Midrash su Ezechiele 13:78

“Draw me; we will run after you . The king has brought me to his chambers; let us exult and rejoice in you. We will recount your love through wine; sincerely do they love you” (Song of Songs 1:4).
“Draw me; we will run after you.” Rabbi Meir said: When the Israelites stood before Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, the Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘Am I giving you the Torah without assurance? Rather, bring Me good guarantors that you will observe it, and I will give it to you.’¹⁵⁶The midrash is expounding on the term “draw me [moshkheni],” which is related to the term collateral [mashkon], or “take collateral from me [mashkeni].” They said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, our ancestors will be guarantors for us.’ He said to them: ‘Your ancestors need guarantors.’ To what is this matter analogous? It is to one who went to borrow from the king. [The king] said to him: ‘Bring me a guarantor and I will lend to you.’ He went and brought him a guarantor. [The king] said to him: ‘Your guarantor needs a guarantor.’ He went and brought him a second guarantor. [The king] said to him: ‘Your guarantor requires a guarantor.’ Once he brought him a third guarantor, he said: ‘Know that because of this, I am lending to you.’ So, too, when the Israelites stood to receive the Torah, He said to them: ‘Bring Me good guarantors that you will observe it, and I will give it to you.’ They said before him: ‘Master of the universe, our ancestors are guaranteeing for us.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘I have [claims against] your ancestors. Abraham, I have [a claim] against him, as he said: “How will I know” (Genesis 15:8).¹⁵⁷When God promised to give the Land to Abraham, Abaraham asked: “How will I know that I will inherit it?” instead of just trusting God’s promise. Isaac, I have [a claim] against him, as he loved Esau, and I hated him, as it is stated: “And Esau I hated” (Malachi 1:3); Jacob, who said: “My way is hidden from the Lord” (Isaiah 40:27). Rather, bring me effective guarantors and I will give it to you.’
They said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, our prophets will be guarantors for us.’ He said to them: ‘I have [claims] against them, as it is stated: “And the shepherds were disloyal to me [and the prophets prophesied to the Baal]” (Jeremiah 2:8). And it is written: “Like foxes among the ruins, so are your prophets, Israel” (Ezekiel 13:4). Rather, bring me effective guarantors and I will give it to you.’ They said: ‘Our children are guaranteeing for us.’ The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘They are certainly good guarantors, I will give it to you on their account.’ That is what is written: “From the mouths of infants and sucklings You founded strength” (Psalms 8:3), and strength means only Torah, as it is stated: “The Lord will give strength to His people (Psalms 29:11). When payment is demanded from the borrower, but he lacks resources to pay, who is apprehended? It is the guarantor. That is what is stated: “You forgot the Torah of your God; I, too, will forget your children” (Hosea 4:6). Rabbi Aḥa said: “I, too,” [means that] as it were, I, too, am subject to forgetfulness. Who will say at the [reading of the] Torah before Me: Bless the blessed Lord? Is it not the sucklings? That is, due to the laxity of the Torah in you, your children were apprehended, as it is stated: “I struck your children in vain” (Jeremiah 2:30). As it were, I, too, am subject to forgetfulness. Who will say before Me: Bless the blessed Lord? Therefore, a person must introduce his son to Torah and train him in study, so that he will prolong his days in the world, as it is stated: “For with me your days will increase” (Proverbs 9:11).

“The king has brought me to his chambers.” It is taught there: Four entered the orchard;¹⁷⁰This means that they contemplated the mysteries of God, including Creation and the Divine Chariot. ben Azai, ben Zoma, Elisha ben Avuya, and Rabbi Akiva. Ben Azai glimpsed and was harmed; in his regard it is stated: “You found honey, eat as much as is sufficient for you [lest you be sated with it and vomit it]” (Proverbs 25:16).¹⁷¹Ben Azai took in more than he could absorb. Ben Zoma glimpsed and died. In his regard it is stated: “Weighty in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His devoted ones” (Psalms 116:15). Elisha ben Avuya cut the shoots.¹⁷²He treated parts of the divinity as independent entities, which is heretical. How did he cut the shoots? When he would enter synagogues and study halls and see children who were successful in their studies, he would say something to them and they would be silenced. In his regard it is stated: “Do not allow your mouth to cause your flesh to sin” (Ecclesiastes 5:5). Rabbi Akiva entered in peace and emerged in peace. He said: ‘It is not because I am greater than my colleagues; rather, this is what the Sages taught in the Mishna (Eduyot 5:7): Your actions will draw you near and your actions will distance you.’ In his regard it is written: “The king has brought me to his chambers.”

Rabbi Neḥemya began: “Israel, your prophets have been like foxes in ruins. [You did not go up into the breaches or build a fence for the house of Israel, to stand in battle on the day of the Lord]” (Ezekiel 13:4–5)¹³The prophets addressed by Ezekiel are false prophets, “foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing” (Ezekiel 13:3). – just as this fox anticipates in the ruins so that when he sees people he will know to which direction to flee, so have been like foxes in the ruins. You did not go up into the breaches like Moses. To whom was Moses our master similar? It is to a faithful shepherd for whom a fence fell just before dark. He arose and fenced on three sides, but a breach remained, and he did not have time to fence it. He stood in the breach; a lion came, and he stood against it. A wolf came, and he stood against it. You [the prophets], however, did not stand in the breach like Moses, for if you had gone up into the breaches like Moses, you would have been able to stand in battle on the day of God’s wrath.

When he reached the land of Israel R. Elazar said: "I am saved from one curse." When he was ordained with the title Rabbi, he said: "I am saved from a second curse." When he joined the Rabbis constructing the intercalary month, he said: "I am saved from a third curse." For the passage says (Ez. 13, 9) And My hand shall be against the prophets that see falsehood, etc. In the secret council of My people shall they not be, refers to the secret council intercalating seasons; and in the register of the house of Israel shall they not be written, refers to the act of ordaining; and into the land of Israel shall they not come, has a literal meaning. R. Zaira, while going to the land of Israel, could not find a ferry to cross a certain stream, so he took a rope which was thrown over the river and passed with it. Whereupon a certain Sadducee said to him: "Rash people! whose mouths preceded your ears, you still insist upon your impetuousness." Whereupon R. Zaira said to him: "A place where Moses and Aaron did not succeed in entering, who knows if I deserve to enter?" R. Abba would kiss the banks of Akku [belonging to the land of Israel.] R. Chanina would fix the road for people (Ib. b) R. Ami and R. Assi would try to go aside from the sunny to the shady and from the shady to the sunny, [in order not to complain against those residing in the land of Israel.] E. Chiya b. Gamda would roll himself in the dust of the land of Israel, for it is said (Ps. 102, 15) For the servants hold dear their stones and her very dust they cherish. R. Zaira, in the name of R. Jeremiah, said: "In the period of the advent of Messiah there will be a prosecution (ill-will) of scholars. When I recited the above to Samuel he said to me: 'It will be one reduction after the other,' as it is said (Is. 6, 13) And should one-tenth part thereof yet remain, it can be swept away.'" R. Joseph was taught that this means robbers will come and steal it from its former robbers. R. Chiya b. Ashi said in the name of Rab: "In the future all the barren trees in the land of Israel will yield fruit, as it is said (Joel 2, 22) For the tree weareth its fruit, the fig tree and the vine yield their strength."

Rabbi Tachanah said: Israel was exiled to Babylon, and did not forsake their evil deeds. Ahab, son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah, son of Maaseiah, became lying healers, and they healed the wives of the Chaldeans, and came unto them for coition. The king heard thereof, and commanded that they should be burnt. They both said: Let us say that Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, was with us, and he will save us from the burning with fire. They said to him: O our lord, O king, this man was with us in every matter. The king commanded that the three should be burnt by fire. And the angel Michael descended and saved Joshua from the fiery flames, and brought him up before the throne of glory, as it is said, "And he shewed me Joshua, the high priest" (Zech. 3:1); and the other two were burnt by fire, as it is said, "And of them shall be taken up a curse…. The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire" (Jer. 29:22). It is not written here "whom the king of Babylon burnt with fire," but "whom he roasted," hence we learn || that his hairs were singed on account of their sins, as it is said, "In the pride of the wicked the poor is hotly pursued" (Ps. 10:2). Whence do we know that he was delivered? Because it is said, "And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan.… Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" (Zech. 3:2).