Malaquías 3:16 Referencias del Talmud: Jerusalem Talmud Peah, Jerusalem Talmud Megillah, Avot DeRabbi Natan & Berakhot

The¹⁹⁰The first clause of this paragraph is also in the Tosephta and Babli mentioned in Note 186. The second part is different both in the Babli and the Tosephta which both make a difference between good deeds that produced yield and those that did not. The Tosephta clearly represents the position of the Babli. Holy One, praise to Him, adds good intention to deeds; the Holy One, praise to Him, does not add bad intention to deeds. The Holy One, praise to Him, adds good intention to deeds as it is written (Mal. 3:16): “Then those who fear the Eternal will speak together, each man with his neighbor¹⁹¹The proof is from the part of the verse not quoted: “The Eternal will be attentive and listen and write it into a book of remembrance before Him,” simply for the good intention..” The Holy One, praise to Him, does not add bad intention to deeds (Ps. 66:12): “If I saw mischief in my heart, the Eternal would not listen.” That refers to Israel, but for Gentiles it is the reverse; the Holy One, praise to Him, does not add good intention; bad intention the Holy One, praise to Him, does add. The Holy One, praise to Him, does not add good intention, as it is written (Dan. 6:15): “Until sundown he tried to rescue him;” it does not say “to save him¹⁹²Even though the first part of the verse, not quoted here, declares that Darius tried to save Daniel from the lions’ den..” The Holy One, praise to Him, adds bad intention: (Obad. 9–10) “From killing¹⁹³In the masoretic text, the word belongs to the previous verse, stating that nobody from Mount Seïr will escape being killed. Here the word is taken as explanation of the following verse.. Because of the oppression of your brother Jacob.” But did he kill him? This teaches that he thought about killing him and the verse counts it as if he had killed him.

¹⁵⁴Babli 7a. Rebbi Jeremiah in the name of Rebbi Samuel bar Rav Isaac: What did Mordocai and Esther do? They wrote a letter and sent to our rabbis¹⁵⁵The established rabbinate in the Holy Land, the only one authorized to decree practices valid everywhere.. So they said to them, do you accept upon yourselves these two days every year? They answered them, are not the troubles which come upon us enough, that you want to add to ours the trouble of Haman? They insisted and wrote them a second letter; that is what is written¹⁵⁶Esth. 9:29., to confirm to them this second [Purim]letter. What was written in it? They told them, if this is your fear, already it is written and deposited in Archives¹⁵⁷Greek ’αρχεῑον.: are these not written in the annals of the kings of Media and Persia¹⁵⁸Esth. 10:2.. Rebbi Samuel bar Naḥman in the name of Rebbi Jonathan: 85 Elders and among them more than 30 prophets¹⁵⁹In Babli sources: 120 Elders. were sorry about this matter. They said, it is written¹⁶⁰Lev. 27:34. Quoted in the same sense in the Babli Šabbat 104a, Yoma 80b, Temurah 16b.: These are the commandments which the Eternal commanded to Moses. These are the commandments which we were commanded by Moses’s saying. So did Moses say to us: No other prophet will reveal to you anything afterwards. And Mordocai and Esther want to introduce something new¹⁶¹Since from the middle of Chapter 9 to the end of the Scroll the rules of Purim are written to be interpreted as biblical laws. This cannot be compared to Ḥanukkah which is a purely rabbinical time of remembrance. Writing new rules of biblical status is a clear violation of the prohibition neither to add nor to subtract(Deut. 4:2). This is a sufficient reason for Sadducees to reject the scroll and the attendant questionable activities.? They did not move from there but discussed [the matter]¹⁶²Corrector’s addition in Babylonian style. until the Holy One, praise to Him, illuminated their eyes and they found it written in the Torah, in Prophets, and in Hagiographs. This is what is written¹⁶³Ex. 17:14., the Eternal said to Moses, write this in a book for remembrance. This is the Torah, as you are saying, this is the Torah which Moses put before the Children of Israel¹⁶⁴Deut. 4:44.. Remembrance are the Prophets, a book of remembrance is being written before Him for those who fear the Eternal,¹⁶⁵Mal. 3:16. etc. In a book are the Hagiographs, Esther’s word confirmed the matter of these Purim days and it was written in a book¹⁶⁶Esth. 9:32..

When two people sit together and engage in Torah, their reward is accrued on High – as it says (Malachi 3:16), “Then the God-fearing people spoke together, every man to his fellow,¹The expression “every man to his fellow” implies two people. and the Eternal listened.” And who are these God-fearing people? It is those who make a public proclamation, saying: We must go and release prisoners and redeem the captives. Then the Holy Blessed One provides for them and they are able to go and accomplish this immediately. And who are those that “think of God’s name” (the end of the verse in Malachi 3:16)? These are the people who just think silently in their hearts: We should go and release the prisoners and redeem the captives. The Holy Blessed One does not provide for them, and an angel comes along and smacks them to the ground.