Midrasch zu Könige I 8:41

...R’ Yehoshua be Levi said: If the nations of the world knew how good the Holy Temple was for them, they would surround it with fortifications in order to guard it. It was better for them than it was for Israel, just as Shlomo ordered his prayer “And also to the stranger, who is not of Your people Israel…” (Kings I 8:41 and it is written “…and do according to all that the stranger calls You for…” (Kings I 8:43) But when it comes to Israel, what is written? “…and give to each man according to his ways, whose heart You know…” (Chronicles II 6:30) If it was appropriate, He would give, and if not He would not. Don’t say that (they should value) the Holy Temple. Rather, if it were not for Israel the rain would not fall and the sun would not shine, because in their merit the Holy One brings plenty to His world. In the world to come the nations of the world will see how the Holy One is with Israel and they will come to cleave to them, as it says “In those days, when ten men of all the languages of the nations…” (Zechariah 8:23)

(Numb. 1:1:) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses in the Sinai desert, in the tent of meeting.” Before the tent of meeting was set up, He spoke with him in the bush, as stated (in Exod. 3:4), “and God called him from the bush.¹³Numb. R. 1:3. After that He spoke with him in Midian, as stated (in Exod. 4:19), “Then the Lord said unto Moses in Midian.” After that He spoke with him in Egypt, as stated (in Exod. 12:1), “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron in the land of Egypt.” After that He spoke with him at Sinai, as stated (in Lev. 25:1), “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses on Mount Sinai.” When the tent of meeting was set up, He said, “Humility is beautiful,” as stated (in Micah 6:8), “and to walk humbly with your God.” [So] He began to speak with him in the tent of meeting. Likewise David also says (in Ps. 45:14), “All glorious is the king's daughter within; her clothing is of gold brocade.” “The king's daughter” – that is Moses, as stated (Exod. 2:10), “and she brought him to the daughter of Pharaoh, and he was a son to her.” And it is written (in Is. 19:4), “And I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a harsh lord.” – these¹⁴Since LORD (adonim) is a plural of excellence or majesty, it is readily seen as representing a plurality of plagues. are the plagues which came upon the Egyptians; (ibid., cont.) “and a strong king shall rule over them” – this is Moses, who was king of Torah, which is called strength, where it is stated (in Ps. 29:11), “The Lord will grant strength to His people.” Ergo (in Ps. 45:14), “All glorious is the king's daughter within.” (Ibid., cont.) “Her clothing is of gold brocade.” This is Aaron, since it is stated (in Exod. 28:13), “And you shall make a gold brocade.” Hence, our masters have said, “Every bride who conceals herself (because of modesty), even though she be an [ordinary] Israelite woman, is worthy of being married to a priest and to raise up high priests, since it is stated (in Ps. 45:14), ‘All glorious is the king's daughter within; her clothing is of gold brocade.’” The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “My honor is like this” – that He speak from within, as stated (in Numb. 7:89), “When Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with Him, he would hear the voice speaking unto him.” R. Joshua ben Levi said, “If the people of the world had known how auspicious the Temple was for them, they would have surrounded it with military encampments¹⁵Lat. castra. in order to protect it,¹⁶Lev. R. 1:11. since it was more auspicious for them than for any of Israel; for thus did Solomon set forth in his prayer (in I Kings 8:41-42), ‘And likewise, unto the foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel […] may You hearken [unto him] from heaven […] and do according to all that the foreigner cries out unto You.’ But when he comes to Israel, what is written? (In II Chron. 6:30) ‘and You shall give to each one according to all his ways, since You know his heart.’ Solomon said, ‘Master of the universe, if he is worthy, give to him; if he is not worthy, do not give to him.’” Moreover, you should not [only] say that the Temple [was auspicious for them]. In fact, if it had not been for Israel, no rain would ever have come down¹⁷Cf. Gen. R. 39:12. nor would the sun have shown; for it was through their merit that rain falls and that the Holy One, blessed be He, has [the sun] shine in this world. And in the future, the peoples of the world shall see, how the Holy One, blessed be He, clings to Israel, and they shall cling to them [as well], as stated (in Zech. 8:23), “Let us go with you for we have heard that God is with you.”

(Numb. 1:1:) THEN THE LORD SPOKE UNTO MOSES IN THE SINAI DESERT, IN THE TENT OF MEETING. Before the Tent of Meeting was set up, he spoke with him in the bush, as stated (in Exod. 3:2): THEN THE ANGEL OF THE LORD {CALLED} [APPEARED] UNTO HIM IN A FLAME OF FIRE FROM THE MIDST OF A BUSH.²⁰Tanh., Numb. 1:3; Numb. R. 1:3. [After that he spoke with him in Midian, as stated (in Exod. 4:19): THEN THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES IN MIDIAN.] After that he spoke with him in Egypt, as stated (in Exod. 12:1): THEN THE LORD SPOKE UNTO MOSES AND UNTO AARON IN THE LAND OF EGYPT. After that he spoke with him in Sinai, as stated (in Lev. 25:1): THEN THE LORD SPOKE UNTO MOSES ON MOUNT SINAI. When the Tent of Meeting was set up, he said: Humility is beautiful, as stated (in Micah 6:8): <HE HAS TOLD YOU, O HUMAN, WHAT IS GOOD…,> AND TO WALK HUMBLY WITH {THE LORD} YOUR GOD. He began to speak with him in the Tent of Meeting. Likewise David also says (in Ps. 45:14 [13]): ALL GLORIOUS IS THE KING'S DAUGHTER WITHIN; [HER CLOTHING IS OF GOLD BROCADE]. THE KING'S DAUGHTER: This <king> is Moses, as stated (in Is. 19:4): AND I WILL DELIVER THE EGYPTIANS INTO THE HAND OF A HARSH LORD. These²¹Since LORD (adonim) is a plural of excellence or majesty, it is readily seen as representing a plurality of plagues. are the plagues which came upon the Egyptians. (Ibid., cont.:) AND A STRONG KING SHALL RULE OVER THEM. This is Moses, who was king of Torah, which is called STRENGTH, where it is stated (in Ps. 29:11): THE LORD WILL GRANT STRENGTH TO HIS PEOPLE. Ergo (in Ps. 45:14 [13]): ALL GLORIOUS IS THE KING'S DAUGHTER WITHIN. (Ibid., cont.:) HER CLOTHING IS OF GOLD BROCADE. This is Aaron, since it is stated (in Exod. 28:13): AND YOU SHALL MAKE A GOLD BROCADE. Hence, our masters have said: Every bride who conceals herself (because of humility, i.e., modesty), even though she be an <ordinary> Israelite woman, is worthy of being married to a priest and to raise up high priests, since it is stated (in Ps. 45:14 [13]): HER CLOTHING IS OF GOLD BROCADE. The Holy One said: Likewise it befits him to speak from within, as stated (in Numb. 7:89): [WHEN²²This bracketed section ends in the first part of section 10 and represents a missing page in Buber’s primary Oxford Ms. MOSES WENT INTO THE TENT OF MEETING TO SPEAK WITH HIM, HE WOULD HEAR THE VOICE SPEAKING UNTO HIM. R. Joshua ben Levi said: If the people of the world had known how auspicious the Temple was for them, they would have surrounded it with military encampments²³Lat. castra. in order to protect it,²⁴Lev. R. 1:11. since it was more auspicious for them than for any of Israel; for thus did Solomon set forth in his prayer (in II Chron. 6:32-33 // I Kings 8:41-42):²⁵The passage is actually a conflation of the parallel passages, which Buber has emended to agree with Chron. 6:32-33. AND LIKEWISE, {IN THE CASE OF} [UNTO] THE FOREIGNER, WHO IS NOT OF YOUR PEOPLE ISRAEL AND COMES FROM A DISTANT LAND FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR GREAT NAME, YOUR MIGHTY HAND, AND YOUR OUTSTRETCHED ARM, IF {HE COMES} [THEY COME] UNTO THIS HOUSE TO PRAY, MAY YOU HEARKEN <UNTO HIM> FROM HEAVEN, EVEN FROM THE PLACE WHERE YOU DWELL, AND DO ACCORDING TO ALL THAT THE FOREIGNER CRIES OUT UNTO YOU, IN ORDER THAT ALL THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH MAY KNOW YOUR NAME [AND] FEAR YOU, AS DO YOUR PEOPLE ISRAEL, AND THAT THEY MAY KNOW THAT YOUR NAME IS CALLED UPON IN THIS HOUSE WHICH I HAVE BUILT. But when he comes to Israel, what is written (in II Chron. 6:30 = I Kings 8:39)? AND YOU SHALL GIVE TO EACH ONE ACCORDING TO ALL HIS WAYS, SINCE YOU KNOW HIS HEART. Solomon said: Sovereign of the Universe, if he is worthy, give to him; if he is not worthy, do not give to him. Moreover, you should not <only> say that the temple <was auspicious for them>.²⁶So Tanh. Numb. 1:3. In fact, if it had not been for Israel, no rain would ever have come down²⁷Cf. Gen. R. 39:12. nor would the sun have shown; for it was through their merit that the Holy One brought relief to the world. Also in the world to come, when the peoples of the world shall see, in the case of Israel, how the Holy One is with them, they shall come to join them, as stated (in Zech. 8:23): IN THOSE DAYS WHEN TEN PEOPLE FROM ALL THE LANGUAGES OF THE NATIONS TAKE HOLD, THEY SHALL TAKE HOLD OF THE SKIRT OF A JEWISH PERSON, [SAYING]: LET US GO WITH YOU FOR WE HAVE HEARD THAT GOD IS WITH YOU.

“If it pleases the king, let it be written to eliminate them and I will weigh out ten thousand talents of silver by the hands of the king's craftsmen, to bring to the king's treasuries” (Esther 3:9).
“If it pleases the king, let it be written to eliminate them.” Reish Lakish said: At the moment that Haman the wicked said to Aḥashverosh: ‘Come let us eliminate Israel from the world,’ Aḥashverosh said to him: ‘You cannot overcome them, because their God does not abandon them at all. Come see what He did to the kings who came before us who extended their hand against them, who were greater and more powerful kings than we are. Anyone who came against them to eliminate them from the world, and those who counseled against them, were eliminated from the world and became a proverb for all residents of the world. We, who are not as great as they were, all the more so. Cease speaking of this matter again.’ Nevertheless, Haman would constantly pester Aḥashverosh over this matter and would counsel him with evil counsel regarding Israel.
Aḥashverosh said to him: ‘Since this is the situation, we will consult the wise men and the magicians.’ Immediately, he sent for and assembled all the wise men of the nations of the world. They all came before him. Aḥashverosh said to them: ‘Is it your wish that we eliminate this nation from the world?’ They all said to him simultaneously: ‘“Who is he and where is he, who was so presumptuous to do so?” (Esther 7:5) – to seek to cast [lots] in this matter? For if you eliminate Israel from the world, [know that] the world only exists for the sake of the Torah that was given to Israel. That is what is written: “If it were not for My covenant of day and night, had I not set the statutes of heaven and earth, [I would indeed spurn the descendants of Jacob…]” (Jeremiah 33:25-6).
Not only that, but all the idolaters are called strangers before the Holy One blessed be He [and Israel are called [His] intimates]; that is what is written: “Also to the foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel” (I Kings: 8:41). But Israel are called intimates; that is what is written: “For the children of Israel, the people who are intimate with Him” (Psalms 148:14). Not only that, but they are called children; that is what is written: “My firstborn son is Israel” (Exodus 4:22); “You are children to the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 14:1). And the Holy One blessed be He is called close to Israel; that is what is written: “The Lord is close to all who call Him sincerely” (Psalms 145:18). There is no nation that is close to the Holy One blessed be He other than Israel, as it is stated: “[For who is a great nation that has God near it] as the Lord our God in all of our calling to Him?” (Deuteronomy 4:7) A person who seeks to extend his hand against the intimates and children of the Holy One blessed be He, how can he escape, as He rules over the upper and the lower worlds, and all living beings. He has the capacity to elevate and to degrade, to put to death and to revive. Go see the previous kings, like Pharaoh and Sennacherib, who transgressed by extending their hand against Israel. What befell them?’
Immediately, Haman said to them: ‘The God who drowned Pharaoh in the sea and performed miracles on behalf of Israel, and the mighty acts of which you heard, He is already old and is unable to do anything. Nebuchadnezzar has come and destroyed His Temple and burned His Sanctuary, has exiled Israel and dispersed them among the nations. Where is His power and His might now that He has grown old? As it is stated: “They say: The Lord does not see; the God of Jacob does not comprehend”’ (Psalms 94:7).
Once he said this to them along these lines, they immediately accepted his proposal and they reached a consensus to annihilate Israel, and wrote letters and sealed them. This is what they wrote in those letters: Unlimited peace to you. Let it be known to you that there is a person among us, who is of not from our place, but rather a descendant of royalty, from the descendants of Amalek and one of the great ones of this generation; Haman is his name. He asked us a small simple question about a certain people residing in our midst, most despicable of all the peoples, and they are arrogant. They seek our harm, and cursing the king is common among them. What is the curse that they curse us? “The Lord is King forever and ever; nations have perished from His land” (Psalms 10:16), and they also say: “To wreak vengeance on the nations, rebuke among the peoples,” (Psalms 149:7).
They repudiate those who have treated them well. Come and see, from that unfortunate, Pharaoh, what did they do? When they went down to Egypt, he received them hospitably, settled them in the finest land in the country, provided for them during the famine years, and fed them all that was best in the land. He had palaces to build, they would build there; nevertheless, he was unable to get them to participate.¹⁵That is, until he ultimately forced them to work.
Not only that, but they came to him with a pretext and said to him: ‘In order to sacrifice to the Lord our God, we will go on a three-day journey and we will return afterwards. If you want, lend us silver vessels and gold vessels, and garments.’ They lent them their gold, their silver, and all their fine garments. Each one of them loaded a countless number of their donkeys, until they stripped Egypt; that is what is written: “And they stripped Egypt” (Exodus 12:36), and they fled.
When Pharaoh heard that they were fleeing, he followed them to recover his property. What did they do to him? There was a man with them named Moses son of Amram, and with his sorcery he took a staff, uttered an incantation and struck the sea, until it became dry. All of them entered the dry land in the sea and all of them crossed; I don’t know how they crossed, and how the water dried up.
When Pharaoh saw this, he entered [the seabed] after them to recover his property. I don’t know what pushed him into the sea. He and his entire army drowned in the sea. They did not remember that he had treated them well. Do you not hear that they are ingrates?
Moreover, what did they do to Amalek my grandfather, when he came and waged war against them? It is stated: “Amalek came and waged war with Israel in Refidim” (Exodus 17:8). From where did Amalek come? Rabbi Kruspedai said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: He came from the company of wicked Bilam, as he went to consult with him. He [Amalek] said to him: ‘We know that you are a wise counselor and a purveyor of evil plots, and anyone who receives counsel from you does not fail.’ He [Amalek] said to him: ‘Look what this nation did to Egypt, who had performed many kindnesses to them. If they did so to Egypt, who performed many kindnesses to them, to other nations, all the more so. What do you counsel me?’
Bilam said to him: ‘Go and wage war against them, and if you do not wage war against them you will be unable to overcome them, because they can rely on the merit of Abraham their forefather and you are also a descendant of Abraham and can rely on the merit of Abraham.’ They immediately came against them in war.
What did that Moses, their leader, do? He had a certain disciple, Joshua son of Nun was his name, and he was extremely cruel and had no mercy. That Moses said to him: “Choose for us men and go out and wage war with Amalek” (Exodus 17:9). I don’t know if those men whom he chose were sorcerers, or whether they were great warriors. What did Moses do? He took a staff in his hand, and I don’t know what he did with it, and when he came against them, I don’t know what incantation he uttered that weakened them and they fell before them; that is what is written: “Joshua weakened Amalek and its people by sword” (Exodus 17:13).
They came against Siḥon and Og, the mighty of our land, against whom no creature can prevail, and I don’t know how he killed them. The kings of Midian came against them, and I don’t know how they killed them. Moreover, what did the disciple of that man Moses do? He brought Israel into the land of Canaan, and not only did he take their land, but he killed thirty-one of their kings, and allotted their land to Israel. He had no mercy on them, and those whom he did not seek to kill became their slaves. They came against Sisera and his multitudes and I don’t know what they did to the Kishon Stream that it swept and washed them away and cast them into the Mediterranean Sea, as it is stated: “The Kishon Stream swept them away” (Judges 5:21).
They had their first king, Saul was his name, and he went and waged war in the land of my grandfather Amalek, and he killed one hundred thousand of their cavalrymen in one day, and he had no mercy on man, woman, infants and suckling babes, and I do not know how he killed them. In addition, what did he do to my ancestor Agag, upon whom they initially had mercy? Ultimately, a man from them named Samuel came and beheaded him, and left his flesh for the birds of the heavens, as it is written: “Samuel cut Agag into pieces” (I Samuel 15:33), and I do not know why he killed him in this unusual way, as you have heard.
After this, they had a certain king named David son of Yishai, who destroyed and eliminated all the kingdoms and had no mercy on them, as it is stated: “David would not leave man or woman alive” (I Samuel 27:11). His son Solomon arose after him and built a certain building for Israel and called it the Temple. I don’t know what they had in it. When they go to war, they enter into it and engage in sorcery there, and when they emerge from it, they kill and destroy the world.
And with all the prosperity that they had, they rebelled against their God, and in addition, that God of theirs had grown old. Nebuchadnezzar came and burned that Temple of theirs, exiled them from their land, and brought them into our midst, but they have not yet changed their ugly ways. Even though they are in exile in our midst, they mock us and the faith of our gods.
Now we have arrived at a consensus, and have cast lots to eliminate them from the world to determine the time that it will be feasible to annihilate them, and the lot fell on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. Now, when these letters reach you, be prepared for that day, to destroy and kill all the Jews among you, from lad to elder, children and women, on one day, and do not leave from them remnant or refugee.
When those letters were sealed and given to Haman, he and all the members of his entourage proceeded joyfully. They met Mordekhai, who was walking ahead of them. Mordekhai saw three children who were coming from school and Mordekhai ran after them. When Haman and his entire entourage saw that Mordekhai was running after the children, they followed Mordekhai to ascertain what Mordekhai would ask them.
When Mordekhai reached the children, he asked one of them: ‘Recite your verse to me.’ He said to him: ‘“Fear not from sudden terror, and from the cataclysm of the wicked when it comes”’ (Proverbs 3:25). The second began and said: ‘I read today and with this verse I left school: “Take counsel and it will be negated; speak something and it will not stand, as God is with us”’ (Isaiah 8:10). The third began and said: ‘“Until old age I am He and until gray hairs I will bear you; I have done and I will carry; I will bear and I will rescue”’ (Isaiah 46:4).
When Mordekhai heard this, he laughed and was overjoyed. Haman said to him: ‘What is this joy that you rejoiced when hearing the words of these children?’ He said: ‘It is over the good tidings of which they apprised me, that I need not fear the evil designs that you counseled against us.’ Immediately, the wicked Haman became angry and said: ‘I will strike at none other than these children first.’
Rabbi Yitzḥak Nappḥa said: The wicked Haman came with a great scheme to indict Israel; that is what is written: “Upon the completion of those days, the king made a banquet for all the people who were present in the Shushan citadel” (Esther 1:5). The people mentioned here are none other than Israel; that is what is written: “Happy are you, Israel, who is like you? A people redeemed by the Lord…” (Deuteronomy 33:29). Haman said to Aḥashverosh: ‘The God of these people hated licentiousness. Provide them with prostitutes, make a banquet for them, and decree that they must all attend and eat and drink and do as they please,’ as it is stated: “To act in accordance with the wishes of each man” (Esther 1:8).
When Mordekhai saw this, he arose and proclaimed, saying to them: ‘Do not go to eat at the banquet of Aḥashverosh, who invited you only to prosecute you, so there will be a basis for the attribute of justice to prosecute you before the Holy One blessed be He.’ They did not heed the words of Mordekhai, and they all went to the banquet house.
Rabbi Yishmael said: Eighteen thousand five hundred went to the banquet house and ate, drank, became intoxicated, and were corrupted. Immediately, the Accuser arose and informed on them before the Holy One blessed be He and said before Him: ‘Master of the universe! How long will you cleave to this nation, who remove their heart and their trust from you? If you will, eliminate this nation from the world because they are not repenting before you.’ The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘What will become of the Torah?’ He said to Him: ‘Master of the universe! It will be satisfied with those above.¹⁶The Torah will be learned by the angels. He also resolved to eradicate Israel. At that moment, the Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Why do I need a nation for which I made many of my signs and wonders against all who rose against them to harm them? “I would terminate their memory from man”’ (Deuteronomy 32:26).
Immediately, the Holy One blessed be He said to the Accuser, ‘bring Me a scroll, and I will write eradication on it.’ At that moment, the Accuser went and brought Him a scroll and He wrote on it. Immediately, the Torah emerged in widow’s garb and raised its voice in weeping before the Holy One blessed be He, and the ministering angels screamed in response to its weeping. They said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, if Israel is abolished from the world, what need is there for us in the world, as it is stated: “Behold, their angels cry out outside, the messengers of peace weep bitterly”’ (Isaiah 33:7). When the sun and the moon heard this, they withheld their light, as it is stated: “I will garb the heavens with blackness and make sackcloth their garment” (Isaiah 50:3).
At that moment, Eliyahu of blessed memory ran in a panic to the eternal patriarchs, and to Moses son of Amram, and said to them: ‘How long will the patriarchs of the world remain dormant in sleep, and not pay attention to the trouble which your descendants are undergoing, over which the ministering angels, the sun, the moon, the stars, the constellations, the heavens, the earth, and all the hosts of the heavens are weeping bitterly, and you are standing by, and not paying attention?’ They said to him: ‘Why?’ He said to them: ‘Because they derived benefit from the banquet of Aḥashverosh. Because of that, a decree was issued against them to eliminate them from this world and to expunge their memory.’
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob said to him: ‘If they violated the laws of the Holy One blessed be He and their decree was sealed, what can we do?’ Eliyahu then said to Moses: ‘Loyal shepherd, how many times have you stood in the breach on Israel’s behalf, and you cancelled the decree so He would not destroy, as it is stated: “Were it not for Moses, His chosen one, who stood before Him in the breach to turn back His wrath from destruction” (Psalms 106:23). How will you respond to this trouble, “for the children have come to the birth stool, [but there is no strength to give birth]”?’ (Isaiah 37:3).
Moses said to him: ‘Is there an honest person in this generation?’ He said to him: ‘There is, and his name is Mordekhai.’ He said to him: ‘Go and let him know, so that he will stand in prayer there, and I will do so from here, and we will ask for mercy for them before the Holy One blessed be He.’ He [Eliyahu] said to him: ‘Loyal shepherd, the letter of annihilation of Israel has already been written.’ Moses said to him: ‘If it is sealed in mortar, our prayer will be heard, but if it is sealed in blood, what was [decreed] will be.’ He said to him: ‘It is sealed with mortar.’ Moses said to him: ‘Go and let Mordekhai know.’ He immediately went and let Mordekhai know; that is what is written: “Mordekhai knew everything that had been done, and Mordekhai rent his garments” (Esther 4:1). When they told Esther, immediately, “the queen was greatly agitated” (Esther 4:4). What is the meaning of agitated? It teaches that she began menstruating.

(Mal. 1:2:) I HAVE LOVED YOU, SAYS THE LORD. See how he has cherished you. From the earth to the sky is a journey of five hundred years.³²Hag. 13a (bar.); yBer. 1:1 (2c). And likewise from the first sky to the second, from the second to the third, from the third to the fourth, from the fourth to the fifth, from the fifth to the sixth, and from the sixth to the seventh. Now it is unnecessary to calculate from the hoofs of the beasts (in Ezek. 1:5–13),³³For these calculations, see Hag. 13a (bar.) but the throne is above all of them. See how I cherished you! <I loved you so much> that I forsook³⁴The translation here follows the parallel text in Tanh., Exod. 7:9. The Buber text has the passive (hophal), “I was forsaken.” them all and said to you: Make me tent sheets of goats' hair, and I will come to dwell with you. R. Joshua ben Levi said: If the peoples of the world had known how good the Tabernacle was for them,³⁵Lev. R. 1:11; Numb. R. 1:3. they would have surrounded it with encampments and fortifications.³⁶Lat.: castra. Why? Before the Tabernacle was erected, the divine word went forth and entered into the midst of the tents belonging to the peoples of the world. Then they were seized with panic, since it is stated (in Deut. 5:23 [26]): FOR WHO IS THERE OF ALL FLESH THAT HAS HEARD THE VOICE OF THE LIVING GOD FROM THE MIDST OF THE FIRE, AS WE HAVE, AND LIVED? You heard it and are alive, but the peoples of the world heard it and were seized with panic in the midst of their tents. And you should not only say < this > about the Tabernacle, but even the Temple was good for them. Where is it shown? That is what Solomon ordained in his prayer (in I Kings 8:41, 43 // II Chron. 6:32, 33): AND LIKEWISE, <WHEN> THE FOREIGNER, WHO IS NOT OF YOUR PEOPLE ISRAEL, <COMES FROM A FAR COUNTRY FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR NAME>…, MAY YOU HEARKEN UNTO <HIM IN YOUR> HEAVENLY <ABODE>….³⁷Above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 6:14. But when Israel came to worship, what does he say (in vs. 39)? AND GIVE TO EACH ONE ACCORDING TO [ALL] HIS WAYS, SINCE YOU KNOW HIS HEART…. Yet in the case of the foreigner, whether they do or do not do <what is right >, give him whatever he asks, (according to vs. 43, cont.) SO THAT ALL THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH [MAY KNOW] <YOUR NAME>…. Therefore, the Temple was good for the peoples of the world. [R. Samuel bar Nahman said: Before the Temple was built, the world rested upon a throne³⁸Gk.: thronos. of two legs; but since the Temple has been built, the world is firmly established³⁹Rt.: BSS; cf. Gk.: basis. and stands in its place. And you should not <only> say: The Temple. Even the Tabernacle was good for the peoples of the world.] Therefore the Holy One said to Moses: Make me a tabernacle (rt.: ShKN), because I desire to dwell (rt.: ShKN) with my children. When the ministering angels heard that, they said to him: Sovereign of the World, why are you leaving heavenly beings and descending to earthly beings? Your glory is that you <dwell> in the heavens, YOU WHO (according to Ps. 8:2 [1]) HAVE SET YOUR MAJESTY OVER THE HEAVENS. The Holy One said to them: By your lives, I am doing just as you said. Habakkuk said (in Hab. 3:3): GOD IS COMING FROM TEMAN. Then afterwards (in the same verse): AND THE EARTH IS FULL OF HIS PRAISE. The Holy One said to them: Now how are you surprised over this? Look at how I cherish the earthly beings, so as to descend and dwell under tent sheets of goats' hair. Thus it is stated (in Exod. 26:7): THEN YOU SHALL MAKE TENT SHEETS OF GOATS' HAIR.

You must not say that the Sanctuary alone was precious to them, for the Temple was also precious. How do we know this? Solomon indicated it in his prayer: Moreover concerning the stranger that is not of Thy people Israel, when he shall come out of a far country for Thy name’s sake—for they shall hear of Thy great name, and of Thy mighty hand, and of Thine outstretched arm—when he shall come and pray toward this house, hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to Thee for; that all the peoples of the earth may know Thy name, to fear Thee, as doth Thy people Israel, and that they may know that Thy name is called upon this house which I have built (I Kings 8:41–43). However, when an Israelite prays before You in this Temple, Grant him all that his heart seeks, for You alone know what is in the heart of every man (ibid., v. 39). But if he should ask for children, and You know that they will provoke You to anger, do not give them to him. Similarly, if he desires property, and You know that in the future he will rebel against You because of it, do not give it to him, but for the non-Jew: Do according to all that the stranger calleth to Thee for, that all the people of the earth may know, etc. Israel, however, is aware of Thy name and Thy glory, and You can foresee at the beginning what will finally happen, for You are God, and whatever You desire, You can do.