Midrash su Deuteronomio 32:50

From the parashah (in Numb. 20:25–27): TAKE AARON <AND HIS SON ELEAZAR> […,] AND STRIP AARON [….: SO MOSES DID AS THE LORD COMMANDED. <This parashah> has come to teach you that, even though he had spoken to him a harsh commandment against his brother, he did not hesitate.³See above, Numb. 6:40. The Holy One said to Moses: Say to your brother Aaron: Your time has arrived to pass away from the world. Immediately Moses stood before the Holy One in prayer and said: Sovereign of the World, how shall I say to my brother: Your time has arrived. The Holy One said to him: I have already decreed a decision over him, that has not been decreed over anyone else, in that I will not deliver him into the hand of the angel of death on the same day that he stopped the plague (in Numb. 17:8–13 [6:43–48]). Now their custom was this: Every day the princes would rise and come early to the doorway of Eleazar; Eleazar and the princes < would go> to the doorway of Aaron; and Aaron, Eleazar, and the princes would go early to the doorway of Moses. On this day, however, Moses changed the custom. He along with Eleazar and the Princes went early to the doorway of Aaron. Aaron said to him: Brother Moses, Why did you change the custom? Moses said to him: This is what the Holy One has commanded me. Now this was the order in which they went: Moses in the middle with Aaron to his right and Eleazar to this left. But when Israel saw that, they said to each other: The Holy Spirit has been taken from Moses and given to Aaron! Also Israel loved Aaron more than Moses, because Moses had said: Let justice take its course, while Aaron had brought peace between a person and his friend, also between a husband and his wife. Moreover, if he heard about anyone in the world who wanted to commit some transgression at night, he would go out on the road; and when he found him, he would say to him: My child, why are you walking on the road? People may suspect you of things that are evil. But you, my child, are a good person; and you stem from a good and distinguished family. Thus he would warn him and bring him back from an the evil way. So all Israel, men and women, loved Aaron. Therefore our masters of blessed memory have said (in Avot 1:12): BE ONE OF THE DISCIPLES OF AARON, LOVING PEACE AND PURSUING PEACE, LOVING MORTALS AND DRAWING THEM NEAR TO THE TORAH. For that reason (in Numb. 20:29): THEN ALL THE CONGREGATION SAW THAT AARON HAD DIED, AND THE WHOLE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, men and women, MOURNED AARON FOR THIRTY DAYS. But in reference to Moses, it is written (in Deut. 34:8): AND THE SONS OF ISRAEL, men only, MOURNED MOSES ON THE PLAINS OF MOAB FOR THIRTY DAYS. Now on that day Aaron said to Moses: Tell me, my brother, what do you need from me? He said to him: Wait until we ascend the mountain. After they had ascended, he said to him: My brother, would it be that the Holy one entrusted a deposit with you, and wants it back from you? Aaron said to him: Brother Moses, a tent of meeting and its utensils were entrusted into my hands. Might I have cut back on their liturgy? Moses said to him: The Holy One delivered to you a menorah with its seven lamps. Still, he did not take to heart that he was speaking about his <life> breath (as in Prov. 20:27): A PERSON's BREATH IS THE LAMP OF GOD.⁴The Masoretic text uses the divine name here. When he was not perceptive about the matter, Moses said to him <plainly>: Brother Aaron, your time has arrived to pass away from the world. When he heard that, he put his hands on his head, as he sobbed and wept. Then he recited this scripture (from Ps. 66:5): COME {LOOK AT} [SEE] THE WORKS OF GOD, WHO IS FEARSOME FOR HIS DEEDS AMONG THE CHILDREN OF ADAM. Moreover, when they wanted to enter the cave, Moses said to him: Brother Aaron, there is where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob died; but since you wear the robes of priesthood, you may defile them. You put on Eleazar's clothes, and let Eleazar put on your clothes. Then you and I will enter the cave. And so they did. When they entered, they saw a burning lamp and a made-up bed. Moses said to him: Brother Aaron, get up into this bed, and he got up. He said to him: Extend your arms, and he extended them. Close your eyes, and he closed them. Close your mouth, and he did so. And in that hour his breath left him. When Moses saw that, he longed for his own death. The Holy One said to him: By your life, like this death, even the death of this man, so shall be your own death. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 32:50): AND YOU SHALL DIE THERE ON THE MOUNTAIN THAT YOU ARE ASCENDING AND SHALL BE GATHERED UNTO YOUR KIN, AS YOUR BROTHER AARON DIED ON MOUNT HOR AND WAS GATHERED UNTO HIS KIN.

Another interpretation (of Deut. 3:23), “I besought [the Lord].” This text is related (to Is. 30:19), “Indeed, O people in Zion, inhabitants of Jerusalem, you shall surely weep no more, He will surely show you compassion (rt.: hnn)]….” What is written above the matter (in Deut. 3:12)? “And its cities I gave to the Reubenites [and to the Gadites].” Moses taught [all] who come into the world that one should not say that, whereas he is dangerously ill, has made a will¹³Gk.: diatheke. and divided all that he has; he should not say that whereas he has made a will, he will no longer pray. Rather he should pray, because the Holy One, blessed be He, does not disqualify the prayer of [any] creature. See here. Moses made a will, as stated (in Deut. 23:12-21), “and its cities I gave to the Reubenites and to the Gadites [….] Yair ben Manasseh received […]. To Machir I gave Gilead. And to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave […]. Then I charged you at that time, saying [...]. I also charged Joshua at that time], saying.” Ergo, [Moses made] a will. Lest you say, “He ceased and did not pray,” the text reads (in Deut. 3:23) “I besought the Lord.” (Deut. 3:23:) “I besought the Lord.” For what? That he should enter the land. This text is related (to Ps. 61:2), “Hear my song of prayer, O God”; (Ps. 55:2) “Do not hide yourself from my beseeching.” He said to him, “What do you want.” He said to him (in vs. 3) “From the end of the earth (which can also be read as land), I call unto You when my heart is faint.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him (in Deut. 3:26), “Enough from you; do not [ever speak unto Me on this matter] again.” Moses said to him, “Master of the universe, You addressed me as, ‘My servant Moses,’ as stated (in Numb. 12:7), ‘Not so with My servant ('eved) Moses.’ I am a servant ('eved), and Leviathan is a servant ('eved). I act the suppliant before You, and he acts the suppliant before You, as stated (in Job 40:27), ‘Will he make many supplications unto you?’ The supplication of Leviathan You hear; for You have made a covenant with him and sustain him, as stated (in Job 40:28), ‘Will he make a covenant with You for You to take him as Your servant ('eved) forever?’¹⁴The standard translation of You here is that it referring to Job and not to God. But the midrash understands it otherwise. Now I am Your servant ('eved), You have said to me (in Exod. 34:10), ‘I hereby make a covenant….’ But You have not carried it out. Instead you have said to me (in Deut. 32:50), ‘And you shall die on the mountain that you [are ascending]….’ And not only that, but you have written in the Torah and said (in Exod. 21:5), ‘But if the slave ('eved) says, “I love [my master],”’ yet I loved You, and Your Torah and Your children, ‘I will not go away a free person,’ I do not wish to die. (Exod. 21:6:) ‘Then his master shall bring him [before God] …, and he shall serve him forever.’ But You have not carried it out with me. So now please, (Ps. 61:2) ‘Hear my song of prayer, O God’; (Ps. 55:2) ‘Do not hide yourself from my beseeching.’” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, (Deut. 3:26) “’Enough from you!’ The litigant against you has already made a decision over you that you and all creatures like you are to die. When the first Adam ate from the tree, he caused death for all.”

(Deut. 3:23:) I BESOUGHT THE LORD. For what? That he should enter the land. This text is related (to Ps. 61:2 [1]): HEAR {A JUST CAUSE}[MY SONG OF PRAYER],¹⁷Buber in a note suggests that there is a confusion here with Ps. 17:1. O GOD. He said to him: What do you want. He said to him (in vs. 3) FROM THE END OF THE EARTH I CALL UNTO YOU WHEN MY HEART IS FAINT. <LEAD ME TO A ROCK THAT IS HIGHER THAN I.> The Holy One said to him (in Deut. 3:26): ENOUGH FROM YOU! DO NOT <EVER SPEAK UNTO ME ON THIS MATTER> AGAIN. [Moses said to him:] Sovereign of the World, you addressed me as MY SERVANT MOSES (in Numb. 12:7): NOT SO WITH MY SERVANT ('eved) MOSES. I am a servant ('eved), and Leviathan is a servant ('eved). I act the suppliant before you, and he acts the suppliant before you, as stated (in Job 40:27 [41:3]): WILL HE MAKE MANY SUPPLICATIONS UNTO YOU? The supplication of Leviathan you hear, for you have made a covenant with him and sustain him, as stated (in Job 40:28 [41:4]): WILL HE MAKE A COVENANT WITH YOU FOR YOU TO TAKE HIM AS YOUR SERVANT ('eved) FOREVER? Now I am your servant ('eved), you have said to me (in Exod. 34:10): I HEREBY MAKE A COVENANT. But you have not carried it out. Instead you have said to me (in Deut. 32:50): AND YOU SHALL DIE ON THE MOUNTAIN <THAT YOU ARE ASCENDING>…. And not only that, but you have written in the Torah and said (in Exod. 21:5–6): BUT IF THE SLAVE ('eved) SAYS: I LOVE MY MASTER, <MY WIFE, AND MY CHILDREN>; I WILL NOT GO AWAY A FREE PERSON. THEN HIS MASTER SHALL BRING HIM BEFORE GOD, AND HE SHALL BRING HIM UNTO THE DOOR OR UNTO THE DOORPOST, WHERE HIS MASTER SHALL PIERCE HIS EAR WITH AN AWL, AND HE SHALL SERVE HIM FOREVER. > Now I love you and I love your children; (in accord with Exod. 21:5) I WILL NOT GO AWAY A FREE PERSON. I do not want to die. (Exod. 21:6:) THEN HIS MASTER SHALL BRING HIM BEFORE GOD …, AND HE SHALL SERVE HIM FOREVER. But you have not carried it out with me. So now please, (Ps. 61:2 [1]:) HEAR MY SONG OF PRAYER, O GOD. (Ps. 55:2 [1]:) DO NOT HIDE YOURSELF FROM MY BESEECHING. The Holy One said to me: Impossible! (Deut. 3:26:) ENOUGH FROM YOU! The litigant against you (Satan) has already made a decision over you that you and all creatures like you are to die.