early in the morning. He said to him: Greetings, Lord.⁴³Gk.: Kyrie chaire. An hour later he came in to him. He said to him: {'MNH RTWQ} [Imperator]!⁴⁴The Latin word originally designated a general, but in imperial times imperator became the title of Roman emperors. Buber has taken this reading from the traditional Tanhuma because he can make no sense of his manuscript, which reads: ’MNH RTWQ. An hour later he < again > said to him: Shalom to you, O King. He said to him: Why are you being disrespectful to the monarchy? He said to him: Let your ears hear what you are putting forth from your mouth. If you, who are flesh and blood, say this in the case of someone who asks after you every hour, how much the more so in the case of one who is disrespectful to the Supreme King of Kings, the Holy One. Thus one should not bother him all the time.

Rabbi 'Aḳiba said: They cast off the Kingdom of Heaven from themselves, and appointed Nimrod king over themselves; a slave son of a slave. Are not all the sons of Ham slaves? And woe to the land when a slave rules, as it is said, "For a servant, when he is king" (Prov. 30:22).

Rabbi Chakhinai said: Nimrod was a mighty hero, as it is said, "And Cush begat Nimrod, who began to be a mighty one in the earth" (Gen. 10:8). Rabbi Jehudah said: The coats which the Holy One, blessed be He, made for Adam and his wife, were with Noah in the ark, and when they went forth from the ark, || Ham, the son of Noah, brought them forth with him, and gave them as an inheritance to Nimrod. When he put them on, all beasts, animals, and birds, when they saw the coats, came and prostrated themselves before him. The sons of men thought that this (was due) to the power of his might; therefore they made him king over themselves, as it is said, "Wherefore it is said, Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord" (Gen. 10:9).