Midrash sobre Daniel 12:2

We are taught in a Baraitha: The school of Shammai says: "Three classes of people appear on the day of Judgment: the perfectly righteous, the grossly wicked, and the intermediate class. The sentence of eternal life is promptly written and sealed for the perfectly righteous; the sentence of Gehenna is promptly written and sealed for the grossly wicked; as it is said (Dan. 12, 2) And many of them that sleep in the dust shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. The intermediate class descend to Gehenna (Fol. 17), but they weep and come up again, as it is said (Zech. 13, 9) And I will bring the third part through the fire, and I will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried; and he shall call on My name, and I will answer him. Concerning this last class of men Hannah said (I Sam. 2, 6) The Lord causeth to die and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up again." But the school of Hillel says: "And He who abounds in kindness inclines [the scale of justice] towards the side of kindness. Concerning this third class of men David said (Ps. 116, 1) It is lovely to me that the Lord heareth my voice; in fact, David applies to them the entire chapter, including Thou hast delivered my soul from death (Ib. 8)." Jews who sin with their bodies as well as non-Jews who sin with their bodies, descend to Gehenna, and their punishment is to be in Gehenna for a period of twelve months; after that time their bodies are destroyed and their souls burnt, and the winds scatter and turn their ashes under the soles of the feet of the righteous, as we read (Mal. 3223) And ye shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be as ashes under the soles of your feet; but as for heretics, informers, Epicureans (disbelievers) who deny the Torah or resurrection, or who separate themselves from the congregation, or those (rulers) who tyrannize the land of the living, or who sin and cause others to sin, as did Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and his associates, — they all descend to Gehenna, and are judged there from generation to generation; as it is said (Is. 66, 24) And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men who have transgressed against Me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched. Even when Gehenna will be destroyed, they will not be consumed, as it is said (Ps. 49, 15) And their forms wasteth away in the nether world. But, why to that extent? Because they laid their hands on the Temple; as it is said: "From their own dwelling. Mi-zbul; and the word z'bul refers to the Temple, as it is said (I Kings 8, 3) I have indeed built a dwelling place (z'bitl) for Thee. It is said above: Concerning them said Hannah, The Lord causeth to die and maketh alive." R. Isaac b. Abin said: "Their faces are black like the sides of a caldron;" while Raba remarked: "Those who are now the handsomest of the people of Mechuzza will yet be called the children of Gehenna."

(12) We are taught in a Baraitha: The school of Shammai says: "Three classes of people appear on the day of Judgment: the perfectly righteous, the grossly wicked, and the intermediate class. The sentence of eternal life is promptly written and sealed for the perfectly righteous; the sentence of Gehenna is promptly written and sealed for the grossly wicked; as it is said (Dan. 12, 2) And many of them that sleep in the dust shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. The intermediate class descend to Gehenna (Fol. 17), but they weep and come up again, as it is said (Zech. 13, 9) And I will bring the third part through the fire, and I will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried; and he shall call on My name, and I will answer him. Concerning this last class of men Hannah said (I Sam. 2, 6) The Lord causeth to die and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up again." But the school of Hillel says: "And He who abounds in kindness inclines [the scale of justice] towards the side of kindness. Concerning this third class of men David said (Ps. 116, 1) It is lovely to me that the Lord heareth my voice; in fact, David applies to them the entire chapter, including Thou hast delivered my soul from death (Ib. 8)." Jews who sin with their bodies as well as non-Jews who sin with their bodies, descend to Gehenna, and their punishment is to be in Gehenna for a period of twelve months; after that time their bodies are destroyed and their souls burnt, and the winds scatter and turn their ashes under the soles of the feet of the righteous, as we read (Mal. 3223) And ye shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be as ashes under the soles of your feet; but as for heretics, informers, Epicureans (disbelievers) who deny the Torah or resurrection, or who separate themselves from the congregation, or those (rulers) who tyrannize the land of the living, or who sin and cause others to sin, as did Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and his associates, — they all descend to Gehenna, and are judged there from generation to generation; as it is said (Is. 66, 24) And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men who have transgressed against Me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched. Even when Gehenna will be destroyed, they will not be consumed, as it is said (Ps. 49, 15) And their forms wasteth away in the nether world. But, why to that extent? Because they laid their hands on the Temple; as it is said: "From their own dwelling. Mi-zbul; and the word z'bul refers to the Temple, as it is said (I Kings 8, 3) I have indeed built a dwelling place (z'bitl) for Thee. It is said above: Concerning them said Hannah, The Lord causeth to die and maketh alive." R. Isaac b. Abin said: "Their faces are black like the sides of a caldron;" while Raba remarked: "Those who are now the handsomest of the people of Mechuzza will yet be called the children of Gehenna."

“The king said to her: What troubles you, Queen Esther, and what is your request… Esther said: If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet… The king said: Hasten Haman…The king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared…Haman emerged on that day joyful and glad of heart, but upon Haman’s seeing Mordekhai at the king’s gate, and he did not stand, and he did not move on his account, Haman became filled with fury…Haman restrained himself…and brought his supporters and Zeresh his wife, etc.” (Esther 5:3–5; 8–10).
Among all of them, there was no one capable of giving counsel like Zeresh his wife. He [Haman] had three hundred and sixty-five advisers, corresponding to the days of the solar year. His wife said to him: The person [Mordekhai] about whom you are asking, “If he is of the progeny of the Jews…you will not prevail against him” (Esther 6:13) – unless you approach him with cleverness, with [a strategy] that has never been attempted against members of his nation. If you drop him into a fiery furnace, Ḥananya and his cohorts have already been rescued [from it]; if [you place him in] the lions’ den, Daniel already emerged from it. If you incarcerate him in prison, Joseph already emerged from it. If you ignite a fire in a vat beneath him, Menashe [king of Judah] already pleaded, and the Holy One blessed be He acceded to his plea and he emerged from it. If you exile him to the wilderness, his ancestors already procreated in the wilderness, and they were confronted with numerous ordeals and passed them all and were rescued. If you blind his eyes, Samson took numerous Philistine lives when he was blind. Rather, hang him on a gibbet, as no member of his people has survived it.
Immediately, “the matter was pleasing to Haman and he prepared the gibbet” (Esther 5:14). From what tree was that gibbet crafted? The Rabbis said: When he came to prepare it, the Holy One blessed be He called to all the trees of Creation: ‘Who will give [of its wood] so this wicked one [Haman] will be hanged on it?’
The fig said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel brings first fruits from me. Moreover, Israel was likened to the first fruits [of a fig]; that is what is written: “Like a first fruit on a fig tree in its first season”’ (Hosea 9:10).
The grapevine said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; that is what is written: “You transported a vine from Egypt”’ (Psalms 80:9).
The pomegranate said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; as it is stated: “Your temple is like a pomegranate slice”’ (Song of Songs 4:3).
The nut said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was likened to me; that is what is written: “I have descended to the nut garden”’ (Song of Songs 6:11).
The citron said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel takes from me for a mitzva; that is what is written: “You shall take for you on the first day the fruit of a pleasant tree…”’¹This verse refers to the mitzva to take the four species on Sukkot. Rabbinic tradition identifies the “pleasant tree” as the citron. (Leviticus 23:40).
The myrtle said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; as it is stated: “And he was standing among the myrtles”’ (Zechariah 1:8).
The olive said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; as it is stated: “The Lord called your name a flourishing olive-tree, fair of fruit and form”’ (Jeremiah 11:16).
The apple said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; as it is stated: “Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the boys” (Song of Songs 2:3), and as it is written: “And the fragrance of your face like apples”’ (Song of Songs 7:9).
The palm said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; that is what is written: “This, your stature, is likened to a palm”’ (Song of Songs 7:8).
Acacia trees and cypress trees said: ‘We will give of ourselves, as the Sanctuary was crafted and the Temple was constructed from us.’
The cedar and the date said: ‘We will give of ourselves, as we are analogized to the righteous, as it is stated: “The righteous man flourishes like a palm tree; like a cedar in Lebanon he grows tall”’ (Psalms 92:13).
The willow says: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me, as it is stated: “Like willows by streams of water” (Isaiah 44:4); and they take from me for the mitzva of the four species in the lulav.’
At that moment, the thorn said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, I, who have nothing to ascribe [litlot] to myself, I will give of myself, and that impure one will be hanged [veyitaleh]. My name is thorn, and he [Haman] is a painful thorn; it is appropriate for a thorn to be hanged on a thorn.’ They found [suitable wood from a thorn] and erected [the gibbet].
When they brought it before Haman, he prepared it at the entrance to his house and measured himself on it to show his servants how Mordekhai should be hanged on it. A divine voice replied to him: ‘The tree is suitable for you; this tree has been prepared for you since the six days of Creation.’ The Rabbis there [i.e. Babylonia] say: Where in the Torah is there [an allusion] to Haman? It is, as it is stated: “Was it from the tree [hamin haetz]” (Genesis 3:11), which is expounded to read: Haman haetz.
Another matter: “it was on the third day” (Esther 5:1). Israel is never subject to trouble for more than three days, as in Abraham’s regard it is written: “On the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place from a distance” (Genesis 22:4). The tribes, “he gathered them into custody for three days” (Genesis 42:17). Jonah, as it is stated: “Jonah was in the innards of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 2:1). And the dead will live only after three days, as it is stated: “On the third day He will raise us” (Hosea 6:2).²At the resurrection of the dead, all will be revived for the day of judgement, when some will be granted “eternal life,” and others will receive “reproaches and everlasting abhorrence” (Daniel 12:2). The midrash here is stating that the righteous will experience the anxiety of the impending judgement for three days before they are granted eternal life. This miracle, too, transpired after three days of their fasting; that is what is written: “It was on the third day, that Esther donned royalty” (Esther 5:1). She sent and invited Haman to a banquet with the king on the fifteenth of Nisan. Once they ate and drank, Haman said: ‘The king promotes me, his wife honors me, and there is no one in the kingdom greater than I am,’ and his heart was overjoyed; that is what is written: “Haman emerged on that day joyful and glad of heart” (Esther 5:9).

R. Juda said in the name of Rab: "He who withholds from imparting an Halacha to a disciple is considered as if he would rob him of the inheritance of his ancestors, for it is said (Deut. 33, 4) The law which Moses commanded us is the inheritance of the congregation of Israel. Hence the law is considered as an inheritance to all Israel since the creation of the world." R. Chana b. Bizna, in the name of R. Simon the Pious said: "He who withholds (or denies) the explanation of an Halacha to a disciple, even the embryos in the entrails of their mothers, curse him, as it is said (Prov. 11, 26) Him that withholdeth corn, (Fol. 92) (l'om) the people will (ye'kabuhu) denounce, and the word l'am refers to embryos, as it is said (Num. 23, 8) How shall I denounce (Kabo) whom God … , and Bar means the Torah, as it is said (Ps. 2) And if one do teach." What will be his reward for such? Raba, in the name of R. Shesheth, said: "He will be rewarded with the blessing with which Joseph was blessed, as it is said (Pr. 11, 26) But blessing will be heaped upon the head of the one (Mashbir) that selleth it, and Mashbir refers to Joseph; as it is said (Gen. 48, 6) And Joseph, he was the governor over the land, he it was that sold corn to all the people." R. Shesheth said again: "He who teaches the Torah in this world will be rewarded by teaching it in the world to come, as it is said (Prov. 11, 25) He that refresheth [others] will do the same in the future." Mar Zutra said: "Whence do we infer the resurrection from the Torah? It is said (Deut. 33, 6) May Reuben live, and not die, i.e., he may live in this world, and not die in the world to come." Rabina says: From the following (Dan. 12, 2) And many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to disgrace and everlasting abhorrence. And R. Ashi said: From (Ib. ib. 13) But thou, go [thy way] toward the end; and thou shalt rest, and arise for thy lot at the end of the days. R. Elazar said: "A leader of a congregation, who leads them humbly, will be rewarded by leading the same in the world to come, as it is said (Is. 49, 10) For he that hath mercy on them will lead them, and by springs of water will he guide them." R. Elazar said again: "Wisdom is of great importance, as it was placed between two divine names (I Sam. 2, 3) For a God of knowledge is the Lord." Another thing said R. Elazar: "Every man who possesses wisdom may consider himself as if the Temple were built in his days, as both wisdom and temple are placed between two divine names." R. Elazar said further: "He who possesses no knowledge does not merit that one should have mercy upon him, as it is said (Is. 27, 11) For it is not a people of understanding; therefore he that made it will not have compassion upon it, and he that formed them will not be gracious unto them." R. Elazar said also: "He who feeds one who does not possess any knowledge, will suffer as a reward for it, as it is said (Ob. 1, 7) They that eat thy bread have struck thee secretly a wound, there is no understanding in them." R. Elazar said again: "A man that has no knowledge will finally be exiled, as it reads (Is. 5, 13) Therefore are my people led into exile, for want of knowledge."