Midrash su Geremia 11:16
זַ֤יִת רַֽעֲנָן֙ יְפֵ֣ה פְרִי־תֹ֔אַר קָרָ֥א יְהוָ֖ה שְׁמֵ֑ךְ לְק֣וֹל ׀ הֲמוּלָּ֣ה גְדֹלָ֗ה הִצִּ֥ית אֵשׁ֙ עָלֶ֔יהָ וְרָע֖וּ דָּלִיּוֹתָֽיו׃
Il Signore chiamò il tuo nome un ulivo frondoso, giusto con buoni frutti; Con il rumore di un grande tumulto ha acceso il fuoco su di esso e i suoi rami sono spezzati.
Midrash Tanchuma
(Numb. 13:21:) “So they went up and explored the land.” How?21Below, Numb. 4a:3, 10; Numb. R. 16:13; Sot. 35a. When they entered a town, a pestilence afflicted the nobility; and the people of the town were busy with their burial so when they entered, no mortal saw them. For this reason they said (in vs. 32), “The land through which we passed […] is a land that eats up its inhabitants.” It was through the [very] miracles which the Holy One, blessed be He, did for them that they spread slander. (Numb. 13:22:) “And they went up to the Negeb and they came to Hevron, and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai were there,” who were extremely strong, as stated (Deut. 9:2), “whom you have known and about whom you have heard.” R. Berekhyah the Priest Berabbi said (according to vs. 22), “They found the three sons of Anak there, ‘Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai.’22Cf. Sot. 34b. Why was the name of [the first] called Ahiman? Because he said, ‘My brother (ahi), who (man) will come against me?’ [Why] Sheshai (shyshy)? Because he was as sound as marble (shysh). [Why] Talmai?23Talmay, which means, “my furrows.” Because he went and made furrows (telamim) in the earth.”24I.e., with his heavy steps. (Ibid., cont.:) “The children of the Anak ('nq).” (He was called that] because he wore (rt.: 'nq) the sun around his neck.25According to Zeev Wolf’s commentary on Numb. R. 16:11, they were so tall that the sun seemed to rest on their heads. When the spies saw them they were afraid. Immediately they went and said (in vs. 31), “for they are stronger than we (which can also be read as, than He).” Resh Laqish said, “They compared them to the Above. Because of this transgression harsh decrees were issued against them.” What does the Holy One, blessed be He, say to Jeremiah? “Go, say to them, ‘You do not know what you have brought out from your mouth, as stated (in Jer. 11:16), “with the sound of a great tumult you have lit fire to it, and you have broken its boughs.” What did you cause to yourselves “with the sound of a great tumult” that you said, “you have lit fire to it.” “You will carry your sins one day for each year”’” (Numbers 14:34). They said (in Numb. 13:33), “And in our own eyes we were like grasshoppers.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “I forgave them for that [remark]; but I was exacting [when they said] (ibid., cont.), ‘And so we were in their eyes.’ Who would say that you were not like angels in their eyes? Do you know what I made you in their eyes?” What had they brought upon themselves? (Numb. 14:34:) “According to the number of days that you explored the land […] forty years.” As though this was not enough, they did not even enter the land. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, “In this world,26This form usually denotes the end of a parashah, but it does not do so here; nor does it do so in the parallel in Numb R. 16:11. because the representatives (literally, those sent) were of flesh and blood, it has been decreed over them that they should not enter the land; but in the world to come I will suddenly send My angel (mal'akh), and he shall clear a way before Me.” It is so stated (in Mal. 3:1), “Behold, I am sending My messenger (mal'akh) to clear a way before Me, and [the Lord whom you seek] shall suddenly come unto his Temple.”
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Esther Rabbah
“The king said to her: What troubles you, Queen Esther, and what is your request… Esther said: If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet… The king said: Hasten Haman…The king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared…Haman emerged on that day joyful and glad of heart, but upon Haman’s seeing Mordekhai at the king’s gate, and he did not stand, and he did not move on his account, Haman became filled with fury…Haman restrained himself…and brought his supporters and Zeresh his wife, etc.” (Esther 5:3–5; 8–10).
Among all of them, there was no one capable of giving counsel like Zeresh his wife. He [Haman] had three hundred and sixty-five advisers, corresponding to the days of the solar year. His wife said to him: The person [Mordekhai] about whom you are asking, “If he is of the progeny of the Jews…you will not prevail against him” (Esther 6:13) – unless you approach him with cleverness, with [a strategy] that has never been attempted against members of his nation. If you drop him into a fiery furnace, Ḥananya and his cohorts have already been rescued [from it]; if [you place him in] the lions’ den, Daniel already emerged from it. If you incarcerate him in prison, Joseph already emerged from it. If you ignite a fire in a vat beneath him, Menashe [king of Judah] already pleaded, and the Holy One blessed be He acceded to his plea and he emerged from it. If you exile him to the wilderness, his ancestors already procreated in the wilderness, and they were confronted with numerous ordeals and passed them all and were rescued. If you blind his eyes, Samson took numerous Philistine lives when he was blind. Rather, hang him on a gibbet, as no member of his people has survived it.
Immediately, “the matter was pleasing to Haman and he prepared the gibbet” (Esther 5:14). From what tree was that gibbet crafted? The Rabbis said: When he came to prepare it, the Holy One blessed be He called to all the trees of Creation: ‘Who will give [of its wood] so this wicked one [Haman] will be hanged on it?’
The fig said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel brings first fruits from me. Moreover, Israel was likened to the first fruits [of a fig]; that is what is written: “Like a first fruit on a fig tree in its first season”’ (Hosea 9:10).
The grapevine said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; that is what is written: “You transported a vine from Egypt”’ (Psalms 80:9).
The pomegranate said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; as it is stated: “Your temple is like a pomegranate slice”’ (Song of Songs 4:3).
The nut said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was likened to me; that is what is written: “I have descended to the nut garden”’ (Song of Songs 6:11).
The citron said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel takes from me for a mitzva; that is what is written: “You shall take for you on the first day the fruit of a pleasant tree…”’1This verse refers to the mitzva to take the four species on Sukkot. Rabbinic tradition identifies the “pleasant tree” as the citron. (Leviticus 23:40).
The myrtle said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; as it is stated: “And he was standing among the myrtles”’ (Zechariah 1:8).
The olive said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; as it is stated: “The Lord called your name a flourishing olive-tree, fair of fruit and form”’ (Jeremiah 11:16).
The apple said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; as it is stated: “Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the boys” (Song of Songs 2:3), and as it is written: “And the fragrance of your face like apples”’ (Song of Songs 7:9).
The palm said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; that is what is written: “This, your stature, is likened to a palm”’ (Song of Songs 7:8).
Acacia trees and cypress trees said: ‘We will give of ourselves, as the Sanctuary was crafted and the Temple was constructed from us.’
The cedar and the date said: ‘We will give of ourselves, as we are analogized to the righteous, as it is stated: “The righteous man flourishes like a palm tree; like a cedar in Lebanon he grows tall”’ (Psalms 92:13).
The willow says: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me, as it is stated: “Like willows by streams of water” (Isaiah 44:4); and they take from me for the mitzva of the four species in the lulav.’
At that moment, the thorn said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, I, who have nothing to ascribe [litlot] to myself, I will give of myself, and that impure one will be hanged [veyitaleh]. My name is thorn, and he [Haman] is a painful thorn; it is appropriate for a thorn to be hanged on a thorn.’ They found [suitable wood from a thorn] and erected [the gibbet].
When they brought it before Haman, he prepared it at the entrance to his house and measured himself on it to show his servants how Mordekhai should be hanged on it. A divine voice replied to him: ‘The tree is suitable for you; this tree has been prepared for you since the six days of Creation.’ The Rabbis there [i.e. Babylonia] say: Where in the Torah is there [an allusion] to Haman? It is, as it is stated: “Was it from the tree [hamin haetz]” (Genesis 3:11), which is expounded to read: Haman haetz.
Another matter: “it was on the third day” (Esther 5:1). Israel is never subject to trouble for more than three days, as in Abraham’s regard it is written: “On the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place from a distance” (Genesis 22:4). The tribes, “he gathered them into custody for three days” (Genesis 42:17). Jonah, as it is stated: “Jonah was in the innards of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 2:1). And the dead will live only after three days, as it is stated: “On the third day He will raise us” (Hosea 6:2).2At the resurrection of the dead, all will be revived for the day of judgement, when some will be granted “eternal life,” and others will receive “reproaches and everlasting abhorrence” (Daniel 12:2). The midrash here is stating that the righteous will experience the anxiety of the impending judgement for three days before they are granted eternal life. This miracle, too, transpired after three days of their fasting; that is what is written: “It was on the third day, that Esther donned royalty” (Esther 5:1). She sent and invited Haman to a banquet with the king on the fifteenth of Nisan. Once they ate and drank, Haman said: ‘The king promotes me, his wife honors me, and there is no one in the kingdom greater than I am,’ and his heart was overjoyed; that is what is written: “Haman emerged on that day joyful and glad of heart” (Esther 5:9).
Among all of them, there was no one capable of giving counsel like Zeresh his wife. He [Haman] had three hundred and sixty-five advisers, corresponding to the days of the solar year. His wife said to him: The person [Mordekhai] about whom you are asking, “If he is of the progeny of the Jews…you will not prevail against him” (Esther 6:13) – unless you approach him with cleverness, with [a strategy] that has never been attempted against members of his nation. If you drop him into a fiery furnace, Ḥananya and his cohorts have already been rescued [from it]; if [you place him in] the lions’ den, Daniel already emerged from it. If you incarcerate him in prison, Joseph already emerged from it. If you ignite a fire in a vat beneath him, Menashe [king of Judah] already pleaded, and the Holy One blessed be He acceded to his plea and he emerged from it. If you exile him to the wilderness, his ancestors already procreated in the wilderness, and they were confronted with numerous ordeals and passed them all and were rescued. If you blind his eyes, Samson took numerous Philistine lives when he was blind. Rather, hang him on a gibbet, as no member of his people has survived it.
Immediately, “the matter was pleasing to Haman and he prepared the gibbet” (Esther 5:14). From what tree was that gibbet crafted? The Rabbis said: When he came to prepare it, the Holy One blessed be He called to all the trees of Creation: ‘Who will give [of its wood] so this wicked one [Haman] will be hanged on it?’
The fig said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel brings first fruits from me. Moreover, Israel was likened to the first fruits [of a fig]; that is what is written: “Like a first fruit on a fig tree in its first season”’ (Hosea 9:10).
The grapevine said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; that is what is written: “You transported a vine from Egypt”’ (Psalms 80:9).
The pomegranate said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; as it is stated: “Your temple is like a pomegranate slice”’ (Song of Songs 4:3).
The nut said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was likened to me; that is what is written: “I have descended to the nut garden”’ (Song of Songs 6:11).
The citron said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel takes from me for a mitzva; that is what is written: “You shall take for you on the first day the fruit of a pleasant tree…”’1This verse refers to the mitzva to take the four species on Sukkot. Rabbinic tradition identifies the “pleasant tree” as the citron. (Leviticus 23:40).
The myrtle said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; as it is stated: “And he was standing among the myrtles”’ (Zechariah 1:8).
The olive said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; as it is stated: “The Lord called your name a flourishing olive-tree, fair of fruit and form”’ (Jeremiah 11:16).
The apple said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; as it is stated: “Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the boys” (Song of Songs 2:3), and as it is written: “And the fragrance of your face like apples”’ (Song of Songs 7:9).
The palm said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; that is what is written: “This, your stature, is likened to a palm”’ (Song of Songs 7:8).
Acacia trees and cypress trees said: ‘We will give of ourselves, as the Sanctuary was crafted and the Temple was constructed from us.’
The cedar and the date said: ‘We will give of ourselves, as we are analogized to the righteous, as it is stated: “The righteous man flourishes like a palm tree; like a cedar in Lebanon he grows tall”’ (Psalms 92:13).
The willow says: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me, as it is stated: “Like willows by streams of water” (Isaiah 44:4); and they take from me for the mitzva of the four species in the lulav.’
At that moment, the thorn said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, I, who have nothing to ascribe [litlot] to myself, I will give of myself, and that impure one will be hanged [veyitaleh]. My name is thorn, and he [Haman] is a painful thorn; it is appropriate for a thorn to be hanged on a thorn.’ They found [suitable wood from a thorn] and erected [the gibbet].
When they brought it before Haman, he prepared it at the entrance to his house and measured himself on it to show his servants how Mordekhai should be hanged on it. A divine voice replied to him: ‘The tree is suitable for you; this tree has been prepared for you since the six days of Creation.’ The Rabbis there [i.e. Babylonia] say: Where in the Torah is there [an allusion] to Haman? It is, as it is stated: “Was it from the tree [hamin haetz]” (Genesis 3:11), which is expounded to read: Haman haetz.
Another matter: “it was on the third day” (Esther 5:1). Israel is never subject to trouble for more than three days, as in Abraham’s regard it is written: “On the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place from a distance” (Genesis 22:4). The tribes, “he gathered them into custody for three days” (Genesis 42:17). Jonah, as it is stated: “Jonah was in the innards of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 2:1). And the dead will live only after three days, as it is stated: “On the third day He will raise us” (Hosea 6:2).2At the resurrection of the dead, all will be revived for the day of judgement, when some will be granted “eternal life,” and others will receive “reproaches and everlasting abhorrence” (Daniel 12:2). The midrash here is stating that the righteous will experience the anxiety of the impending judgement for three days before they are granted eternal life. This miracle, too, transpired after three days of their fasting; that is what is written: “It was on the third day, that Esther donned royalty” (Esther 5:1). She sent and invited Haman to a banquet with the king on the fifteenth of Nisan. Once they ate and drank, Haman said: ‘The king promotes me, his wife honors me, and there is no one in the kingdom greater than I am,’ and his heart was overjoyed; that is what is written: “Haman emerged on that day joyful and glad of heart” (Esther 5:9).
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Midrash Tanchuma Buber
(Numb. 13:17): THEN HE SAID UNTO THEM: GO UP HERE INTO THE NEGEB, [AND GO UP INTO THE HILL COUNTRY]. <They are> a people who go up.23Numb. R. 16:11; Tanh., Numb. 4:6, cont. R. Berekhyah the Priest [Berabbi] said: They found the three sons of the Anakim there, (i.e., according to vs. 22): AHIMAN, SHESHAI, AND TALMAI.24Cf. Sot. 34b. Why was the name of <the first> called Ahiman? Because he said: My brother (ahi), who (man) will come against me? <Why> Sheshai (ShYShY)? Because he was as sound as marble (ShYSh). <Why> Talmai?25Talmay, which means, “my furrows.” Because he went and made furrows (telamim) in the earth.26I.e., with his heavy steps. <Why were they called> (ibid., cont): THE CHILDREN OF ANAK ('NQ)? Because they wore (rt.: 'NQ) the sun about the neck.27According to Zeev Wolf’s commentary on Numb. R. 16:11, They were so tall that the sun seemed to rest on their heads. When the spies saw them they were afraid. Immediately they went and said (in vs. 31): FOR THEY ARE STRONGER THAN WE. Resh Laqish said: They struck against Heaven. Because of this transgression harsh decrees were issued against them. What does the Holy One say to Jeremiah? Go, say to them: You do not know what you have brought out from your mouth daily (according to Jer. 11:16): A GREAT TUMULT. They said (in Numb. 13:33): <MOREOVER THERE WE SAW THE NEPHILIM—THE CHILDREN OF ANAK ARE PART OF THE NEPHILIM—> AND IN OUR OWN EYES WE WERE LIKE GRASSHOPPERS. The Holy One said: I forgave them for that <remark>; but <then> (ibid., cont.) AND SO WE WERE IN THEIR EYES. Who would say that you were not like angels in there eyes? Do you know what I made you in their eyes? What have you brought upon yourselves? (Numb. 14:34:) ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF DAYS THAT YOU EXPLORED THE LAND, <FORTY DAYS, EVERY DAY A YEAR…. > As though this was not enough, they did not even enter the land. The Holy One said to Israel: In this world,28This form usually denotes the end of a parashah, but it does not do so here; nor does it do so in the parallels in the traditional Tanhuma, 4:7 and Numb R. 16:11. because the representatives (literally: those sent) were of flesh and blood, it has been decreed over them that they should not enter the land; but in the world to come I will suddenly send my angel (mal'akh), and he shall clear a way before me. It is so stated (in Mal. 3:1): BEHOLD, I AM SENDING {A} [MY] MESSENGER (mal'akh) TO CLEAR A WAY BEFORE ME, AND <THE LORD WHOM YOU SEEK> [SHALL SUDDENLY COME UNTO HIS TEMPLE].
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