Midrasch zu Jeschijahu 60:8

R. Chama b. Chanina said: "Ten Chupas were made by the Holy One, praised be He! for Adam the first in paradise, as it is said (Ezek. 28, 13) In Eden the garden of God didst thou abide; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, the topaz, and the diamond, the chrysolite, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold." Mar Zutra said: "Eleven," — as he counts all the precious stones. R. Jochanan said: "The gold was less in value than all, for it is placed last." What do the workmanship of thy settings and of thy sockets, mean? R. Juda said in the name of Rab: "Thus said the Holy One, praised be He! to Hiram, the King of Tyre: When I created the world, I looked at the land and observed that thou wouldst rebel, deeming thyself a god. I therefore created holes and apertures in men." And according to others. He said thus: "I saw that thou wouldst rebel (Ib. b) and I have therefore decreed death over Adam the first." What do the words (Is. 4, 5) Upon her places of assembly, mean? Rabba, in the name of R. Jochanan, said: "Jerusalem in the future world will not be like Jerusalem in this world. In the latter every one who likes to enter does so, but in that of the future world only those who shall be invited will enter." Rabba said again in the name of R. Jochanan: "In the future world, the righteous will be named with the names of the Holy One, praised be He! as it is said (Ib. 43, 77) Every one that is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed; yea, whom I have made." Samuel b. Nachmeni said in the name of R. Jonathan: "The following three will be named with the name of the Holy One, praised be He — the righteous, Messiah and Jerusalem. The righteous, as said above; the Messiah, as it is written (Jer. 23) And this is his name whereby he shall be called — the Lord our Righteousness; and Jerusalem, as it is written (Ezek. 48, 35) And the name of the city from that day, 'The Lord is there.' Do not read shamah there, but shmah (her name)." R. Elazar said: "In the future, 'holy' will be said before the righteous as now it is said before the Holy One, praised be He! as it is said (Is. 4, 3) And it shall come to pass that whoever is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall he called holy — every one that is written down unto life in Jerusalem." Rabba said again in the name of R. Jochanan: "The Holy One, praised be He! will elevate Jerusalem three parsas, as it is said (Zech. 14, 10) And she herself shall be elevated, and be inhabited on her former site." What does former site mean? It means that it will be increased to its former size. And whence do you know that the size of the former Jerusalem was three parsas? Rabba said: "There was a certain old man who told me that he had seen the first Jerusalem, and the size thereof was three parsas." And lest one say that it would be difficult to ascend, therefore the passage reads (Is. 60, 8) Who are these that are like a cloud, etc. R. Papa said: "Infer from this that the clouds are at a height of three parsas from the ground."

(Lev. 8:3:) “And assemble the whole congregation.” He said to him, “Where?”³⁰See Lev. R. 10:9; cf. Gen. R. 5:7. He said unto him, “Unto the door of the tent of meeting.” Moses our master said to him, “Master of the world, [there are] sixty myriads of adults and sixty myriads of young people. How will I have them stand at the opening of the tent of meeting? [The area is] only the size of a field requiring of two seah of seed; yet you are saying (in Lev. 8:3:), ‘And assemble the whole congregation?’” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Are you surprised about this thing? Are the heavens not like a cataract on the eye? And [yet] I made them [to stretch] from one end of the world to the other, as stated (in Is. 40:22), “Who has stretched out the heavens like a curtain [and spread them out like a tent to dwell in].’ And also in the world to come I will do likewise for Zion. How will all those populations³¹Gk.: ochloi. from the first Adam until the dead rise [have room to] stand? Then they are going to say (in Is. 49:20), ‘The place is too crowded for me; make room for me to dwell.’ What shall I do for them? I shall enlarge it, as stated (in Is. 54:2), ‘Enlarge the site of your tabernacle.’” From where do you learn [so]? From Mount Sinai. When the Holy One, blessed be He, appeared upon it, it immediately expanded, as stated (in Ps. 68:18), “The chariots of God are myriads, thousands upon thousands; [the Lord is among them on Sinai].” R. Avdimi of Haifa said, “I have learned in my mishnah: When the Holy One, blessed be He, appeared on Mount Sinai to give the Torah, twenty-two thousand chariots came down with him.³²PRK 12:22; PR 21:7; Exod. R. 29:2. R. Berekhyah the Priest said, “[It was] since the Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that none would remain in their faith except the tribe of Levi. He therefore came down [with a number] corresponding to the camp of the Levites (according to Numb. 22:39).” R. Jannay said to him, “If so, it must be written about the tribe of Levi, ‘The chariots of God are myriads, thousands upon thousand.’ What is [then] the meaning of, ‘The chariots (rt.: rkb) of God are myriads?’ It is simply that twenty-two thousand chariots came down with the Holy One, blessed be He, with each and every chariot like the chariot which Ezekiel saw (Ezek. 1:19–21). And [yet] it (i.e., Mt. Sinai) contained them? Indeed the event was a miracle. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Become wider (rt.: rhb) and longer to receive My children, [who are] faithful children.” And so you find in the world to come, that the Holy One, blessed be He, will widen (rt.: rhb) Jerusalem, as stated (in Ezek. 41:7), “And it became wider (rt.: rhb) as it wound about higher (lm'lh),” until it was rising to the heavens.³³See PRK 20:7. On the enlargement of Jerusalem in the age to come, cf. BB 75b. Now, “higher (m'lh)” can only mean heaven (shmym). Thus it is stated [(in Ps. 108:5), “For Your kindness is great, above (m'l) [heaven (shmym)”].³⁴Note that the Mss. reading (in the braces) adds an extra H to the Masoretic Text. Thus the H appears at the end of M‘L to make M‘LH. When it (i.e., Jerusalem) reaches the heavens, it says (in Is. 49:20), “The place is too crowded for me.” Nevertheless, the Holy One, blessed be He, brings clouds and raises it up from the heavens to the firmament, [from the second (heaven) 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.] R. Eliezer ben Jacob said, “[The elevation of Jerusalem continues] until it reaches the throne of glory. But how are they (the Israelites) to ascend? By the time the higher one goes up, the lower one [needs to] eat and drink and sleep. So what does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He will bring clouds and will have them fly, as stated (in Is. 60:8), ‘Who are these that fly like a cloud?’” Then each and every one of the righteous will have a canopy (huppah) for himself. Thus it is stated (in Is. 4:5), “for over [all] the glory there shall be a canopy (huppah).” When it reaches the throne of glory, the Holy One, blessed be He, shall say to them, “I and you shall walk through the world [together], as stated (in Lev. 26:12), “And I will walk among you.” The Holy One, blessed be He, will dwell in the middle and the righteous shall point to Him with their finger. It is so stated (in Is. 25:9), “In that day they shall say, ‘See, this is our God; we waited for Him, and He delivered us […].’” It also says (in Ps. 48:15), “For this is God, our God, for ever and ever; He will lead evermore.” Because the nations say (in Deut. 32:37), “And He will say, ‘Where are their gods’”; Israel shall therefore say in the future (in Ps. 48:15), “For this is God, our God, for ever and ever; He will lead evermore.”

(Numb. 23:21:) “No one has beheld falsehood in Jacob […].” Balaam said, “He does not pay attention to the transgressions in their hands, He only pays attention to their merit.” (Numb. 23:21, cont.:) “The Lord their God is with him.”⁶²In the Biblical context the HIM would normally refer to Israel, but the midrash understands this HIM in the singular throughout this paragraph. You (Balak) said to me (in Numb. 23:7), “Come, curse [Jacob] for me.” If an orchard has no keeper, a thief is able to harm it; or if the keeper falls asleep, the thief will enter [it]. But in the case of these people (according to Ps. 121:4), “Behold, the One keeping Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” So how can I harm [Israel]? (Numb. 23:21:) “The Lord their God is with him (i.e., Moses).” Balak said to him, “Since you cannot touch them because of Moses, who protects them, look at Joshua, his successor, and his deeds.” He said to him, “He also will be strong like him.” (Numb. 23:21:) “The Lord their God is with him; a royal war cry is within him.” He is blowing [a trumpet], giving a war cry, and throwing down a wall.⁶³I.e., the wall of Jericho. (Numb. 23:22:) “God brings them out of Egypt.” You said to me (in Numb. 22:5), “’Here is a people that has come out of Egypt,’ on their own. But that is not so. Rather God brought them out.” (Ibid., cont.:) “Like the heights⁶⁴Rt.: T‘P. The word can also mean “horns” and is so translated in most English versions in order to fit the context of the next word (R’M), which is then understood to mean “wild ox.” See the following note. of His loftiness (r'm).”⁶⁵In most translations the word is understood to mean “wild ox,” but the midrash regards it as a derived from the root RWM, a verb meaning “to be high.” Such is His nature. [When] they sinned a little, He brought them down like a bird, as stated (in Hos. 9:11), “Ephraim's glory shall fly away like a bird.” [When] they are worthy, He raises them up and exalts (rt.: rwm) them on high like a bird. Thus it is stated (in Is. 60:8), “Who are these that fly like a cloud?” (Numb. 23:23:) “There is no augury in Jacob and no divination in Israel.” Here you are (Balak) practicing augury and divining in what place you may prevail against them, but they are not like that. When they have to fight against enemies, a high priest stands up and puts on urim and thummim, which are asked about [the will of] the Holy One, blessed be He. So all the gentiles practice divination and augury, but these (Israelites) prove them false through repentance and nullify their divinations. It is so written (in Is. 44:25), “Who frustrates omens of liars and confounds diviners.”⁶⁶Cf. yShab. 6:9 (8d). (Numb. 23:23, cont.:) “Now it is said for Jacob and for Israel, [‘What has God done?’]” His (i.e., Balaam's) eye saw that Israel was sitting (yoshevim) before the Holy One, blessed be He, like a pupil before his master and was hearing why each and every parashah was written; and so it says (in Is. 23:18), “for her⁶⁷The midrash reads the HER as referring to Torah, but in the context of Isaiah the HER refers to Tyre as a harlot. profits shall belong to those who dwell (yoshevim) before the Lord […].” It also says (in Is. 30:20), “and no more shall your Teacher hide Himself, for your eyes shall see your Teacher.” The ministering angels will ask them, “What has the Holy One, blessed be He, taught you?” As they cannot enter their (i.e., Israel's) precincts, as stated (in Numb. 23:23), “now it is said for Jacob and for Israel, ‘What has God done?’” (Numb. 23:24:), “Here is a people rising up like a lion.” You have no nation in the world like them. Here they are sleeping away from the Torah and the commandments. [Then] having risen from their sleep, they stand up like lions. Quickly reciting the Shema', they proclaim the sovereignty of the Holy One, blessed be He. Then having become like lions, they embark on worldly business pursuits. If one of them should stumble, or if destroying demons come to touch one of them, he proclaims the sovereignty of the Holy One, blessed be He.⁶⁸On reciting the Shema‘ to be safe from demons, see yBer. 1:1 (2d); Ber. 5a; M. Pss. 4:9. (Numb. 23:24, cont.:) “It (a lion) does not sleep until it has eaten its prey.” When he (the reader) says (in the Shema' of Deut. 6:4), “the Lord is one,” the destroying demons are destroyed on his account, [and] they intone after him (as the liturgical response), “Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever.”⁶⁹In reciting the proper liturgical response to the Shema‘, even the demons recognize the sovereignty of the Holy One. Moreover, through the recitation of the Shema' he is sustained from the day watch to the night watch.⁷⁰I.e., his guardian angels for the morning and the night. And when he goes to sleep, he entrusts his spirit into the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, as stated (in Ps. 31:6), “Into Your hand I entrust my spirit.”⁷¹Cf. Ber. 5a. Then when he awakens [and] proclaims the sovereignty of the Holy One, blessed be He, the night watch transfers him to the day watch. Thus it is stated (Ps. 130:6), “My soul [yearns] for the Lord more than the watchmen for the morning, the watchmen for the morning.” For that reason Balaam says, “There is no nation like this one.” (Numb. 23:24, cont.:) “And drunk the blood of the slain.” He prophesied that Moses would not die, until he had taken vengeance upon him and the five kings of Midian, as stated (Numb. 23:24), “it does not sleep until it has eaten its prey,” this [prey] is Balaam; “and drunk the blood of the slain,” these are the five kings of Midian. It is so stated (in Numb. 31:8), “And they slew the five kings of Midian upon their corpses.” (Numb. 31:6:) “With the vessels of the sanctuary.” This is the [high priestly diadem] plate upon which it is written (according to Exod. 28:36), “holy to the Lord.”⁷²For a description, see Shab. 63b; Suk. 5a. (Numb. 31:6, cont.:) “And the trumpets for sounding the alarm in his hand.” Moses said to Israel, “Balaam the wicked has practiced magic for you⁷³Cf. the parallel account in Gen. R. 20:20, which reads, “for them.” and is making the five kings fly. So he flies and makes [others] fly. Show him the [high priestly diadem] plate on which the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, is engraved,⁷⁴Galuf. Cf. Gk.: glufein (“to engrave.”) and they will fall down before you.” You know that it is so written (in Numb. 31:8), “And they slew the five kings of Midian upon their corpses and Balaam ben Beor [with the sword].” What did that wicked man want with the kings of Midian? Is it not in fact written (in Numb. 24:25), “Then Balaam arose and went back to his own place?” It is simply this: when he heard that twenty-four thousand [Israelites] had fallen (in Numb. 25:9) through his counsel,⁷⁵See Deut. R. 1:2. he returned to get his wage. For that reason Balaam ben Beor is recorded (n Numb. 31:8) together with the five kings of Midian.