Midrash su Salmi 69:32

(Fol. 8) Our Rabbis were taught: When Adam the first man saw that each week the day became shortened, he started to cry, saying: "Woe is to me, perhaps this is because of my sin that the world becomes dark to me, and it might yet return to chaos and ruin. And this must be the [punishment of] death which was decreed upon me by Heaven." He sat fasting and praying for eight days. Thereafter, when he lived to see the solstice of the month of Tebeth, beholding that the days become longer, he understood that such is the cycle of the world. He thereupon established eight holidays. On the next year, he added the eight days in which he had fasted, as holidays. But while he established them to laud heaven, his descendants, however, made them holidays for the idols. Our Rabbis were taught: When Adam, the first man, saw on the first day of his creation, the sun set, he cried, saying: "Woe is to me, perhaps this is because of my sin that the world is to be returned to chaos. And this must be the [punishment of] death which was decreed upon me by Heaven." He wept all night, and Eve did the same opposite him. However, when dawn appeared, he understood that such was the order of the world. He arose and sacrificed an ox, whose horns preceded its hoofs (was born full-grown) as it is said (Ps. 69, 32) And it shall please the Lord better than a bullock that has horns and hoofs. (Fol. 9) At the college of Elijah it was taught: The world will continue for six thousand years, the first two thousand of which were a chaos (Tohu, without the Torah), the second two thousand were of Torah, and the third two thousand are the days of the Messiah, and because of our sins many years of these have elapsed [and still he has not come]. Let us see from what time are the two thousand of Torah counted? Shall we assume it to be the time when the Torah was given to Israel? Two thousand years have not elapsed as yet; for if you will go over carefully the years of Tohu, you will find that they were more than two thousand. We must therefore say [that it begins] from the time metioned: (Gen. 7, 5) And the persons that they had obtained in Charan. And it is known by tradition that Abraham was then fifty-two years of age. And from his fifty-second year until the Torah was given, four hundred and forty-eight years elapsed, and these years will complete the number of two thousand which were lacking at the time when the Tanna taught concerning the two thousand years of wisdom.

(Fol. 28b) What remains of the discussion regarding the so-called badger (Tachash) which existed in the days of Moses? R. Elaya in the name of R. Simon b. Lakish said: "R Meier was wont to say that 'The badger which existed in the days of Moses was a creation of its own kind, and the sages were not able to decide whether it belonged to the domestic species or to the wild animal species; it had but one horn on its forehead; it was assigned at that time to Moses, who made the covering for the Tabernacle of its skin; after that it disappeared.' Since he says that it had one horn on its forehead, we infer that it was a levitically clean species, for R. Juda said: "The ox which Adam, the first man sacrificed, had but one horn on its forehead, as it is written (Ps. 69. 32.) And this will please the Lord better than an ox or bullock having horns and cloven hoofs.' " Behold! the word used is Makrin (horns)! R. Nachman b. Isaac said, Although we read Makrin, (horns) the word really written is Makren, (horn, the singular) [Hence we learn that the one-horned beast is of the clean species]. Let us also decide from the same source that the badger was of the cattle species? [For it says. An ox or bull having a horn]. Since there is in existence the Keresh (antelope) which is of the animal species and has but one horn, so I can say, that the Tachash was the very animal called Keresh.

(Fol. 60) R. Juda said: "The ox which Adam, the first man, sacrificed, had but one horn on its forehead, as it is said (Ps. 69, 32) And this will please the Lord better than an ox or bullock having horns and cloven hoofs." Behold! The word used is Makrin (horns) in plural! [Hence it had two horns.] Said R. Nachman: "Although we read Makrin (horns) the word is really written Makren (horn, the singular)." R. Juda said: "The ox which Adam, the first man, sacrificed, got its horns before it got its cloven hoofs, as it is said, And this will please the Lord better than an ox or bullock having horns and cloven hoofs, i.e., first horns then cloven hoofs. This will support R. Joshua b. Levi who said that all the works (animals) of creation, were created in their full-grown feature, by their full consent, by their own [choice of] shape, as it is said (Gen. 2, 1) And the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. Do not read Tzeba'am (the host), but read it Tzib'yonam (their taste).

“What was is what will be, and what was done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
“What was is what will be” – the Rabbis say: In the future, the generations will gather before the Holy One blessed be He and say before Him: ‘Master of the universe, who will recite songs before You first?’ He will say to them: ‘In the past, it was only the generation of Moses that recited songs before Me, and now no one but him will recite songs before Me.’ What is the reason? It is as it is stated: “Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise from the end of the earth; descenders into the sea, and all that fills it…” (Isaiah 42:10).
There was an incident in which the [Roman] government sent to the Rabbis and said to them: ‘Send us one of your torches.’ They said: ‘They have so many torches, yet they ask us for one torch? How many collections of torches they have, how many gems and pearls they have. It seems to us that they are asking us only for one who illuminates aspects of halakha.’ They sent them Rabbi Meir. They would ask him and he would respond, they would ask him and he would respond. Ultimately, they asked him, ‘why is [a pig] called ḥazir [in Hebrew]?’ He said to them: ‘Because it is destined to restore [lehaḥzir] the kingdom to its owner.’ Moreover, Rabbi Meir sat and expounded: ‘The wolf is destined to be sheared of fine wool and a dog of ermine.’ They said to him: ‘Enough, Rabbi Meir, “there is nothing new under the sun.”’
The Rabbis say: In the future, the Holy One blessed be He will dispatch a herald and proclaim and say: ‘Anyone who has never eaten pig meat, let him come and collect his reward.’ Many of the nations of the world who never ate pig meat will come to collect their reward. At that moment, the Holy One blessed be He will say: ‘Shall these be rewarded in two worlds? Is it not enough that they enjoyed this world, but they seek to enjoy the world of My children, too?’ At that moment, the Holy One blessed be He will dispatch a herald a second time, and proclaim and say: ‘Anyone who has not eaten the meat of animal carcasses and mauled animals, repugnant creatures and creeping animals, if he did not eat of his own, he ate another’s.’⁸⁵Gentiles are not careful to refrain from eating this meat outside the home. That is, why is [a pig] called ḥazir? It is because it is destined to restore [lehaḥzir] greatness and kingdom to its owner.
What are taḥash hides? Rabbi Yehuda says: Colored hides. Rabbi Neḥemya says: Ermine. Rabbi Yoḥanan says: The Holy One blessed be He showed Moses a large beast, and he used it for the purpose of the Tabernacle. [God then] stored it away. Rabbi Avin said: Its name was keresh. Rabbi Hoshaya taught: It had one horn on its forehead, as it is stated: “It shall please the Lord better than a horned [makrin] and hooved ox” (Psalms 69:32). But doesn’t makrin indicate two?⁸⁶It is in the plural. Rabbi Ḥanina bar Yitzḥhak said: Makrin is written.⁸⁷It is without a yod. Although it is vocalized in the plural, it is written in the singular.
Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Yitzḥak:⁸⁸This is another exposition of the verse: “What was is what will be, and what was done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun.” Like the initial redeemer, so will be the ultimate redeemer: Just as regarding the initial redeemer, it is stated: “Moses took his wife and his sons, and mounted them on the donkey” (Exodus 4:20), so too, regarding the ultimate redeemer it is stated: “[Your king is coming to you…] humble and riding on a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). Just as the initial redeemer brought down the manna, as it is stated: “Behold, I will cause bread to rain down from the heavens for you” (Exodus 16:4), so too, the ultimate redeemer will bring down the manna, as it is stated: “There will be an abundance of grain in the land” (Psalms 72:16). Just as the initial redeemer brought up the spring, so too, the ultimate redeemer with bring up the water, as it is stated: “A spring will emerge from the house of the Lord and will irrigate the Shittim valley” (Joel 4:18).

Said Rabbi Yochanan: Hevel was stronger [lit. a greater hero] than Kayin. The text only says 'he rose', it teaches that he [Kayin] was stuck under [Hevel], he [Kayin] said to him [Hevel]: 'there are only the two of us in the world, what are you going to tell Daddy?' He [Hevel] had pity on him, immediately he [Kayin] rose and killed him. Out of this we say 'Do not do good for an evil person, and evil will not fall on you.' "And killed him" (Gen. 4:8) - with what did he kill him? Rabban Shimeon ben Gamliel says with a staff he killed him, as it says 'and a child for my bruise' (Gen. 4:23) - a thing that makes a bruise. And the rabbis say - he killed him with a stone, as it says 'because I killed a man for my wound' (Gen. 4:23) something that makes wounds. Rabbi Azaria and Rabbi Yonatan bar Chagai in the name of Rabbi Itzchak, say: Kayin observed closely how his father had killed that ox, as it says 'And it shall please Ad-nai better than an ox' (Psalms 69:32) - and from there he killed him, on the place of the neck, on the place of the signs (gullet and windpipe, see Sanhedrin 37b). And who buried him? Said Rabbi Eleazar ben Pedat: the birds of the sky and temple-acceptable animals buried him, and the Holy One of Blessing gave them two blessings as their reward, one for the slaughter and one for the covering of the blood.