Midrasch zu Bamidbar 6:24

… it is written there “Behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You…” (Melachim I 8:27) and here it is written “…the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.” (Shemot 40:35) R’ Yehoshua of Sachnin said in the name of R’ Levi ‘to what is this likened? To an open cave at the edge of the sea. When the sea storms the cave is filled, but the sea is not reduced. So too, even though it is written that ‘the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle’ the upper and lower worlds did not lose anything of the brilliance of the glory of the Holy One, just as it is written “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth? says the Lord.” (Yirmiyahu 23:24) Therefore it is written here ‘And it was’. Just as the Divine Presence was here below at the beginning of the creation of the world but withdrew to above, now it returned to be below as it had been “And it was that on the day that Moses finished…” (Bamidbar 7:1) ... [Another explanation. “And it was that on the day that Moses finished erecting the Mishkan…” (Numbers 7:1)] R’ Simon said: at the time when the Holy One told Israel to erect the Tabernacle, He hinted that when the Tabernacle below is erected, the Tabernacle above is erected, as it says “And it was that on the day that Moses finished…” (ibid.) It does not say ‘erecting the Tabernacle’ but rather ‘erecting this (et) the Tabernacle.’ This refers to the Tabernacle above. The Holy One said: in this world, when the Tabernacle was erected, I commanded Aharon and his sons that they bless you. In the time to come I, in my glory, will bless you. So it is written “May the Lord bless you from Zion, He Who made heaven and earth.” (Psalms 134:3)

God’s way is not man’s way. As long as a man’s friend lives, his friendship for him continues, but after his friend’s death, his concern for him ceases. The Holy One, blessed be He, however, does not act in that manner. When Abraham died, the Holy One, blessed be He, continued to love his son Isaac, as it is said: And it came to pass after the death of Abraham that God blessed Isaac, his son (ibid. 25:11). It may happen that a king bestows gifts of silver, gold, and raiment upon his friend, and the friend then sails away. These possessions may be lost when a storm arises, and the king is powerless to protect him from the sea or from pirates. However, when the Holy One, blessed be He, presents a gift to his beloved one He guards it, as it is said: The Lord bless thee and guard thee (Num. 6:24). He blessed Abraham and guarded him, as it is said: And the Lord blessed Abraham in all things (Gen. 24:1). He acted similarly toward Isaac and Jacob.

“Behold the bed of Solomon: sixty valiant men surround it, from the valiant of Israel, each armed with a sword, trained in war; each man, a sword on his thigh, from fear in the nights” (Song of Songs 3:7–8).
“Behold the bed of Solomon: sixty valiant men surround it,” Rabbi Beivai in the name of Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Yosei interpreted the verse regarding the Priestly Benediction. “Behold the bed [mitato],” behold his tribes [matotav] and his clans, just as it says: “The oaths to the tribes [matot]” (Habakkuk 3:9); “of Solomon [Shlomo],” of the king [of Whom it may be said that] peace [shalom] is His; “sixty valiant men surround it,” these are the sixty letters in the Priestly Benediction; “from the valiant of Israel,” as they bolster Israel.
“Each armed with a sword,” Rabbi Azarya said: Matters that are blessed with Might,⁸¹Each blessing contains the name of the mighty God. “may the Lord bless you” (Numbers 6:24), “may the Lord shine” (Numbers 6:25), “may the Lord lift” (Numbers 6:26). “Trained in war,” as they battle all sorts of calamities that exist in the world. “Each man, a sword on his thigh from fear in the nights,” for even if a person sees in his dream a sword cutting his thigh, what shall he do? He shall go to the synagogue, recite Shema, pray his prayer, hear the Priestly Benediction, and answer amen after them, and no evil matter will harm him. Therefore, He cautions the sons of Aaron and says to them: “So you shall bless the children of Israel” (Numbers 6:23).

... “May the Lord bless you from Zion…” (Psalms 128:5) This comes to teach that the Holy One blesses them from the place that He blesses Israel. And from where do we learn that the blessings come out from Zion? As it says “As the dew of Hermon which runs down on the mountains of Zion…” (Psalms 133:3) and it says “May the Lord bless you from Zion, and see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life.” (Psalms 128:5) May you merit to see the good of Jerusalem in the time to come, “And may you see children to your children, peace upon Israel.” (Psalms 128:6)

Another matter, “My beloved is like a gazelle,” Rabbi Yitzḥak said: The congregation of Israel said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, You said to us: Come, come. You come to us first.’
“My beloved is like a gazelle,” just as this gazelle leaps from mountain to mountain, from valley to valley, from tree to tree, from booth to booth, and from fence to fence, so too, the Holy One blessed be He leaps from this synagogue to that synagogue, from this study hall to that study hall. Why to that extent? In order to bless Israel. By what merit? By the merit of Abraham; that is what is written: “The Lord appeared to him at the terebinths of Mamre [and he was sitting at the entrance of the tent]” (Genesis 18:1). Rabbi Berekhya [said] in the name of Rabbi Levi: “Was sitting [yoshev],” [the word] yoshev is written without a vav.¹⁰³This indicates that there was something incomplete about his sitting, because he had begun to get up (Etz Yosef). Abraham sought to stand, [but] the Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Sit, Abraham, you are a model for your descendants. Just as you are sitting and I am standing, so will it be for your descendants when they enter the synagogue and the study hall and recite Shema; they will be sitting, and My glory will stand in their midst.’ What is the source? “God stands [nitzav] in the congregation of God” (Psalms 82:1). Rabbi Ḥagai said in the name of Rabbi Yitzḥak: “God stands [omed]” is not written, but rather, nitzav. What is nitzav? It is standing at the ready, just as it says: “You shall stand [venitzavta] there for Me atop the mountain” (Exodus 34:2), and it is written: “It will be, before they call [I will answer, while they yet speak I will hear]” (Isaiah 65:24).¹⁰⁴This indicates that God stands at the ready, anticipating Israel’s prayers. Rabbi Shmuel in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina: With each and every praise with which Israel lauds the Holy One blessed be He, the Holy One blessed be He sits in their midst, as it is written: “You are holy, sitting upon the praises of Israel” (Psalms 22:4).
“Or a fawn,” Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina said: Like the offspring of a hind. “Behold, he is standing behind our wall,” behind the walls of synagogues and study halls. “Gazing through the window,” from between the priests’ shoulders. “Peering through the lattice,” from between the priests’ fingers. “My beloved spoke up, and he said to me” (Song of Songs 2:10), what did He say to me? “May the Lord bless you and keep you” (Numbers 6:24).

R. Joshua of Sikhnin was of the opinion that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave Abraham a sign that whatever happened to him would likewise happen to his descendants. He chose Abraham from among all those in his father’s house, as it is said: Thou art the Lord God who didst choose Abraham, and brought him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham (Neh. 9:7). And He selected Abraham’s sons to be His chosen ones among the seventy nations, as is said: For thou art a Holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be His own treasured nation out of all the peoples that are upon the face of the earth (Deut. 14:2). He said to Abraham: Get thee, and to Abraham’s sons, He said: I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Emorite, etc. (ibid. 3:17). He promised Abraham: And I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing (Gen. 12:2), and He told his sons: The Lord bless thee, and keep thee (Num. 6:24). To Abraham He said: I will make thee a great nation (Gen. 12:2), and to his descendants He said: And what great nation is there (Deut. 4:8). Concerning Abraham it is written: Abraham was one (Ezek. 33:24), and of Israel it is said: And who is like thy people Israel, a nation one in the earth (I Chron. 17:21). In reference to Abraham it is said: and hunger was in the land (Gen. 12:10), and about his descendants it is said: When they returned to Egypt, hunger was already in the land (ibid. 43:1). Abraham descended to Egypt because of famine, and his sons, also, descended because of famine, as is said: And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn from Egypt (ibid. 42:3). When Abraham descended the Egyptians approached him, and the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair (ibid. 12:14), and concerning his descendants, the Egyptians declared: Come, let us deal wisely with them lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that when there befalleth us any war, they also join themselves unto our enemies, and fight against us, and get them up out of the land (Exod. 1:10).

The Seers (i.e., the prophets) were the ones who said the doubled letters, mantzepakh (mem, nun, tzadi, peh, and kaf, which are the letters that have a different form when they appear at the end of a word). [The doubling of kaf that is found in Genesis 12:1,] "Lekh lekha (Go for yourself)," hints to Avraham that he will father Yitschak at one hundred years [of age] (as the numerical value of these two words is one hundred). [The doubling of mem that is found in Genesis 26:16,] "ki atsamta memenu (as you have become more powerful than us)" is a hint [to Yitschak] that hints that he and his seed will be powerful in both worlds. The doubling of nun [that is found in Genesis 32:12,] "Hatsileini na (Save me)" [is a hint to] Yaakov, [that] he will be saved in both worlds. The doubling of peh [that is found in Genesis 50:24,] "pakod yifkod (He will surely remember you)" [is a hint to] Yosef, [that] He will remember you in this world, and He will remember you in the world to come. The doubling of tzadi [that is found in Zachariah 6:12,] "hinei eesh, Tsemach shemo, ou'metachtav yitsmach (behold, a man called Branch shall branch out from the place where he is,)" is [referring to] the messiah. And so is it stated (Jermiah 23:5), "vahikimoti leDaveed tsemach tsadeek (and I will raise up a true branch of David)." ["The leader of fifty" (Isaiah 3:3)] ("Sixty were the queens" [Song of Songs 6:8]). Twenty-four books (of the Bible), and add to them eleven of the thirteen [books of the minor prophets] - besides Yonah which is by itself - and six orders of the Mishnah and nine chapters of Torat Kohanim, behold ["The leader of fifty"] ("Sixty were the queens"). "[Sixty were the queens] and eighty were the concubines" (Song of Songs 6:8). Sixty tractates and eighty study halls that were in Jerusalem corresponding to its gates. "And maidens without number" (Song of Songs 6:8). The study outside. "Behold the bed of Shlomo, sixty warriors" (Song of Songs 3:7). [This] corresponds to the [number of] letters of [the priestly blessing,) "May the Lord bless you and keep you, etc." (Numbers 6:24-26). The Satan (HaSatan) has the numerical equivalent of the count of the days of the solar year, as he rules over all the year to slander, except for Yom Kippur. Rabbi Ami bar Abba said, "Avraham was missing five organs before he was circumcised and [before he] fathered. The [letter] hay (with a numerical value of five) was added [to his name] and he became complete and fathered, and he was called Avraham [corresponding to the complete set of organs, two hundred and forty-eight], the numerical count of his letters." [Regarding] Sarai, two Amoraim (later rabbinic teachers) differed. One said, "The [letter] yod [with a numerical count of ten that was taken from her] was divided into two, [to give] a hay to Avaraham and a hay to Sarah." And [the other] said, "The yod that was taken from Sarah raised a protest until Yehshoua came and had a yod added, as it is stated (Numbers 13:16), "and Moshe called Hoshea [...], Yehoshua." And it saved him from the counsel of the [other] spies. [The significance of the letters in the name,] Yitschak [is as follows]: Yod [with a numerical count of ten] corresponds to the ten trials [of Avraham]. [The letter] tsadi [with a numerical count of ninety, as] Sarah was ninety when he was born. [The letter] chet [with a numerical count of eight, as] he was circumcised on the eighth day. And the letter kof [with a numerical count of one hundred, as] Avraham was a hundred years old when he was born. Yaakov was called according to [the significance of the letters of] his [own] name: Yod [corresponds to] the tenth of his offspring going backwards, Levi. Count from (the last son), Binaymin to Levi - there are ten sons, and Levi was the tenth. And he gave him as a tithe to the Omnipresent to fulfill [what he said] (Genesis 28:22), "all that You give to me, I will surely tithe it to You." [The letter] ayin [with a numerical count of seventy corresponds to the number of offspring he took to Egypt], "with seventy souls" (Deuteronomy 10:22). Kof corresponds to the [number of the] letters of the blessing [that he received], "And may He give you [etc.]" (Genesis 27:28). Take away the name [of God] from there, and one hundred [letters] remain. [The letter] bet [with a numerical count of two] corresponds to two angels [that he saw on the ladder in his dream] rising. Yehudah was called according to [the significance of the numerical count of the letters of] his [own] name: Thirty, corresponding to the thirty virtues of the monarchy. There were six hundred and thirteen letters on the tablets - from "I am" (Exodus 20:2) to "to your neighbor" (Exodus 20:14) - corresponding to the six hundred and thirteen commandments. And they were all given to Moshe at [Mount] Sinai; and in them are statutes and judgments, Torah and Mishnah, Talmud and aggadah. "The fear of the Lord is his treasure" (Isaiah 33:6). There is no greater characteristic than fear and humility, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 10:12), "And now Israel, what does the Lord, your God, ask of you [besides to fear Him]." "The fear of" (Yirat) has a numerical value of six hundred and eleven; along with Torah and circumcision, behold that is six hundred and thirteen. [The numerical value of] fringes (tsitsit) is six hundred. [Add] eight strings and five knots, behold that is six hundred and thirteen. "[The man (David)] raised on high" (II Samuel 23:1) - [high (al)] has a numerical value of one hundred, corresponding to one hundred blessings. As on every day, one hundred men of Israel were dying. [So] David and ordained [the daily saying of] one hundred blessings. "And now Israel, what (mah) does the Lord, your God, ask of you" - read it as one hundred (meah), these are the hundred blessings. Once he ordained it, the pestilence ceased. "This is the law of the burnt-offering (olah), it is the burnt-offering" (Leviticus 6:2), [meaning] the yoke (ulah) of Torah and the yoke of repentance. "Two anointed ones" (Zechariah 4:14). These are David and Aharon who were anointed with the anointing oil, such that their anointing was for [all] the generations. With Aharon, it is written (Numbers 25:13), "It shall be for him and his descendants after him, a pact of priesthood for all time." With David it is written (Ezekiel 37:25), "and My servant David as their prince for all time." "Forgive all guilt and take the good (tov)" (Hosea 14:3). Israel said, "Master of the world, at the time that the Temple existed, we would offer a sacrifice and be cleansed. But now all we have in our hand is prayer." The numerical value of tov is seventeen. Prayer [consists of] nineteen [blessings]. Take away from them the blessing for the malfeasers that was composed at Yavneh, and "Let the sprout of David blossom," which they ordained for the sake of "Probe me, Lord, and try me" (Psalms 26:2). Rabbi Simon says, "'Forgive all guilt and take the good (tov).' The numerical value of tov in at-bash (matching letters based on how close they are to the center of the alphabet) is [the same as] soul (nefesh). Israel said, 'Behold the fat from us, from our souls. May it be Your will that it be atonement for us and "that we pay with the words of our lips" (Hosea 14:3).'" "And the Lord gave her conception (herayon)" (Ruth 4:13). [Herayon] has a numerical value of the [number of the] days of the nine months of birthing (two hundred and seventy one). The name of the angel that is appointed for conception is night, as stated (Job 3:3), "and the night [that it was] said, 'A man was conceived." The measure of the water of a mikveh (ritual bath) is forty seah corresponding to the [forty mentions] of well, written in the Torah. And [the volume of] how many eggs is the measure of the mikveh? Five thousand seven hundred and sixty. And a seah is a hundred and forty-four eggs. Forty-three and a fifth eggs is the measure of [what is required for] hallah [tithe]. And from where [do we know] that a mikveh requires forty seah? As it is written (Isaiah 8:6), "Since this nation has rejected the waters of Shiloach that flow gently (le'at)." The numerical value of le'at is forty. Behold the measure of a seah is a tefach by a tefach with the height of [sixteen] tefach [and a fifth]. And one who separates the measure of the hallah [tithe] must separate [one part in forty three] and a fifth [from Torah writ like the numerical value of hallah]. Forty lashes (which are actually thirty-nine) is from Torah writ, as it is written (Exodus 35:1), "These (eleh) are the things which the Lord commanded." [The numerical count of] "eleh" is thirty-six; "things" (being plural) is two; "the things" [indicates an additional] one - behold, forty minus one (thirty-nine). "He shall strike him forty, he shall not add" (Deuteronomy 25:3), corresponds to the forty curses received by the snake, Chava, Adam and the ground, and the sages lessened one, because of "he shall not add." A Sanhedrin is twenty-three, so [that it is possible for] those advocating innocence to have one more (than twenty), and those advocating guilt to have two more. It is best for the two to come and push off one. The numerical value of anathmea (cherem) is two hundred and forty-eight. And Shmuel said, when it takes force it takes force on [all] two hundred and forty-eight organs, and when it leaves, it leaves from two hundred and forty-eight limbs, as it is written (Habakuk 3:2), "in anger, remember to have mercy (rachem, which is made up of the same letters as cherem)." It is written,"tirash," but we read it [as] tirosh. [If] he merits, he becomes a rosh (leader); [if] he does not merit, he becomes a rash (poor person). Our rabbis, may their memory be blessed said, "A man is recognized by three things: by his purse, by his glass and by his anger. Tavel is Ramaliah. Seshach is Bavel (Babylon) [according to] its numerical value of in at-bash. The numerical value of Gog and Magog is seventy, as they are the seventy nations [of the world].

R. Joshua of Sikhnin said in the name of R. Levi: The Holy One transmitted a sign⁵⁹Gk.: semeion. to Abraham that whatever had happened to him would happen to his children.⁶⁰Cf. Gen. R. 40:6. Abraham was chosen from the whole household of his father. Israel also was chosen from seventy tongues. It was said to Abraham (in Gen. 12:1): GO … < FROM YOUR FATHER'S HOUSE >; and it was said for Israel (in Exod. 3:17): AND I HAVE SAID: I WILL BRING YOU UP < OUT OF THE AFFLICTION OF THE LAND OF EGYPT >. It was said to Abraham (in Gen. 12:3): I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU; and also for Israel (in Numb. 6:24): THE LORD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU. It was said to Abraham (in Gen. 12:2): [THEN I WILL MAKE YOU INTO A GREAT NATION, BLESS YOU], AND MAKE YOUR NAME GREAT; and also concerning Israel (in Deut. 4:8): AND WHAT GREAT NATION IS THERE < WHICH HAS STATUTES AND ORDINANCES AS RIGHTEOUS AS ALL THIS LAW THAT I SET BEFORE YOU THIS DAY >? Abraham was called an individual, as stated (in Ezek. 33:24): ABRAHAM WAS ONE (ehad); and also Israel (in I Chron. 17:21): AND WHO IS LIKE YOUR PEOPLE ISRAEL, A UNIQUE (ehad) NATION ON EARTH? Just as with Abraham, when he came to the land, there was a famine in the land; with Israel also, when they had settled in the land of Israel, there was famine, as stated (in Gen. 43:1): BUT THE FAMINE WAS SEVERE IN THE LAND. Just as Abraham went down to Egypt because of famine, [as stated (in Gen. 12:10): NOW THERE WAS A FAMINE IN THE LAND, AND ABRAM WENT DOWN TO EGYPT]; so with Israel, as stated (in Gen. 42:3): SO THE TEN BROTHERS OF JOSEPH WENT DOWN TO BUY GRAIN < FROM EGYPT >. Just as in the case of Abraham, when he went down to Egypt, the Egyptians provoked him; so in the case of Israel, as stated (in Exod. 1:10): COME, LET US (Egyptians) ACT SHREWDLY < TOWARD THEM (Israel), LEST THEY MULTIPLY >…. Just as in the case of Abraham, four kings engaged him in battle;⁶¹“Engage in battle” comes from the Hebrew root ZWG, which corresponds to the Greek zeugos or zugon. so in the case of Israel, the nations are going to make an alliance⁶²Gk.: omonoia. against them, as stated (in Ps. 2:2): THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TAKE THEIR STAND, < AND THE RULERS TAKE COUNSEL TOGETHER AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS ANOINTED >. Just as in the case of Abraham, the Holy One went out to fight before him and slew his enemies; so the Holy One has fought for Israel. In the age to come the Holy One is going out to fight their wars, as stated (in Zech. 14:3): THEN THE LORD WILL COME FORTH AND FIGHT WITH THOSE NATIONS AS WHEN HE FIGHTS IN THE DAY OF BATTLE.

An idolater asked Rabban Gamliel, "Why was the Holy One, Blessed be He revealed to Moses in the Burning Bush?" Rabban Gamliel replied to him, "If God had been revealed in a carob tree or a fig tree, you would have asked me the same thing, and I could not send you away without an answer. This teaches you that there is no place in the world devoid of the Shekhinah."

Another interpretation (of Numb. 6:23): THUS SHALL YOU BLESS. This text is related (to Cant. 3:7): THERE IS HIS BED, THE ONE BELONGING TO SOLOMON (rt.: ShLM), WITH SIXTY WARRIORS AROUND IT. What reason did <the author of Canticles, i.e.,> Solomon (rt.: ShLM), have to be concerned with a with a bed?⁶⁰Tanh., Numb. 2:9; Cant. R. 3:7:2, 4. When it said: THERE IS HIS BED, it is simply that <the verse> was only concerned with the king to whom peace (rt.: ShLM) belonged. (Ibid.:) THERE IS HIS BED. This is the Temple.⁶¹Numb. R. 11:3. But why was the Temple compared to a bed? It is simply that just as a bed is only for being fruitful and multiplying, so it was with the Temple. Whatever was in it was being fruitful and multiplying, as stated (in I Kings 8:8 = II Chron. 5:9): THE POLES GREW SO LONG.⁶²This literal interpretation of the Hebrew text was seen to imply that the poles miraculously lengthened while within the Temple. See Tanh., Exod. 7:11. It also says (in II Chron. 3:6): THE GOLD WAS GOLD FROM PARVAIM (as if from PRH), which produced fruit (rt.: PRH). And so it says (in I Kings 7:2): AND HE BUILT THE HOUSE OF THE FOREST OF LEBANON. Why was it compared to a forest? Just as a forest is fruitful and multiplies, so it is in the case of the Temple. Whatever was in it was being fruitful and multiplying. It is therefore stated (in Cant. 3:7): THERE IS HIS BED. (Ibid., cont.:) WITH SIXTY WARRIORS. These are the sixty letters that are in the priestly blessing (in Numb. 6:24–26). (Cant. 3:8:) ALL OF THEM EQUIPPED WITH A SWORD, because in each and every <verse of the priestly blessing> the name of the Holy One is mentioned: THE LORD⁶³This translation follows the common practice of substituting THE LORD for the Divine Name. BLESS YOU <…>; THE LORD MAKE <HIS FACE> SHINE< … >; THE LORD LIFT UP HIS <FACE … >. (Cant. 3:8, cont.:) EACH WITH HIS SWORD ON HIS THIGH. What is the reason for the thigh to be mentioned here? simply that, even if one sees in his dream a sword being drawn, placed over his neck, and <then> cutting off his thigh, he rises early in the morning and goes to the synagogue.⁶⁴There may be an allusion here to circumcision. See Numb. R. 11:3; Cant. R. 3:7:4. On the symbolic use of the sword, cf. also Ephesians 6:17. (Cant. 3:8, cont.:) BECAUSE OF FEAR AT NIGHT, <i.e.,> because of a fear which he saw in his dream at night. Then <when> he sees the priests raising their hands, the bad dream passes away from him. It is therefore stated: BECAUSE OF FEAR AT NIGHT. Therefore the holy one told moses to caution Aaron and his children to bless my children, as stated (in numb. 6:23): THUS SHALL YOU BLESS [THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL].

"And it was on the day that Moses had finished" (Numbers 7:1). What is written above the matter? "May the Lord bless you and keep you" (Numbers 6:24). Rabbi Yehoshua of Sakhnin said, "[There is a relevant] parable about a king who had his daughter betrothed and [prepared] the wedding for her, when the evil eye overpowered her. [But] the king stood [in his decision] to marry off his daughter. What did he do? He gave her a charm and said to her, 'This charm should be upon you, so that the evil eye not overpower you.' So [too], when the Holy One, blessed be He, gave Israel the Torah, He made for them a public [ceremony], as it is stated (Exodus 20:15), 'And all the people saw the sounds.' And this was nothing but marriage (kiddushin), as it is stated (Exodus 19:10), 'And the Lord said to Moshe, "Go to the people and sanctify them (kiddishtam)...."' And [so] the evil eye overpowered them and the tablets were broken, as it is stated (Exodus 32:19), 'As soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moshe became enraged; and he hurled the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain.' Once they came and made the tabernacle for themselves, the Holy One, blessed be He, gave them the blessings first, so that the evil eye not overpower them. Hence it is written, 'May the Lord bless you and keep you,' first; and afterwards, 'And it was on the day that Moses had finished.'" Rabbi Abahu said, "The trait of the Holy One, blessed be He, is not like the trait of flesh and blood. When a king of flesh and blood enters a province, it is after the people of the province praise him and honor him that he gives them satisfaction in the province. But the Holy One, blessed be He, is not like this. Before Israel [completed] the tabernacle, the Holy One, blessed be He, gave them the blessings. As it is stated, [first] 'May the Lord bless you and keep you'; and afterwards, 'And it was on the day that Moses had finished erecting the tabernacle.' Therefore David said (Psalms 85:9), 'Let me hear what God, the Lord, will speak; for He will speak peace to His people, His faithful ones.'"

21 The Seers (i.e., the prophets) were the ones who said the doubled letters, mantzepakh (mem, nun, tzadi, peh, and kaf, which are the letters that have a different form when they appear at the end of a word). [The doubling of kaf that is found in Genesis 12:1,] "Lekh lekha (Go for yourself)," hints to Avraham that he will father Yitschak at one hundred years [of age] (as the numerical value of these two words is one hundred). [The doubling of mem that is found in Genesis 26:16,] "ki atsamta memenu (as you have become more powerful than us)" is a hint [to Yitschak] that hints that he and his seed will be powerful in both worlds. The doubling of nun [that is found in Genesis 32:12,] "Hatsileini na (Save me)" [is a hint to] Yaakov, [that] he will be saved in both worlds. The doubling of peh [that is found in Exodus 3:15, is a hint to] Israel, to Moshe,"pakod pakadeti etchem (I have surely remembered you)." The doubling of tsadi [that is found in Zachariah 6:12,] "hinei eesh, Tsemach shemo, [ou'metachtav yitsmach] (behold, a man called Branch shall branch out from the place where he is,)" is [referring to] the Messiah. And so is it stated (Jermiah 23:5), "vahikimoti leDavid tsemach tsadeek [...] (and I will raise up a true branch of David [...])." "The leader of fifty" (Isaiah 3:3). Twenty-four books (of the Bible); add to them eleven of the thirteen [books of the minor prophets] - besides Yonah which is by itself - and six orders of the Mishnah and nine chapters of Torat Kohanim, behold fifty. "Sixty were the queens," (Song of Songs 6:8), sixty tractates; "and eighty were the concubines," eighty study halls that were in Jerusalem corresponding to its gates.; and maidens without number," the study outside. "Behold the bed of Shlomo, sixty warriors" (Song of Songs 3:7). [This corresponds to] the sixty letters of the priestly blessing (Numbers 6:24-26). Three hundred and eighteen [souls mentioned in Genesis 14:14 is the numerical equivalent of] Eliezer. "Inasmuch (ekev) as Avraham obeyed Me and kept My charge: My commandments, My laws, and My teachings" (Genesis 26:5) - he recognized him when he was three (the numerical equivalent of ekev, being three less than that of Avraham). The Satan (HaSatan) has the numerical equivalent of three hundred and sixty-four, the count of the days of the solar year that he rules over all of them to slander, excepting Yom Kippur. Rabbi Ami beiRabbi Abba said, "Avraham was missing five organs before he was circumcised and [before] he fathered. The [letter] hay (with a numerical value of five) was added [to his name] and he became complete and fathered [corresponding to the complete set of organs, two hundred and forty-eight], the numerical count of his letters." "A woman of valor is the crown of her husband" (Proverbs 12:4) - that is Sarah. Her name had been Sarai. Two Amoraim (later rabbinic teachers) differed. One said, "The [letter] yod (with a numerical count of ten that was taken from her) was divided into two, [to give] a hay to Avaraham and a hay to Sarah." And [the other] said, "The yod that was taken from Sarah raised a protest until Yehoshua came and Moshe added to him a yod - the Lord save you from the counsel of the [other] spies. [The significance of the letters in the name,] Yitschak [is as follows]: Yod (with a numerical count of ten) corresponds to the ten trials [of Avraham]. [The letter] tsadi (with a numerical count of ninety), [as] Sarah was ninety when he was born. [The letter] chet (with a numerical count of eight), [as] he was circumcised on the eighth day. And the letter kof (with a numerical count of one hundred), [as] Avraham was a hundred years old when he was born. Yaakov was called according to [the significance of the letters of] his [own] name: Yod [corresponds to] the tenth of his offspring going backwards. Count from (the last son), Binaymin to Levi - there are ten sons, [and Levi] was the tenth. [The letter] ayin (with a numerical count of seventy corresponds to the number of offspring he took to Egypt), "with seventy souls" (Deuteronomy 10:22). Kof corresponds to the [number of the] letters of the blessing [that he received minus the name of God, "And may He give you etc." (Genesis 27:28)]. [The letter] bet (with a numerical count of two) remains, corresponding to two angels (that he saw on the ladder in his dream) rising. There were six hundred and thirteen commandments in the tablets - corresponding to the letters from "I am" (Exodus 20:2) to "to your neighbor" (Exodus 20:14) - corresponding to the six hundred and thirteen commandments - no less and no more. And they were all given to Moshe at [Mount] Sinai; and in them are statutes and judgments, Torah and Mishnah, Talmud and aggadah. "The fear of the Lord is his treasure" (Isaiah 33:6). There is no greater characteristic than fear and humility, [as it is stated] (Deuteronomy 10:12), "And now Israel, what does the Lord, your God, ask of you besides to fear Him [...]." "The fear of" (Yirat) has a numerical value of six hundred and eleven; and Torah has a numerical value of six hundred and eleven - and Torah and fear [of God] along with them, behold that is six hundred and thirteen. [The numerical value of] fringes (tsitsit) [is six hundred] - the rabbis taught: [Add] eight [strings] and five [knots], behold that is six hundred and thirteen. The days of Avraham were one hundred and seventy-five years, [of] Yitzchak were one hundred and eighty years [and of] Yaakov were a hundred and forty-seven years. When you put them together, it is found to be five hundred and two years. And so is the distance of the the heavens to the earth, "like the the days of the heavens above the earth" (Deuteronomy 11:21). "[The man (David)] raised on high" (II Samuel 23:1) - [high (al) has a numerical value of one hundred] corresponding to one hundred blessings. As on every day, one hundred men of Israel were dying. [So] David came and ordained [the daily saying of] one hundred blessings. Once he ordained them, the pestilence ceased. High (al) [corresponds to] the yoke (ulah) of Torah and the yoke of suffering. "Forgive all guilt and take the good (tov) that we pay with the words of our lips" (Hosea 14:3). Israel said, "Master of the world, at the time that the Temple existed, we would offer a sacrifice and be cleansed. But now all we have in our hand is prayer." The numerical value of tov is seventeen. Prayer [consists of] nineteen blessings. Take away from them the blessing for the malfeasers that was composed at Yavneh, and "Let the sprout of David blossom," which they ordained after it for the sake of "Probe me, Lord, and try me" (Psalms 26:2). Rabbi Simon says, "Take tov [in at-bash (matching letters based on how close they are to the center of the alphabet), which is the same] as the numerical value of soul (nefesh). Israel said, 'At the time that the Temple existed, we would incinerate the fats and the innards and be cleansed. But now behold our fat, our blood and our souls. May it be Your will that it be atonement for us and "that we pay with the words of our lips" (Hosea 14:3).'" "And the Lord gave her conception (herayon)" (Ruth 4:13). [Herayon] has a numerical value of two hundred and seventy one (the number of the days of the nine months of birthing). The measure of the water of a mikveh (ritual bath) is forty seah [corresponding to the forty mentions] of well water, written in the Torah. And [the volume of] how many eggs is the measure of the mikveh? Five thousand seven hundred and sixty. Each seah is a hundred and forty-four eggs. Forty-three and a fifth eggs is the measure of [what is required for] challah [tithe]. And from where [do we know] that a mikveh requires forty seah? As it is written (Isaiah 8:6), "Since this nation has rejected the waters of Shiloach that flow gently (le'at)." The numerical value [of le'at] is forty. And one who separates the measure of the challah [tithe] must separate one part in forty three and a fifth from Torah writ like the [numerical] value of challah. The main categories of work [on Shabbat] are forty minus one (thirty-nine), as it is written (Exodus 35:1), "These (eleh) are the things which the Lord commanded." [The numerical count of] "eleh" is thirty-six; "things" (being plural) is two; "the things" [indicates an additional] one - behold, forty minus one. "He shall strike him forty, he shall not add" (Deuteronomy 25:3), corresponds to the forty curses that the snake, Chava, Adam and the ground were cursed - and the sages lessened one, because of "he shall not add." Those [judges] advocating innocence are more those advocating guilt. [For] it is best for the two to come and push off one. Seshach is Bavel (Babylon) [according to] its numerical value in at-bash. Tavel is Ramlah [according to] its numerical value in al-bam (another numerical scheme). "Thus (bezot) shall Aaron enter the shrine; with a bull of the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering" (Leviticus 16:3). Bezot (which has a numerical count of four hundred and ten) is a hint to the first Temple that stood for four hundred and ten years.

30) "and He blessed them": (The formula of) this blessing is undisclosed (here). Scripture discloses it elsewhere, viz. (Bamidbar 6:24-26): "The L–rd bless you and keep you; the L–rd cause His countenance to shine upon you and grant you favor; the L–rd lift His countenance unto you and confer peace upon you." (Vayikra 9:23): "And Moses and Aaron came into the tent of meeting": Why did Moses and Aaron come in together? (For Moses) to teach Aaron the service of the incense. But perhaps he entered for some other reason. I derive it (thus): Coming down (from offering sacrifices) entails a blessing (the priestly blessing) and coming in (to the tent of meeting) entails a blessing. Just as (the blessing upon) coming down follows a service (sacrificing), so, (the blessing upon) coming in (to the tent of meeting) follows a service (that of the incense [whence it is seen that they went in for that purpose and not for some other reason]). Whence is it derived that coming in entails a blessing? It follows a fortiori, viz.: Now if leaving (the tent of meeting), which does not require laving entails a blessing (viz. Vayikra 9:23: "And they went out and they blessed the people"), then coming in, which does require laving (viz. Shemoth 30:20) how much more so should it entail a blessing! — But why not reverse it! (viz.:) Now if coming in, which (we do not find) to entail a blessing, requires laving, then going out, which does entail a blessing, how much more so should it require laving! No — this may be so (that washing is required), for coming in, where he goes from the mundane to the holy. But would you say the same for going out, where he goes from the holy to the mundane! The "reversion," then, is nullified and we return to the original formulation, viz.: Coming down entails a blessing and coming in entails a blessing. Just as coming down follows a service, so coming in follows a service (that of the incense). Why, then, did Moses come in with Aaron? To teach him the service of the incense.

...Just as a vine has large and small clusters and the large ones hang lower, so too the Jewish people: Whoever labors in Torah and is greater in Torah, seems lower than their fellow [due to their humility]...

(Bamidbar 6:24) "The L-rd bless you": with the explicit blessing (Devarim 28:3-6) "Blessed shall you be in the city and blessed shall you be in the field … Blessed shall be your basket and your remainder. Blessed shall you be in your coming in and blessed shall you be in your going out." "The L-rd bless you": with possessions "and keep you": with possessions. R. Nathan says: May He bless you with possessions and keep you — in body. R. Yitzchak says "and keep you": from the evil inclination, as it is written (Proverbs 3:26) "For the L-rd will be with you in your trust, and He will guard your feet from entrapment." Variantly: "and keep you": from all evil, viz. (Psalms 121:4-7) "He neither slumbers nor sleeps, the Keeper of Israel … at your right hand … By day the sun … The L-rd will keep you from all evil." Variantly: "and keep you": from mazikkin (destructive agents), viz. (Ibid. 91:11) "For His angels will He charge for you to keep you in all your ways." Variantly: "and keep you": He will keep for you the covenant of your fathers, viz. (Devarim 7:12) "… then the L-rd your G-d will keep for you the covenant and the lovingkindness which He swore to your fathers." Variantly: "and keep you": He will keep for you the "end" (i.e., the time of redemption). And thus is it written (Isaiah 21:11-12) "A prophecy concerning Duma (Edom): He (Israel) calls to Me from Seir: 'Keeper, what of the night?' 'Keeper, what of the night?' The Keeper says: 'Morning is coming and also night, etc.'" Variantly: "and keep you": He will keep your soul at the time of death, viz. (I Samuel 25:29) "and my master's soul will be bound up (after death) in the bond of life." From this I would understand both (the soul of) the righteous and the wicked to be intended. It is, therefore, written (Ibid.) "but the soul of your foes will He hurl away from the hollow of a sling." Variantly: "and keep you": He will keep your feet from Gehinnom, viz.: (Ibid. 2:9) "He will keep (from Gehennom) the feet of His pious ones." Variantly: "and keep you": He will keep you in the world to come, viz. (Isaiah 4:31) "But those who trust in the L-rd will renew strength. They will lift their wings as eagles, etc."