תָּשֵׁ֣ב אֱ֭נוֹשׁ עַד־דַּכָּ֑א וַ֝תֹּ֗אמֶר שׁ֣וּבוּ בְנֵי־אָדָֽם׃
Engkau mengembalikan manusia sampai ia remuk, lalu Engkau berfirman, “Kembalilah, hai anak-anak manusia.”
Bereshit Rabbah
“In the beginning, God created” – six items preceded the creation of the world; some of them were [actually] created, and some of them God contemplated creating, [though He did not actually do so]. The Torah and the Throne of Glory were created. Torah, from where is it derived? As it is stated: “The Lord made me15The speaker is Wisdom (the Torah) personified. at the beginning of His way” (Proverbs 8:22). The Throne of Glory, from where is it derived? “Your throne stands firm from earliest time, [You are from eternity]” (Psalms 93:2). The patriarchs, Israel, the Temple, and the name of the messianic king – God contemplated creating them [before the world, but did not]. The patriarchs, from where is it derived? “Like grapes in the wilderness [I found Israel, like a first fruit on the fig tree, at its beginning [bereshitah] I saw your fathers]” (Hosea 9:10). Israel, from where is it derived? “Remember Your congregation, that You acquired from old times” (Psalms 74:2). The Temple, from where is it derived? “Throne of glory, exalted from the beginning, [is the place of our Temple]” (Jeremiah 17:12). The name of the messianic king, from where is it derived? “May his name endure forever. His name is praised before the sun”16The Midrash expounds “before” to mean prior to. (Psalms 72:17). Rabbi Ahava ben Rabbi Ze’eira said: Repentance as well, as it is stated: “Before the birth of mountains” (Psalms 90:2), and at that same time, “You bring man down until he is crushed, [and then You say: Return, sons of man]” (Psalms 90:3).
But I do not know which of them17The two things that were actually created before the world. was first – did the Torah precede the Throne of Glory, or did the Throne of Glory precede the Torah? Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: The Torah preceded the Throne of Glory, as it is stated: “The Lord made me at the beginning of His way, [before His undertakings of old times]” (Proverbs 8:22) – before that in whose regard it is written: “Your throne stands firm from earliest time” (Psalms 93:2).
Rabbi Huna and Rabbi Yirmeya said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Rabbi Yitzḥak: The contemplation about [creating] Israel preceded all other things. This is analogous to a king who married a noblewoman, but did not have a son from her. Once the king was found passing in the marketplace. He said: ‘Take this ink and inkwell for my son.’ Everyone was saying: ‘He has no son and yet he says: Take this ink and inkwell for my son?’ Then they said: ‘The king is a great astrologer, had it not been that he is destined to beget a son from her, he would not have said: Take this ink and inkwell for my son.’ So, too, had it not been that the Holy One blessed be He foresaw that after twenty-six generations Israel was destined to receive the Torah, He would not have written in the Torah: “Command the children of Israel”; “speak to the children of Israel.”
Rabbi Banai said: The world and its contents were created only due to the merit of the Torah, as it is stated: “The Lord founded the earth with wisdom [beḥochma]”18Beḥochma could also be translated “for the sake of wisdom” – wisdom, throughout Proverbs, refers to the Torah. Similarly, the Midrash is interpreting Bereshit as “for the sake of Reshit” – God created the heavens and the earth for the sake of that which is called Reshit. (Proverbs 3:19). Rabbi Berekhya said: It was due to the merit of Moses, as it is stated: “He saw the first [reshit] for himself, [as there the portion of the lawgiver is hidden]” (Deuteronomy 33:21).19Moses, the lawgiver, is called Reshit, the first one.
Rav Huna said in the name of Rav Matana: The world was created for the sake of three things: For the sake of ḥalla, for the sake of tithes, and for the sake of first fruits. What is the source? “In the beginning, [bereshit]20Or, for the sake of reshit. God created,” and reshit is nothing other than ḥalla, as it is stated: “The first of [reshit] your kneading basket” (Numbers 15:20). Reshit is nothing other than tithes, as it says: “The first [reshit] of your grain” (Deuteronomy 18:4). And reshit is nothing other than first fruits, as it is stated: “The choicest of [reshit] the first fruits of your land…” (Exodus 23:19).
But I do not know which of them17The two things that were actually created before the world. was first – did the Torah precede the Throne of Glory, or did the Throne of Glory precede the Torah? Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: The Torah preceded the Throne of Glory, as it is stated: “The Lord made me at the beginning of His way, [before His undertakings of old times]” (Proverbs 8:22) – before that in whose regard it is written: “Your throne stands firm from earliest time” (Psalms 93:2).
Rabbi Huna and Rabbi Yirmeya said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Rabbi Yitzḥak: The contemplation about [creating] Israel preceded all other things. This is analogous to a king who married a noblewoman, but did not have a son from her. Once the king was found passing in the marketplace. He said: ‘Take this ink and inkwell for my son.’ Everyone was saying: ‘He has no son and yet he says: Take this ink and inkwell for my son?’ Then they said: ‘The king is a great astrologer, had it not been that he is destined to beget a son from her, he would not have said: Take this ink and inkwell for my son.’ So, too, had it not been that the Holy One blessed be He foresaw that after twenty-six generations Israel was destined to receive the Torah, He would not have written in the Torah: “Command the children of Israel”; “speak to the children of Israel.”
Rabbi Banai said: The world and its contents were created only due to the merit of the Torah, as it is stated: “The Lord founded the earth with wisdom [beḥochma]”18Beḥochma could also be translated “for the sake of wisdom” – wisdom, throughout Proverbs, refers to the Torah. Similarly, the Midrash is interpreting Bereshit as “for the sake of Reshit” – God created the heavens and the earth for the sake of that which is called Reshit. (Proverbs 3:19). Rabbi Berekhya said: It was due to the merit of Moses, as it is stated: “He saw the first [reshit] for himself, [as there the portion of the lawgiver is hidden]” (Deuteronomy 33:21).19Moses, the lawgiver, is called Reshit, the first one.
Rav Huna said in the name of Rav Matana: The world was created for the sake of three things: For the sake of ḥalla, for the sake of tithes, and for the sake of first fruits. What is the source? “In the beginning, [bereshit]20Or, for the sake of reshit. God created,” and reshit is nothing other than ḥalla, as it is stated: “The first of [reshit] your kneading basket” (Numbers 15:20). Reshit is nothing other than tithes, as it says: “The first [reshit] of your grain” (Deuteronomy 18:4). And reshit is nothing other than first fruits, as it is stated: “The choicest of [reshit] the first fruits of your land…” (Exodus 23:19).
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer
Whence do we know that this applies to the Torah? Because it is said, "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old" (Prov. 8:22). "Of old" means before the world was created. Whence do we know this with regard to the Garden of Eden? Because it is said, "And the Lord God planted a garden of old" (Gen. 2:8). "Of old," whilst as yet the world had not been created. Whence do we know this with reference to the Throne of Glory? Because it is said, "Thy throne is established of old" (Ps. 93:2). "Of old," whilst as yet the world had not been created. Whence do we know that Repentance (was premundane)? Because it is said, "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world" (Ps. 90:2); and then in close proximity (we read), "Thou turnest man to contrition" (Ps. 90:3). "Before," i.e. before || the world was created. Whence do we know this with regard to the Temple? Because it is said, "A glorious throne, set on high from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary" (Jer. 17:12). "From the beginning," whilst as yet the world had not been created. Whence we do know that the name of the Messiah (was premundane)? Because it is said, "His name shall endure for ever; before the sun Yinnôn was his name" (Ps. 72:17). "Yinnôn," before the world had been created. Another verse says, "But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, which art to be least among the thousands of Judah, from thee shall he come forth unto me who is to be ruler over Israel; whose ancestry belongs to the past, even to the days of old" (Mic. 5:2). "The past," whilst as yet the world had not been created.
Ruth Rabbah
“Stay tonight, and it will be, in the morning, if he will redeem you, good, he will redeem; but if he will be unwilling to redeem you, I will redeem you, as the Lord lives, lie until the morning” (Ruth 3:13).
“Stay tonight” – tonight you are lying without a man, but you will not lie another night without a man. “It will be in the morning, if he will redeem you, good, he will redeem; but if he will be unwilling to redeem you…” Rabbi Meir was sitting and expounding in the study hall in Tiberias, and Elisha his teacher was passing through the marketplace riding a horse on Shabbat. They said to Rabbi Meir: Elisha your teacher is coming and passing in the marketplace. He emerged to him. [Elisha] said to him: ‘In what were you engaged?’ He said: ‘“The Lord blessed the latter period of Job more than his beginning”’ (Job 42:12).’ [Elisha] said: ‘What did you say in its regard?’ He said: ‘“Blessed” [indicates that] He doubled his property for him.’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘Akiva your teacher did not say so; rather, the Lord blessed the latter period of Job due to his beginning, thanks to the repentance and good deeds that he had to his credit initially.’
[Elisha] said to him: ‘What else did you say to them?’ [Rabbi Meir said:] ‘“The end of a matter is better than its beginning”’ (Ecclesiastes 7:8). [Elisha] said to him: ‘What do you say in its regard?’ He said to him: ‘There can be a person who purchases merchandise in his youth and he loses, and [he purchases again] in his old age and he profits. Alternatively, “the end of a matter is better than its beginning,” there can be a person who performs evil deeds in his youth and in his old age he performs good deeds. Alternatively, “the end of a matter is better than its beginning,” there can be a person who studies Torah in his youth and forgets it and he reviews it in his old age; that is: “The end of a matter is better than its beginning.”’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘Akiva your teacher did not say so; rather, “the end of a matter is good,” when it was good from “its beginning.”
‘There was an incident involving me. My father Avuya was one of the prominent leaders of the generation. When he came to circumcise me, he invited all the prominent residents of Jerusalem, and he invited Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua among them. When they had eaten and drunk, some began to sing songs and others recited alphabetical poems. Rabbi Eliezer said to Rabbi Yehoshua: ‘These are engaged in theirs, but we are not engaged in ours.’ They began with Torah, and from Torah to Prophets, and from Prophets to Writings, and the matters were as joyous as when they were given from Sinai. Fire began burning around them. During their actual giving at Sinai, were they not given in fire? As it is stated: “The mountain burned with fire until the heart of the heavens” (Deuteronomy 4:11). [Avuya] said: Since the power of Torah is so great, this son, if he endures, I will devote him to Torah. Because his intention was not for the sake of Heaven, my Torah did not endure in me.’
[Rabbi Meir said to Elisha:] ‘What do you say regarding [the verse]: “Gold and glass cannot equal it” (Job 28:17)?’ He said to him: ‘What do you say in its regard?’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘These are matters of Torah that are as difficult to acquire as gold vessels and are as easily lost as glass.’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘Akiva your teacher did not say so. Rather, just as vessels of gold and glass, if they are broken, can be repaired. So, too, a Torah scholar who forgot his learning can recover it.’
[Elisha] said to [Rabbi Meir]: ‘Go back.’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘Why?’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘The Shabbat boundary extends [only] to here.’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘How do you know?’ [Elisha] said: ‘From the [number of] steps my horse [has taken, I can tell] that it has already gone two thousand cubits.’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘You have all this wisdom and yet you do not repent?’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘I do not have the strength.’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘Why?’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘I was riding my horse and sauntering behind a synagogue on Yom Kippur that coincided with Shabbat, and I heard a divine voice thundering and saying: “Repent wayward children” (Jeremiah 3:22), “Return to Me and I will return to you” (Malachi 3:7), except for Elisha ben Avuya, who was aware of My might but rebelled against Me.’
From where did he adopt this course of action?213Why did Elisha abandon his religious observance? They said: One time, he was sitting and studying in the Geinosar Valley and he saw a certain person who climbed to the top of a palm tree and took the mother bird and the fledglings, and he climbed down unharmed. After Shabbat, he saw a certain person who climbed to the top of a palm tree, took the fledglings and sent away the mother bird. He climbed down and was bitten by a snake and died. [Elisha] said: ‘It is written: “Send away the mother and take the fledglings for yourself, so it will be good for you and you will prolong your days” (Deuteronomy 22:7). Where is the goodness for this one? Where are the prolonged days for this one?’ But he did not know that Rabbi Akiva had publicly expounded on it: “So it will be good for you,” in the world that is entirely good; “and you will prolong your days,” in the world that is entirely long.214The World to Come.
Some say, it was because he saw the tongue of Rabbi Yehuda the baker in the mouth of a dog. He said: ‘If for the tongue that toiled in Torah all his days it is so, for a tongue that does not know and does not toil in Torah, all the more so.’ He said: ‘If so, there is no reward given to the righteous and no revival of the dead.’ Some say, it was because when his mother was pregnant with him, she passed houses of idol worship. She smelled [the offering they had sacrificed in their idolatrous rite] and they gave her from that food and she ate it. It was seething in her stomach like the venom of a serpent.215Because Elisha’s mother had eaten from the idolatrous sacrifice, Elisha had an ingrained desire for sin (Etz Yosef).
Years passed and Elisha ben Avuya fell ill. They came and said to Rabbi Meir: ‘Elisha your teacher is ill.’ He went to him. [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘Repent.’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘Is [repentance] accepted even in such [circumstances]?’ Rabbi Meir said to him: ‘But is it not written: “You turn man to contrition [daka] [and say: Return, son of man]” (Psalms 90:3) – until his soul is crushed?’216The term daka can mean contrition or crushed. Thus, the verse is interpreted to mean that God wants man to repent even if it is at the very end of his life. At that moment Elisha ben Avuya cried, and he died. Rabbi Meir was joyful. He said: ‘It appears that my teacher departed in repentance.’
When they buried him, fire came to burn his grave. They came and said to Rabbi Meir: ‘The grave of your teacher is burning.’ He emerged and spread his garment over it. [Rabbi Meir] said to [Elisha]: “Stay tonight,” (Ruth 3:13) in this world that is entirely night. “It will be in the morning, if he will redeem you, good, he will redeem” (Ruth 3:13). “It will be in the morning,” – in the world that is entirely good. “If he will redeem you, good, he will redeem,” – this is the Holy One blessed be He, as it is stated: “The Lord is good to all” (Psalms 145:9). “But if he will be unwilling to redeem you, I will redeem you, as the Lord lives, lie until the morning” (Ruth 3:13).217Rabbi Meir is requesting that Elisha be allowed to rest in peace as long as he himself is alive. When Rabbi Meir dies, he will advocate on behalf of Elisha. [The fire] subsided.
They said to [Rabbi Meir]: ‘Our teacher, in the World to Come, if they say to you: What do you request,218For whom would you request protection from punishment. your father or your teacher, what will you say?’ [Rabbi Meir] said: ‘My father and then my teacher.’ They said to him: ‘Will they listen to you?’ He said: ‘Is it not a mishna: “One may rescue the casing of a scroll with the scroll, and the casing of phylacteries with the phylacteries” (Shabbat 16:1)? They will rescue Elisha due to the merit of his Torah.’219Just as the casing is saved from fire on Shabbat due to the scroll, Elisha should be saved due to his Torah. Years later, [Elisha’s] daughters came and demanded charity from Rabbeinu.220Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi He said: “Let no one extend kindness to him; and let no one be gracious to his orphans” (Psalms 109:12). They said: ‘Rabbi, do not look at his actions, look at his Torah.’ At that moment, Rabbi wept and decreed that they should be supported. If one whose Torah was not for the sake of Heaven produced such,221Produced such a disciple as Rabbi Meir; alternatively, produced daughters with such wisdom and modest comportment (Etz Yosef). one whose Torah is for the sake of Heaven, all the more so.
Rabbi Yosei said: There are three whose evil inclination came to attack them, but each and every one of them outdid it with an oath. These are Joseph, David, and Boaz. Joseph, as it is written: “How can I perform this great wickedness [and sin to God]?” (Genesis 39:9). Rabbi Ḥunya in the name of Rabbi Idi: Is this verse lacking? “I will sin to the Lord,” is not written here, but rather, “I will sin to God [Elohim].”222The Bible generally refers to sinning before the Lord rather than sinning before God. Elohim appears as an expression of oath in the language of the Sages..and said: ‘By God! I will not sin, and I will not perform this great wickedness.’
David, from where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “David said: As the Lord lives; rather the Lord will smite him” (I Samuel 26:10).223The verse is David’s response to the suggestion of Avishai ben Tzeruya that he kill Saul. Saul had come with an armed force to kill David, but David and Avishai had sneaked into their camp and could easily have killed Saul. To whom did he take an oath? Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman, Rabbi Elazar said: He took an oath to his evil inclination. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: He took an oath to Avishai ben Tzeruya. He said to him: ‘As the Lord lives, if you touch him, I will mix your blood with his blood.’
Boaz, from where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “As the Lord lives, lie until the morning” (Ruth 3:13). Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Ḥunya, Rabbi Yehuda says: That entire night his evil inclination was agitating him and saying: ‘You are single and seeking a wife and she is single and seeking a husband. Arise and consort with her and she will become your wife.’ He took an oath to his evil inclination and said: ‘As the Lord lives, I will not touch her.’ He said to the woman: “Lie until the morning… if he will redeem you, good, he will redeem.” Rabbi Ḥunya said: “A wise man is strong [baoz]” (Proverbs 24:5), a wise man is Boaz. “And a man of knowledge increases strength” (Proverbs 24:5), but he outdid his evil inclination with an oath.
“Stay tonight” – tonight you are lying without a man, but you will not lie another night without a man. “It will be in the morning, if he will redeem you, good, he will redeem; but if he will be unwilling to redeem you…” Rabbi Meir was sitting and expounding in the study hall in Tiberias, and Elisha his teacher was passing through the marketplace riding a horse on Shabbat. They said to Rabbi Meir: Elisha your teacher is coming and passing in the marketplace. He emerged to him. [Elisha] said to him: ‘In what were you engaged?’ He said: ‘“The Lord blessed the latter period of Job more than his beginning”’ (Job 42:12).’ [Elisha] said: ‘What did you say in its regard?’ He said: ‘“Blessed” [indicates that] He doubled his property for him.’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘Akiva your teacher did not say so; rather, the Lord blessed the latter period of Job due to his beginning, thanks to the repentance and good deeds that he had to his credit initially.’
[Elisha] said to him: ‘What else did you say to them?’ [Rabbi Meir said:] ‘“The end of a matter is better than its beginning”’ (Ecclesiastes 7:8). [Elisha] said to him: ‘What do you say in its regard?’ He said to him: ‘There can be a person who purchases merchandise in his youth and he loses, and [he purchases again] in his old age and he profits. Alternatively, “the end of a matter is better than its beginning,” there can be a person who performs evil deeds in his youth and in his old age he performs good deeds. Alternatively, “the end of a matter is better than its beginning,” there can be a person who studies Torah in his youth and forgets it and he reviews it in his old age; that is: “The end of a matter is better than its beginning.”’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘Akiva your teacher did not say so; rather, “the end of a matter is good,” when it was good from “its beginning.”
‘There was an incident involving me. My father Avuya was one of the prominent leaders of the generation. When he came to circumcise me, he invited all the prominent residents of Jerusalem, and he invited Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua among them. When they had eaten and drunk, some began to sing songs and others recited alphabetical poems. Rabbi Eliezer said to Rabbi Yehoshua: ‘These are engaged in theirs, but we are not engaged in ours.’ They began with Torah, and from Torah to Prophets, and from Prophets to Writings, and the matters were as joyous as when they were given from Sinai. Fire began burning around them. During their actual giving at Sinai, were they not given in fire? As it is stated: “The mountain burned with fire until the heart of the heavens” (Deuteronomy 4:11). [Avuya] said: Since the power of Torah is so great, this son, if he endures, I will devote him to Torah. Because his intention was not for the sake of Heaven, my Torah did not endure in me.’
[Rabbi Meir said to Elisha:] ‘What do you say regarding [the verse]: “Gold and glass cannot equal it” (Job 28:17)?’ He said to him: ‘What do you say in its regard?’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘These are matters of Torah that are as difficult to acquire as gold vessels and are as easily lost as glass.’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘Akiva your teacher did not say so. Rather, just as vessels of gold and glass, if they are broken, can be repaired. So, too, a Torah scholar who forgot his learning can recover it.’
[Elisha] said to [Rabbi Meir]: ‘Go back.’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘Why?’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘The Shabbat boundary extends [only] to here.’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘How do you know?’ [Elisha] said: ‘From the [number of] steps my horse [has taken, I can tell] that it has already gone two thousand cubits.’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘You have all this wisdom and yet you do not repent?’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘I do not have the strength.’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘Why?’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘I was riding my horse and sauntering behind a synagogue on Yom Kippur that coincided with Shabbat, and I heard a divine voice thundering and saying: “Repent wayward children” (Jeremiah 3:22), “Return to Me and I will return to you” (Malachi 3:7), except for Elisha ben Avuya, who was aware of My might but rebelled against Me.’
From where did he adopt this course of action?213Why did Elisha abandon his religious observance? They said: One time, he was sitting and studying in the Geinosar Valley and he saw a certain person who climbed to the top of a palm tree and took the mother bird and the fledglings, and he climbed down unharmed. After Shabbat, he saw a certain person who climbed to the top of a palm tree, took the fledglings and sent away the mother bird. He climbed down and was bitten by a snake and died. [Elisha] said: ‘It is written: “Send away the mother and take the fledglings for yourself, so it will be good for you and you will prolong your days” (Deuteronomy 22:7). Where is the goodness for this one? Where are the prolonged days for this one?’ But he did not know that Rabbi Akiva had publicly expounded on it: “So it will be good for you,” in the world that is entirely good; “and you will prolong your days,” in the world that is entirely long.214The World to Come.
Some say, it was because he saw the tongue of Rabbi Yehuda the baker in the mouth of a dog. He said: ‘If for the tongue that toiled in Torah all his days it is so, for a tongue that does not know and does not toil in Torah, all the more so.’ He said: ‘If so, there is no reward given to the righteous and no revival of the dead.’ Some say, it was because when his mother was pregnant with him, she passed houses of idol worship. She smelled [the offering they had sacrificed in their idolatrous rite] and they gave her from that food and she ate it. It was seething in her stomach like the venom of a serpent.215Because Elisha’s mother had eaten from the idolatrous sacrifice, Elisha had an ingrained desire for sin (Etz Yosef).
Years passed and Elisha ben Avuya fell ill. They came and said to Rabbi Meir: ‘Elisha your teacher is ill.’ He went to him. [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘Repent.’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘Is [repentance] accepted even in such [circumstances]?’ Rabbi Meir said to him: ‘But is it not written: “You turn man to contrition [daka] [and say: Return, son of man]” (Psalms 90:3) – until his soul is crushed?’216The term daka can mean contrition or crushed. Thus, the verse is interpreted to mean that God wants man to repent even if it is at the very end of his life. At that moment Elisha ben Avuya cried, and he died. Rabbi Meir was joyful. He said: ‘It appears that my teacher departed in repentance.’
When they buried him, fire came to burn his grave. They came and said to Rabbi Meir: ‘The grave of your teacher is burning.’ He emerged and spread his garment over it. [Rabbi Meir] said to [Elisha]: “Stay tonight,” (Ruth 3:13) in this world that is entirely night. “It will be in the morning, if he will redeem you, good, he will redeem” (Ruth 3:13). “It will be in the morning,” – in the world that is entirely good. “If he will redeem you, good, he will redeem,” – this is the Holy One blessed be He, as it is stated: “The Lord is good to all” (Psalms 145:9). “But if he will be unwilling to redeem you, I will redeem you, as the Lord lives, lie until the morning” (Ruth 3:13).217Rabbi Meir is requesting that Elisha be allowed to rest in peace as long as he himself is alive. When Rabbi Meir dies, he will advocate on behalf of Elisha. [The fire] subsided.
They said to [Rabbi Meir]: ‘Our teacher, in the World to Come, if they say to you: What do you request,218For whom would you request protection from punishment. your father or your teacher, what will you say?’ [Rabbi Meir] said: ‘My father and then my teacher.’ They said to him: ‘Will they listen to you?’ He said: ‘Is it not a mishna: “One may rescue the casing of a scroll with the scroll, and the casing of phylacteries with the phylacteries” (Shabbat 16:1)? They will rescue Elisha due to the merit of his Torah.’219Just as the casing is saved from fire on Shabbat due to the scroll, Elisha should be saved due to his Torah. Years later, [Elisha’s] daughters came and demanded charity from Rabbeinu.220Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi He said: “Let no one extend kindness to him; and let no one be gracious to his orphans” (Psalms 109:12). They said: ‘Rabbi, do not look at his actions, look at his Torah.’ At that moment, Rabbi wept and decreed that they should be supported. If one whose Torah was not for the sake of Heaven produced such,221Produced such a disciple as Rabbi Meir; alternatively, produced daughters with such wisdom and modest comportment (Etz Yosef). one whose Torah is for the sake of Heaven, all the more so.
Rabbi Yosei said: There are three whose evil inclination came to attack them, but each and every one of them outdid it with an oath. These are Joseph, David, and Boaz. Joseph, as it is written: “How can I perform this great wickedness [and sin to God]?” (Genesis 39:9). Rabbi Ḥunya in the name of Rabbi Idi: Is this verse lacking? “I will sin to the Lord,” is not written here, but rather, “I will sin to God [Elohim].”222The Bible generally refers to sinning before the Lord rather than sinning before God. Elohim appears as an expression of oath in the language of the Sages.
David, from where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “David said: As the Lord lives; rather the Lord will smite him” (I Samuel 26:10).223The verse is David’s response to the suggestion of Avishai ben Tzeruya that he kill Saul. Saul had come with an armed force to kill David, but David and Avishai had sneaked into their camp and could easily have killed Saul. To whom did he take an oath? Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman, Rabbi Elazar said: He took an oath to his evil inclination. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: He took an oath to Avishai ben Tzeruya. He said to him: ‘As the Lord lives, if you touch him, I will mix your blood with his blood.’
Boaz, from where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “As the Lord lives, lie until the morning” (Ruth 3:13). Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Ḥunya, Rabbi Yehuda says: That entire night his evil inclination was agitating him and saying: ‘You are single and seeking a wife and she is single and seeking a husband. Arise and consort with her and she will become your wife.’ He took an oath to his evil inclination and said: ‘As the Lord lives, I will not touch her.’ He said to the woman: “Lie until the morning… if he will redeem you, good, he will redeem.” Rabbi Ḥunya said: “A wise man is strong [baoz]” (Proverbs 24:5), a wise man is Boaz. “And a man of knowledge increases strength” (Proverbs 24:5), but he outdid his evil inclination with an oath.