Midrash su Ezechiele 36:16

(Gen. 41:1:) NOW IT CAME TO PASS AT THE END OF TWO FULL YEARS THAT PHARAOH DREAMED. This text is related (to Job 28:3): HE PUTS AN END TO THE DARKNESS, AND HE SEARCHES OUT EVERY LIMIT. ¹Gen. R. 89:1; Gen. R. 97, New Version, on Gen. 49:13 (= p. 1221 in the Theodor-Albeck edition). There is an end to everything: to the mountains, the hills, the wind, and the waters, even to empty words, even to the darkness. Where is it shown for mountains? Where it is stated (in Is. 40:12): WHO WEIGHS MOUNTAINS WITH A BALANCE AND HILLS WITH SCALES. Where is it shown for the wind? Where it is stated (in Job 28:25): TO FIX A WEIGHT FOR THE WIND. And where is it shown for the waters? (Ibid., cont.:) AND HE HAS FIXED THE WATERS BY MEASURE. Where is it shown for darkness? (Job 28:3:) HE PUTS AN END TO THE DARKNESS. Every single thing, when it comes to a person, even afflictions, has an end. Thus it is stated (ibid., cont.): AND HE SEARCHES OUT EVERY LIMIT. So the Holy One sits and searches out whether afflictions are required for < a person > or not, as stated (ibid.): AND HE SEARCHES OUT EVERY LIMIT. Resh Laqish said: Who has been the cause of this person having afflictions {and deep darkness} come upon him? [(Ibid., cont.:) A STONE OF DARKNESS AND SHADOWY DEATH.] A STONE: This is the evil drive (yetser hara) because it is comparable to the stone of which it is stated (in Ezek. 36:26): I WILL REMOVE THE HEART OF STONE FROM YOUR FLESH.²Suk. 32a. Ergo (in Job 28:3): A STONE OF DARKNESS AND SHADOWY DEATH.

From the parashah of the <Red> Heifer:¹The two sections in this supplement come from Buber’s second Oxford MS., Hund Donat 20 Uri Heb CXVI, No. 153; cf. A. Jellinek, Bet ha-Midrasch (Leipzig: Vollrath, 1853-1877), vol. 1, pp. 79f., 92ff, in midrashim entitled “Midrasch der zehn Gebote” and “Midrash vom Ableben Aharon’s” respectively. Jellinek’s versions are reprinted in J. D. Eisenstein, Ozar Midrashim (New York, 1915), vol. 2, p. 457ab, and vol. 1, pp. 13b-14b, respectively. See further in the Buber edition of the Tanhuma on Numbers, pp. 151-152, n. 1; also in his introduction to this edition, p. 123. There was a story about R. Matthew bar Heresh. Now he was wealthy, feared Heaven, practiced virtuous beneficence, pursued good deeds of charity, and entertained the disciples of the sages from his own assets. Moreover, orphans and widows were always found at his table. All his paths were in uprightness, and like his master, R. Meir, he was occupied with the Torah all his days. So the radiance of his countenance shone like the brightness of the sun; and they said of him that at no time in his life had he ever looked at anyone's wife or at any other woman. On one occasion he was sitting and occupied with the Torah, when Satan passed by. Upon seeing him, he was envious of him. He said: Is it possible for a righteous person to exist in the world without sin! Immediately he went up on high, where he stood before the Holy One and said: Sovereign of the World, how does Matthew ben Heresh stand before you? He said to him: Completely righteous. He said to him: Give me permission to test him. He gave him permission. Immediately he went and found him sitting and occupied with the Torah. He became like a beautiful woman, whose beauty had not been equalled since the the days of Naamah, the sister of Tubal Cain (of Gen. 4:22), through whom the ministering angels went astray. It is so stated (in Gen. 6:2): THE SONS OF GOD SAW HOW BEAUTIFUL THE HUMAN DAUGHTERS WERE <AND TOOK WHOMEVER THEY CHOSE AS THEIR WIVES>. When <Matthew ben Heresh> saw her, he turned his face away. Again Satan went opposite his face. He turned his face to another side, but Satan was opposite his face. When he saw that she was turning to <face him on> all sides, he said in his heart: I am afraid that the evil drive may prevail against me. So what did that righteous man do? He called one of his students to attend him. He said to him: Go, my son, and get me fire and pins! When he had brought them, he ignited <the pin> in the fire and stuck them in his eyes.²See Matthew 5:28-29; 18:9. When Satan saw that, he trembled in dismay. So he went away from him, ascended on high, where he said: Sovereign of the World, thus and such happened. Immediately the Holy One called Raphael (rt.: RPh'), Prince of the Healing Arts (rt.: RPh') and said to him: Go and heal (rt.: RPh') the eyes of Matthew ben Heresh. The angel Raphael went and stood by him. R. Matthew ben Heresh said: Who are you? He said to him: I am Raphael, the angel of the table of the Holy One, who has sent me to heal (rt.: RPh') your eyes. He answered him: I do not want <healing>. What happened happened. Raphael returned to the Holy One and said to him: Matthew ben Heresh told me thus and such. The Holy One said to him: Go, say to him: From this day on do not fear. I am standing surety for you in this matter, that the evil drive will never prevail against you all the days of your life. When he heard this from the mouth of the angel, he accepted his healing and was not afraid. Here is the origin of what the sages have said: Whoever does not look at another woman will not have the evil drive prevailing against him. Moreover, in the world to come the Holy One will remove the evil drive from us and set his Holy Spirit within us. It is so stated (in Ezek. 36:26–27): THEN I WILL REMOVE THE HEART OF STONE FROM YOUR FLESH AND GIVE YOU A HEART OF FLESH, AND I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT WITHIN YOU.

(Exodus 15:1) "Az yashir Mosheh": Az ("then") sometimes signals the past and sometimes signals the future. The past: (Genesis 4:26) "Az men began", (Exodus 4:26) "Az she said", (Exodus 15:1) "Az Moses sang", (Numbers 21:17) "Az Israel sang", (Joshua 10:12) "Az Joshua spoke", (I Chronicles 15:2) "Az David said", (I Kings 8:12) "Az Solomon said." And sometimes "Az" signals the future, viz.: Isaiah 60:5) "Az you will see and flow", (Ibid. 58:8) "Az your light shall break forth as the morning", "Then there shall be opened", (Ibid. 35:6) "Az the lame man shall leap as a hart", (Ibid. 5) (Jeremiah 31:12) "Az the virgin will rejoice in the dance", (Psalms 126:2) "Az our mouth will be filled with laughter", (Ibid.) "Az they will say among the nations." Variantly: It is not written "Then Moses sang," but then Moses will sing" — whence we derive the resurrection from Scripture. (Exodus 15:1) "Moses and the children of Israel": Moses was equivalent to all of Israel, and all of Israel, to Moses, when they sang the song. Variantly: "Moses and the children of Israel": We are hereby apprised that Moses chanted the song opposite all of Israel (i.e., that his voice was over and against those of all of Israel.) "this song": There are ten "songs." The first, that sung in Egypt, viz. (Isaiah 30:29) "The song (of Sancherev's destruction [on Pesach night]) will be to you as that of the night on which you sanctified the festival (Pesach [in Egypt]), etc." The second, that of the sea — "Then Moses sang." The third, that of the well (Numbers 21:17) "Then Israel sang." The fourth, that of Moses, viz. (Devarim 31:22) "And Moses wrote this song (32:1-43). The fifth, that of Joshua, viz. (Joshua 10:12) "Then Joshua spoke to the L rd on the day the L rd delivered, etc." The sixth, that of Devorah and Barak, viz. (Judges 5:1) "And Devorah and Barak the son of Avinoam sang, etc." The seventh, that of David, viz. (II Samuel 22:1) "And David spoke to the L rd the words of this song, etc." The eighth, that of Solomon, viz. (Psalms 30:1) "A psalm, a song of the inauguration of the Temple of David." Now did David built it? Did not Solomon build it? viz. (I Kings 6:14) "And Solomon built the Temple." Why, then, is it written "A psalm, a song of the inauguration of the Temple of David? But because David devoted his life to building it, it was called by his name. Similarly, (Psalms 132:1-6) "Remember, O L rd, unto David, al of his tribulation (in seeking a place for Your sanctuary), which, (to find the place,) he swore to the L rd, vowed to the Strength of Jacob: Forefend that I came to the test of my habitation (my palace), that I go up on the bed spread out before me, that I give (superfluous) sleep to my eyes or slumber to my lids, before I find the (fore-ordained) place for (the Temple of) the L rd, the habitation of the Strength of Jacob. We had heard it (that place) to be in Efrat (the most select of places), and, lo, we have found it in the fields of the forest (in the boundary of Benjamin, who is likened to a beast of the forest" [viz. Genesis 49:27]). And what is written afterwards? (I Kings 12:16) "See your house, O David." Because David devoted his life to it, it was called by his name. And thus you find that whatever a man devotes his life to is called by his name. Moses devoted his life to three things, and they were (all) called by his name. He devoted his life to Torah and it was called by his name, viz. (Malachi 3:22) "Remember the Torah of Moses, My servant." Now is it not the Torah of G d? viz. (Psalms 19:8) "The Torah of the L rd is whole, restoring the soul." How, then, are we to understand "the Torah of Moses, My servant"? Because he devoted his life to it, it is called by his name. And whence do we find that he gave his life for Torah? In (Exodus 34:28) "And he was there with the L rd (to receive the Torah) … Bread he did not eat, etc." And it is written (Devarim 9:10) "And I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, etc." — Because he devoted his life to Torah, it was called by his name. Because he devoted his life to Israel, they were called by his name, viz. (Exodus 32:7) "Go, descend, for your people have wrought corruptly." Now are they not the people of the L rd? viz. (Devarim 9:29) "For they are Your people and Your inheritance," and (Ezekiel 36:20) "… when it was said of them: These are the people of the L rd, and they came out of His land." How, then, are we to understand "Go, descend, for your people have wrought corruptly"? Because he devoted his life to them, they were called by his name. And whence do we find that he devoted his life to them? In (Exodus 2:11) "And it was in those days that Moses grew, and he went out to his brothers and he saw their toils," and (bid. 12) "And he turned here and there (… and he smote the Egyptian, etc.") Because he devoted his life to them, they were called by his name. He devoted his life to the judges, and they were called by his name, viz. (Devarim 16:18) "Judges and officers shall you appoint for yourself in all of your gates." Now is justice not the L rd's? How, then, are we to understand "shall you appoint for yourself"? Because he devoted his life to them, they were called by his name. And whence is it derived that he devoted his life to them? From (Exodus 2:13-17) "And he went out on the second day … and he said "Who made you an officer and a judge over us? … And Pharaoh heard … And the priest of Midian had seven daughters … And the shepherds came and drove them away. Because he devoted his life to them, they were called by his name. The ninth (song): (II Chronicles 20:21) "And he (Yehoshafat) took counsel with the people, and he set up singes to the L rd and lauders of (His) majestic holiness. When they went out before the vanguard (of the army) they said; 'Give thanks to the L rd, for His lovingkindness is forever!'" Why is this thanksgiving different from all the other sin the Torah, where it is written "Give thanks to the L rd for (the good, for His lovingkindness is forever"? __ It is to say, as it were, that there is no rejoicing before Him over the destruction of the wicked. If over that of the wicked there is no rejoicing, how much more so (is there grief) over that of the righteous, one of whom is over and against the entire world, viz. (Mishlei 10:25) "And the righteous one is the foundation of the world." The tenth (song) in time to come, viz. (Isaiah 42;10) "Sing to the L rd a new song, His praise from the end of the earth (Ibid. 48:42) "Say: The L rd has redeemed His servant Jacob. All of the (other) songs are denominated in the feminine ("zoth"). Just as a female bears (and then travails again), so, the past salivations were followed by subjugation. But the future (ultimate) redemption will not be followed by subjugation — wherefore it is denominated in the masculine ("zeh" [viz. Isaiah 26:1]). As it is written (Jeremiah 30:6) "Ask now and see if a male has ever given birth. Why, then, do I see that every man puts his hands upon his loins (as a woman giving birth?") For just as a male does not bear (and thus travail), so, the future redemption will not be followed by subjugation. As it is written (Isaiah 45:17) "Israel will be saved by the L rd, an eternal salvation. You will not be ashamed or abashed forever."