Midrash su Genesi 3:19

(Gen. 6:9:) THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF NOAH. [Let our master instruct us: For how many transgressions do women die at the time of their childbirth? Thus] have our masters taught (in Shab. 2:6):¹Tanh., Gen. 2:1. WOMEN DIE AT THE TIME OF THEIR CHILDBIRTH FOR THREE TRANSGRESSIONS: [BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOT BEEN CAREFUL IN REGARD TO MENSTRUATION, IN REGARD TO THE HALLAH,²I.e., the priest’s share of the dough. AND IN REGARD TO THE LIGHTING OF THE < SABBATH > LAMP. These three commandments are also from the Torah.] Where is it shown about menstruation? Where it is stated (in Lev. 15:25): AND WHEN A WOMAN HAS HAD A DISCHARGE OF BLOOD. And where is it shown about the hallah? Where it is stated (in Numb. 15:20): YOU SHALL SET ASIDE THE FIRST OF YOUR DOUGH AS A HALLAH OFFERING. And where is it shown about the Sabbath lamp? Where it is stated (in Is. 58:13): AND YOU CALL THE SABBATH A DELIGHT. And why are the women charged with regard to these commandments?³Gen.R. 17:8; yShab. 2:4 (5b). Our sages have said: In the creation of the world Adam was first. Then came Eve, and she shed his blood in that he had heeded her. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 3:19): FOR DUST YOU ARE AND TO DUST YOU SHALL RETURN. The Holy One said: Let her be given the commandment of menstrual blood [so that she may have atonement] for that blood which she shed. And why the commandment of the hallah? Because Adam was the hallah of the world when she came and defiled him,⁴Cf. Gen. R. 14:1. the Holy One said: Let her be given the commandment of hallah so that she may have atonement for the hallah of the world, which she defiled. And where is it shown that Adam is the hallah of the world? Thus have our masters taught (in Hal. 3:1): ONCE THE WOMAN PUTS WATER into the dough, SHE IS TO REMOVE HER HALLAH. Thus did the Holy One do. R. Jose ben Qetsarta said: Once the Holy One put water on the ground, he immediately removed Adam as his hallah from the ground. Thus it says (in Gen. 2:6): BUT A MIST ('D) WENT UP FROM THE EARTH. THEN immediately (in vs. 7) THE LORD GOD FORMED < THE HUMAN ('DM) OUT OF DUST FROM THE GROUND >…. And the commandment of the lamp exists because Adam was the lamp of the Holy One, as stated (in Prov. 20:27): THE LAMP OF {GOD} [THE LORD] IS THE BREATH OF ADAM. But Eve came and extinguished it. The Holy One said: Let her be given the commandment of the lamp in order that she may have atonement for the lamp which she extinguished. Thus women have been charged with the commandments of the Sabbath lamp. The Holy One said: If you are careful with the Sabbath lamp, I also will be shining for you, as stated (in Is. 60:19): FOR THE LORD SHALL BE YOUR EVERLASTING LIGHT.

R. Levy opened (with Ps. 75:5), “I say to the merrymakers (la-holelim), ‘Do not make merry;’” [‘la-holelim’ means] those who create confusion (ma'arbavya').¹⁴PRK 26(27):3; Lev. R. 20:2. These are the ones whose heart is full of evil intrigues (holhaliyot).¹⁵Although the main text reads holhaliyot, Buber cites the word in his notes as the more traditional halholiyot. In either case, whatever the spelling, the midrash interprets holelim and holhaliyot as coming from the same root. R. Levi called them "woe-makers";¹⁶Dehonayya’ [zehonayya’]. The word seems coined as a pun on “merrymakers” (holelim). See Jastrow, p. 373, s.v., WYNY’. these are the ones who bring woe (alelay) into the world. (Ps. 75:5, cont.:) “To the wicked, do not lift up the horn.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to the evil ones, “The righteous have not been happy in My world, so would you seek to be happy in My world? The first Adam was not happy in My world, so would you seek to be happy in My world?” R. Levi said in the name of R. [Simeon] ben Menasya], “The round of the first Adam's heel outshone¹⁷Literally: Made dim [by comparison]. the sphere of the sun.”¹⁸PRK 4:4; 12:1; 26(27):3; PR 14:10; Lev. R. 20:2. And do not be surprised at this. According to universal custom, when a person makes two small plates,¹⁹Gk.: diskarion. one for himself and one for his household, whose does he make the more beautiful? Is it not his own? So the first Adam was created for the service of the Holy One, blessed be He, but the sphere of the sun was created for the service of mortals. Is it not all the more certain that the round of the first Adam's heel outshone the sphere of the sun? Now if the round of Adam's heel outshone [it], how much the more [must] the countenance²⁰Gk.: charakter; or possibly krystallos; Lat. crystallum. of his face [have outshone it]. R. Levi said in the name of R. Hama bar Hanina, “The Holy One, blessed be He, set up thirteen canopies for the first Adam in the Garden of Eden, as stated (in Ezek. 28:13), ‘You were in Eden, the garden of God, every precious stone was your covering; sapphire, turquoise….’” R. Shimon ben Laquish said, “Eleven.” Our masters said, “Ten.” And they do not disagree. The one that made thirteen of them, makes three out of “every precious stone was your covering”; the one who made them eleven, makes one out of it; and the one that makes ten of them, does not make any from them. Then after all this glory, [he was told] (in Gen. 3:19), “for dust you are and unto dust you shall return.” Abraham was not happy in My world, so would you seek to be happy in My world? Abraham had a son born to him at the end of a hundred years. Then the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him (in Gen. 22:2), “Please take your son….” So he journeyed, as written (in vs. 4), “And on the third day [Abraham] lifted [his eyes and saw]….” What did he see? He saw a cloud joined to the mountain. He said to his son, “My son, do you see what I see…?”²¹See Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 4:46, and the note there. This is that which is written (in Gen. 23:2), “and Abraham come to mourn for Sarah and weep for her.” From where had he [just] come? He had [just] come from Mount Moriah.²²Eccl. R. 9:7:2. The Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, was not happy in His world, so should people seek to be happy in His world? "The Lord [was] happy in His works" is not written here (in Ps. 104:31), but “let the Lord be happy [in His works].” And when will He rejoice in His works? When He will rejoice in the actions of the righteous in the world to come.²³See M. Pss. 75:2. Israel was not happy in My world, so would you seek to be happy in My world? "Israel [was] happy in its Maker" is not written here (in Ps. 149:2), but “Let Israel be happy in its Maker,” because it is in the future that they are going to be happy in the Holy One, blessed be He. It is therefore written (in Ps. 75:5), “I say to the merrymakers, ‘Do not make merry.’”

[Another interpretation (of Numb. 14:11): HOW LONG WILL THIS PEOPLE SCORN ME?: The Holy One said to them: I had said that you would not sin. Instead you would live and endure like me, just as I live and endure forever and forevermore. (According to Ps. 82:6:) I SAID: YOU ARE GODS; EVEN ALL OF YOU ARE CHILDREN OF THE MOST HIGH. <You are> like the ministering angels who never taste death. Yet after this greatness you wanted to die (according to vs. 7): INDEED YOU SHALL DIE LIKE A HUMAN (Adam), <i.e.,> like the first Adam, to whom I decreed one commandment which he was to do, that he might live and endure forever, as stated (in Gen. 3:22): BEHOLD, THE HUMAN (adam) HAS BECOME LIKE ONE OF US. Similarly also (in Gen. 1:27): AND GOD CREATED THE HUMAN (adam) IN HIS OWN IMAGE, so that he would live and endure like himself. Yet he corrupted his works and nullified his decree, for he ate of the tree. Then I said to him (in Gen. 3:19): FOR DUST YOU ARE AND UNTO DUST YOU SHALL RETURN. So also in your case (in Ps. 82:6), I SAID: YOU ARE GODS, but you corrupted your works as <did> Adam. Surely you shall die like Adam! And who made this happen to them? <You, for> (according to Prov. 1:25) BUT YOU HAVE SPURNED ALL MY PLAN. (According to vs. 30:) THEY HAVE DESPISED ALL MY REBUKE. It is therefore stated (in Numb. 14:11): HOW LONG WILL THIS PEOPLE SCORN ME …?