Midrash su Deuteronomio 7:2

(Fol. 20) (Deut. 7, 2) Nor show mercy unto them, i.e., do not show them mercy. This will support Rab, who said: "It is forbidden to say: How nice is this female heathen." An objection was raised. R. Simon b. Gamaliel, being once on the steps of the Temple mountain, happened to see a female heathen who was a great beauty, and he exclaimed: (Ps. 104) How great is Thy work, O Lord! The same also happened to R. Akiba that when he saw the wife of Tornus Rupus, he laughed and wept. Laughed, because he saw that she would become a proselyte, and he would marry her; wept, that such a beauty must be buried under earth. [Hence it is contrary to Rab?] This does not contradict Rab, for the Rabbis merely praised God through reciting a passage, as the master said: "Whoever sees nice creatures or nice trees, shoul say, 'Blessed is He who hath such things in His world.' "

(Deut. 26:16:) WITH ALL YOUR HEART. R. Eliezer ben Jacob says: The text has come to warn Israel with regard to something else.⁷Cf. the parallel in Tanh., Deut. 7:2: “To warn the priests when they perform a service not to have two hearts, one in the presence of the Holy One and one for something else.” (Ibid., cont.:) AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL (nafsheka), even though <someone> takes your life (nafsheka). On one occasion <the Romans>⁸Although the parallel in the traditional Tanhuma identifies the persecution with the Greek kingdom, the mention of R. Aqiva suggests the persecution under Hadrian. decreed a religious persecution <against Israel>, in which they were not to occupy themselves with the Torah.⁹See Ber. 61b for a fuller version of this story. R. Aqiva proceeded to sit down and occupy himself with the Torah. When Pappus ben Judah found him, he said to him: See here, Rabbi, you are endangering yourself, when you transgress against a decree of the King. R. Aqiva said to him: Let me illustrate for you in a parable: To what is the matter comparable? To a fox. As he was walking near a river, he saw <some> fish there.¹⁰Ber. 61b explains that the fish were fleeing the nets of fishermen. He said to them: Get yourselves to me, and I will hide you in the clefts of the rocks. Then you shall not be afraid. They said to him: Are you the most clever of the animals? You are only a fool. All our lives have been <spent> only in the water. So would you tell us to walk onto the dry land! Similarly all the life of Israel exists only in the Torah, of which it is written (in Deut. 30:20): FOR THAT IS YOUR LIFE AND YOUR LENGTH OF DAYS; yet you are saying: You are endangering yourself. In a few days they arrested the both of them. He said to him: It would have been better for you to be arrested for the words of Torah.¹¹Cf. I Peter 3:17. Woe to that Pappus, who was arrested for vain words. Subsequently when they brought out R. Aqiva for execution, it was time to recite the Shema'. While they combed his flesh,¹²Tanh. 7:2; Ber. 61b adds: “With combs of iron.” he was calling out the recitation of the Shema'. About them David has said (in Ps. 17:14): OF THOSE WHO DIE BY YOUR HAND, O LORD < … THEIR PORTION IS LIFE.>¹³This interpretation of the verse is assumed by the midrash. R. Hanina bar Pappa said: Do not read: OF THOSE WHO DIE, but: "Those who kill,"¹⁴In Hebrew the difference between the two renderings is a matter of how one vowels the written text. because they kill themselves for the sake of the Torah, which was given <by your hand>. Therefore, when the children of Adam see them, they say to each other: They have sins on their hand; that is the reason they were killed. But they do not know that their portion is among the living in the world to come and that everything good is being kept in store for them. It is so stated (Ibid. cont.): MAY YOU FILL THEIR BELLY WITH WHAT YOU HAVE KEPT IN STORE FOR THEM. And not only that, but they attain merit for their children after them. Moreover, because <the children of> Israel lay down their lives for the Torah and for the sanctification of the name of the Holy One, for that reason the Holy One provides them with a blessing in the world, as stated (in Deut. 26:17): TODAY YOU HAVE HAD THE LORD PROMISE. Just as Israel declares [its love] for the Holy One, so does the Holy One declare [his love] for them, as stated (in vs. 18): THE LORD HAS PROCLAIMED YOU TODAY <TO BE FOR HIM A TREASURED PEOPLE….> R. Joshua ben Levi said: Just as the <collapsing> upper story crushes, so is Israel going to crush four empires. It is so stated (in Deut. 16:19): AND TO SET YOU ON HIGH OVER ALL THE NATIONS THAT HE HAS MADE IN PRAISE, IN NAME, AND IN HONOR.

... “And David went and he took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh- gilead… And he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son…” (Shmuel II 21:12-13) What did David do? He went and gathered all the elders and great ones of Israel, crossed the Jordan River, and came to Yavesh-gilead. He found the bones of Shaul and his son Yonatan, placed them in a casket and crossed back over the Jordan, as it says “And they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father and they did all that the king commanded…” (Shmuel II 21:14) What does ‘in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father’ mean? It comes to teach us that they brought them to the border of Jerusalem and buried them there. Zela is next to Jerusalem, as it says “And Zelah, Eleph, and the Jebusite, which is Jerusalem…” (Yehoshua 18:28) ‘and they did all that the king commanded’ And what did the king command? He commanded that they carry Shaul’s casket from tribe to tribe. As Shaul’s casket entered each tribe’s territory all the men, women and children came out in order to perform an act of loving kindness to Shaul and his sons and thereby all of Israel would fulfill its obligation to loving kindness. This went on until they reached the land of his portion on the border of Jerusalem. Since the Holy One saw that they did loving kindness to Shaul and fulfilled the judgement of the Givonites He was immediately filled with mercy and sent rain upon the land, as it says “And God was entreated for the land after that.” (Shmuel II 21:14) From this we learn how close the Holy One brings those that are far away, even though they converted not for the sake of heaven. There is no need to even mention how he draws near righteous converts, “O Lord, all the kings of the earth will acknowledge You…” (Tehillim 138:4)