Midrash su Osea 4:11

There was an incident involving Miriam bat Baitus, whom Yehoshua ben Gamla betrothed [to him], and the king appointed him to be the High Priest.¹⁷³He was appointed to this position because his wealthy wife paid an exorbitant sum to bribe the king to make the appointment. One time, she entered [the Temple] to observe, saying: ‘I will go and see him when he reads the Torah on Yom Kippur in the Temple.’ [Her servants] laid out carpets for her from the entrance of her house to the entrance of the Temple so that her feet would not become irritated. Nevertheless, her feet became irritated. When Yehoshua, her husband, died, the Sages alloted two se’a of wine each day for her.¹⁷⁴This was part of her allotment from her husband’s estate. But did we not learn: One does not apportion wine to a woman? Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said: [Because] it leads to licentiousness, just as it says: “Licentiousness, wine, and new wine will have captured the heart” (Hosea 4:11). Rabbi Yeḥizkiya and Rabbi Abahu said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: For her cooked dishes.¹⁷⁵It is permitted to allot wine for cooking, it is prohibited for drinking. They allotted this significant amount of wine daily for the cooked dishes of her household, which demonstrates her immense wealth. Moreover, we learned: If she was nursing, one diminishes her handiwork and adds to her sustenance. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: What does one add? Wine, because wine increases the milk.¹⁷⁶This is another reason it is permitted to allot wine to a woman, and may have been the reason Miriam bat Baitus was allotted wine. Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Tzadok said: I will see the consolation,¹⁷⁷This was an expression of an oath, short for ‘may I not see the consolation of Jerusalem if I did not see such-and-such.’ if I did not see that they tied her hair to the tails of Arabian horses, and they had them pull her from Jerusalem to Lod. I read in her regard: “The tender and delicate woman among you…” (Deuteronomy 28:56).

Solomon thereupon sent Benayahu, the son of Yehoyadu, providing him with a chain and a ring, upon both of which the name of God was engraved. He also provided him with a fleece of wool and sundry skins of wine. Then Benayahu went and dug a pit below that of Ashmedai from which he drained off the water and plugged the duct between with the fleece. Then he set to work and dug another hole higher up which he provided with a channel leading into the emptied pit of Ashmedai, by which means the pit was filled with the wine he had brought. Having leveled the ground [so as not to arouse suspicion] he ascended a tree close by [to watch the result]. After a while Ashmedai came and examined the seal and seeing that everything was well he raised the stone, but [to his surprise] found wine in the pit. For a time he stood muttering: "It is written (Pr. 20, 1) Wine is a mocker; strong drink is riotous, and whosoever reeleth thereby is not wise. And again, (Hos. 4, 11) Harlotry, wine and new wine take away the heart. I shall therefore not drink it." But when he became thirsty he could no longer resist the temptation. He proceeded to drink therefrom when, becoming intoxicated, he lay down to sleep. Then Benayahu came forth [from his ambush] and fastened the chain around the sleeper's neck. Ashmedai. when he awoke, began to fret and fume, and would have torn off the chain that bound him, had not Benayahu warned him, saying: "The name of thy Lord is upon thee." As they journeyed along [while on their way to Solomon] they came to a palm tree, against which Ashmedai rubbed himself, until he uprooted it and threw it down. When they approached a hut, the poor widow who inhabited it came out and entreated him not to rub himself against it, upon which, as he suddenly bent himself back, he snapped a bone of his body, remarking, "This exemplifies the passage (Pr. 25, 15) And a gentle answer breaks the bone." Observing a blind man straying out of his way, he directed him aright. He did the same to a man who had been overcome with wine, directing him aright. At sight of a wedding party that passed rejoicing along, he wept; but he burst into a laughter when at a shoemaker's he heard a man order a pair of shoes that would last seven years; and when he saw a magician at his work he broke forth into cries of scorn.

23 (Numb. 25:1) “The people began to go whoring unto the daughters of Moab.” Come and see what is written in their leaving from Egypt: (In Ex. 14:2,) “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp before Pi-Hahiroth (which sounds like liberty, heiruth).” What is the meaning of Pi-Hahiroth? It was a place that was fixed for unchastity. And because they sheltered themselves [from it] in their leaving, it was called Pi-Hahiroth. But these [Moabite women] because they made themselves available to the people, it is written, (in Numb. 25:1), “the people began to go whoring [unto the daughters of Moab].” (Numb. 25:1) “The people began”: Every place that “the people” is mentioned, it is an expression of shame; but every place that “Israel” is mentioned, it is an expression of commendation: (In Numb. 11:1,) “Now the people were as murmurers [speaking evil in the ears of the Lord]”; (in Numb. 21:5,) “So the people spoke against God and against Moses”; (in Numb. 14:1,) “and the people wept on that night”; (in Numb. 14:11), “Until when will the people anger Me”; (in Exod. 32:25,) “And Moses saw that the people were wild”; (in Exod. 32:1,) “and the people gathered together against Aaron”; and similarly in all of them. (Numb. 25:1) “The people began to go whoring.” Throw a stick into the air,⁶⁸Gk.: aer. [and] it falls to its place of origin (i.e., its root).⁶⁹For this proverb in other contexts, see Gen. R. 53:15; 86:6. The one who had begun with the whoredom at first, finished with it in the end. Their matriarchs (i.e., the matriarchs of Ammon and Moab) began with whoredom (according to Gen. 19:31-34), “And the first-born said to the younger, ‘Let us give our father to drink […].’ So it came to pass on the next day that the first-born said unto the younger […].” She (the first-born) had instructed her in whoredom, and for that reason the Holy One, blessed be He, had pity on the younger and did not expose her. Rather (according to vs. 35), “and she slept with him”; but with reference to the elder, it is written (in vs. 33), “and slept with her father.”⁷⁰Thus in the case of the elder, her incest was specifically mentioned. In the case of the one who began in whoredom at first, her daughters (i.e., the daughters of Moab) went after her to finish [it, as stated (in Numb. 25:1), “the people began] to go whoring unto the daughters of Moab.” (Numb. 25:2) “And they invited the people to the sacrifices for their gods”: Thus they (i.e., daughters of Moab) were going by the counsel of Balaam, as stated (in Numb. 31:16), “Here these women at the bidding of Balaam made the Children of Israel.”⁷¹ySanh. 10:2 (28cd); Sanh. 106a; PRE 47. They made themselves curtained stalls and installed harlots in them with every object of delight in their hands. Now a girl would have an old woman as an agent, for an old woman would be in front of the shop. During the time that Israel was passing by on the way to the marketplace, the woman would say to him, “Young man, surely you want objects of linen which have come from Beth-Shean!” Then she would show them to him and say to him, “Come inside and you will see fine things”; and when the old woman would tell him a high price, the girl would [give him] a lower one. From then on the girl would tell him, “You are like one of the family. Sit down and choose for yourself.” Now a jug of wine was placed by her, since the wine of gentiles had not yet been forbidden. Then out comes the girl, perfumed and adorned, and seduces him and says to him, “Why do you hate us, when we love you? Take for yourself this article gratis. We all are children of a single man, children of Terah, the father of Abraham. So do you not want to eat from our sacrifices and from our cooking? Here are calves and cocks for you; slaughter them according to your own precepts, and eat.” Immediately she has him drink the wine, and then the Satan burned within him, so that he became a fool for her, as stated (in Hos. 4:11), “Harlotry, wine and young wine sway the heart.” There are also those who say [that] Balaam commanded them not to have them drink the wine, so that they would not be judged as those who are drunk, but as willful sinners. When he sought her out, she said to him, “I am not listening to you until you slaughter it [as a sacrifice] to Peor and bow down to it.” But he would say, “I am not bowing down to idolatry.” And she would say to him, “You only need to reveal yourself to it.” And [since] he had become a fool for her, he would do so. This is what the masters said, “One who reveals himself (to defecate) to Baal Peor – this is its worship” (Sanh. 64a). It is so stated (Numb. 25:2), “and they bowed down to their gods.” (Numb. 25:3) “Thus Israel was joined (rt.: tsmd) to Baal Peor”: At the beginning, they went in chastely, but at the end they went as many teams of pairs, like a pair (tsemed) of oxen. Another explanation: Like a man tied to his work; joined (rt.: tsmd) [to Baal Peor] like bracelets (rt.: tsmd). R. Levi said, “This was more serious than the [sin of the golden] calf, for while in reference to the calf, it is written (in Exod. 32:2), ‘Take off the gold rings,’ here [it is written] (in Numb. 25:3), ‘was joined (rt.: tsmd) [to Baal Peor,]’ like bracelets (rt.: tsmd)]. Because of the calf about three thousand fell, but here (according to Numb. 25:9) [the number fallen is] twenty-four thousand.” (Numb. 25:4) “[…] Take all the heads of the people, and impale them [before the Lord in the sun].” R. Judan said, “He hanged the heads of the people, because they had not protested about the people.” R. Nehemiah said, “He did not hang them. Rather the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, ‘Appoint Sanhedrin⁷²Sanhedraot. Gk. plural: synhedria. heads for them, and let them judge whoever went to Peor.’ He said to him, ‘But who will make such a one known?’ The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, ‘I will expose them. In the case of whoever has gone astray, the cloud shall be peeled back from upon him, and the sun shall shine upon him in the midst of the congregation. Then they will know anyone who has gone astray and hang him.’” You know for yourself that it is so, as stated (in Numb. 25:5), “So Moses said unto the judges of Israel, ‘Each of you kill [those of] his own people [who have been joined to Baal Peor].’”

THE ZEAL OF PHINEAS
RABBI ELAzAR, son of 'Arakh, said: When the Holy One, blessed be He, descended upon Mount Sinai to give the Torah to Israel, sixty myriads of the ministering angels descended with Him, corresponding to the sixty myriads of the mighty men of Israel, and in their hands were swords and crowns, and they crowned the Israelites with the Ineffable Name. All those days, whilst they had not done that deed, they were as good as the ministering angels before the Holy One, blessed be He. The Angel of Death did not hold sway over them, and they did not discharge any excretions like the children of man; but when they did that deed the Holy One, blessed be He, was angry with them, and He said to them: I thought that ye would be like the ministering angels, as it is said, "I said, Ye are angels, and all of you sons of the Most High" (Ps. 82:6). But now, "Nevertheless, ye shall die like men" (Ps. 82:7).

Rabbi Elazar of Modein said: Phineas arose, and pronounced the ban upon Israel by the mystery of the Ineffable Name, and with the script which was written on the tables (of the Law), and by the ban of the celestial Court of Justice, and by the ban of the terrestrial Court of Justice, that a man of Israel should not drink the wine of the nations unless it had been trodden by the feet, as it is said, "And as for my sheep, that which ye have trodden with your feet they eat, and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet" (Ezek. 34:19). Because all the wine of the nations was devoted to idolatry and immorality, for they took the first of their new wine for idolatry and immorality, as it is said, "Whoredom and wine || and new wine take away the heart" (Hos. 4:11).

Rabbi José said: It was the universal custom of the kings of Media when they were eating and drinking to cause their women to come before them stark naked, playing and dancing, in order to see the beauty of their figures. When the wine entered the heart of Ahasuerus, he wished to act in this manner with Vashti the queen. She was the daughter of a king, and she was not willing to do this. He decreed concerning her, and she was slain. When the wine had passed from the heart of Ahasuerus, he sought after Vashti, but he did not find her. They told him of the deed which had been done, and (also) of the decree which had been ordained concerning her. Why was the decree passed against her? Because she used to make the daughters of Israel come and toil for her on Sabbaths, therefore was the decree ordained against her that she should be slain naked on the Sabbath, as it is said, "He remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her" (Esth. 2:1).