Midrash su Genesi 28:14

And the Lord appeared unto him by the terebinths of Mamre (Gen. 18:1) May it please our master to teach us: How many benedictions must a man pray each day? Thus do our masters teach us: A man must pray the eighteen benedictions (of the Amidah) each day. Why eighteen? R. Samuel the son of Nahman stated: This number corresponds to the eighteen instances in which the names of the patriarchs are mentioned simultaneously in the Torah.¹Cf. Y. Berakhot 84c, Y. Taanit 82b. The first being: And God will surely remember you, and bring you out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob (Gen. 50:24), and the last: The Lord said to me: This is the land which I swore unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob (Deut. 34:4). However, if someone should insist that the patriarchs are actually mentioned nineteen times, since it is written: God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it (Gen. 28:13), inform him that this verse is not counted, since Jacob’s name is not included (in the verse).

2) "Then I shall give your rains in their proper times": (but) not the rains of all the lands. How, then, am I to understand (Bereshith 28:14) "And all the families of the earth will bless themselves in you and in your seed"? That there will be plenty in Eretz Yisrael and famine in all the lands. And they will come and buy from you and enrich you with money, as it is written (Bereshith 47:14) "And Yosef gathered in all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the food that they bought." And (Devarim 33:25) "As your days, your flow" — All of the lands will "flow" money and bring it to Eretz Yisrael.

(Exod. 30:12): WHEN YOU TAKE <A CENSUS>. R. Joshua bar Nahmani the Priest said: The Holy One said to Moses: Go and number Israel.¹⁶PRK 2:8; Tanh., Exod. 9:1. Moses said to the Holy One: It is written (in Gen. 28:14): AND YOUR SEED SHALL BE LIKE THE DUST OF THE EARTH…; (and in Hos. 2:1 [1:10]): THE NUMBER OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SHALL BE AS THE SAND OF THE SEA…. So are you saying: Go and number Israel! Moses said to the Holy One: I am unable to hold out in counting them. The Holy One said to him: Moses, it is not as you think. However, if you wish to hold out in counting Israel, take the initial letters of the tribes. Then you shall hold out in counting them. <Take> the resh from Reuben, the shin from Simeon, the lamed from Levi, etc., for each and every tribe. To what is the matter comparable? To a money-changer who had a boy. He said to him: Count these coins for me. He said to him: How can I count them? He said to him: count the tops of the stacks of coins, and you will hold out in the calculation. So when Moses met with difficulties in the calculation of Israel, the Holy One said to him: Take the initial letters of the tribes, and you shall hold out in their calculation. The resh of Reuben equals two hundred thousand;¹⁷This and the following numbers comprise numerical equivalents of the initial Hebrew letters times one thousand. the nun of Naphtali equals fifty thousand; the shin of Simeon equals three hundred thousand; the yod of Judah <plus> the yod of Joseph <plus> the yod of Issachar equal thirty thousand; the zayin of Zebulun equals seven thousand; the dalet of Dan equals four thousand; the gimel of Gad equals three thousand; the bet of Benjamin equals two thousand; the alef of Asher equals one thousand. The result is five hundred ninety-seven thousand. Where are the three thousand (from the original six hundred thousand of Exod. 12:37)? These were the ones who fell in the days of the <golden> calf, as stated (in Exod. 32:28): SO THE CHILDREN OF LEVI ACTED ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF MOSES, AND ABOUT THREE THOUSAND OF THE PEOPLE FELL ON THAT DAY. For that reason the Holy One said to Moses: Number Israel in order to know how many are missing.

When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel according to their number (Exod. 30:12).¹⁴Pesikta de Rav Kahana, Shekalim, p. 156. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Take the sum of the children of Israel. He replied: My master, it is written: And Thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth (Gen. 28:14), and it is written elsewhere: And make Thy seed as the sand of the sea (ibid. 32:13), yet you tell me now to do this. He answered: If you want to know their number, you need only add together the first letter of the names of each of the tribes and this will give you their number. The resh in the word Reuben stands for two hundred thousand; the shin in Simeon stands for three hundred thousand, the yods in the names Judah, Issachar, and Joseph total thirty thousand, the nun in Naphtali accounts for fifty thousand, the zayin in Zebulun’s name is seven thousand, the daled in Dan is four thousand, the gimmel in Gad is three thousand, the bet in Benjamin is two thousand, and the alef in Asher is one thousand—totaling five hundred and ninety-seven thousand in all. The three thousand not accounted for were slain at the time of the episode of the golden calf, as it is said: And the sons of Levi did according to the words of Moses; and there fell of the people on that day about three thousand men (Exod. 32:28). Hence the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: You are taking the count to learn how many are missing. R. Menahem said in the name of R. Bebai: This may be compared to a king who had many sheep. When wolves attacked and destroyed some of them, the king told his shepherd: “Count the sheep and find out how many are missing.” Likewise, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Go, count the Israelites, and find out how many are missing.

(Exodus 14:15) "And the L rd said to Moses: Why do you cry out to Me?" R. Yehoshua says: The Holy One Blessed be He said to Moses: Moses, all that Israel has to do is to go forward. R. Eliezer says: The Holy One Blessed be He said to Moses: Moses, My children are in trouble. The sea is raging and the foe is pursuing and you stand and prolong your prayers? For R. Eliezer was wont to say: There is a time to prolong (prayer) and a time to shorten. (Numbers 12:13) "G d, I pray You, hear her" — to shorten. (Devarim 9:18) "And I fell down before the L rd (in prayer) as at first, forty days and forty nights" — to prolong. R. Meir says: If for Adam, who was alone, I made dry land (viz. Genesis 1:9), for this assembly of holy ones shall I not make dry land? R. Yishmael says: In the merit of Jerusalem I will split the sea for them, as it is written (Isaiah 52:1) "Awake, awake, clothe yourself in splendor, O Zion. Don your robes of glory, O Jerusalem, holy city. For there will not again enter you the uncircumcised and the unclean", and (Ibid. 51:9-10) "Awake, awake, clothe yourself in splendor, O arm of the L rd. Awake as in days of old, as in generations of yore … Is it not You that dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, a road for the redeemed to cross?" Variantly: Because of My promise to their father Abraham I will split the sea for them, viz. (Genesis 28:14) "And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, ufaratzta yamah vakedma", "ufaratzta yamah" intimating the splitting of the sea. R. Yehudah b. Betheirah says: The Holy One Blessed be He said to him: I have already fulfilled My promise to your father Abraham, viz. (Exodus, Ibid. 21) "and He made the sea into the dry land" (that He had promised to Abraham)

(Gen. 27:36:) THEN HE SAID: HAVE YOU NOT RESERVED ME]⁹⁸See above, 5:6, n. 25; 6:1, n. 1. A BLESSING?⁹⁹With the word BLESSING, Buber is able to follow his Oxford MS again. Resh Laqish said: This is one of three children of Adam who came with a legal circumvention against the Holy One.¹⁰⁰Sanh. 101a (bar.) names Cain, Esau, and Manasseh as the three. Esau said to him: If both of us are righteous, does not your God have < enough > blessings to bless both of us? The Holy One said to him: May your mouth be stopped up! Look, Jacob is blessing twelve tribes, and it is not a case of him blessing one as he blesses another. Even so he was filled with compassion for him. He came to bless him, but the Divine Presence departed from him. He began to pray and say (in the words of Is. 26:10): LET THE WICKED BE SHOWN FAVOR.¹⁰¹Gen. R. 67:5. He said to him (ibid., cont.): HE WILL NOT LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS. He said to him: Do you desire to bless this one? He is going to destroy my house and confuse lands¹⁰²‘Aratsot. Perhaps the text should read ‘otsarot (“treasures”) here. See MS 1240 of the De Rossi library in Parma. and riches. Thus it is stated (ibid., cont.): IN A LAND OF INTEGRITY HE WILL ACT UNJUSTLY. Isaac said to him: Give to him in this world, AND (ibid., cont.) HE SHALL NOT SEE THE MAJESTY OF THE LORD in the world to come because he would compel¹⁰³Gk.: anangke. me to repay him the glory with which he honored me. Esau immediately raised his eyes upward and wept, as stated (in Gen. 27:38): AND ESAU LIFTED UP HIS VOICE AND WEPT. The Holy One said: Although he is wicked, flatter him. R. Eleazar said: Esau shed three tears, one from his right < eye >, one from his left, and one disappeared in the midst of his eye.¹⁰⁴M.Pss. 80:4. The Holy One said: Look, the wicked one is weeping over his life! How am I to turn him away empty! He immediately told his father to bless him. This text is related (to Ps. 80:6 [5]): YOU HAVE FED THEM THE BREAD OF TEARS AND HAVE HAD THEM DRINK A SHALISH¹⁰⁵The word SHALISH has the same spelling as shelish, which means “one-third,” and has the same root as the word for “three.” In the context of the psalm shalish denotes a dry measure, which is a third of an ephah. OF TEARS. R. Abbin said in the name of R. Aha: Israel said to the Holy One: Sovereign of the World, now if in the case of Esau the Wicked, because he had shed two tears, < you were > filled with compassion for him immediately; how much the more so in our case, when our tears < flow > constantly day and night like bread, as stated (in Ps. 42:4 [3]): MY TEARS HAVE BEEN MY BREAD DAY AND NIGHT. Up to now the proper time has not arrived for him to be filled with compassion over you. David has said (in Ps. 39:13 [12]): HEAR MY PRAYER, O LORD, AND GIVE EAR TO MY CRY. DO NOT KEEP SILENCE AT MY TEARS. The Holy One said to them: I will repay Esau the Wicked for the glory of his ancestors, and I will exalt him. Afterwards, I am coming to exalt you and repay {them} [you] for what you have achieved and for what your ancestors achieved. It is so stated (in Ps. 46:11 [ 10]): I WILL BE EXALTED AMONG THE GENTILES; I WILL BE EXALTED IN THE EARTH. It is simply that the Holy One said to Jacob (in Gen. 28:14): AND YOUR SEED SHALL BE LIKE THE DUST OF THE EARTH. It is also written (in Mal. 3:12): FOR YOU WILL BE A DELIGHTFUL LAND. Esau said to him (in Gen. 27:37): BLESS ME ALSO, O MY FATHER. Isaac said to him: With what shall I bless you? R. Berekhyah said: He said to him: I made him a lord over you. In anything whatever that I should bless you, I should be blessing him. Why? Because whatever the slave acquires, he acquires for his master. (Gen. 27:29:) BE A MASTER TO YOUR BROTHER is what Isaac said to Jacob. That was the seventh blessing (in Gen. 27:29). Now Isaac had set down ten blessings with which he had blessed him, but he said to him only (in vs. 27:37): "BEHOLD, I HAVE MADE HIM A MASTER OVER YOU." He did, however, say to him: With everything that you are thinking I should bless you, I should only be blessing him. Why? Because whatever the servant has belongs to the master. Thus in Egypt, even though they had been enslaved to them, when they left them they took all their property. So also in the case of thirty-one kings (in Josh. 12:7-24), Israel drove them from their land and took their wealth. So also now in respect to what the peoples of the world are plundering from Israel, Israel belongs to the LORD. Thus it is stated (in Is. 23:18): HER (in reference to Tyre as a harlot) PROFITS AND HER HIRE SHALL BE DEDICATED TO THE LORD {OF HOSTS}. THEY SHALL NOT BE TREASURED OR STORED, FOR HER PROFITS SHALL BELONG TO THOSE WHO DWELL BEFORE THE LORD FOR EATING THEIR FILL AND FOR SPLENDID CLOTHING.

Hence || the sages instituted that they should cover the foreskin and the blood with the dust of the earth, because they are compared to the dust of the earth, as it is said, "And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth" (Gen. 28:14). Thus the Israelites were wont to circumcise until they were divided into two kingdoms. The kingdom of Ephraim cast off from themselves the covenant of circumcision. Elijah, may he be remembered for good, arose and was zealous with a mighty passion, and he adjured the heavens to send down neither dew nor rain upon the earth. Jezebel heard (thereof), and sought to slay him. Elijah arose and prayed before the Holy One, blessed be He.

Another interpretation (of 22:11): BUT < THE ANGEL OF THE LORD > CALLED UNTO HIM. Abraham said to him: Who are you? He said to him: I am an angel. Abraham said to him: When the Holy One told me to sacrifice him, he told me so himself. So now I ask that he himself tell me < to stop >. Immediately the Holy One, having opened the firmament and the lower sky, said to him (in Gen. 22:16): I BY MYSELF HAVE SWORN. Abraham said to him: So now you have sworn! But I also have sworn that I am not coming down from this altar until I say everything that I must. He said to him: Say everything that you must. Abraham said to him: Did you not tell me that what you would raise up from me would completely fill up the world, as stated (in Gen. 15:5): AND COUNT THE STARS … SO SHALL YOUR SEED BE? The Holy One said to him: Yes. He said to him: From whom? He said to him: From Isaac. He said to him: And did you not tell me that you would multiply my children like the dust, as stated (in Gen. 28:14): AND YOUR SEED SHALL BE LIKE THE DUST OF THE EARTH? The Holy One said to him: Yes. He said to him: From whom? He said to him: From Isaac. He said to him: Just as I had the right to talk back to you and did not say anything to you, O Sovereign of the World—Yesterday you said (in Gen. 21:12): FOR IN ISAAC SHALL SEED BE SUMMONED FOR YOU; but now you are saying (in Gen. 22:2): AND OFFER HIM THERE AS A BURNT OFFERING. Yet I suppressed my urge and did not talk back to you. < Just as I have acted in this way >, you also, when Isaac's children sin against you and enter into sorrow, remember on their behalf the binding of their father Isaac. Forgive them, and redeem them from their sorrows. The Holy One said to them: You have had your say; I will also have mine. The Holy One said to him: Your children are going to be sinful in my presence, < and I am going > to judge them on New Year's day. However, if they ask me to forgive them and blow a shofar before me on that day—Abraham said to him: And what is a shofar? The Holy One said to him: Do you not know? He said to him: Turn around and look. Immediately (as we read in Gen. 22:13): THEN ABRAHAM LIFTED HIS EYES [TO LOOK AND THERE WAS A RAM BEHIND HIM CAUGHT IN A THICKET ON HIS HORNS]. It says here nothing but ON HIS HORNS. He said to him: They will blow on a horn before me, and I will forgive their sins. In that hour he gave praise and thanksgiving to the Holy One; and that is how David gave praise¹⁷⁷Gk.: kalos. (in II Sam. 22:3 // Ps. 18:3 [2]): < THE LORD … MY SHIELD > AND MY HORN OF SALVATION. And it says also (in Joel 2:15): BLOW A SHOFAR IN ZION. The beginning (of the verse) concerns New Year's day. Then afterwards (ibid., cont.): SANCTIFY A FAST. This refers to the Day of Atonement, < which comes > after ten days, on which the Holy One forgives their sins. Thus it is stated (in Lev. 16:30): FOR ON THIS DAY ATONEMENT SHALL BE MADE FOR YOU…. Blessed are you, O Israel! How the Holy One has loved you! < He has done for you > what he has not done for any people or tongue, as stated (in Ps. 111:6): HE HAS DECLARED THE POWER OF HIS WORKS TO HIS PEOPLE < IN GIVING THEM THE HERITAGE OF THE NATIONS >. It is also written (in Ps. 147:19): HE DECLARES HIS WORDS TO JACOB, HIS STATUTES AND HIS ORDINANCES TO ISRAEL. And it is written (in vs. 20): HE HAS NOT DONE SO FOR ANY NATION; AND, AS FOR HIS ORDINANCES, THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN THEM. HALLELUJAH.