Midrash su Geremia 9:20

Befitting is (the ascription of) "greatness" to the Lord. And thus did David say (I Chronicles 29:11) "To you, O Lord, is [befitting the ascription of] greatness, might, splendor, triumph, and majesty." A king of flesh and blood enters a province, and all praise him as "strong" — when he is weak; as "rich" — when he is poor; as "wise" — when he is foolish; as "merciful" — when he is cruel; as "trusty" — when he is not. He is lacking in all of these (fine) attributes — All men are flattering him. But it is not so with Him who spoke and brought the world into being. He is more than He is praised for being. I shall sing to the Lord, who is might, as it is written — (Devarim 10:17) "the God who is great and mighty and awesome," (Psalms 24:8) "the Lord, mighty and strong, the Lord, strong in war," (Isaiah 42;13) "The Lord as a mighty one shall go forth. As a man of war, He will stir up wrath. He will shout; He will scream. He will overpower His foes," (Jeremiah 10:14) "There is none like You, O Lord. Great are You and great is Your name in strength." I shall sing to the Lord, who is rich, as it is written — (Devarim 10:19) "To the Lord your God belong the heavens, etc.", (Psalms 24:1) "To the Lord belongs the earth and its fullness, etc.", (Ibid. 95:5) "His is the sea and He has made it," (Chaggai 2:8) "Mine is the silver and Mine is the gold," (Ezekiel 18:4) "All of the souls are Mine. The soul of the father and the soul of the son alike are Mine." I shall sing to the Lord, who is wise, as it is written — (Mishlei 2:6) "For the Lord shall give wisdom. From His mouth are knowledge and understanding", (Daniel 2:21) "He gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to the knowers of understanding". (Jeremiah 10:7) "Who will not fear You, King of the nations? For among all the sages of the nations and in all of their kingdoms, there is none like You." I shall sing to the Lord, for He is merciful, as it is written — (Exodus 34:6) "Hashem, Hashem, the G d who is merciful and gracious", (Devarim 4:31) "For a merciful G d is the L rd your G d", (Psalms 25:6) "Remember Your mercies, Hashem, etc.", (Ibid. 145:8) "Good is the Lord to all, and His mercies are on all his works", (Daniel 9:9) "To the Lord our God is mercy and forgiveness." I shall sing to the Lord, who is a Judge, as it is written — (Devarim 1:17) "… for the judgment is God's", (Psalms 82:1) "G d stands in the assembly of the almighty. In the midst of the judges shall He judge," (Devarim 32:4) "The Rock, perfect is His work, for all of His ways are just." I shall sing to the Lord, who is trusty, as it is written — (Ibid. 7:9) "the trusty G d, etc." (Ibid. 32:4) "… a G d of trust, without wrong, etc." I shall sing to the Lord, who is comely, who is glorious, who is exalted, whose like does not exist — (Psalms 89:7) "For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord, can be likened to the Lord among the sons of the mighty"? (Ibid. 8) "God greatly dreaded in the great council of the holy, held in awe by all around Him"

When Rabbi Yosei of Milḥaya died, Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish went up to perform an act of kindness¹³⁶They went to participate in the funeral. and Rabbi Yitzḥak Pesaka went up with them. There was a certain elder there who sought to ascend and begin eulogizing him, but they did not allow him to do so. Rabbi Yitzḥak Pesaka said to him: ‘Before these lions of Torah you open your mouth?’ Rabbi Yoḥanan said to them: ‘Leave him, as he is an elder. Let him ascend and be honored in his place.’¹³⁷Since he is an elder and a local, let him deliver the first eulogy. He ascended, began, and said: ‘We find that the departure of the righteous is more difficult before the Holy One blessed be He than the ninety-eight rebukes in Mishne Torah¹³⁸This is a reference to the book of Deuteronomy. The reference is to the warnings of punishment in Deuteronomy 28:15–68. and the destruction of the Temple. In the rebukes it is written: “The Lord will render your blows extraordinary [vehifla]” (Deuteronomy 28:59).¹³⁹The Lord will strike you with extraordinary blows. Regarding the destruction of the Temple it is written: “She has declined extraordinarily [pela’im].” However, regarding the departure of the righteous it is written: “Therefore, behold, I will continue to bewilder [lehafli] this people, bewilderment [hafleh] upon bewilderment [vafeleh]” (Isaiah 29:14). Why to that extent? “The wisdom of her wise will be lost and the understanding of her men of understanding will be concealed” (Isaiah 29:14).’ Rabbi Yitzḥak Pesaka said: ‘May the mouth of this man be blessed.’ Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: ‘Had we not allowed him, from where would we have heard this pearl?’
The Divine Spirit was shouting and saying: “See, Lord, my affliction, for the enemy has expanded.”¹⁴⁰The midrash has returned to explicating the verse in Lamentations 1:8. The point is that the first part of the verse is a description of what has happened, whereas the phrase “see, Lord…” is the prophet, influenced by the Divine Spirit, calling out to God. “Evildoers dig pits for me that do not accord with Your Torah” (Psalms 119:85). Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said two [examples]: It is written: “Do not take the mother with the young” (Deuteronomy 22:6), and here: “A mother was torn apart with her children” (Hosea 10:14);¹⁴¹The Torah prohibits trapping the mother bird while she is with her young, but the enemies attacked mothers in the presence of their children. that is, “that do not accord with Your Torah.”
Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said another: It is written: “To eradicate an infant from the street” (Jeremiah 9:20), but not from the synagogues; “young men from the squares” (Jeremiah 9:20), but not from the study halls. But here, “the wrath of the Lord arose against them…[He struck down the young warriors among them]” (Psalms 78:31);¹⁴²The “young warriors” refers to those involved in the study of Torah. At times the debate of matters of halakha in the course of study is compared to war (see, e.g., Megilla 15b). Alternatively, some suggest that the correct version of the text is as cited in Yalkut Shimoni, Tehillim 877, which provides a different prooftext: “Who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary” (II Chronicles 36:17) (Rabbi David Luria; Etz Yosef). that is, “that do not accord with Your Torah.”
Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said two [examples]: It is written: “An ox or a sheep, it and its offspring you shall not slaughter on one day” (Leviticus 22:28), but here, child and mother were killed on one day, as it is stated: “A mother was torn apart with her children” (Hosea 10:14); that is, “that do not accord with Your Torah.”
Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said another: It is written: “Who will hunt game of a beast…he shall [pour out its blood and] cover it with dirt” (Leviticus 17:13). But here, “They spilled their blood like water around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them” (Psalms 79:3); that is, “that do not accord with Your Torah.”
Rabbi Berekhya said: The congregation of Israel said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, You afforded burial to donkeys, but to Your children You did not afford burial.’ You afforded burial to donkeys, these are the Egyptians. That is what is written: “Whose flesh is the flesh of donkeys” (Ezekiel 23:20). And Rabbi Berekhya said: Because the sea would cast them to the dry land and the dry land cast them to the sea. The sea said to the dry land: ‘Accept your people,’ and the dry land said to the sea: ‘Accept your people.’ The dry land said: ‘If when I accepted only Abel’s blood, it is stated in my regard: “Cursed is the land” (Genesis 3:17), how can I accept the blood of this entire multitude?’ [This continued] until the Holy One blessed be He took an oath to it that He would not place it on trial. That is what is written: “You extended Your right hand; the earth swallowed them” (Exodus 15:12). The right hand is nothing other than an oath, as it is stated: “The Lord took an oath by His right hand” (Isaiah 62:8). But to your people, you did not afford burial, that is, “that do not accord with Your Torah.”

(Fol 60) R. Samuel b. Nachmeni said in the name of R. Jonathan: "No chastisement comes upon the world unless there are wicked ones in existence, yet its first victims are the righteous, as it is said (Ib., ib) If a fire breaks out and meet with thorns. When does a fire break out? When there are thorns prepared for it. Its first victims, however, are the upright, as it is said (Ib, ib.) So that stocks of corn had been consumed. It does not say, it shall consume, but, had been consumed, to signify that the stack of corn (the upright) were consumed first." R. Joseph taught: "What is the meaning of the passage, (Ex. 12, 22) And none of you shall go out from the door of his house until the morning? As soon as permission is given to the executioner he makes no distinction between righteous and wicked; and furthermore, he picks out his first victims from among the righteous, as it is said (Ezek. 21, 8) And I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked." R. Joseph cried, remarking: "To that extent are they not considered?" Said Abaye: "It is to their advantage, as it is written (Isa. 57, 1) That the righteous is taken away from the evil to come." (That he shall not see the evil which will come in the future). Our Rabbis were taught: When pestilence is raging in town, stay indoors, as it is said (Ex. 12, 22) And none of you shall go out from the door of his house until the morning, and it is also said (Isa. 26, 20) Go, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy door behind thee; and again it is said (Deut. 32, 25) Without shall the sword destroy, and terror within the chambers. Why the citation of the two additional passages? Lest one say that the first one refers only to nighttime but not to day time, hence, Go my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy door behind thee. And lest one will say that this refers only where there is no terror within the house, but when there is terror within the house, one might think that it is advisable to go out and associate with others, hence the last quoted verse, Without shall the sword destroy and terror within the chamber, i.e., although within the house terror reigns, yet without it is still worse, for Without the sword shall destroy. Raba in times of fury used to keep the windows shut, for it is written (Jer. 9, 20) For death is come up through our windows. Our Rabbis were taught: If there is a famine in town, do not spare your feet and leave town, as it is said (Gen. 12, 19) And there arose a famine in the land: and Abraham went down into Egypt to sojourn there. And it is also said (II Kings, 7, 4) If we say, we will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city; and we shall die there. For what purpose is the quotation of the additional passage necessary? Lest one say that this refers only where there is no risk of life, but where there is risk of life, it is not so, hence the quotation, which is followed by (Ib., ib.) Now therefore come, and let us fall into the host of the Arameans; if they let us live, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. Our Rabbis were taught: When there is a pestilence in town, a person shall not walk in the middle of the road; for so long as the Angel of Death has received his permission to rage, he does so high-handed. When there is peace in town, one must not walk on the sideways; for so long as the Angel has not the permission, he hides himself away.

R. Yosé the Galilean explained: Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast Thou founded strength (Ps. 8:3). Babes are those still in their mother’s wombs, as is said: Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as babes that never saw life (Job 3:16). Sucklings are those who suckle at their mother’s breasts, as is said: Gather the children and those that suck the breasts (Joel 2:16). Rabbi maintained: Babes refers to children out on the street, as it is said: To cut off the children from the street (Jer. 9:20). Likewise it says: The young children ask bread (Lam. 4:4). All opened their mouths and sang the song unto the Lord. R. Meir declared: Even the embryos in their mother’s wombs sang the song, as it is said: Bless ye God in full assemblies, even the Lord, ye that are from the fountain of Israel (Ps. 68:27). Even the angels sang the song, as it is said: O Lord our Lord, how glorious is Thy name in all the earth! Whose majesty is rehearsed above the heavens (ibid. 8:2).