Midrash su Isaia 63:11

Another interpretation (of Eccl. 9:14): THERE WAS A LITTLE CITY, i.e., the desert; WITH FEW PEOPLE IN IT, i.e., the generation of the desert; AND A GREAT KING CAME AGAINST IT, i.e., the Holy One; AND BUILT GREAT SIEGE WORKS AGAINST IT. When? When Israel made the calf. What is written (in Deut. 9:14)? LET ME ALONE, AND I WILL DESTROY THEM. (Eccl. 9:15:) NOW THERE WAS FOUND IN IT A PERSON WHO WAS POOR AND WISE, i.e., Moses the Righteous, as stated (in Prov. 21:22): A WISE ONE WENT UP TO A CITY OF WARRIORS. (Eccl. 9:15, cont.:) WHO DELIVERED⁵The verb is translated in the past tense here and in various English versions. For the translation (used earlier in this section) into the English potential mood, see the new JPSA translation. THE CITY BY HIS WISDOM. Thus it is stated (in Exod. 32:11): < BUT MOSES IMPLORED THE LORD HIS GOD AND SAID >: WHY DOES YOUR WRATH BURN AGAINST YOUR PEOPLE? (Eccl. 9:15, cont.:) BUT NO ONE THOUGHT ABOUT (ZKR) THAT POOR PERSON. The Holy One said: If no one has remembered (ZKR) him, I am remembering (rt.: ZKR) him, as stated (in Is. 63:11): THEN HE REMEMBERED (rt.: ZKR) THE DAYS OF OLD: < THOSE OF > MOSES, {HIS SERVANT} [< THOSE OF > HIS PEOPLE].

“Return us to You, Lord, and we will return; renew our days as of old” (Lamentations 5:21).
“Return us to You, Lord, and we will return.” The congregation of Israel said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, it is incumbent upon You to return us.’ He said to them: ‘It is incumbent upon you, as it is stated: “Return to Me and I will return to you, said the Lord” (Malachi 3:7).’ It said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, it is incumbent upon you, as it is stated: “Return us, God of our salvation” (Psalms 85:5).’ That is why it is stated: “Return us to You, Lord, and we will return.”
“Renew our days as of old [kekedem].” Like Adam the first man, just as it says: “He banished the man; He stationed…east [mikedem] of the Garden of Eden” (Genesis 3:24).²⁸Adam repented after being banished from Eden, and his repentance was accepted (Rabbi David Luria). Alternatively, “renew our days as of old.” Just as it says: “The offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord, as in the days of old and as in former years” (Malachi 3:4). “As in the days of old,” this is Moses, as it is written: “He remembered the days of old, Moses, His people” (Isaiah 63:11). “And as in former years,” like the years of Solomon. Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] says: “As in the days [kimei] of old,” as in the days of Noah, as it is stated: “For, like the waters of [ki mei] Noah, this is for Me” (Isaiah 54:9). “And as in former years,” like the years of Abel, when there was not yet idolatry in the world.

Similarly, because Moses yearned for the Torah, it is called by his name. Whence do we know that he yearned for the Torah? It is said: And Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights (Exod. 24:18). Where do we find that it is called by his name? It is written: Remember ye the law of Moses My servant (Mal. 3:22). Because he offered to sacrifice his life for Israel, Yet now if thou wilt forgive their sin (Exod. 32:33), they were called by his name: And his people remembered the days of old, the days of Moses (Isa. 63:11). And it is also written: Go, get thee down; for thy people have dealt corruptly (Exod. 32:7). Since He risked his life for the sake of justice, as it is written: Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? (Exod. 2:13), he fled because of justice and returned because of justice. He executed righteousness, Lord, and his ordinances with Israel (Deut. 33:21). Does not justice, however, belong to God? Indeed! But since he devoted his life to justice, it is called by his name.

Another matter: “The wise man, his eyes are in his head” (Ecclesiastes 2:14) – this is Moses; “but the fool walks in darkness” (Ecclesiastes 2:14) – this is the wicked Bilam. “I also know that one event will happen to them all, I said in my heart [like the fate of the fool, so will befall me]” (Ecclesiastes 2:14–15) – this one is called prophet and that one is called prophet; if so, “why did I become wiser?” Why did I give my life for the sake of the Torah?⁴⁸This sentence is stated from the perspective of Moses. Then I said: “For there is no remembrance of the wise man with the fool forever…everything is forgotten.” Tomorrow, the Israelites encounter trouble, and say: “He remembered the days of old, Moses, his people…” (Isaiah 63:11). Do the nations of the world say: He remembered the days of old, Bilam, his people? That is what is written: “How can the wise man die like the fool?”

Another matter, “there was a small city” – this is Egypt, “and few men in it” – these are the Israelites, as it is stated: “With seventy people your ancestors descended to Egypt…” (Deuteronomy 10:22). “And a great king came against it” – this is Pharaoh. “And surrounded it and built a great siege upon it” – as he issued edicts, one harsher than the one before: He prevented them from engaging in marital relations, he pulled their foreskins,⁹⁵He forced the Israelite men to conceal their circumcisions. and had them grow a forelock.⁹⁶This was a hairstyle common among the Egyptians. Pharaoh was trying to force the Israelites to assimilate into Egyptian culture. “He found in it a poor, wise man” – this is Moses, as it is stated: “Moses said: So said the Lord: About midnight…” (Exodus 11:4).⁹⁷God had stated that the plague of the firstborn would take place at midnight. Moses, when warning Pharaoh of the impending plague, said it would take place “about midnight.” This was due to his wisdom, as he reasoned that if the Egyptians would err in calculating exactly when midnight was, they might rationalize that this was not performed by God, or that Moses did not know exactly what God would do (Midrash HaMevoar, based on Berakhot 4a). “And he saved the city in his wisdom” – as he said: “They shall take of the blood…” (Exodus 12:7).⁹⁸By instructing the Israelites as to the performance of the paschal offering, Moses caused them to be saved from the plague of the firstborn. “But no one remembered that poor man”⁹⁹The Israelites complained about Moses in the wilderness and did not take into account that he had saved them in Egypt. – the Holy One blessed be He said: You did not remember him; I remember him, as it is stated: “He remembered the days of old, Moses, His people” (Isaiah 63:11).

"And you, raise your staff" (Exodus 14:15) Moses said before the Holy One Blessed Be He, "You say to me that I will split the sea and I will make the sea dry land, but is it not written, 'that I have placed sand as the boundary of the sea' (Jeremiah 5:22)? And behold, you have sworn that you will not split ever!" Rabbi Eliezer ha Kappar said: Moses said to Him"Not so, for you have said that the sea will not be made dry land, as was said 'that I have placed sand as the boundary of the sea' and it is written, 'And who shut up the sea with doors' (Job 38:8)!" The Holy One Blessed Be He said to him, "You have not read the Torah from the beginning. What is written? 'And God said, let the waters be gathered' (Genesis 1:9). I am the one who placed a condition on it - such I placed a condition from the beginning that I would split it, as was said, 'the sea returned according to its condition at the approach of morning' (Exodus 24:27) [reading l'eitano - "to its strength" as liteinao "according to its condition"]" Immediately, Moses listened to God and went to split the sea, but when he went to divide the sea, it would not accept from him to split. The sea said to him, "I should split before you? I am greater than you! I was created on the third day, and you were created on the sixth day!" When Moses heard this, he went and said to the Holy One Blessed Be He, "The sea doesn't want to be split." What did the Holy One Blessed Be He do? He put His right hand on the the right hand of Moses, as it is said, "who caused [His glorious arm] to go at the right hand of Moses [dividing the waters before them to make Himself an eternal name]" (Isaiah 63:12) Immediately, it saw the Holy One Blessed Be He and fled, as was said, "the sea saw and fled" (Psalms 114:3). What did it see? It saw none other than the Holy One Blessed Be He who gave His right hand upon Moses, and it could not delay, but split immediately. Moses said, "Because of what do you flee?" The sea said to him, "Because of the God of Jacob. (Psalms 114:7) Because of the fear of the Holy One Blessed Be He." Immediately when Moses raised his hand against the sea, it was split, as was said, "The waters split" (Exodus 14:21). It does not say, the sea split, but rather the waters split to teach that all the waters that were in all the springs, and the well and in every place were split, as was said, "The waters were split." And so, at the time that they returned, all the waters returned, for such it says, "And the waters returned" (Exodus 14:28). And all these miracles were done through the hand of Moses, as was said, "And Moses extended his hand over the sea" (Exodus 14:21). Therefore, the Holy One Blessed Be He praised him, as was said, "His people remembered the days of old - Moses" (Isaiah 63:11), and it is written [in the next verse]: "who caused [His glorious arm] to go at the right hand of Moses".

And if one hears from Sanhedrin, it is as if he hears from Moses, viz. (Koheleth, Ibid.) "given by one shepherd (Moses)." And (Isaiah 63:11) "And they remembered the days of old, Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them up from the Sea? the shepherd of His flock? who placed in their midst His holy spirit?"