Midrash su Salmi 18:31

(Lev. 12:3:) “And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.” It is not written here that one lays out expenses over circumcision. See how much Israel loves the commandments, how many expenses they lay out in order to observe them! The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “You make the commandments joyful; I am increasing your joy, as stated (in Is. 29:19), ‘Then the humble shall increase their joy in the Lord.’” Beloved is circumcision, such that the Holy One, blessed be He, swore to Avraham that anyone who is circumcised will not descend to Geihinnom, as stated (Genesis 15:18), “On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Avram, saying.” And who does descend there? See what is written below (Gen. 15:19), “The Kenite, the Kenizzite ….” And so did Ezekiel see, as stated (Ezekiel 32:18-30), “Son of man, wail upon the masses of Egypt and make it descend, and the daughters of mighty nations, to the lowest lands and those that fall in the pit. Who do you surpass in pleasantness, go down and lay with the uncircumcised…. Assyria is there with all of her congregation, its graves are around it…. Meshech and Tubal and all their masses are there, its graves are surrounding it, they are all uncircumcised…. The princes of the North are there….” And so does Isaiah says (Isaiah 5:14), “And so does the pit widen itself and opened wide its mouth without measure (chok),” to he that doesn't have a statute [the words — "without measure" — can also be rendered "to he that doesn't have a statute"]. And where [do we see that] it (the commandment to circumcise) is called a statue? As it says (Ps. 105:10) "And He established it unto Jacob for a statute, to Israel for an everlasting covenant," because the Holy One, blessed be He, placed His name with Israel. And what is the name and the seal that He placed in them? It is Shaddai, the shin is placed on the nose, the dalet on the hand, and the yud on the circumcision. Therefore when he goes to his eternal home, there is an angel appointed in the Garden of Eden who takes him and brings him into the Garden of Eden. And regarding the heretics and sinners, The Holy One, “blessed be He, commands the angel to pull his foreskin (i.e. reverse his circumcision), as it says (Ps. 55:21) "He hath put forth his hands against them that were at peace with him; he has profaned his covenant." It happened that Tyrannus Rufus the wicked asked R. Aqiva, “Which works are the more beautiful? Those of the Holy One, blessed be He, or those of flesh and blood?” He said to him, “Those of flesh and blood are the more beautiful.” Tyrannus Rufus the wicked said to him, “Look at the heavens and the earth. Are you able to make anything like them?” R. Aqiva said to him, “Do not talk to me about something which is high above mortals, things over which they have no control, but about things which are usual among people.” He said to him, “Why do you circumcise?” He said to him, “I also knew that you were going to say this to me. I therefore anticipated [your question] when I said to you, ‘A work of flesh and blood is more beautiful than one of the Holy One, blessed be He.’ Bring me wheat spikes and white bread.”¹⁶Qeluska’ot, from the Gk.: kollikes (“long rolls of coarse bread”) or kollikia (the diminutive of kollikes). He said to him, “The former is the work of the Holy One, blessed be He, and the latter is the work of flesh and blood. Is not the latter more beautiful?” Tyrannus Rufus said to him, “Inasmuch as He finds pleasure in circumcision, why does no one emerge from his mother's belly circumcised?” R. Aqiva said to him, “And why does his umbilical cord come out on him? Does not his mother cut his umbilical cord? So why does he not come out circumcised? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, only gave Israel the commandments in order to purify them. Therefore, David said (in II Sam. 22:31 = Ps. 18:31), ‘the word of the Lord is pure.’”

(Lev. 11:1-2) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses…, saying, ‘… these are the creatures that you may eat….’” Let our master instruct us: How many [types of] pure animals are there are in the world? Thus have our masters taught: There are ten beasts: “The deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, the mountain sheep”; (Deut. 14:5) “the ox, the sheep and the goat” (Deut. 14:4). There are no more than these in the world. Said the Holy One, blessed be He, “Guard yourselves, not to defile yourselves with an impure beast and with an impure swarming creature.” So did David say (in II Sam. 22:31 = Ps. 18:31), “As for God, His way is perfect, the word of the Lord is pure (rt.: tsrp).” Thus, the commandments were given only to purify (rt.: tsrp) [mortals] through them. They said to him. “Rabbi, what does the Holy One, blessed be He, care whether one ritually slaughters cattle and eats [the meat] or whether one slaughters cattle by stabbing and eats it? Will some such thing benefit Him (i.e., the Holy One, blessed be He,) or harm Him?” Know that this ritual slaughter was given only to purify (rt.: tsrp) Israel. As in the future to come, the Holy One, blessed be He, will make a meal for the righteous from the behemoth and the leviathan, and there is no ritual slaughter there. Know that the leviathan is an unusual creature, and the angels fear him, as stated (in Job 41:17), “From his rising do the powers fear.” And if they throw many spears of iron upon him, he considers them like straw, as stated (in Job 41:19), “He considers iron like straw.” And also the behemoths of my fields are harsh, as it crouches on a thousand mountains as stated (in Psalms 50:10), “the behemoths on a thousand mountains.” And [so] how are they slaughtered? Rather, they come and fight, one with the other, as stated (in Job 41:8), “One approaches to the other.” The behemoths approach the leviathan and hold him by his horn and split him, and the leviathan’s death [that he inflicts] will be the opposite, as he smites him with his tail and kills him. [Then] the righteous ones go and all take portions. From here [we see] that ritual slaughter was given only to examine and to purify (rt.: tsrp) Israel.

(Lev. 12:3): AND ON THE EIGHTH DAY THE FLESH OF HIS FORESKIN SHALL BE CIRCUMCISED. It is not written here that one lays out expenses < over circumcision >.²⁴The added words are from the parallel in Tanh., Lev. 4:5. See how much Israel loves the commandments, how many expenses they lay out in order to observe them! The Holy One said: You make the commandments joyful; I am increasing your joy, as stated (in Is. 29:19): THEN THE HUMBLE SHALL INCREASE THEIR JOY IN THE LORD. Tyrannus Rufus the Wicked asked R. Aqiva: Which works are the more beautiful? Those of the Holy One or those of flesh and blood? He said to him: Those of flesh and blood are the more beautiful. Tyrannus Rufus the Wicked said to him: Look at the heavens and the earth. Are you able to make anything like them? R. Aqiva said to him: Do not talk to me about something which is high above mortals, things over which they have no control, but about things which are usual among the children of Adam. He said to him: Why do you circumcise? He said to him: I also knew that you were going to say this to me. I therefore anticipated < your question > when I said to you: A work of flesh and blood is more beautiful than one of the Holy One? Bring me wheat spikes and white bread.²⁵Qeluska’ot, from the Gk.: kollikes (“long rolls of coarse bread”) or kollikia (the diminutive of kollikes). [He said to him: The former is the work of the Holy One, and the latter is the work of flesh and blood. Is not the latter more beautiful. Bring me] bundles of flax and garments of Beth-shean. He said to him: The former are the work of the Holy One, and the latter are the work of flesh and blood. Are not the latter more beautiful? Tyrannus Rufus said to him: Inasmuch as he finds pleasure in circumcision, why does no one emerge from his mother's belly circumcised? R. Aqiva said to him: And why does his umbilical cord come out on him? Does not his mother cut his umbilical cord? So why does he not come out circumcised? Because the Holy One only gave Israel the commandments in order to purify them. Therefore, David said (in II Sam. 22:31 = Ps. 18:31 [30]): {EVERY} WORD OF {GOD} [THE LORD] IS PURE….