Midrash su I Cronache 29:15

(Gen. 47:29:) THEN, WHEN THE DAYS FOR ISRAEL TO DIE DREW NEAR…. This text is related (to I Chron. 29:15): FOR WE ARE SOJOURNERS BEFORE YOU AND TRANSIENTS LIKE ALL OUR ANCESTORS; {FOR} OUR DAYS UPON EARTH ARE [LIKE] A SHADOW, AND THERE IS NO HOPE.⁴Gen. R. 96:2; Tanh., Gen. 12:1. And < they are > not like the shadow of a wall or like the shadow of a tree. Rather they are like the shadow of a bird, as stated (in Ps. 144:4): {OUR} [HIS] DAYS ARE LIKE A PASSING SHADOW.⁵Eccl. R. 1:2:1. (I Chron. 29:15, end:) AND THERE IS NO HOPE: There is no one who does not expect to die. All know that they are going to die. Abraham said (in Gen. 15:2): FOR I AM GOING (i.e., dying) CHILDLESS. Isaac said (in Gen. 27:4): BEFORE I DIE. Jacob said (in Gen. 47:30): WHEN I SLEEP WITH MY ANCESTORS. When? When he was on the point of death (according to Gen. 47:29): THEN, WHEN THE DAYS FOR ISRAEL TO DIE DREW NEAR.

[(Gen. 37:1:) NOW JACOB DWELT < IN THE LAND >.] This text is related (to I Chron. 29:15): FOR WE ARE SOJOURNERS BEFORE YOU [AND TRANSIENTS LIKE ALL OUR ANCESTORS]. So are the righteous. The Holy One had made them the essential thing, but they make themselves subordinate. In the case of Abraham, the Holy One had magnified him, as stated (in Gen. 12:2): I WILL BLESS YOU AND MAGNIFY YOUR NAME. And so (in Gen. 13:17): ARISE, WALK ABOUT THE LAND < THROUGHOUT ITS LENGTH AND BREADTH, FOR I AM GIVING IT TO YOU >. < Yet > he says to the children of Heth (i.e., to the Hittites, in Gen. 23:4): I AM AN ALIEN AND A TRANSIENT AMONG YOU. So also with Isaac, the Holy One magnified him, as stated (in Gen. 26:12): SO ISAAC SOWED ON THAT LAND < AND REAPED IN THAT YEAR A HUNDREDFOLD, FOR THE LORD HAD BLESSED HIM >. It also says (in Gen. 26:6): SO ISAAC {SOJOURNED} [DWELT] IN GERAR. And so with Jacob (according to Gen. 36:6): NOW JACOB DWELT IN THE LAND WHERE HIS FATHER HAD SOJOURNED. It is therefore stated (in I Chron. 29:16): FOR WE ARE SOJOURNERS BEFORE YOU AND TRANSIENTS LIKE ALL OUR ANCESTORS.

(Deut. 31:14:) THEN THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES: BEHOLD THE DAYS ARE DRAWING NEAR FOR YOU TO DIE.²⁴This verse indicates that this paragraph and the two that follow properly belong to the third section of the missing midrash on Parashah IX.: This text is related (to Prov. 11:31): BEHOLD, SHALL A RIGHTEOUS ONE BE RECOMPENSED ON EARTH?²⁵Tanh., Deut. 11:6. The sense of the midrash requires these words to be read as a question. With reference to whom is this text spoken? It speaks of none other than Moses the Righteous, for there is no one like him, not among the prophets and not among the sages. So here is the Holy One testifying concerning him after his death (in Deut. 34:10): NEVER AGAIN DID THERE ARISE IN ISRAEL A PROPHET LIKE MOSES <WHOM THE LORD KNEW FACE TO FACE>; still, he did not have the power to save himself from death. David therefore said (in I Chron. 29:15): FOR WE ARE SOJOURNERS BEFORE YOU AND TRANSIENTS LIKE ALL OUR ANCESTORS; OUR DAYS ON THE EARTH ARE LIKE A SHADOW, AND THERE IS NO HOPE. But is it not written (in Ps. 37:34): HOPE IN THE LORD AND KEEP HIS WAY, AND HE WILL RAISE YOU UP TO INHERIT THE LAND? So why does the text say (in I Chron. 29:15): AND THERE IS NO HOPE? David said: Sovereign of the Universe, in all circumstances a person has hope. If one is poor, <there is hope> until he becomes rich. <If he is> feeble, <there is hope> until be becomes strong. If he is sick, <there is hope> until he is healed. If he is confined in prison, <there is hope> until they free him. On the day of death, however, he has no hope. So here the Holy One spoke with Moses face to face, but he was not able to save himself from death. And so Solomon has said (in Eccl. 9:2): SINCE EVERYTHING <HAPPENS> TO EVERYONE, THE SAME LOT <FALLS> TO THE RIGHTEOUS AND TO THE WICKED.²⁶Cf. PRK 26:1.: R. Hanina said: In the case of an intercessory spirit,²⁷Pisqonit. Cf. Sanh. 44b, where the Tosafot and the notes of Elijah Gaon of Vilna, citing Rashi, identify this spirit with Gabriel, who was surnamed Pisqon, because he argues against the Holy One. it has authority to speak before the Holy One. <Such a one is> like a senator²⁸Lat.: senator. before the King. So he says to <the Holy one>: Sovereign of the Universe, all flesh is <destined> for death. Abraham experienced death; the wicked Nimrod experienced death; Isaac experienced death; Abimelech experienced death; Moses experienced death; the wicked Pharaoh experienced death; for Solomon has stated (in Eccl. 3:20): EVERYONE IS GOING TO THE SAME PLACE. So from now on, what gain is there for the righteous to be engaged with the Torah and good works in this world? And what loss is there for the wicked to sin and cause <others> to sin in this world? Solomon has the explanation (in vs. 21): WHO KNOWS THE LIFEBREATH OF HUMANS THAT <RISE UPWARD AND THE LIFEBREATH OF THE BEAST THAT GOES DOWN INTO THE EARTH>? THE LIFEBREATH OF HUMANS: These are the spirits of the righteous, because they are put in storage and hidden under the Throne of Glory.²⁹Shab. 152b; Deut. R. 11:10; cf. Revelation 6:9, where the souls of the martyrs are under the heavenly altar. AND THE LIFEBREATH OF THE BEAST THAT GOES DOWN INTO THE EARTH: These are the spirits of the wicked, which go down to Gehinnom. And so it says (in Is. 14:15): YOU SHALL ALSO {GO DOWN} [BE BROUGHT DOWN] UNTO SHEOL, <UNTO THE UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE PIT>. But where is it shown that the righteous are called ADAM? Where Jonah says so (in Jonah 4:11): SO SHOULD I NOT TAKE PITY ON NINEVEH, <THAT GREAT CITY> IN WHICH THERE ARE OVER A HUNDRED AND TWENTY THOUSAND PERSONS (literally: ADAMS), AND <MANY> ANIMALS. ADAMS: These are the righteous; AND <MANY> ANIMALS: These are the wicked, in that their works are like the work of the wicked. It is therefore stated (in Prov. 11:31): BEHOLD, SHALL A RIGHTEOUS ONE BE RECOMPENSED ON EARTH?