Talmud sur Les Nombres 25:15

¹⁹⁹Sifry Num. 131–132 (Yalqut Hosea526). Slightly different formulations in Tanhuma Balaq 18, Num. rabba 20; Babli 106a. Referred to in Pirqe R. Eliezer 47. But what did the evil Bileam do? Because he counseled Balaq ben Ṣippor to fell Israel by the sword. He told him, the God of this people hates whoring. If you put up your daughters for whoring, you may rule over them. He answered, but will they listen to me? He told him, put your own daughter up, they will see and listen to you. That is what is written²⁰⁰Num. 25:15.: he is the head of related tribes in Midian. What did they do? They built dining rooms²⁰¹Latin coenaculum “upper storey room; dining room; garret”. Secondary Babli קלעים “partition wall, partition gobelin”. from Bet Hayyešimon²⁰²In the biblical text בית הישימות. to the Snow Mountain²⁰³The Hermon. and installed there women selling pastries. They put an old woman outside and a young girl inside. Israel were eating and drinking. If one of them went to stroll around, to buy himself something from the grocer, the old woman would offer to sell to him for the going price, but the girl told him, come and take it for less. This happened that first day, the second day, the third day. After that, she told him, from now on you are like a member of the family; enter and select for yourself. When he entered, there was a pitcher full of wine, of the strong Ammonite wine which seduces the body to whoring. Its smell was seething and (Gentile wine) [libation wine] was not yet forbidden for Israel²⁰⁴The text in parenthesis is the scribe’s original text, the one in brackets his correction. Formally, the original text is the only correct one. Wine used in idolatrous libations is forbidden for all usufruct as חֶרֶם, Deut. 13:18. The prohibition of the consumption of other Gentile wine is attributed to Daniel (Dan. 1:8); it is not Mosaic. The corrected text and its parallel sequel adopt popular language which calls יַיִן נֶסֶךְ what correctly should be called סְתָם יֵינָם “their unspecified wine”.. She told him, maybe you want to drink a cup of wine? He answered her, yes. She gave to him and he drank. When he drank, the wine was burning in him like a viper’s poison²⁰⁵Read כריסה.; he told her, consent to me. She told him, do you want me to consent to you? He answered, yes. Immediately she took out a shape of Peˋor from her bosom and told him, bow down before this one and I shall consent to you. But he answered her, should I bow down before foreign worship? She told him, you do not bow down, you only strip for it. This is what the Sages said²⁰⁶Mishnah 7:12 (Notes 238,239)., “one who defecates in front of Baal Peˋor follows its worship. One who throws a stone at a statue of Mercury follows its worship.” ²⁰⁷Duplication of previous text. There was a pitcher full of wine, of the strong Ammonite wine which seduces the body to whoring. Its smell was seething and libation wine was not yet forbidden for Israel. She told him, maybe you want to drink a cup of wine? He answered her, yes. She gave to him and he drank. When he drank, the wine was burning in him like a viper’s poison²⁰⁵Read כריסה.; he told her, consent to me. She told him, do you want me to consent to you? He answered, yes. She told him, make a vow to deny the teachings of Moses and I shall consent to you. That is what is written²⁰⁸Hos.9:10.: They came to Baal-Peˋor, made vows for the shame, and turned into abominations like their love life.

Rabbi Shimon would say: There are three crowns: the crown of Torah, the crown of priesthood, the crown of kingship – and the crown of a good name is the greater than all of them.
How does the crown of priesthood work? Even if someone paid all the silver and gold in the world, we could not give him the crown of priesthood, as it says (Numbers 25:15), “It will be for him and his descendants after him an eternal covenant of priesthood.” For the crown of kingship as well; even if someone paid all silver and gold in the world, we could not give him the crown of kingship, as it says (Ezekiel 37:24), “My servant David shall be their prince for all time.” But the crown of Torah is different. For anyone who wishes to partake in the work of Torah may come and partake, as it says (Isaiah 55:1), “Ho, all who are thirsty, go to the water!” That is, go and labor in words of Torah and do not occupy yourself with meaningless things.
There is a story of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai: He would regularly go and visit the sick. He once came upon somebody who was bloated due to intestinal illness, and was cursing God. Rabbi Shimon said: Empty one! You ought to be begging for mercy, and instead you are cursing? The man replied: The Holy Blessed One has departed from me and rested on you. And then he said: The Holy Blessed One has done properly by me, for I have left aside words of Torah and occupied myself with meaningless things.
There is a story of Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar: He was once coming from Migdal Eder, from his teacher’s house, and he was riding on a donkey. He was traveling along the coast, and he spotted somebody who was quite ugly. He said: Empty one, how ugly you are! Are all the people in your city as ugly as you? The man replied: What can I do about it? Go to the Artisan who made me and say to Him, How ugly is this vessel You made! When Rabbi Shimon realized that he had sinned, he got off his donkey and prostrated himself before the man. And he said: I have sinned against you. Forgive me. But the man replied: I will not forgive you until you go to the Artisan who made me and say, How ugly is this vessel You made! Rabbi Shimon followed after him for three mil. All the people in the city came out to greet him, and then said: Peace be upon you, Rabbi! The man said: Whom are you calling Rabbi? They said: The one who is traveling behind you. He said to them: If that is a rabbi, may there be no more like him in Israel! They said to him: God forbid! What did he do to you? He told them: Such-and-such he did to me. They said to him: Even so, forgive him! He said: I hereby forgive [him], but only if he does not continue doing this. On that day, Rabbi Shimon went to his great study hall and taught: A person should always be soft like a reed, and not rigid like a cedar. For the reed, when all the winds come and blow against it, moves in their direction. But when the winds quiet down, the reed returns to its place. That is why the reed merited to be made into a quill that is used to write a Torah scroll. But the cedar does not stay in its place; when the southern wind comes and blows against it, it uproots the tree and flips it over. And then what happens to the cedar? [Woodcutters come along and chop it up, and take from it to build houses and then] throw the rest into the fire. And that is why they say: A person should always be soft like a reed, and not rigid like a cedar.