Midrash sobre Números 21:19

[Another interpretation (of Exod. 6:2): SO GOD SPOKE UNTO MOSES]. This text is related (to Eccl. 7:7): FOR OPPRESSION (rt.: 'SQ) MAKES A WISE ONE FOOLISH,… When the wise person occupies himself (rt.: 'SQ) with a lot of everyday affairs (rt.: 'SQ),⁶The interpreter feels free to treat as equivalent the Hebrew letters sin and samekh, both of which produce an English s sound. they distract him from wisdom.⁷Tanh., Exod. 2:5; Exod. R. 6:2. (Ibid., cont.:) AND A GIFT WILL DESTROY THE HEART. Whatever is called a gift (MTNH) destroys <the Torah> from one's heart, because it is stated (in Numb. 21:19): FROM A GIFT (MTNH) <CAME> GOD'S HERITAGE (of Torah).⁸The usual interpretation of this text from Numb. 21:19 would be translated, “From Mattanah (MTNH) to Nahaliel”; but by reinterpreting the unvoweled words, Tanhuma (Buber) understands them to mean that Israel received the heritage of Torah as a gift. Thus (as explained in Exod. R. 6:2) the receiving of any other so-called gift would be contrary to the nature of Torah. Another interpretation (of Eccl. 7:7): FOR OPPRESSION (rt.: 'SQ) MAKES A WISE ONE FOOLISH. <In regard to> being busy (rt.: 'SQ), when the wise person occupies himself (rt.: 'SQ) in community affairs, they make him forgetful of wisdom.⁹Centuries earlier, Philo, De Specialibus Legibus, III, 1–6, had expressed similar sentiments. R. Joshua ben Levi said: I learned sixty halakhot from R. Judah ben Pedayah on the plowing of a grave; but, because I engaged (rt.: 'SQ) in community affairs, I forgot all of them. Ergo (in Eccl. 7:7); FOR OPPRESSION (rt.: 'SQ) MAKES <A WISE ONE> FOOLISH,…

...“…directed toward Your habitation, which You made, O Lord…” (Exodus 15:17) This is one of the places which indicate that the throne above is aligned with the throne below, as it says “So says the Lord, The heavens are My throne, and the earth is My footstool…” (Isaiah 66:1) And it says “And He said to me, Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet…” (Ezekiel 43:7) and “The Lord is in His Holy Temple. The Lord-His throne is in Heaven…” (Tehillim 11:4) and “I have surely built You a house to dwell in…” (Kings 8:13) The Holy Temple is beloved before He Who Spoke and Brought the World Into Being. All of the world was created only with the speech of the Holy One, as it says “By the word of the Lord, the heavens were made…” (Tehillim 33:6) but when He built the Holy Temple it was, so to speak, through His action ‘which You made, O Lord.’ Oy to the nations of the world, whose ears heard that the Holy Temple is called an action in relation to the One Who Spoke and Brought the World Into Being and destroyed it. The one who said “…Raze it, raze it, down to its foundation!” (Tehillim 137:7) What does He say? “And you prophesy to them all these words, and you shall say to them: The Lord shall roar from above, and from His Holy Habitation He shall give forth His voice; He shall roar over His habitation… A stirring has come until the end of the earth, for God has a controversy with the nations…” (Jeremiah 25:30-31)

(Exodus, Ibid.) "in the mountain of Your inheritance": in the mountain that You promised us, viz. (Ezekiel 20:40) "on My holy mountain, the mountain of the heights of Israel (i.e., the Temple), etc." Four are called "inheritance": the Temple — viz. "in the mountain of Your inheritance." Eretz Yisrael — viz. (Devarim 15:4) "in the land which the L rd Your G d gives You as an inheritance." Torah — viz. (Numbers 21:19) "And from Matanah ('the gift' [of Torah]) Nachaliel ('the inheritance of the L rd'"). Israel — viz. (Yoel 4:2) "My people and My inheritance, Israel." The Holy One Blessed be He said: Let Israel, who are called "inheritance," come to Eretz Yisrael, which is called "inheritance," and build the Temple, which is called "inheritance," in the merit of Torah, which is called "inheritance." Thus — "in the mountain of Your inheritance." (Ibid.) (the sanctuary ["which You have wrought, O L rd"]): Beloved is the Temple by Him who spoke and brought the world into being. For when the Holy One Blessed be He created the world, He did so by pronouncement, viz. (Psalms 33:6) "By the word of the L rd the heavens were made," but the creation of the Temple was by act, viz.