Midras Mazmur 105:39: Kohelet Rabbah, Bamidbar Rabbah, Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael & Midrash Tanchuma Buber

“Cast your bread on the surface of the water, for after many days you will find it (Ecclesiastes 11:1).
“Cast your bread on the surface of the water” – Rabbi Beivai said: If you sought to perform charity, perform it with those who toil in Torah study, as water stated here is nothing other than words of Torah, as it is stated: “Anyone thirsty, go to water” (Isaiah 55:1).¹This verse is interpreted as using the term water to refer to Torah, as implied by the continuation: “Incline your ear and come to Me, hear and your soul shall live” (Isaiah 55:3). Rabbi Akiva said: When I was coming by sea, I saw a ship that sank in the sea, and I was very sorry about a certain Torah scholar who was on it and [must have] drowned. When I arrived at the province of Kapotkeya, I saw him, that he was sitting before me and asking questions. I said to him: ‘My son, how did you ascend from the sea?’ He said: ‘Rabbi, due to your prayer, each wave cast me to another, and another to another until they caused me to reach dry land.’ I said to him: ‘My son, what deeds do you have to your credit?’ He said: ‘When I boarded the ship, a certain unfortunate man encountered me. He said to me: Perform charity for me, and I gave him a loaf. He said to me: Just as you gave me my life with your gift, so may your life be given to you.’ I read in his regard: “Cast your bread on the surface of the water.”
There was an incident involving a certain large ship that set sail in the Mediterranean Sea. The wind took hold of it and brought it to a place where there was no flowing water.²The water currents in that location swirled in such a way that the ship was unable to progress. When they realized that they were in serious trouble, they said: Let us share our supplies. If we die, all of us will die. If we live, all of us will live. The Omnipresent enlightened their eyes and they took a goat, roasted it, and suspended it on the west side of the ship. A great beast came after its aroma and began dragging [the ship] until it cast it into flowing water and they traveled on. When they arrived and entered Rome, they recounted the incident to Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua. They read in their regard: “Cast your bread on the surface of the water.”
Bar Kappara was digging³Some commentaries contend that the text should read: Bar Kappara was strolling (Matnot Kehuna; Etz Yosef). on the coast at Caesarea. He saw a ship that had sunk in the sea and a governor ascending from it unclothed. When [bar Kappara] saw him, he approached him, inquired after his welfare, and gave him two sela. What [else] did he do? He took him into his house, fed him, gave him to drink, and gave him an additional three sela. He said to him: ‘A prominent man like you will [need to] spend an additional three sela.’ Sometime later, Jews were incarcerated in Safefasa. They said: ‘Who will go and appease [the authorities] on our behalf?’ They said to each other: ‘Bar Kappara, as he is esteemed by the government.’ He said to them: ‘You know that this kingdom does nothing for free.’ They said to him: ‘There are five hundred dinars here; take them and appease them on our behalf.’ He took five hundred dinars and ascended to the governmental authorities. When the governor saw him, [the governor] stood on his feet and inquired after his welfare. [The governor] said to him: ‘Why did the Rabbi trouble himself to come here?’ [Bar Kappara] said to him: ‘I am requesting from you that you have mercy on these Jews.’ [The governor] said to him: ‘You know that this kingdom does nothing for free.’ [Bar Kappara] said to him: ‘I have with me five hundred dinars. Take them and be appeased in our regard.’ [The governor] said to him: ‘Let these dinars be payment to you for the five sela that you gave me, and [the members of] your nation will be freed in exchange for the food and the drink that you fed me and gave me to drink in your house, and go you in peace, with great honor.’ They read in his regard: “Cast your bread on the surface of the water.”
Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua was strolling on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. He saw a ship that was being tossed in the sea, and in an instant, it sank along with everything that was on it. He saw one man who was sitting on one of the planks of the ship. [His plank was tossed] from one wave to another; he ascended to dry land when he was naked, and he hid on the seacoast. It was the season when Jews ascend to Jerusalem for the pilgrimage festival. He said to them: ‘I am from the descendants of Esau your brother. Give me some minimal garments, and I will cover my nakedness, as the sea stripped me bare and I was left with nothing.’ They said to him: ‘May your entire nation be stripped bare in this manner.’ He lifted his eyes and saw Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua strolling among them. He said: ‘I see that you are an elderly and respected man in your nation, and you are wise in the ways of the dignity of people. Perform charity for me and give me a covering, for the sea stripped me bare.’ Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua had on him seven cloaks. He removed one and gave it to him. He led him to his house, fed him, gave him to drink, gave him two hundred dinars, transported him fourteen parasangs, and accorded him great honor until he brought him into his [own] house.
Sometime later, the evil emperor died, and they appointed a king in his place. He decreed on that province that all the men were to be executed and all the women to be plundered.⁴The new king was the man who had been saved from the ship. He issued the decree because the Jews of that province had treated him so poorly in his time of need. They said to Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua: ‘Go and appease them on our behalf.’ He said to them: ‘You know that this kingdom does nothing for free.’ They said to him: ‘There are four thousand dinars here; take them and appease them on our behalf.’ He took them and ascended, and stood at the gate of the royal palace.
He said to them: ‘Go and say to the king: One Jewish man is standing at the gate and he wishes to ask after the welfare of the king.’ [The king] said: ‘Bring him in.’ When the king saw him, he threw himself off his throne and fell on his face. He said: ‘What business does my master have here, and why did my master trouble himself to come here?’ [Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua] said: ‘It is so you will have mercy on that province and abrogate that decree.’ He said to him: ‘Is there any untruth written in the Torah?’ He said to him: ‘No.’ He said to him: ‘Is it not written in your Torah: “An Amonite and a Moavite shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 23:4)? Why? “Because they did not greet you with bread and with water” (Deuteronomy 23:5). And it is written: “Do not despise an Edomite, as he is your brother” (Deuteronomy 23:8). Am I not a descendant of Esau your brother?⁵The Edomites were descendants of Esau. This man was Roman, and the Sages identified Rome as descendants of the Edomites. But they did not treat me with kindness. One who violates the Torah incurs liability to be executed.’
Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua said to him: ‘Even though they have incurred liability toward you, pardon them and have mercy on them.’ He said to him: ‘You know that this kingdom does nothing for free.’ He said to him: ‘I have with me four thousand dinars. Take them and have mercy on them.’ He said to him: ‘Let these four thousand be given to you in exchange for the two hundred that you gave me, and the entire province will be pardoned because of you, in exchange for the food and the drink that you fed me and gave me to drink. Go into my treasury and take for yourself seven cloaks of garments in exchange for the cloak that you gave to me. Go in peace to your people, and I will pardon them because of you.’ They read in his regard: “Cast your bread on the surface of the water.”
There was an incident involving a certain man who each day would take one loaf and cast it into the Mediterranean Sea. One day he went and purchased a fish. He cut it open and found a jewel in it. They said to him: This is the man who received a return for his loaves. They read in his regard: “Cast your bread on the surface of the water.”
Rabbi Yitzḥak said: There was an incident involving a merchant who was walking along the way along with a certain soldier. As they were walking together they developed a fondness for one another. When they entered the city, [the merchant] brought him in with him, fed him, and gave him to drink. Sometime later this merchant was arrested for selling garments stained with blood.⁶The suspicion was that he had attacked travelers and stolen their garments. That soldier heard, and he came to him. He said to [the merchant]: ‘What are you doing here?’ [The merchant] recounted the incident to him. [The soldier] said to him: ‘When you go out to be tried, say to them that so-and-so knows to speak in my favor.’ When he went out to be tried, he said: ‘So-and-so knows to speak in my favor.’ They said to [the soldier]: ‘What favorable [considerations] do you know about this [individual]?’ He said to them: ‘The brother of someone who was killed owed me [money], but he did not have anything to give. He gave me his⁷The garments of his dead brother. garments, and I gave them to this one to sell them for me.’ They said: ‘A trustworthy one received it from a trustworthy one,’ and he was freed. They read in his regard: “Cast your bread on the surface of the water.”
Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Simai interpreted it regarding Abraham our patriarch. The Holy One blessed be He said to him: You said: “I will take a loaf of bread [and you shall sustain your heart]” (Genesis 18:5); by your life, I will repay your descendants in the wilderness, in the settlement, and in the future. In the wilderness, as it is stated: “Behold I will rain bread down to you from the heavens” (Exodus 16:4). In the settlement, as it is stated: “A land of wheat and barley” (Deuteronomy 8:8). And in the future as it is stated: “There will be an abundance of grain in the land” (Psalms 72:16).
You said: “And wash your feet” (Genesis 18:4); by your life, I will repay your descendants in the wilderness, in the settlement, and in the future. In the wilderness, as it is stated: “I will wash you in water…” (Ezekiel 16:9).⁸The verse means that God cleansed them of the impurity of Egypt. In the settlement, as it is stated: “Wash and be purified” (Isaiah 1:16). And in the future as it is stated: “When the Lord will have washed away the excrement of the daughters of Zion” (Isaiah 4:4).
You said: “Please let a little water be taken” (Genesis 18:4); by your life, I will repay your descendants in the wilderness, in the settlement, and in the future. In the wilderness, as it is stated: “Arise, well, [give voice for it]” (Numbers 21:17).⁹Israel recited this expression of praise and gratitude for the miraculous well that provided water for them in the wilderness. In the settlement, as it is stated: “A land of streams of water…” (Deuteronomy 8:7). And in the future as it is stated: “It will be on that day, the mountains will drip nectar and the hills will flow with milk; all the streams of Judah will flow with water…” (Joel 4:18).
You said: “Recline under the tree” (Genesis 18:4); by your life, I will repay your descendants in the wilderness, in the settlement, and in the future. In the wilderness, as it is stated: “He spread a cloud for a screen” (Psalms 105:39). In the settlement, as it is stated: “You shall dwell in booths seven days; every native in Israel shall dwell in booths” (Leviticus 23:42). And in the future as it is stated: “It will be a shelter for shade by day…” (Isaiah 4:6).

Another matter: “The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai” – that is what the verse said: “You, the generation, see the word of the Lord: Have I been a wilderness for Israel or a land of deep darkness?…” (Jeremiah 2:31). The Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: ‘Because you said to Moses: “Why did you take us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness?” (Numbers 21:5). Was I like a wilderness for Israel; did I act with them like in the wilderness? The way of the world is that a king of flesh and blood who goes out to the wilderness, does he find tranquility there as he would find it in the palace, or eating or drinking? You were slaves in Egypt and I took you out of there; I lay you down on fine beds,’ as it is stated: “God led the people roundabout [vayasev] via the wilderness” (Exodus 13:18). What is vayasev?¹ This root can also mean to recline on a bed. The midrash interprets vayasev as a verb meaning that he caused them to recline. It is that he lay them down in the manner of kings, recumbent upon their beds. Did I not place three caretakers for them: Moses, Aaron, and Miriam? Due to the merit of Moses you would eat the manna that the holy fathers did not see, as it is stated: “He fed you the manna that you did not know, and your fathers did not know” (Deuteronomy 8:3). Due to the merit of Aaron, I surrounded you with the clouds of glory, as it is stated: “He spread a cloud like a curtain” (Psalms 105:39).
How many clouds of glory surrounded Israel in the wilderness? Rabbi Hoshaya and Rabbi Yoshiya: Rabbi Yoshiya said: Five; four in the four directions, and one going before them. Rabbi Hoshaya said: Seven; four in the four directions of the heavens, one above them, one below them, and one going before them at a distance of three days, and it would strike the snakes, the scorpions, the serpents, and the boulders before them. If there was a low place, it would elevate it; if it was an elevated place, it would lower it and render it a plain, as it is stated: “Every valley will be elevated, and every mountain and hill will be lowered” (Isaiah 40:4). The well was due to the merit of Miriam, who recited song at the sea, as it is stated: “Miriam called to them: Sing to the Lord” (Exodus 15:21), and regarding the water of the well: Then Israel sang this song” (Numbers 21:17).
Rabbi Berekhya HaKohen said in the name of Rabbi Levi: A king of flesh and blood who has a province and he dispatched prominent people into it to conduct their affairs and administer their justice, who must be responsible for their sustenance? Is it not the residents of that province who must be responsible for them? But the Holy One blessed be He did not do so. Rather, he dispatched Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, as it is stated: “I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.” (Micah 6:4), and yet, it was due to their merit that [the people] were sustained. The manna was due to the merit of Moses. Know that it is due to the merit of Moses; when Moses departed, “The manna ceased on the following day” (Joshua 5:12). The clouds of glory were due to the merit of Aaron. From where do we derive it? When Aaron departed, what is written: “The spirit of the people became restive on the way” (Numbers 21:4), as the sun was beating down on them. The well was due to the merit of Miriam. What is written? “Miriam died there and was buried there” (Numbers 20:1). What is written thereafter? “There was no water for the congregation” (Numbers 20:2). Of what was the well constituted? It was a boulder. It was like a beehive, and it would roll and come with them on their journeys. When the banners would encamp and the Tabernacle would stand, that boulder would come and settle in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting. The princes would stand over it and say: “Rise, well” (Numbers 21:17). Then I brought you the quails. “Have I been a wilderness for Israel” (Jeremiah 2:31) – did I conduct myself with you like a wilderness? Or was I “a land of deep darkness” (Jeremiah 2:31) – was it not I, by My own hand that I illuminated for you, as it is stated: “The Lord was going before them by day…[to illuminate for them]” (Exodus 13:21).
Another matter: “Or a land of mapelya” (Jeremiah 2:31) – what is mapelya? Did I, perhaps, say to you that I am bringing good for you and I delayed it? Mapelya is nothing other than delay, as it is states: “But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, as they ripen late [afilot]” (Exodus 9:32).²The "p" in mapelya and the "f" in afilot represent the same Hebrew letter. No matter that the Holy One blessed be He said to Israel was lacking, as Joshua said: “Nothing of all the good things that the Lord spoke to the house of Israel was lacking; everything came about” (Joshua 21:43).
“Why did My people say: We separated from You [radnu]; [we will not come to You any longer]?” (Jeremiah 2:31) – what is radnu? It is the language of the Mishna: One who removes [harodeh] hot bread.³Terumot 10:3. Israel said: When the bread is baked in the oven and removed from it, can it be affixed in the oven again? We were in His hand like in an oven, as it is stated: “An oven for Him in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 31:9), and He exiled us to Babylon. What more can He ask from us?⁴After the exile there were those who said that just as the baked bread cannot be returned to the oven, so too the exiled Israelites cannot be reconnected to God (Maharzu).
Another matter: “Why did My people say: We separated from You [radnu]; we will not come to You any longer?” (Jeremiah 2:31) – what is radnu? It is just as it says: “For he ruled [rodeh] the entire region beyond the river” (I Kings 5:4). They said to Him: ‘You smashed the Temple, removed Your Divine Presence from us. What do you want from us? “We will not come to You any longer.”’ He said to them: ‘If only I were in the wilderness now. Where are all the miracles that I performed on your behalf?’ Likewise He says: “Would that I would be in the wilderness, in a wayfarers’ lodge, and I would leave my people…” (Jeremiah 9:11), where I would be lauded, as it is stated: “Let the wilderness and its cities raise their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits; rock dwellers will sing” (Isaiah 42:11). This is analogous to a prince who entered a province, and the residents of the province saw him and fled. He entered the second, and they fled from before him. He entered a city in ruins, and they greeted him and were lauding him. The prince said: This city is better than all the provinces. Here I will build a fine throne; here I will reside. So, when the Holy One blessed be He came to the sea, it fled from before Him, as it is stated: “The sea saw and fled” (Psalms 114:3), and likewise, “the mountains danced like rams” (Psalms 114:4). He came to the desolate wilderness; it greeted Him and lauded Him, as it is stated: “Let the wilderness and its cities raise their voice, with courtyards inhabited by Kedar; rock dwellers will sing.” He said: This city is better for Me than all the provinces. In it, I will build an inn and reside within it. They began rejoicing that the Holy One blessed be He resides in it, as it is stated: “Wilderness and wasteland will be glad, [and the desert shall rejoice]” (Isaiah 35:1).

(Exodus, Ibid. 21) "And the L–rd went before them by day": We are hereby taught that as one metes it out to others, so is it meted out to him. Abraham accompanied the ministering angels, viz. (Genesis 18:16) "And Abraham went with them to escort them, and the L–rd accompanied his children in the desert for forty years, viz.: "And the L–rd went before them by day with a pillar of cloud." Of our father Abraham it is written (Genesis, Ibid. 5) "And I will take a piece of bread," and the Holy One Blessed be He brought down the manna for forty years, viz. (Exodus 16:4) "Behold, I shall rain down bread for you, etc." Of Abraham it is written (Genesis, Ibid.) "Let there be taken now a little water, etc.", and the Holy One Blessed be He raised for His children a well in the desert, viz. (Numbers 21:17) "Bring up, O well — sing to it." Of Abraham it is written (Genesis, Ibid. 7) "And to the herd Abraham ran," and the Holy One Blessed be He flew in quail for his children, as it is written (Numbers 11:31) "And a wind went forth from the land and flew in quail from the sea." Of Abraham it is written (Genesis, Ibid. 4) "And recline under the tree," and the Holy One Blessed be He spread out for his children seven clouds of glory," as it is written (Psalms 105:39) "He spread out a cloud for shelter and a fire to illumine the night." Of Abraham it is written (Genesis, Ibid. 8) "and he stood over them," and the Holy One Blessed be He defended his children in Egypt, that they not be smitten, viz. (Exodus 12:23) "and the L–rd will skip over the door, etc."