Midrash su Levitico 10:7

Another interpretation (of Lev. 27:2:) WHEN ANYONE EXPLICITLY VOWS…. This text is related (to Prov. 11:30): THE FRUIT OF THE RIGHTEOUS IS A TREE OF LIFE, [BUT A WISE PERSON ACQUIRES LIVES (NPShWT)]. This refers to the Torah, because when one is a Torah scholar (literally: child of Torah), he learns how one acquires lives (NPShWT), as stated (ibid.): BUT A WISE PERSON ACQUIRES LIVES.²⁷Tanh., Lev. 10:5. And so you find in the case of Jephthah the Gileadite, because he was not a Torah scholar, he forfeited his daughter.²⁸Gen. R. 60:5; Lev. R. 37:4. When? In the time that he fought with the children of Ammon and made a vow, as stated (in Jud. 11:30–31): THEN JEPHTHAH MADE A VOW TO THE LORD, < AND SAID: IF YOU INDEED GIVE THE CHILDREN OF AMMON INTO MY HAND, > THEN IT SHALL BE THAT WHATEVER COMES FORTH…, < SHALL BELONG TO THE LORD, AND I WILL OFFER IT UP AS A BURNT OFFERING >. At that time the Holy One was angry with him. The Holy One said: If there had come out from his house a dog, a pig, or a camel, he would have offered it to me. The Holy One summoned his daughter to him, as stated (in Jud. 11:34–35): AND THERE WAS HIS DAUGHTER COMING OUT TO MEET HIM <…. > AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN HE SAW HER, < THAT HE RENT HIS CLOTHES…. > But was not Phinehas there?²⁹As a high priest he could have annulled the vow, as explained in Eccl. R. 10:15:1, as well as in Gen. R. 60:5 and Lev. R. 37:4. Still he said (in vs. 35): AND I CANNOT RETRACT. However, Phinehas had said: I am a high priest and the son of a high priest. Shall I humble myself and go to an ignoramus 'am ha'arets)? But Jephthah said: I am head of the tribes of Israel and head of the magistrates. Shall I humble myself and go to a commoner?³⁰Gk.: idiotes. Between the two of them that poor woman perished; so the two of them were liable for her blood. In the case of Phinehas, the Holy Spirit left him. In the case of Jephthah, his bones were scattered, as stated (in Jud. 12:7): AND HE WAS BURIED IN THE CITIES OF GILEAD.³¹Translations tend to emend the text and have Jephthah buried in a single city. His daughter had said to him: My Father, is it ever written in the Torah: They offer the lives (NPShWT) of their sons upon the alter? And is it not written (in Lev. 1:2): [WHEN ONE OF YOU PRESENTS AN OFFERING TO THE LORD FROM THE CATTLE], < YOU SHALL PRESENT YOUR OFFERING > FROM THE HERD OR FROM THE FLOCK, < i.e., > from the cattle and not from the children of Adam? He said to her: My daughter, I made a vow (in Jud. 11:31): THEN IT SHALL BE THAT WHATEVER COMES FORTH…. [She said to him:] When our father Jacob made a vow (in Gen. 28:22): AND OF ALL THAT YOU GIVE ME, I WILL SURELY SET ASIDE A TITHE FOR YOU, and when the Holy One gave him twelve tribes, did he ever offer up one of them as a sacrifice? [Moreover, does not Hannah < do likewise >, when she makes a vow and says (in I Sam. 1:11): THEN I WILL GIVE HIM TO THE LORD ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE. Did she ever offer up her son as a sacrifice to the Holy One?] All these things she said to him, but he did not heed her. She said to him: Let me go to a court of law. Perhaps one of them will find a loophole for your words. Thus it is stated (in Jud. 11:37): LEAVE ME ALONE FOR TWO MONTHS, [SO THAT I MAY GO AND COME DOWN TO THE MOUNTAINS]. R. Levi ben Berekhyah said: Is there anyone who comes down to the mountains? Does not one go up to the mountains? So what is the meaning of AND COME DOWN TO THE MOUNTAINS? These represent the Sanhedrin,³²Gk.: synedrion. as in the usage (of Micah 6:2): HEAR, O MOUNTAINS, THE LAWSUIT OF THE LORD. [She³³The bracketed section, which continues to near the end of the paragraph, is taken from Codex Vaticanus Ebr. 34, and from the traditional published editions of Tanh., Lev. 10:7. went to them, but they did not find a loophole for undoing his vow. So it is with reference to him that the Scripture has said (in Prov. 28:3): A POOR MAN WHO EXPLOITS THE INDIGENT IS A TORRENTIAL RAIN WHICH LEAVES NO BREAD. A POOR MAN: This is Jephthah, since he was poor in the Torah. He was a < mere > sycamore shoot.³⁴The metaphor designates one who is poor. (Prov. 28:3, cont.:) WHO EXPLOITS THE INDIGENT, since he exploited the indigent, when he said (in Jud. 12:6): SAY: SHIBBOLETH; AND HE SAID SIBBOLETH. Then he slaughtered him. Therefore, he is (according to Prov. 28:3, cont.) A TORRENTIAL RAIN, AND THERE IS NO BREAD, in that he had someone who would undo his vow; however (ibid., cont.): THERE IS NO BREAD, in that the Holy One had taken away the halakhah from them, so that they would not find [a loophole] for undoing his vow. When they did not find [a loophole] for undoing his vow, he went up and slaughtered her before the Holy One. Then the Holy Spirit proclaimed: Did I desire you to sacrifice lives (NPShWT) to me, < lives > (according to Jer. 19:5), WHICH I NEVER COMMANDED, NEVER SPOKE FOR, AND WHICH NEVER ENTERED MY MIND. WHICH I NEVER COMMANDED Abraham, that he slaughter his son. Instead I said to him (in Gen. 22:12): DO NOT RAISE YOUR HAND AGAINST THE LAD…. < It was > in order to make known to you how Abraham carried out my will, when the nations of the world were saying: Why does the Holy One love Abraham so much? For that reason he said to him (in Gen. 22:2): PLEASE TAKE YOUR SON…. Ergo (in Jer. 19:5): WHICH I NEVER COMMANDED Abraham, certainly not to slaughter his son, NEVER SPOKE FOR to Jephthah to offer up his daughter as a sacrifice to me, AND WHICH NEVER ENTERED MY MIND, that the king of Moab would fall into the hand of the King of Israel and offer up his firstborn son to me as a sacrifice, as stated (in II Kings 3:27): SO HE TOOK HIS FIRSTBORN SON, WHO WOULD BECOME KING IN HIS STEAD, AND OFFERED HIM UP AS A BURNT OFFERING UPON THE WALL.] Who caused Jephthah to forfeit his daughter? < He himself > because he had not studied the Torah; for if he had studied the Torah, he would not had forfeited his daughter, since it is written (in Lev. 27:2, 4): WHEN ANYONE EXPLICITLY VOWS < TO THE LORD THE VALUE OF HUMAN BEINGS (NPShWT) >…. AND IF IT IS A FEMALE < …. > Ergo (in Prov. 11:30): THE FRUIT OF THE RIGHTEOUS IS A TREE OF LIFE, < BUT A WISE PERSON ACQUIRES LIVES (NPShWT) >.

28) (Vayikra 10:6): "And Moses said to Aaron and to Elazar and to Ithamar, his sons: Your hair do not grow long … (Vayikra 10:7) and from the door of the tent of meeting do not go out.": From here they ruled: Those who were executed by beth-din are not to be attended upon for any purpose. "and from the door of the tent of meeting do not go out": From here they ruled: If a high-priest lost one of his kin, he does not follow the litter. When they (the members of the funeral cortege) are concealed (from his sight), he may reveal himself. When they are revealed, he must conceal himself. Lest you say: We shall go to our houses and mourn and grieve and wail, has the L–rd not commanded us not to leave the sanctuary? (Vayikra 10:6): "And let your brethren, the entire house of Israel, mourn the burning that the L–rd has burned … (Vayikra 10:7): and they did according to the word of Moses": They vindicated G d's judgment upon them and they were silent.

42) (Vayikra 10:7): "And from the door of the tent of meeting you shall not go out": I might think (that they shall not go out) whether or not they are officiating; it is, therefore, written (Vayikra 21:12): "and he shall not go out (to follow the litter) and he will not profane (the sanctuary of his G d") [by serving while he is an onein (a mourner)]. When is it that he does not go out and does not profane? When he is officiating. Here, too, "you shall not go out" (speaks of an instance) when he is officiating. (Vayikra 10:7) "lest you die": The negative implies the positive (if you do go out).