Midrash su Isaia 5:14

“Dead flies spoil and froth a perfumer’s oil; a little folly is weightier than wisdom, than honor” (Ecclesiastes 10:1).
“Dead flies spoil and froth a perfumer’s oil” – ben Azai and Rabbi Akiva: ben Azai said: One fly that dies does not spoil and froth a perfumer’s oil; but a single sin that one performs will cause him to lose much good.
Rabbi Akiva expounded: “Therefore, the netherworld has expanded itself, and opened its mouth without limit [ḥok]” (Isaiah 5:14). It is not written ḥukim, but rather “without ḥok,” one who does not have mitzvot to tip the scales in favor of his virtues.¹The word ḥok (plural, ḥukim) can mean limit or statute. Rabbi Akiva interprets the verse according to the second meaning, such that the verse means that the netherworld takes a person who is missing just one mitzva that would have tipped the scales in his favor.
Those who engage in allegorical interpretations of the Torah say: A person is judged on the basis of the majority of his [deeds]. A person should always assess himself as though he is half virtuous and half guilty; if he performs one mitzva, happy is he, as he tipped his scales in favor of virtue, if he performs one transgression, woe is he, as he tipped his scales in favor of guilt. Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said: Because the individual is judged on the basis of the majority of his [deeds], and the world is judged on the basis of its majority, with the single transgression that this one [individual] performs, he causes himself and the world to lose much good.

(Lev. 12:3:) “And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.” It is not written here that one lays out expenses over circumcision. See how much Israel loves the commandments, how many expenses they lay out in order to observe them! The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “You make the commandments joyful; I am increasing your joy, as stated (in Is. 29:19), ‘Then the humble shall increase their joy in the Lord.’” Beloved is circumcision, such that the Holy One, blessed be He, swore to Avraham that anyone who is circumcised will not descend to Geihinnom, as stated (Genesis 15:18), “On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Avram, saying.” And who does descend there? See what is written below (Gen. 15:19), “The Kenite, the Kenizzite ….” And so did Ezekiel see, as stated (Ezekiel 32:18-30), “Son of man, wail upon the masses of Egypt and make it descend, and the daughters of mighty nations, to the lowest lands and those that fall in the pit. Who do you surpass in pleasantness, go down and lay with the uncircumcised…. Assyria is there with all of her congregation, its graves are around it…. Meshech and Tubal and all their masses are there, its graves are surrounding it, they are all uncircumcised…. The princes of the North are there….” And so does Isaiah says (Isaiah 5:14), “And so does the pit widen itself and opened wide its mouth without measure (chok),” to he that doesn't have a statute [the words — "without measure" — can also be rendered "to he that doesn't have a statute"]. And where [do we see that] it (the commandment to circumcise) is called a statue? As it says (Ps. 105:10) "And He established it unto Jacob for a statute, to Israel for an everlasting covenant," because the Holy One, blessed be He, placed His name with Israel. And what is the name and the seal that He placed in them? It is Shaddai, the shin is placed on the nose, the dalet on the hand, and the yud on the circumcision. Therefore when he goes to his eternal home, there is an angel appointed in the Garden of Eden who takes him and brings him into the Garden of Eden. And regarding the heretics and sinners, The Holy One, “blessed be He, commands the angel to pull his foreskin (i.e. reverse his circumcision), as it says (Ps. 55:21) "He hath put forth his hands against them that were at peace with him; he has profaned his covenant." It happened that Tyrannus Rufus the wicked asked R. Aqiva, “Which works are the more beautiful? Those of the Holy One, blessed be He, or those of flesh and blood?” He said to him, “Those of flesh and blood are the more beautiful.” Tyrannus Rufus the wicked said to him, “Look at the heavens and the earth. Are you able to make anything like them?” R. Aqiva said to him, “Do not talk to me about something which is high above mortals, things over which they have no control, but about things which are usual among people.” He said to him, “Why do you circumcise?” He said to him, “I also knew that you were going to say this to me. I therefore anticipated [your question] when I said to you, ‘A work of flesh and blood is more beautiful than one of the Holy One, blessed be He.’ Bring me wheat spikes and white bread.”¹⁶Qeluska’ot, from the Gk.: kollikes (“long rolls of coarse bread”) or kollikia (the diminutive of kollikes). He said to him, “The former is the work of the Holy One, blessed be He, and the latter is the work of flesh and blood. Is not the latter more beautiful?” Tyrannus Rufus said to him, “Inasmuch as He finds pleasure in circumcision, why does no one emerge from his mother's belly circumcised?” R. Aqiva said to him, “And why does his umbilical cord come out on him? Does not his mother cut his umbilical cord? So why does he not come out circumcised? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, only gave Israel the commandments in order to purify them. Therefore, David said (in II Sam. 22:31 = Ps. 18:31), ‘the word of the Lord is pure.’”

He said to him (in Gen. 24:2): PLEASE PUT YOUR HAND < UNDER MY THIGH >. See how they loved circumcision! And Jacob also, when he had Joseph swear, said to him (in Gen. 47:29): [PLEASE] PUT [YOUR HAND UNDER MY THIGH]. For what reason did they love circumcision? Because they knew that it was going to save their children from Gehinnom in the world to come.²⁶See Gen. R. 48:8; Exod. R. 19:4; Tanh., 5:6; cf. M. Ps. 1:20; 6:1; cf. also Gen. R. 21:9. Thus it is stated (in Is. 5:14): THEREFORE SHEOL HAS OPENED WIDE ITS GULLET [AND PARTED ITS MOUTH < FOR ONE > WITHOUT A STATUTE].²⁷A more traditional translation would read: PARTED ITS MOUTH BEYOND MEASURE. What is the meaning of WITHOUT A STATUTE? There is no statute but circumcision. Thus it is stated (in Ps. 105:9f.): < THE COVENANT > WHICH HE CUT WITH ABRAHAM…. AND WHICH HE ESTABLISHED FOR JACOB AS A STATUTE. But the Israelites, because they are circumcised, are saved from it. Thus it is stated (in Is. 43:2): WHEN YOU PASS THROUGH THE WATERS, < I WILL BE WITH YOU >.