Midrash su Cantico dei cantici 6:78

“Where did your beloved go, fairest of women? Where did your beloved turn, that we may seek him with you?” (Song of Songs 6:1).
“Where did your beloved go, fairest of women?” The nations of the world say to Israel: ‘Where did your beloved go? From Egypt, to the sea, to Sinai. Where did your beloved turn?’¹The nations of the world taunt Israel: In the past, God performed wonders for you in Egypt, at the sea, and at Sinai; but where is He now? He has abandoned you. What does the congregation of Israel respond to the nations of the world? ‘Why are you asking about Him, while you have no share in Him? Now that I have cleaved to Him, am I able to separate from Him? Now that He has cleaved to me, can He separate from me? Wherever He is, He comes to me.’

Raba expounded: "What is the meaning of the passage (Songs 6, 2) How beautiful are thy steps in sandals. It means. How beautiful were the steps of Israel, when they made a pilgrimage to celebrate the festival. The prince's daughter, daughter of Abraham, our father, who was called a prince; as it is said (Ps. 47, 10) The princes of the people are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham. Why is the God of Abraham [mentioned], and not the God of Isaac or Jacob? The God of Abraham [is mentioned, because Abraham] was the first proselyte." R. Cahana said that R. Nathan b. Minyumi expounded in the name of R. Tanchum: "What is the meaning of the passage (Gen. 37, 24) And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. Since the passage says the pit was empty, do I not know that there was no water in it? And what is intimated by saying there was no water? Indeed there was no water, but there were serpents and scorpions in it."

“My beloved went down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies” (Song of Songs 6:2).
“My beloved went down into his garden, to the beds of spices.” Rabbi Yosei bar Rabbi Ḥanina said: This verse, its beginning does not correspond to its end, and its end does not correspond to its beginning. The verse should have said only: My beloved went down to feed in his garden, and it says: “To feed in the gardens”? Rather, “my beloved,” this is the Holy One blessed be He. “Into his garden,” this is the world. “To the beds of spices,” this is Israel. “To feed in the gardens,” these are the synagogues and study halls. “And to gather lilies,” to take the righteous of Israel.²God takes the righteous to the Garden of Eden after their deaths.
What is the difference between the death of the elderly and the death of lads? Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Abahu, Rabbi Yehuda says: When a lamp extinguishes on its own, it is good for it and it is good for the wick; but when it does not extinguish on its own, it is bad for it and bad for the wick. Rabbi Abahu said: When a fig tree is harvested in its season, it is good for it and good for the fig, and when it is not harvested in its season, it is bad for it and bad for the fig.

Another interpretation (of Lev. 6:2), “Command Aaron.” What is the function of Aaron here? Israel was bringing offerings whereas Aaron is mentioned, and Scripture says here, “Command Aaron.” But note, it is written (in Numb. 28:2), “Command the Children of Israel, and say unto them, ‘My offering, My bread,’” but here it says (in Lev. 6:2), “Command Aaron […], ‘This is the Torah of the one who ascends (h'lh).’”⁴The masoretic text vocalizes this word as ha’olah, which means, THE BURNT OFFERING, but the midrash interprets the word as though it were vocalized ha’oleh, which means, “The one who ascends,” with the ascending implying self-exaltation. So also Lev. R. 7:6. The Holy One, blessed be He, said (to warn Aaron and his sons), “Whenever someone raises (rt.: 'lh) himself up, his end is to go in the fire.”⁵M.Ps. 11:5. It is so stated (in Lev. 6:2, cont.), “that is the one which ascends upon the burning place.” The generation of the flood [suffered] because of what they said (in Job 21:15), “What is the Omnipresent that we should serve Him?” For that reason they were sentenced to the fire (of Gehinnom), as stated (Job 6:17), “at the time that they were heated, they were burnt in His heat,” and it is written (Job 22:20), “and the fire consumed their remnant.” And likewise the Sodomites, [as stated] (in Gen. 19:24), “Then the Lord rained down upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire.” When Pharaoh said (in Exod. 5:2), “Who is the Lord, [that I should heed His voice],” he exalted (rt.: 'lh) himself and said (in Ezek. 29:3), “my Nile is my own and I made it myself.” [He is] therefore (in the words of Lev. 6:2) “upon the burning place.” For so it says (in Ps. 18:14), “The Lord thundered in the heavens,” (Ps. 18:13), "From the illumination in front of Him, His clouds were pierced by hail and coals of fire.” And also when Sennacherib exalted (rt.: 'lh) himself and said (in II Kings 19:23 = Is. 37:24), “it is I who have ascended (rt.: 'lh) the mountain heights to the remotest parts of Lebanon.” And what happened to him? (II Kings 19:35:) “The angel of the Lord went out and smote [one hundred and eighty-thousand] in the camp of Assyria.” He had blasphemed (according to II Kings 19:23: cf. 18:17–35) through a messenger (mal'akh);⁶The parallel in Is. 37:24 reads “servant” instead of “messenger.” therefore (in II Kings 19:35 = Is. 37:36 // II Chron. 32:21) “the angel (mal'akh) of the Lord went out and smote.” What did he do to him? (Is. 10:16), “And under his glory there shall burn a burning like the burning of fire.” What is the meaning of “under his glory?” That it burned them from within and left alone their clothes on the outside, since a person's glory is his garment.⁷Cf. Sanh. 94a. And why did the Holy One, blessed be He, leave their clothes behind? Because they were descendants of Shem, as stated (in Gen. 10:22), “The sons of Shem are Elam, Asshur (Assyria)….” The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “I am indebted to their father Shem, because he took the garment and covered his father's nakedness, as stated (in Gen. 9:23), “Then Shem and Japheth took the garment… [and they covered their father's nakedness].”⁸Cf. Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 2:21, which interprets the verse to show that Shem took the lead in this act. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, left their clothes alone and burned [only] their body. This is as it is written (Lev. 6:2), “that (i.e. the person who exalts himself) is the one which ascends (ha'oleh) upon the burning place.” And so too Nebuchadnezzar exalted (rt.: 'lh) himself and said (in Is. 14:14), “I will ascend (rt.: 'lh) upon the heights of a cloud; I will become like the Most High (rt.: 'lh).” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Upon your life, was it not enough that you said in your heart (in vs. 13), “I will ascend (rt.: 'lh) to the heavens; above the stars of God I will set my throne,” but that you should say (in vs. 14), “I will ascend (rt.: 'lh) upon the heights of a cloud, I will become like the Most High (rt.: 'lh)?” And so he (i.e., Nebuchadnezzar) said to Hananiah and his friends (in Dan. 3:15), “’Now who is the God who shall deliver you out of my hand?’ I have burned His house and exiled His people. He did not stand against me in His house; so will He overcome me in my house?” What did he do? He threw them into the fiery furnace. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He gave a sign to the furnace and it became a highway.⁹PLTYA, from the Gk.: plateia. Buber suggests emending to PLNTYH, from the Gk.: planetes, i.e., “planets.” Whoever was designated to be burned was not burned and whoever was not designated to be burned was burned. So the fire went forth and burned half of the peoples. Thus you find, when they assembled for the dedication of the image, at first there were eight peoples, as stated (in Dan. 3:3), “Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the provincial officials assembled.” That makes eight peoples; but when they came in to see Hananiah and his friends, there were only four peoples written there (in vs. 27), “The satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the royal companions assembled.” So where were [the other] four peoples?] It is simply that (in vs. 22) “the flame of the fire slew them.” Now Nebuchadnezzar also was burned by the fire, and the fright (i.e., repulsiveness) of [a body disfigured by] burning was put upon him.¹⁰For this interpretation, Jastrow, s.v., ‘immus. Why was all of him not burned? The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Leave this evil man half of himself so that he may know against Whom he blasphemed.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “O wicked one, did you not say, ‘I do not want to live with the children of Adam, but (in Is. 14:14), “I will ascend (rt.: 'lh) upon the heights of a cloud?”’ By your life, (according to Dan. 4:22) ‘You shall be driven away from humans and your domicile will be with the wild animals outside.’” Just as He brought the plagues upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt, so did He bring [punishment] upon Nebuchadnezzar. It is so stated (in Dan. 3:32), “The signs and wonders which the most high God has worked for me [it seemed good to me to make known].” This fright of [a body disfigured by] burning fell upon him. Therefore it is stated (in Lev. 6:2), “that is the one which ascends (h'lh) upon the burning place.” (Lev. 6.2) “That is the one which ascends upon the burning place.” This is the kingdom of Edom (Rome), which exalted (rt.: 'lh) itself, as stated (in Obad. 1:4), “Though you make [your abode] as high as the eagle, and though [your nest is set] among the stars,” and will be judged by fire, as stated (in Dan. 7:11), “I looked on until the beast was slain and its body destroyed, given over for burning in the fire.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said (in Obad. 1:18), “The House of Jacob shall be fire, and the House of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau shall be straw; [… for the Lord has spoken].” And what did he say? Through Moses (in Lev. 6:2), “that is the one which ascends (ha'olah, rt.: 'lh) upon the burning place.” Then after that [Scripture says] (in Obad. 1:21), “Then saviors shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the Mountain of Esau.” Sisera also [was punished by fire] because he blasphemed. Thus it is written about him (in Jud. 4:3), “and he oppressed the Children of Israel with might,” [i.e.] with blasphemies and invectives.¹¹See M. Ps. 2:1, which derives this interpretation of WITH MIGHT (rt.: HZQ) from Mal. 3:13: YOUR WORDS HAVE BEEN MIGHTY (rt.: HZQ) AGAINST ME. See also below, 9:7. He was therefore punished by fire, as stated (in Jud. 5:20), “The stars fought from the heavens; from their courses they fought with Sisera.”¹²See Pes. 118b, according to which the stars descended and heated the iron implements in Sisera’s army. And in the world to come, when the Holy One, blessed be He, comes to exact retribution from Esau, what [will] Esau do? Wrapped in a prayer shawl like an elder, he comes and takes his seat beside Jacob. It is so stated, (in Obad. 1:4), “and though your nest is set among the stars.” Stars can only mean Israel, since it is stated (in Gen. 15:5), “look toward the heavens and count the stars …; so shall your seed be.” Jacob says to him, “My brother ('hy), you shall not be like me.” Thus it is stated (in Hos. 13:14), “my brother ('hy),¹³The unemended reading below, given in braces, shows that the midrash is reading the he in ‘HY as a het, so that the WHERE of the Masoretic Text cited here is to be interpreted as MY BROTHER. your words¹⁴Devarekha. YOUR WORDS is the translation required by the midrash. In the biblical context devarekha should be rendered, YOUR PLAGUES. are death; my brother ('hy), your descent (qtb) is to Sheol.”¹⁵A traditional translation of the line would read: WHERE IS YOUR PESTILENCE, O SHEOL? Your words are decrees which you decreed over me. You decreed two-edged decrees against me, that I should serve idols. If I had done so, I would have been condemned to death at the hands of Heaven; and if I had not served them, you would have killed me. Ergo (in Hos. 13:14), “my brother, your words are death.” (Ibid., cont.) “My brother ('hy), your descent (qtb) is to Sheol.” [Qtb] is a Hellenistic¹⁶From the Gk. adverb: Hellenisti. word, meaning to descend to Sheol.¹⁷Thus QTB is understood as coming from the Greek, kataba, an aorist imperative meaning, “descend.” When Esau descends to Sheol, Jacob will remain by himself. It is therefore stated (in Zech. 13:8), “And it shall come to pass throughout all the land, says the Lord, that two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall remain in it.” Now the one-third can only be Israel, since it is stated (in Is. 19:24), “Israel shall be a third.” So Israel – because they made themselves despised and lowly, as stated (Malachi 2:9), “And I also made you despised and lowly” – are avenged and redeemed by fire; as stated (in Zech. 2:9), “And I Myself, says the Lord, will be a wall of fire around it (i.e., around Jerusalem).” When Esau departs from the world, the Holy One, blessed be He, and Israel remain, as stated (in Cant. 6:9), “[Only] one is my dove, my perfect one.” It also says (in Deut. 32:12), “The Lord alone did lead him, and there was no foreign God with Him.”

There was an incident in which Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba and his disciples, and some say Rabbi Akiva and his disciples, and some say Rabbi Yehoshua and his disciples, were accustomed to sit and study beneath a certain fig tree. Each day, the owner of the fig tree would arise early and harvest his fig tree. They said: ‘Let us change our location, as perhaps he is suspicious of us.’ What did they do? They went and sat themselves elsewhere. The owner of the fig tree arose early and did not find them. He went and looked for them until he found them. He said to them: ‘My rabbis, you were performing one mitzva to my credit, and now you are seeking to withhold it from me?’ They said to him: ‘Heaven forbid.’ [He said:] ‘Why then did you abandon your place and sit elsewhere?’ They said: ‘We said that perhaps you are suspicious of us.’ He said to them: ‘Heaven forbid; rather, I will tell you why I arise early to harvest my fig tree. When the sun shines on the fig tree, it becomes infested with worms.’ They returned there immediately. On that day they found that he did not harvest. They took some of them, pierced them, and found them infested with worms. They said: ‘The owner of the fig tree spoke well. If he knows the season of his fig tree and he harvests it, so too, the Holy One blessed be He knows when it is the time to take the righteous, and he takes them.’

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: [This is analogous] to a king who had an orchard and he planted rows of nuts, of apples, and of pomegranates, and he gave them over to his son. When his son would fulfill his will, the king would search for and find a beautiful sapling in the world, and he would uproot it and plant it in that orchard. When his son would not fulfill his will, the king would see some beautiful sapling in the orchard and uproot it. So too, as long as Israel fulfills the will of the Omnipresent, He sees what righteous individual there is among the nations of the world, like Yitro and Raḥav, and He brings them and attaches them to Israel. When Israel does not fulfill the will of the Holy One blessed be He, He sees what righteous, upright, proper, and God-fearing individual there is among them, and He takes them from their midst.

When Ḥiyya bar Ivya, son of bar Kappara’s sister, died, they said to Rabbi Yoḥanan: ‘Go and eulogize him.’ He said to them: ‘Let Reish Lakish go, as he is his disciple and he knows his virtues.’ Rabbi Shimon³Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, who was known as Reish Lakish. came and eulogized him: “My beloved went down into his garden”—the Holy One blessed be He knows the actions of Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Ivya and He took him from the world.

When Rabbi Simon bar Zavdi died, Rabbi Ila entered and eulogized him. “But wisdom, where will it be found, and where is the place of understanding?” (Job 28:12). “The deep says: It is not in me; and the sea says: It is not with me” (Job 28:14). “It is vanished from the eyes of all living and hidden from the birds of the heavens” (Job 28:21). There are four elements that are crucial for the function of the world, but if they are lost they have replacements. These are: “For there is a source of silver and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the dust, and copper is smelted from rock” (Job 28:1–2). A Torah scholar, if he dies, who will bring us his replacement? We, who lost Rabbi Simon, where will we find someone like him? Rabbi Levi said: The tribes found a lost item, and it is written: “Their hearts sank and they trembled” (Genesis 42:28).⁴The sons of Jacob were fearful when they found that the money of one of them had been returned to his sack, despite the fact that, generally speaking, finding money is cause for celebration. We, who lost Rabbi Simon bar Zavdi, from where will we find his replacement? That is, “but wisdom, where will it be found?”

When Rabbi Bon ben Rabbi Ḥiyya died, Rabbi Zeira came to eulogize him. “The sleep of the worker is sweet” (Ecclesiastes 5:11). I will tell you to what Rabbi Bon is comparable; to a king who had a vineyard and hired workers for it. There was one worker there who was more industrious in his work than all the others. When the king saw that he was extraordinarily industrious in his work, he grasped his hand and began taking long and short strolls with him. At evening time, the workers came to collect their wages. That worker came to collect his wages with them, and the king gave him wages like them. The workers began complaining. They said to him: ‘Our lord the king, it is we who exerted ourselves all day, and that one exerted himself for only two or three hours of the day, yet he is collecting his wages like us?’ The king said to them: ‘Why are you complaining? This one accomplished in two or three hours of the day what you did not accomplish in the entire day.’ So too, Rabbi Bon bar Ḥiyya accomplished in Torah what an experienced scholar does not accomplish in one hundred years.
Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Anyone who engages in Torah in this world, even in the future they do not allow him to sleep, but rather, they lead him into the study hall of Shem and Ever, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of Moses and Aaron. To what extent?⁵To what extent do they educate him in the future? It is until “I will give you great renown, like the renown of the great men of the world” (II Samuel 7:9).

“You are fair, my love, like Tirtza, lovely like Jerusalem, formidable like banners” (Song of Songs 6:4).
“You are fair, my love, like Tirtza.” Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon interpreted the verse regarding offerings. “You are fair, my love, like Tirtza,” these are the offerings, as you achieve acceptance [mitratzim] with offerings, just as you say: “It will be accepted [venirtza] for him, to atone for him” (Leviticus 1:4). “Lovely like Jerusalem,” these are the consecrations in Jerusalem, just as it says: “Like the consecrated flock, like the flock of Jerusalem” (Ezekiel 36:38).
Another matter, “you are fair, my love, like Tirtza,” these are the women of the generation of the wilderness [tiran], as Rabbi said: The women of the generation of the wilderness were upright. They stood and asserted themselves and did not give their rings for the incident of the Golden Calf. They said: If the Holy One blessed be He smashed the hard idol, this soft idol, all the more so.⁶If God smashed the idols of Egypt, how much more so this golden calf. They referred to the idols of Egypt as hard because they were made from stone, which is harder than gold, or because the Egyptians worshipped Aries, the first sign of the Zodiac, which is harder to destroy than a golden calf (see Etz Yosef). “Lovely like Jerusalem,” as anyone who wants and seeks molds of Peor, he would go and find in Jerusalem; that is what is written: “And their idols from Jerusalem and from Samaria” (Isaiah 10:10).⁷The midrash means that Israel is lovely to God for distancing themselves from the idols that had become ubiquitous even in Jerusalem and Samaria (Matnot Kehuna).

Another matter, “you are fair, my love, like Tirtza,” when you wish [at rotza]. When you wish,⁸When you wish to wholeheartedly fulfill My will. you need not seek to learn from anyone. Who said to them to bring wagons and cattle to bear the Tabernacle? Was it not of their own accord that they brought them? That is what is written: “They brought their offering before the Lord: six covered wagons [and twelve oxen, a wagon for every two princes and an ox for each; they brought them before the Tabernacle]” (Numbers 7:3), corresponding to the six firmaments. But are they not seven? Rabbi Avun said: Where the king rests under his canopy [is not counted among the rest]. Six corresponding to six earths: Eretz, arka, adama, gei, tziya, neshiya, tevel;⁹These are seven terms used in the Bible to refer to the earth. However, since tevel is singled out as uniquely governed by God’s righteousness, it is not included with the others. and it is written: “He will judge the world [tevel] with righteousness” (Psalms 98:9). Six corresponding to the six orders of Mishna; six corresponding to the six days of Creation; six corresponding to the six matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah, Zilpa, and Bilha.
“Covered [tzav],” like canopies; tzav, colored;¹⁰This is due to the similarity between the word tzav and the word color (tzeva). tzav, arranged in order;¹¹This is due to the similarity between the word tzav and the word tzava, army, which indicates ordered rows of soldiers. tzav, that the hosts [tzava] of Levites stood over them. It was taught in the name of Neḥemya: They were like covered wagons, so the service vessels would not [fall and] break.
“And twelve oxen,” corresponding to the twelve princes: “A wagon for every two princes, and an ox for each” (Numbers 7:3), this teaches that they did not purchase them with money; rather, this one brought an ox and this one brought an ox, this one brought a wagon and this one brought a wagon. “They brought them before the Tabernacle,” this teaches that they gave them to the congregation.
“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying” (Numbers 7:4). What is “saying”? The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Go out and say to them words of praise and consolation.’ Rabbi Hoshaya said: The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘I ascribe to you [merit] as though I needed [something] in which to hold my world, and you brought it to me.’
At that moment, Moses was afraid. He said in his heart: Perhaps the Divine Spirit has left me, and has rested on the princes, or perhaps a different prophet arose and introduced this halakha.¹²Moses was commenting on the fact that he had not been commanded to tell the princes to make this donation, but clearly God was very pleased with it. The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Moses, had I said to them that they should bring [these items], I would have told you to tell them; however, “take from them, and they shall be”’ (Numbers 7:5). What is “take from them”? These matters originated with them.
Who gave them the counsel? Rabbi Simon said: It was the tribe of Issachar. They said to them: ‘This Tabernacle that you are crafting, does it float in the air? Craft wagons for it upon which it may be carried.’ That is why the verse praises the tribe of Issachar, as it is stated: “From the children of Issachar, possessors of understanding of the times” (I Chronicles 12:33). What is “of the times”? Rabbi Tanḥuma said: For astrology. Rabbi Yosei bar Kasrai said: For intercalation. “To know what Israel should do” (I Chronicles 12:33), as they knew how to cure skin disease. “Their leaders were two hundred” (I Chronicles 12:33), these are the two hundred heads of Sanhedrins¹³This refers to the twenty-three person courts that presided in each major city. that the tribe of Issachar produced. “And all their brethren at their command” (I Chronicles 12:33), this teaches that all their brethren would agree with their [decisions in] halakha, like halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai.
At that moment, Moses said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, perhaps one of the oxen will die, or one of the wheels will break and the offering of the princes would be invalidated, resulting in the Tabernacle service being abrogated?’ Immediately, “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Take from them, and they shall be to perform…” (Numbers 7:4-5). “They shall be”—I will grant them existence so that they will live and endure in the world for ever and ever. Until when did they endure? Rabbi Yudan and Rabbi Huna [said] in the name of bar Kapara: Until the Gilgal; that is what is written in Hosea: “In Gilgal they slaughtered oxen, their altars are like heaps upon the furrows of the field” (Hosea 12:12). Where did they sacrifice them?¹⁴This question assumes that they were not sacrificed in Gilgal, as stated above. Alternatively, the midrash means that the merit of these offerings lasted until Israel worshipped idolatry in Gilgal, and the oxen were actually sacrificed afterward (see Etz Yosef). Rabbi Avun said: They sacrificed them in Nov. Rabbi Abba said: They sacrificed them in Givon. Levi said: They sacrificed them in Shilo. The Rabbis say: They sacrificed them in the permanent Temple. Rabbi Ḥama said: The source for the Rabbis is as it is written: “King Solomon slaughtered a feast offering of…cattle [zevaḥ habakar]” (II Chronicles 7:5). Zevaḥ bakar is not written, but rather, zevaḥ habakar.¹⁵It is written with the definite article, so that it reads in a literal sense “a feast offering of the cattle.” Which cattle? You must say: “The two wagons and the four cattle” (Numbers 7:7), and it is written: “the four wagons and the eight cattle” (Numbers 7:8).
Rabbi Meir says: They endure [even] now, and they have not become blemished, they have not grown old, and they have not become tereifa, but rather, they are alive and well. The matters may be inferred a fortiori: If the oxen that were assigned by man to the Tabernacle service, [God] granted them existence to live and endure for ever and ever, Israel, which cleaves to He who endures forever, all the more so, as it is stated: “But you, who cleave to the Lord your God, all of you live today” (Deuteronomy 4:4).

Another interpretation: "Number all the first-born males..." (Numbers 3:40) This is what is written (Song of Songs 6:8-9): "There are threescore queens ... My dove, my undefiled, is but one ..." Compare in parable to a person who had a sales-bundle of glass stones and would bring them them to the market, but would not notice their number, since he would not bring them out by number. He would go in to put them away and would not put them away by number, since he would not care about them, as they were glass. But he had one sales-bundle of precious pearls, and he would take it and bring it out by number and put it away by number. Similarly, so to speak, the Holy One Blessed be He said to the nations of the world, "I have not assigned a number. Why? Because they are not important to me at all. As it says (Isaiah 40:17), 'All the nations are as nothing before Him.' But you are My children, as it says, (Isaiah 46:3), 'that are borne [by Me] from the birth ...' Therefore, I count you all the time." Therefore, it is said "Number all the first-born males." That is: "There are threescore queens ... My dove, my undefiled, is but one ..." - these are Israel.

Another interpretation: "Number all the first-born males..." (Numbers 3:40) This is what is written (Song of Songs 6:8-9): "There are threescore queens ... My dove, my undefiled, is but one ..." Compare in parable to a person who had a sales-bundle of glass stones and would bring them them to the market, but would not notice their number, since he would not bring them out by number. He would go in to put them away and would not put them away by number, since he would not care about them, as they were glass. But he had one sales-bundle of precious pearls, and he would take it and bring it out by number and put it away by number. Similarly, so to speak, the Holy One Blessed be He said to the nations of the world, "I have not assigned a number. Why? Because they are not important to me at all. As it says (Isaiah 40:17), 'All the nations are as nothing before Him.' But you are My children, as it says, (Isaiah 46:3), 'that are borne [by Me] from the birth ...' Therefore, I count you all the time." Therefore, it is said "Number all the first-born males." That is: "There are threescore queens ... My dove, my undefiled, is but one ..." - these are Israel.

Sisera also < was punished by fire > because he blasphemed. Thus it is written about him (in Jud. 4:3): AND HE OPPRESSED THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WITH MIGHT, < i.e. > with blasphemies and invectives.¹⁶See M. Ps. 2:1, which derives this interpretation of WITH MIGHT (rt.: HZQ) from Mal. 3:13: YOUR WORDS HAVE BEEN MIGHTY (rt.: HZQ) AGAINST ME. See also below, 9:7. He was therefore punished by fire, as stated (in Jud. 5:20): THE STARS FOUGHT FROM THE HEAVENS; FROM THEIR COURSES THEY FOUGHT WITH SISERA.¹⁷See Pes. 118b, according to which the stars descended and heated the iron implements in Sisera’s army. < There is > also < retribution > in the world to come, when the Holy One comes to exact retribution from Esau. What did Esau do to him? Wrapped in a prayer shawl like a lion,¹⁸Cf. the parallel in Tanh., Lev. 2:3, which reads: “Wrapped in a prayer shawl like an elder.” he came and took his seat beside Jacob. It is so stated, (in Obad., vs. 4): AND THOUGH YOUR NEST IS SET AMONG THE STARS. STARS can only mean Israel, since it is stated (in Gen. 15:5): LOOK TOWARD THE HEAVENS AND COUNT THE STARS,…: [SO SHALL YOUR SEED BE.] Jacob says to him: My brother ('HY), you shall not be like me. Thus it is stated (in Hos. 13:14): MY BROTHER ('HY),¹⁹The unemended reading below, given in braces, shows that the midrash is reading the he in ‘HY as a het, so that the WHERE of the Masoretic Text cited here is to be interpreted as MY BROTHER. YOUR WORDS²⁰Devarekha. YOUR WORDS is the translation required by the midrash. In the biblical context devarekha should be rendered, YOUR PLAGUES. ARE DEATH; MY BROTHER ('HY), YOUR DESCENT (QTB) IS TO SHEOL.²¹A traditional translation of the line would read: WHERE IS YOUR PESTILENCE, O SHEOL? {MY BROTHER ('HY), MY BROTHER ('HY).} [WHERE ('HY)? WHERE ('HY)?].²²By emending the het of MY BROTHER to the Masoretic he of WHERE, Buber has obscured some of the meaning of the midrash. < YOUR WORDS > are decrees which you decreed over me. You decreed over me that I should serve idols. If I had done so, I would have been condemned to death at the hands of Heaven; and if I had not served them, you would have killed me. Ergo (in Hos. 13:14): MY BROTHER, YOUR WORDS ARE DEATH. (Ibid., cont.:) MY BROTHER ('HY), YOUR DESCENT (QTB) IS TO SHEOL. < QTB > is a Hellenistic²³From the Gk. adverb: Hellenisti. word.²⁴Thus QTB is understood as coming from the Greek, kataba, an aorist imperative meaning, “descend.” {While Jacob remained, Esau descended to Sheol.} [When Esau descended to Sheol, Jacob remained by himself.] It is therefore stated (in Zech. 13:8): AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND, SAYS THE LORD, THAT TWO-THIRDS IN IT [SHALL BE CUT OFF AND DIE, BUT ONE-THIRD SHALL REMAIN IN IT.] Now the one-third can only be Israel, since it is stated (in Is. 19:24): {AND} ISRAEL SHALL BE A THIRD < PARTNER WITH EGYPT AND ASSYRIA, A BLESSING IN THE MIDST OF THE EARTH. > So Israel, because they made themselves despised and lowly, was avenged by fire, as stated (in Zech. 2:9 [5]): AND I MYSELF, SAYS THE LORD, WILL BE A WALL OF FIRE AROUND IT (i.e., around Jerusalem), AND I WILL BE A GLORY WITHIN IT. When Esau departed from the world, the Holy One [and Israel remained, as stated (in Cant. 6:9): < ONLY > ONE IS MY DOVE, MY PERFECT ONE. It also says:] {It says:} (in Deut. 32:12): THE LORD ALONE DID LEAD HIM, AND THERE WAS NO FOREIGN GOD WITH HIM.

(Fol. 49b) Raba expounded: "What is the meaning of the passage (Songs 6, 2) How beautiful are thy steps in sandals. It means, How beautiful were the steps of Israel, when they made a pilgrimage to celebrate the festival. The prince's daughter, daughter of Abraham, our father, who was called a prince; as it is said (Ps. 47, 10) The princes of the people are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham. [Why is] the God of Abraham [mentioned], and "not the God of Isaac or Jacob? The God of Abraham [is mentioned, because Abraham] was the first proselyte." R. Aman lectured: (Songs 7, 2) The rounding of thy thighs are like the links of a chain. "Why are the words of the Law likened unto thighs? Just as the thighs are in a hidden place, so the words of the Law must also be hidden." This was also interpreted by R. Elazar who said: "What is the meaning of the passage (Micah 6, 8) He hath told thee, O man, what is good, and what the Lord doth require of thee: nothing but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God; i.e. To do justice, refers to judgment; to love kindness, refers to loving kindness; and to walk humbly with thy God, refers to dowering the bride and escorting the dead to the grave." Is this conclusion not proved a fortiori? If things usually done publicly are to be done decorously, so much the more should things usually done privately.

“Avert your eyes from me, as they excite my arrogance. Your hair is like a flock of goats that streams down from Gilad” (Song of Songs 6:5).
“Avert your eyes,” Rabbi Azarya [said] in the name of Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon: [This is analogous] to a king who was angry at the queen and banished her, expelling her from the palace. What did she do? She went and concealed her face behind a pillar outside the palace. When the king passed, the king said: ‘Remove her from before me, as I am unable to bear [her suffering].’ So too, when the rabbinical court convenes and decrees fasts and the individuals fast, the Holy One blessed be He says: ‘I am unable to bear it.’¹⁶God is unable to bear their distress and therefore alleviates the suffering or ends the drought that was the cause of their fasting. “As they excite my arrogance”—they caused Me to extend My hand against My world.¹⁷It is due to the merit of the righteous individuals that I displayed My dominance over the world by redeeming Israel from Egypt.
When the rabbinical court convenes and decrees fasts and the children fast, the Holy One blessed be He says: ‘I am unable to bear it.’ “As they excite my arrogance,” they crowned Me as king over them, and said: “The Lord will reign for ever and ever” (Exodus 15:18). When they decree fasts and the elderly fast, the Holy One blessed be He says: ‘I am unable to bear it.’ “As they excite my arrogance [hirhivuni],” they accepted My kingdom over them at Sinai, and said: “Everything that the Lord says we will perform and we will heed” (Exodus 24:7), and it is written: “To those of my acquaintance, I mention Rahav¹⁸In this verse, too, the word Rahav is a term indicating exaltedness or kingship, as the word hirhivuni, which shares the same root as Rahav, is understood in the midrash. and Babylon…” (Psalms 87:4).
Rabbi Pinḥas [said] in the name of Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina bar Pappa: It is written: “Even the rebellious You captured to dwell over, Lord God” (Psalms 68:19); even the rebellious, the Holy One blessed be He rests His Divine presence in their midst. By what merit? By the merit of: “Everything that the Lord says we will perform and we will heed.”
“Your hair is like a flock of goats,” just as the goat is contemptible,¹⁹This is because its tail does not cover its sexual organs. so, too, Israel was contemptible in Shitim, as it is stated: “Israel was living in Shitim, [and the people began to engage in licentiousness with the daughters of Moav]” (Numbers 25:1).

“Your teeth are like a flock of ewes that are ascending from being washed, that are all paired, and there is none missing among them” (Song of Songs 6:6).
“Your teeth are like a flock of ewes.” Just as the ewe is modest,²⁰This is because its tail covers its sexual organs. so too, Israel was modest and upright in the Midyanite war. Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Aḥa: That not one of them donned the phylacteries of the head before the phylacteries of the arm, as had one of them donned the phylacteries of the head before the phylacteries of the arm, Moses would not have praised them and they would not have ascended from there²¹The Midyanite war. in peace. You must say that they were extremely righteous.
“That are all paired,” as they would enter in pairs to the woman.²²The war against Midyan was undertaken in response to a plague that killed thousands of Israelites. The plague was a result of their sins with Moavite and Midyanite women (see Numbers chapter 25), who were sent to seduce them. Consequently, when the Israelite soldiers conquered the Midyanites, they would enter a tent in which there was a woman only in pairs, so that there would be no doubt that they would repeat the same sins which had brought about the plague in the first place. One of them would blacken her face and one of them would remove her jewelry. [The women] would say to them: ‘Are we not among the creations of the Holy One blessed be He, that you do this to us?’ The Israelites would say to them: ‘Is it not enough for you that our people received their punishment because of you?’ That is what is written: “The Lord said to Moses: Take all the leaders of the people, and hang them” (Numbers 25:4).²³This was one of the disastrous consequences of the Israelites’ sins with the Midyanite women. “And there is none missing among them,” that not one of them was suspected of committing a transgression.

(Ibid. 6) "And you shall be unto Me": I am not setting up any others over you, but only "Me." And thus is it written (Psalms 121:4) "He will not slumber and He will not sleep, the (sole) Keeper of Israel." "a kingdom of Cohanim": I do not crown kings from the peoples of the world, but only from you. And thus is it written (Song of Songs 6:9) "She is one, My dove, My perfect one, etc." R. Eliezer, the son of R. Yossi Haglili says: Whence is it derived that every one of Israel will have sons like those who left Egypt? From (Psalms 45:17) "In place of your fathers will be your sons." If "sons," I might think (even) the sick and the humble. It is, therefore, written (Ibid.) "You will make the princes." If "princes," I might think merchants. It is, therefore, written (here) "a kingdom." If a king, I might think that he reverts to being a conqueror. It is, therefore, written "Cohanim," "idlers" (from war), as in (II Samuel 8:18) "And the sons of David were Cohanim." Variantly: From here ("a kingdom of Cohanim") it is derived that all of Israel were fit to eat of the offerings — until they made the golden calf. Once they made the golden calf, it (i.e., the status of Cohanim) was taken from them and given to the (official) Cohanim, as it is written (Jeremiah 50:17) "A scattered sheep is Israel, harried by lions … first it was devoured by Nevuchadnezzar, king of Bavel, etc." It (Israel) is compared to a sheep. Just as a sheep, when one of its lambs is smitten, all of its lambs feel it, so, Israel, if one of them is smitten, all of them feel it. As opposed to the nations of the world. If one of them is killed, all of them rejoice in his downfall. "and a holy nation": They are called "a holy nation," as it is written (I Chronicles 17:21) "And who is like Your nation, Israel, one nation in the land," holy of holies, separate from the peoples of the world and from their abominations. "These are the things" — not less and not more; "that you shall speak to the children of Israel" — in this order.

“Your temple is like a pomegranate slice behind your braid” (Song of Songs 6:7).
“Your temple [rakatekh] is like a pomegranate slice.” At that moment, Moses began praising them: Even the empty among you is packed with mitzvot and good deeds like the pomegranate, for anyone who is confronted by the opportunity to commit a transgression and is spared from it and does not perform it has performed a great mitzva. It goes without saying: “Behind your braid [letzamatekh]” regarding the modest and the fervent [metzumatin] among you.

“There are sixty queens, and eighty concubines, and young women without number” (Song of Songs 6:8).
“There are sixty queens.” Rabbi Ḥiyya of Tzippori and Rabbi Levi interpreted the verse regarding the nations of the world. Rabbi Ḥiyya said: Sixty and eighty are one hundred and forty. Forty of them have a language [of their own] but do not have a script [of their own] and forty do not have a language but have a script. “And young women without number,” the rest of them have neither a language nor a script. Is the same, perhaps, true of Israel? The verse states: “To the Jews in their language and in their script” (Esther 8:9).
Rabbi Levi said: Sixty and eighty are one hundred and forty. Seventy of them know their fathers but do not know their mothers. Seventy of them know their mothers but do not know their fathers. “And young women without number,” [those] who do not know their fathers or their mothers. Is the same, perhaps, true of Israel? The verse states: “They established their genealogy according to their families, according to their fathers' household” (Numbers 1:18).²⁴The term “their families” indicates that they knew their mothers and “their fathers’ household” indicates they knew their fathers. Alternatively, “they established their genealogy [vayityaldu]” is related to the term birth [leida], indicating that they knew their mothers.

(Lev. 15:25:) “And when a woman has had a discharge of blood for many days.” Why a woman and not a man? Previously it applied to men and women. Thus it is stated (in Lev. 15:2), “When any man has a discharge issuing from his flesh.” R. Meir says, “The man's uncleanness was more serious than the woman's uncleanness. Why? Because the uncleanness of women is a sign of children; however, that of a man is [a sign] of suffering. Thus it is stated (in vs. 3), ‘And this shall be the uncleanness in his discharge,’³⁴The next verses (4-12) stress just how defiling his discharge really is. [i.e.] something which seals and closes.” Previously the men saw water, until Rachel arose and said (in Gen. 31:35), “for the period of women is upon me.” Then it was given to her. Therefore (in Exod. 15:25), “And when a woman has had a discharge of blood.” (Lev. 15:25:) “And when a woman has had a discharge of blood for many days.” Thus have our masters taught (in Shab. 2:6): Women die at the time of their childbirth for three transgressions:³⁵Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 2:1; Tanh., Gen. 2:1. Because they have not been careful in regard to menstruation, in regard to the hallah,³⁶I.e., the priest’s share of the dough. and in regard to the lighting of the lamp.³⁷I.e., the Sabbath lamp. Why at the time of their childbirth? Because the adversary (Satan) only makes accusations³⁸Gk.: kategorein. in time of danger. Now the three of them are from the Torah. [Where is it shown about] menstruation? (Lev. 15:25:) “And when a woman has had a discharge of her blood.” [Where is it shown about] the hallah? (Numb. 15:20:) “[You shall set aside] the first of your dough as a hallah offering.” [Where is it shown] in regard to the lighting of the [Sabbath] lamp? As our masters taught, “Where is it shown that a person is to be zealous and diligent in the lighting of the [Sabbath] lamp? Where it is stated (in Is. 58:13), ‘and you call the Sabbath a delight.’ This refers to the lighting of the lamp.” And why were [these commandments] transmitted to the woman?³⁹Gen. R. 17:8; yShab. 2:4 (5b). The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “She extinguished the lamp of the world….” In regard to menstruation, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “She shed the blood of Adam, and she was sentenced to have her own blood shed, since it is stated (in Gen. 9:6), ‘Whoever sheds human blood [by a human will his blood be shed].’ She shall observe her menstrual period to atone for the blood that she shed.” Ergo (in Lev. 15:25), “And when a woman has had a discharge of blood.” Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, compares the uncleanness of Israel to the uncleanness of the menstrual period, when [a woman] is unclean and [then] purified. So the Holy One, blessed be He, is going to purify Israel, as stated (in Ezek. 36:25), “I will sprinkle pure water upon you, and you shall be pure.” Another interpretation: (Ezek. 36:17:) “Their way before Me was like the uncleanness of a menstruant woman”; like the uncleanness of a menstruant woman, and not like the uncleanness of a corpse. With a corpse in the house, a high priest does not enter there; but in the case of a menstruant woman, a high priest enters into the house with her and sits [with her] on the couch,⁴⁰‘YSTWW’, probably from the Gk.: histion, which means “something woven.” but on condition that it not shake (when they sit on it). So if Israel were compared to the impurity of death, the Divine Presence would never return upon them; however, they are compared to the menstruant because there is cleansing for her in a mikveh, so that the priest may be with her in the house and not be afraid. Thus the Divine Presence dwells with Israel, even though they are unclean, as stated (in Lev. 16:16), “which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.” R. Levy said, “When Israel was in Egypt, the women did not see menstrual blood, because the fear of Egypt was upon them. And also after Israel left Egypt, they did not see menstruation in the desert, because the Divine Presence was among them.” [Moreover,] the women accepted the Torah first. It is so stated (in Exod. 19:3), “Thus shall you say to the House of Jacob,” these are the women;⁴¹Exod. R. 28:2. Cf. Shab. 118b: “R. Jose said, ‘… but my wife [I called] my house.’” (ibid., cont.), “and declare to the sons of Israel,” these are the men. And so it says (in Cant. 6:10), “terrible⁴²Buber, n. 91, points out that ‘ayummah (TERRIBLE) is seen as related to ‘emah (“fear”), in that the fear of the Divine Presence was upon them. like bannered hosts.” Now about them it is stated (in Cant. 4:12), “A locked garden is my sister, my bride, a locked fountain, a sealed spring.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, “In this world you became clean but returned to uncleanness; but in the world to come I Myself will cleanse you so that you shall not ever become unclean.” Thus it is stated (in Ezek. 36:25), “I will sprinkle pure water upon you, and you shall be pure; I will purify you from all your uncleannesses and from all your idols.”

“One is my faultless dove, one to her mother, pure to the one who bore her. Girls see her and laud her; queens and concubines, and praise her” (Song of Songs 6:9).
“One is my faultless dove”—“one,” this is Abraham, as it is stated: “Abraham was one” (Ezekiel 33:24). “One to her mother,” this is Isaac, who was an only child to his mother. “Pure [bara] to the one who bore her,” this is Jacob our patriarch, of whom it was clear [barur] to the one who bore him that he was entirely righteous. “Girls see her and laud her,” these are the tribes, as it is stated: “The news was heard in Pharaoh's palace, saying, "Joseph's brothers have come" (Genesis 45:16). Alternatively, “girls see her and laud her [vayashruha],” this is Leah, as it is stated: “In my happiness, as women will be happy for me [ishruni]” (Genesis 30:13).
“Queens and concubines, and praise her,” this is Joseph, as it is stated: “Pharaoh said to his servants: Can we find someone like this?” (Genesis 41:38). If we walk from one end of the world to the other we will not find someone like this, as it is stated: “After God has disclosed all this to you, [there is no one as insightful and wise as you]” (Genesis 41:39).

“The king said to her: What troubles you, Queen Esther, and what is your request… Esther said: If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet… The king said: Hasten Haman…The king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared…Haman emerged on that day joyful and glad of heart, but upon Haman’s seeing Mordekhai at the king’s gate, and he did not stand, and he did not move on his account, Haman became filled with fury…Haman restrained himself…and brought his supporters and Zeresh his wife, etc.” (Esther 5:3–5; 8–10).
Among all of them, there was no one capable of giving counsel like Zeresh his wife. He [Haman] had three hundred and sixty-five advisers, corresponding to the days of the solar year. His wife said to him: The person [Mordekhai] about whom you are asking, “If he is of the progeny of the Jews…you will not prevail against him” (Esther 6:13) – unless you approach him with cleverness, with [a strategy] that has never been attempted against members of his nation. If you drop him into a fiery furnace, Ḥananya and his cohorts have already been rescued [from it]; if [you place him in] the lions’ den, Daniel already emerged from it. If you incarcerate him in prison, Joseph already emerged from it. If you ignite a fire in a vat beneath him, Menashe [king of Judah] already pleaded, and the Holy One blessed be He acceded to his plea and he emerged from it. If you exile him to the wilderness, his ancestors already procreated in the wilderness, and they were confronted with numerous ordeals and passed them all and were rescued. If you blind his eyes, Samson took numerous Philistine lives when he was blind. Rather, hang him on a gibbet, as no member of his people has survived it.
Immediately, “the matter was pleasing to Haman and he prepared the gibbet” (Esther 5:14). From what tree was that gibbet crafted? The Rabbis said: When he came to prepare it, the Holy One blessed be He called to all the trees of Creation: ‘Who will give [of its wood] so this wicked one [Haman] will be hanged on it?’
The fig said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel brings first fruits from me. Moreover, Israel was likened to the first fruits [of a fig]; that is what is written: “Like a first fruit on a fig tree in its first season”’ (Hosea 9:10).
The grapevine said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; that is what is written: “You transported a vine from Egypt”’ (Psalms 80:9).
The pomegranate said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; as it is stated: “Your temple is like a pomegranate slice”’ (Song of Songs 4:3).
The nut said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was likened to me; that is what is written: “I have descended to the nut garden”’ (Song of Songs 6:11).
The citron said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel takes from me for a mitzva; that is what is written: “You shall take for you on the first day the fruit of a pleasant tree…”’¹This verse refers to the mitzva to take the four species on Sukkot. Rabbinic tradition identifies the “pleasant tree” as the citron. (Leviticus 23:40).
The myrtle said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; as it is stated: “And he was standing among the myrtles”’ (Zechariah 1:8).
The olive said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; as it is stated: “The Lord called your name a flourishing olive-tree, fair of fruit and form”’ (Jeremiah 11:16).
The apple said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; as it is stated: “Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the boys” (Song of Songs 2:3), and as it is written: “And the fragrance of your face like apples”’ (Song of Songs 7:9).
The palm said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; that is what is written: “This, your stature, is likened to a palm”’ (Song of Songs 7:8).
Acacia trees and cypress trees said: ‘We will give of ourselves, as the Sanctuary was crafted and the Temple was constructed from us.’
The cedar and the date said: ‘We will give of ourselves, as we are analogized to the righteous, as it is stated: “The righteous man flourishes like a palm tree; like a cedar in Lebanon he grows tall”’ (Psalms 92:13).
The willow says: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me, as it is stated: “Like willows by streams of water” (Isaiah 44:4); and they take from me for the mitzva of the four species in the lulav.’
At that moment, the thorn said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, I, who have nothing to ascribe [litlot] to myself, I will give of myself, and that impure one will be hanged [veyitaleh]. My name is thorn, and he [Haman] is a painful thorn; it is appropriate for a thorn to be hanged on a thorn.’ They found [suitable wood from a thorn] and erected [the gibbet].
When they brought it before Haman, he prepared it at the entrance to his house and measured himself on it to show his servants how Mordekhai should be hanged on it. A divine voice replied to him: ‘The tree is suitable for you; this tree has been prepared for you since the six days of Creation.’ The Rabbis there [i.e. Babylonia] say: Where in the Torah is there [an allusion] to Haman? It is, as it is stated: “Was it from the tree [hamin haetz]” (Genesis 3:11), which is expounded to read: Haman haetz.
Another matter: “it was on the third day” (Esther 5:1). Israel is never subject to trouble for more than three days, as in Abraham’s regard it is written: “On the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place from a distance” (Genesis 22:4). The tribes, “he gathered them into custody for three days” (Genesis 42:17). Jonah, as it is stated: “Jonah was in the innards of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 2:1). And the dead will live only after three days, as it is stated: “On the third day He will raise us” (Hosea 6:2).²At the resurrection of the dead, all will be revived for the day of judgement, when some will be granted “eternal life,” and others will receive “reproaches and everlasting abhorrence” (Daniel 12:2). The midrash here is stating that the righteous will experience the anxiety of the impending judgement for three days before they are granted eternal life. This miracle, too, transpired after three days of their fasting; that is what is written: “It was on the third day, that Esther donned royalty” (Esther 5:1). She sent and invited Haman to a banquet with the king on the fifteenth of Nisan. Once they ate and drank, Haman said: ‘The king promotes me, his wife honors me, and there is no one in the kingdom greater than I am,’ and his heart was overjoyed; that is what is written: “Haman emerged on that day joyful and glad of heart” (Esther 5:9).

Rabbi Yitzḥak interpreted the verse regarding the portions of the Torah. “There are sixty queens,” these are the sixty tractates of halakhot. “And eighty concubines,” these are the eighty portions in Torat Kohanim.²⁵This is the midrash halakha on the book of Leviticus. “And young women without number,” these are the Tosefta.²⁶The Tosefta contains tannaitic material [baraitot] that was not included in the Mishna. “One is [my faultless dove],” they dispute each other, but all of them expound it from one source, from one halakha, from a verbal analogy, from an a fortiori inference.

Rabbi Yudan ben Rabbi Ilai interpreted the verse regarding the Tree of Life and the Garden of Eden. “There are sixty queens,” these are the sixty groups of righteous people that sit in the Garden of Eden beneath the Tree of Life and engage in Torah study. It is taught: The Tree of Life is a walking distance of five hundred years, and all the primordial waters separate and emerge from beneath it. Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Ilai said: This is not only regarding its foliage, but even its trunk was a walking distance of five hundred years.
It is taught: The runoff of a kor²⁷This is a field large enough that it would be seeded with one kor of seed. This is the equivalent of 75,000 square cubits. irrigates a tarkav.²⁸This is a field large enough that it would be seeded with one tarkav of seed. The tarkav is one-sixtieth of a kor. The runoff of Kush irrigates Egypt. Egypt is a walking distance of forty days, it measures four hundred parasangs by four hundred parasangs, and it is one-sixtieth [the size] of Kush. Kush is a walking distance of more than seven years, and it constitutes one-sixtieth of the world. The length of the world is a walking distance of five hundred years, and its width is a walking distance of five hundred years, and it is one four-hundredth [the size] of Gehenna. We find that the walking distance of Gehenna is two hundred thousand years. We thus find that the whole world in its entirety is like a pot cover for Gehenna. The world constitutes one-sixtieth [the size] of Eden and Eden is beyond measure.²⁹Some suggest that the text should read that Gehenna is one-sixtieth the size of Eden.
“And eighty concubines,” these are the sixty groups of middling people that sit and engage in Torah study outside the Tree of Life. “And young women without number,” there is no limit to the disciples. Are they, perhaps, in dispute with one another? The verse states: “One is my faultless dove”—they all expound it from one source, from one halakha, from one verbal analogy, from an a fortiori inference.

The Rabbis interpret the verse regarding those who departed from Egypt. “There are sixty queens,” these are the six hundred thousand [men] from the age of twenty and above who departed [from Egypt]. “And eighty concubines,” these are the eight hundred thousand Israelites from the age of twenty and below who departed. “And young women without number,” there is no limit and no tally of the proselytes.
Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Levi: The nations of the world have enumeration but do not have a tally.³⁰At times the Torah lists their descendants, but it does not give a total number. They have enumeration:“the children of Yefet, Gomer and Magog” (Genesis 10:2). But Israel has enumeration and a tally, as it is written: “Their count according to the number of every male…[their count was seven thousand five hundred]” (Numbers 3:22); “their count,” this is the enumeration, “according to the number,” this is the tally.
Likewise, “Yoav gave the sum of the number of the census to the king…” (II Samuel 24:9), “sum,” this is the enumeration, “census,” this is the tally. If you say that we are testifying about ourselves, did not the wicked Bilam testify in our regard, as it is written: “Who has counted the dust of Jacob,” this is the enumeration, “or tallied one quarter of Israel” (Numbers 23:10), this is the tally.

Another matter, “one is my faultless dove,” this is the congregation of Israel, as it is stated: “Who is like Your people, like Israel, one nation on earth” (II Samuel 7:23). “One to her mother [le’imah],” as it is stated: “Pay attention to Me, My people, and listen to Me, My nation [uleumi]” (Isaiah 51:4); le’imi is written.³¹The word My nation [le’umi] is written without a vav, such that it can be pronounced le’imi, meaning my mother. However, the verse is traditionally written with the vav in the word le’umi. The midrash may reflect a tradition regarding the writing of this word that is different from the tradition that has been more accepted over the centuries. Alternatively, the word le’umi is not necessary in the verse at all, and is written because it at times can be pronounced le’imi, when it is written without a vav. “Pure to the one who bore her,” Rabbi Yaakov bar Avuna interpreted before Rabbi Yitzḥak: Other than her, there are no others to the one who bore her.³²Israel is God’s only chosen nation. “Girls see her and laud her,” just as it says: “All the nations will praise you” (Malachi 3:12). “Queens and concubines, and praise her,” just as you say: “Kings will be your caregivers” (Isaiah 49:23).³³This demonstrates that even royalty will admire and praise Israel.

“Who is she who appears like dawn, fair like the moon, pure like the sun, formidable like banners?” (Song of Songs 6:10)
“Who is she who appears like dawn?” There was an incident in which Rabbi Ḥiyya and Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta were walking in the Arbel Valley in the early morning and they saw the light of dawn breaking. Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great said to Rabbi Shimon bar Ḥalafta: So will the redemption of Israel burst forth, as it is written: “Though I sit in darkness, the Lord is a light for me” (Micah 7:8). Initially it will come little by little, then it will sparkle, then it will increase, and then it will continuously spread. So too, initially, “In those days, Mordekhai was sitting at the king’s gate” (Esther 2:21), then, “Mordekhai emerged from before the king in royal garments” (Esther 8:15), and then: “For the Jews there was light and joy…” (Esther 8:16).
“Like dawn,” if so, just as the dawn has no shade, could it be, perhaps, that the same is true of Israel?³⁴Is it true that they have no protection? The verse states: “Fair like the moon.” If so, just as the light of the moon is not clear, perhaps the same is true of Israel? The verse states: “Pure like the sun,” that is what is written: “Let those who love Him be like the powerfully rising sun” (Judges 5:31). If so, just as the sun beats down, is the same, perhaps, true of Israel? The verse states: “Fair like the moon,” that is what is written: “How precious is Your kindness, God” (Psalms 36:8). If so, just as the moon is at times deficient and at times full, is the same, perhaps, true of Israel? The verse states: “Pure like the sun.” If so, just as the sun serves by day and does not serve by night, is the same, perhaps, true of Israel? The verse states: “Fair like the moon,” just as the moon serves by day and by night, as it is written in its regard: “To rule by day and by night” (Genesis 1:18), so too Israel, they are in this world and they are in the World to Come. If so, just as the sun and the moon do not induce fear, is the same, perhaps, true of Israel? The verse states: “Formidable like banners,” like the banners On High, like Mikhael and his banner, Gavriel and his banner. From where is it derived that they induce fear? As it is stated: “They had backs, and they were tall, and they were fearsome” (Ezekiel 1:18).
Rabbi Yehoshua said: It is like the fear of those below, e.g., dukes, governors, and generals. From where is it derived that they induce fear? It is as it is stated: “Fearsome, terrifying, and strong” (Daniel 7:7). Rabbi Yudan and Rabbi Huna, Rabbi Yudan in the name of Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Yosei HaGelili and Rabbi Huna in the name of Rabbi Elazar HaModa’i: “Like banners [kidgalim],” is not written here, but rather kanidgalot,³⁵ Degalim, in the masculine, would be perceived as an allusion to angels or leaders. Nidgalot, in the feminine, is an allusion to the exile [galut]. like the generation that was sliding toward exile. Which is this? This is the generation of Hezekiah, as it is stated: “A day of distress and rebuke” (Isaiah 37:3). From where is it derived that they induced fear? It is as it is stated: “He was thereafter exalted in the eyes of all the nations” (II Chronicles 32:23).
Rabbi Huna [said] in the name of Rabbi Elazar HaModa’i: “Like banners [kidgalim]” is not written here, but rather kanidgalot, like the generation that would slide toward exile, but would not be exiled. Which is this? This is the generation of the messianic king. That is what is written: “I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem for the war” (Zechariah 14:2). From where is it derived that [the messianic king] will induce fear? As it is stated: “He will strike the world with the rod of his mouth” (Isaiah 11:4). Rabbi Elazar in the name of Rabbi Yosei bar Yirmeya: At that time, Israel will be moving from journey to journey.
Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin says: The congregation of Israel said: ‘The Holy One blessed be He brought me to a wine cellar, this is Sinai; Mikhael and his banner and Gavriel and his banner were there.’ It said: ‘If only we could travel like the supernal array.’ At that time, the Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Since My children desire to be like the banners, they shall encamp by banners,’ as it is stated: “Each at his banner with the insignias by their patrilineal houses, the children of Israel shall encamp” (Numbers 2:2).

R. Shimon b. Yochai says (Psalms 16:11) "sated (sova) with joys in Your presence": Rend it not "sova," but "sheva" (seven). To seven "joys" the faces of the righteous are likened in time to come: the sun, the moon, the firmament, the stars, lightnings, lilies, the menorah of the Temple: the sun and the moon — (Song of Songs 6:10) "beauteous as the moon, clear as the sun." the firmament and the stars — (Daniel 12:3) "The wise will shine like the radiance of the firmament, and the turners of the many to righteousness, like the stars, forever and ever." lightnings — (Nachum 2:5) "and they flash like lightning." lillies (Psalms 45:1) "For the chief musician, on the lillies." the menorah of the Temple — (Hoshea 14:7) "and his glory will be like the olive tree." And (Zechariah 4:3) "There are two olive trees over it (the Temple menorah), one at the right of the bowl and one at the left."

(Numb. 2:2:) EACH WITH HIS STANDARD, UNDER THE BANNERS <FOR THEIR FATHERS' HOUSES….> This text is related (to Cant. 6:10): WHO IS THIS WOMAN THAT SHINES THROUGH [LIKE THE DAWN, AS BEAUTIFUL AS THE MOON, CLEAR AS THE SUN…?] Holy and grand was Israel by her standards!⁶⁹Tanh., Numb. 11; Numb. R. 2:4} So all the nations were looking at them, as they said in astonishment (ibid): WHO IS THIS WOMAN THAT SHINES THROUGH? The nations said to them (in Cant. 7:1 [6:13]): RETURN, RETURN, O SHULAMMITE (i.e., O Israel). Cling to us and come to us; then we will make you sultans, generals,⁷⁰Lat.: duces. and commanders,⁷¹Gk.: hegemones. [as stated] (in ibid., cont.): RETURN, RETURN THAT WE MAY LOOK UPON YOU. [Now WE MAY LOOK (rt.: HZH) can only <refer to giving> authority, for so Jethro said to Moses (in Exod. 18:21): YOU SHALL ALSO SEEK OUT (rt.: HZH) <ABLE MEN> FROM AMONG THE PEOPLE…]; <AND YOU SHALL SET THESE OVER THEM AS COMMANDERS OF THOUSANDS, COMMANDERS OF HUNDREDS, COMMANDERS OF FIFTIES, AND COMMANDERS OF TENS>. Then Israel said to them (in Cant. 7:1 [6:13], cont.): WHAT WILL YOU SEE (rt.: HZH) IN THE SHULAMMITE? And what grandeur are you giving to us? <It is> perhaps (ibid., cont.) LIKE A DANCE OF THE CAMPS?⁷²MHNYM. The voweling of the Masoretic text understands MHNYM as a dual, i.e., as TWO CAMPS; but the context here assumes more than two. Can you possibly give us anything like the grandeur which the LORD our God gave us in the desert? <There he gave us> the standard of the camp of Judah, the standard of the camp of Reuben, the standard of the camp of Ephraim, the standard of the camp of Dan. Are you able to do so for us? (Cant. 7:1 [6:13]): WHAT WILL YOU SEE (rt.: HZH) IN THE SHULAMMITE? It is perhaps (ibid., cont.) LIKE A DANCE (meholat) OF THE CAMPS, in that when we sin, he pardons (mohel) us and says to us (in Deut. 23:15 [14]): AND YOUR CAMP SHALL BE HOLY? So also Balaam the Wicked beheld them and his eyes popped out as he faced them, because he could not touch them, as stated (in Numb. 24:2): THEN BALAAM RAISED HIS EYES AND SAW ISRAEL DWELLING TRIBE BY TRIBE. He began to say: Who can touch these people, when each and every one dwells by his standard.

“I went down to the nut garden to look at the budding of the valley, to see if the vine had blossomed and the pomegranates were in bloom” (Song of Songs 6:11).
“I went down to the nut garden,” Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Israel was likened to a nut tree. Just as a nut tree is pruned, and it regenerates, [such that] it is pruned for its own good – why? – because it regenerates, like that which is trimmed and regenerates, and like fingernails that are trimmed and regenerate, so too, whatever Israel pares from the wages of their labor and gives to those who toil in Torah study in this world, it is pared and regenerated for them, to their benefit. It provides them with wealth in this world and a fine reward in the World to Come.
Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi: Just as these trees, if you cover their roots at the time of their planting, they are successful, and if not, they are not successful, but this nut tree, if you cover its roots at the time of its planting, it is not successful, so too Israel, “one who conceals his transgressions will not succeed” (Proverbs 28:13).
Rabbi Elasha said: The verse should have stated only: “To the vegetable garden,” but it said: “To the nut garden.” Thus, it teaches that He gave them the strength of trees and the radiance of vegetables. Rabbi Azarya said two: Just as the shell of a nut protects its fruit, so the ignoramuses of Israel support the Torah.³⁶They do so by supporting those who engage in Torah study. That is what is written: “It is a tree of life for those who grasp it” (Proverbs 3:18).
He said another: Just as this nut, if it falls into filth, you take it, scour it and rinse it, and it is restored to its original state and it is fit for consumption, so too, regardless of how much Israel is sullied with iniquities all the days of the year, Yom Kippur comes and atones for them. That is what is written: “For on this day shall atonement be made for you, to purify you” (Leviticus 16:30). Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon says: Just as this nut has two shells, so, Israel has two commandments, circumcision and uncovering.³⁷These are the two stages of circumcision, which are likened to the removal of the hard and the soft shells of a nut.
Another matter, “to the nut garden,” Reish Lakish said: Just as this nut tree is smooth, as we learned (Pe’a 4:1): Rabbi Shimon says: Regarding the smooth nut trees as well.³⁸As opposed to other trees, where one may leave the pe’a fruit on the tree for the poor, one may not do so on a nut tree, because it is smooth and dangerous to climb it. Therefore, one must remove all the nuts from the tree. Anyone who climbs to the top of it, and does not pay attention to how he should climb, will fall and die. He will receive his due from the nut tree. So too, anyone who asserts authority over the public in Israel and does not pay attention as to how he should lead Israel, ultimately, he will fall and receive his due from them. That is what is written: “Israel is sacred to the Lord, the first of His crop, all those who devour it will be guilty…” (Jeremiah 2:3).
Another matter, “I went down to the nut garden,” just as the nut is a toy for children and amusement for kings, so are Israel in this world, due to iniquity, as it is written: “I have become a laughingstock to all my people…” (Lamentations 3:14). But in the future, “Kings will be your caregivers” (Isaiah 49:23).
Another matter, “I went down to the nut garden,” just as on this nut tree there are nuts with brittle shells, medium shells, and hard shells, so too with Israel, some of them give charity at their own initiative, some give if you demand it from them, and some do not give even if you demand it from them. Rabbi Levi said: The parable says, a gate that does not open for a mitzva will open for a doctor.
Another matter, “I went down to the nut garden,” just as a stone breaks a nut, so too, the Torah is called a stone and the evil inclination is called a stone. The Torah is called a stone, as it is stated: “I will give you the stone tablets” (Exodus 24:12), and the evil inclination is called a stone, as it is stated: “I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). Rabbi Levi said: [This is analogous] to a desolate place which was afflicted by gangs. What did the king do? He positioned members of the royal guard there to defend it, so [the bandits] would not accost passersby. So too, the Holy One blessed be He said: ‘The Torah is called stone and the evil inclination is called stone, let the stone protect from the stone.’
Another matter, “I went down to the nut garden,” just as the nut cannot be smuggled past the tax collector because its [rattling] can be heard and it is conspicuous, so too Israel, any place that one of them goes, he cannot say that he is not a Jew. Why? Because he is conspicuous. That is what is written: “Everyone who sees them will recognize them, for they are the descendants of the blessed of the Lord” (Isaiah 61:9).
Another matter, “I went down to the nut garden,” just as the nut, if you have a sack filled with nuts, you can [still] put numerous sesame seeds and mustard seeds into it and it will hold them, so too, numerous proselytes have come and joined Israel. That is what is written: “Who has counted the dust of Jacob” (Numbers 23:10).
Another matter, “I went down to the nut garden,” just as the nut, if you take one from the pile, all of them collapse and roll onto one another, the same is true of Israel; if one of them is stricken all of them feel it. That is what is written: “Shall one man sin, and You will rage against the entire congregation?” (Numbers 16:22).
Rabbi Berekhya said: Just as the nut has four compartments and a space in the middle, so were Israel were situated in the wilderness; four banners, four camps, and the Tent of Meeting in the middle. That is what is written: “The Tent of Meeting…shall journey” (Numbers 2:17).
Another matter, “I went down to the nut garden,” this is the world. “To look at the budding of the valley, this is Israel. “To see if the vine had blossomed,” these are the synagogues and the study halls. “And the pomegranates were in bloom,” these are the children who sit and engage in Torah study, and sit in rows like pomegranate seeds.

Ḥiyya bar Rav Ada, son of bar Kappara’s sister, died. They said to Rabbi Yoḥanan: ‘Go up and eulogize him.’ He said to them: ‘Let Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish go up, as he knows his strengths.’ Rabbi Shimon got up and eulogized: ‘“My beloved has gone down to his garden” (Song of Songs 6:2); the Holy One blessed be He knows the actions of Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Rav Ada and has taken him.’

When Rabbi Bon ben Rabbi Ḥiyya died, Rabbi Zeira got up and eulogized him with this verse: “Sweet is the sleep of the laborer.” To what was Rabbi Bon ben Rabbi Ḥiyya comparable? To a king who had a vineyard and hired many laborers to work it. There was one worker who performed his labor much more efficiently than all the rest. What did the king do? He took him by his hand and went with him on long and short strolls. At evening time, the laborers came to collect their wages, and that laborer came with them, and he gave him his wages in full. The laborers began protesting; they said: ‘We toiled all day, and this one toiled for two hours, and the king gave him his wages in full?’ The king said to them: ‘Why are you protesting? This one toiled for two hours efficiently [and accomplished] what you did not [accomplish] in your toil over the whole day.’ So too, Rabbi Bon ben Rabbi Ḥiyya learned [more] Torah in twenty-eight years than a distinguished disciple can learn in one hundred years.
Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Anyone who toils in Torah study in this world, in the World to Come they do not leave him to sleep, but they lead him to the study hall of Shem and Ever and of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Aaron. Until when? Until “I will make a great name for you, like the names of the great ones in the world” (II Samuel 7:9).

“I did not know; my soul placed me upon chariots of my noble people” (Song of Songs 6:12).
“I did not know; my soul placed me,” Rabbi Ḥiyya taught: This is comparable to the daughter of kings, who was gathering residual sheaves. The king passed and recognized that she was his daughter. He sent his friend and he took her and seated her with him in his carriage. Her friends were astonished in her regard and saying: ‘Yesterday she was gathering residual sheaves and today she is in the carriage with the king?’ She said to them: ‘Just as you are astonished about me, so I am astonished about myself.’ She declared about herself: “I did not know; my soul placed me.”
So too, when Israel was in Egypt, they were enslaved with mortar and bricks and were despicable and contemptible in the eyes of the Egyptians. When they became free men and were redeemed, they became elevated over all mankind. The nations of the world were astonished and saying, ‘Yesterday you were working with mortar and bricks, and now you have become free men, elevated over the entire world?’ Israel said to them: ‘Just as you are astonished about us, so are we astonished about ourselves.’ They declared about themselves: “I did not know; my soul placed me.”
Another matter, “I did not know; my soul placed me,” it is regarding Joseph the righteous that the verse is speaking. Yesterday, “they tortured his legs with chains; his body was placed in irons” (Psalms 105:18), and today, “Joseph is the ruler over the land” (Genesis 42:6). He declared about himself: “I did not know; my soul placed me.”
Another matter, “I did not know; my soul placed me,” the verse is speaking of David. Yesterday he was fleeing from Saul, and today, David is king. He declared about himself: “I did not know; my soul placed me.”
Another matter, “I did not know; my soul placed me,” the verse is speaking of Mordekhai. Yesterday, “he donned sackcloth and ashes” (Esther 4:1), and today, “Mordekhai emerged from before the king in royal garments of sky-blue and white…” (Esther 8:15). He declared about himself: “I did not know; my soul placed me.”
Another matter, “I did not know; my soul placed me,” the verse is speaking of the congregation of Israel. The congregation of Israel says to the nations of the world: “Do not rejoice over me, my enemy, for though I fell, I will rise” (Micah 7:8). When I was sitting in the dark, the Holy One blessed be He took me out to the light, as it is stated: “Though I sit in the darkness, the Lord is a light to me” (Micah 7:8). It declared about itself: “I did not know; my soul placed me.”
Yusta, the tailor of Tzippori, ascended to the royal palace and found favor with the king. The king said to him: ‘Make a request and I will grant it to you.’ He said to him: ‘Appoint me governor over our locale [Tzippori].’ The king granted it to him. When he was appointed governor, he descended from it.³⁹He descended from the palace back to Tzippori. Some of those who knew him said: ‘It is him,’⁴⁰When they saw him approaching they identified him as Yusta the tailor. And some of them said: ‘It is not him.’ One said to the others: ‘He will now pass through the marketplace; if he looks at the stall upon which he would sit and sew, it is him. If not, it is not him.’ He passed through the marketplace and he began to look at the stall upon which he would sit and sew, and they realized that it was him. He said to them: ‘You are astonished about me, but I am astonished about myself more than you are.’ They declared of him: “I did not know; my soul placed me…” “My noble people [ami],” the noble One accompanied me [imi]—the One who lives eternally.

(Numb. 2:2:) “Each with his standard, under the banners for their fathers' house.” [This text is related] (to Job 36:3), “I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and justify my maker.” It was only necessary to say, "under the banners shall the Children of Israel camp.⁵⁵Numb. R. 2:8. Then what is the significance of saying (in Numb. 2:2), “under the banners [for their fathers' house].” Simply that when our father Jacob departed from this world, he said to them (in Gen. 47:30), “When I sleep with my ancestors, you are to take me up from Egypt and bury me in their grave.” He went around to all his sons, blessed them, and gave them a charge. He said to them, “When you take me, you are to take me with reverence and honor. Let no other person, neither one of the Egyptians nor one of your children, touch my bier, because there are some among them who have taken [wives] from the daughters of Canaan.⁵⁶Cf. Gen. R. 84:21; PRK 39, according to which there was no such intermarriage. And so it says (in Gen. 50:12-13), “So his children did for him just as he had commanded them. And his children brought him up to the land of Canaan.” His children, but not his grandchildren (who were forbidden to touch the bier)! How did he charge them? He said to them, “Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun shall carry my bier on the East; Reuben, Simeon, and Gad, on the South; Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin, on the West; Dan, Asher, and Naphtali, on the North. Joseph is not to carry [at all], because he is a king; and you must impart honor to him. Nor is Levi to carry. Why? Because he will carry the ark (aron), and whoever carries the ark of the One who lives forever is not to carry a coffin (aron) of the dead. If you do this and carry my bier, just as I have charged you, the Holy One, blessed be He, is going to have you encamp by the various standards.” When he passed away, they carried him just as he had charged them. It is so stated (in Gen. 50:12), “So his children did for him just as he had commanded them.” What is written next (in vs. 13)? “And his children brought him up to the land of Canaan.” When Israel went forth from Egypt, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Now is the time for them to make standards, just as their father had proclaimed to them that they were going to make standards.” Immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, “Make those standards for my name.” Immediately Moses began to be concerned. He said, “There is going to be dissension among the tribes. If I tell the tribe of Judah to encamp in the East, they will say, ‘It is impossible for us to encamp anywhere but in the South.’ And so each and every tribe [would act] like that one.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “What concern is that to you? They do not need you in this matter. They will recognize their dwellings by themselves. Why? Because their father's will was in their hand on how to encamp by the standards. I am not establishing something new. They already have their father's arrangements⁵⁷Gk.: taxeis. in their hands. Just as they have taken positions around his bier, so let them take positions around the tabernacle.” Where is it shown? Where it is stated (in Numb. 2:2), “Each with his standard, under the banners [for their fathers' house].” How were they encamped? The Levites camped around the tabernacle of witness, with Moses, Aaron, and his children on the East.⁵⁸See Numb. R. 2:10. It is so stated (in Numb. 3:38), “Those who camped before the tabernacle, in front before the tent of meeting to the East, were Moses, Aaron, and his children.” And adjacent to them were Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Hence they said, “Fortunate is the righteous person and fortunate are his neighbors.”⁵⁹Suk. 56b. See below, Numb. 5:8. This refers to the three tribes (rt.: shbt) which were adjacent to Moses and Aaron.⁶⁰Gen. R. 3:13; Numb. R. 3:12. They became great in the Torah, as stated (in Gen. 49:10), “The scepter (shbt) shall not depart from Judah, nor the inscriber from between his feet.” In the case of Issachar it is written, (in I Chron. 12:33), “And from the Children of Issachar, those who had an understanding of the times,⁶¹The midrash regards UNDERSTANDING as synonymous with Torah. to know what Israel should do; their heads numbered two hundred and all their kindred under their command ('al pihem),” because they harmonize law (halakhah) at their command ('al pihem). [Of Zebulun it is written] (in Jud. 5:14), “and from Zebulun those who wield the scribal pen.” Because they were neighbors [of Torah, embodied by Moses] they all became children of Torah (i.e., Torah scholars). Now on the South were the Children of Kohath (ben Levi), and adjacent to them were Reuben, Simeon, and Gad. Hence they say, “Woe to the wicked person; and woe to his neighbor.”⁶²Suk. 56b; Numb. R. 18:5; ARN, A, 9:1; see Avot 1:7. These are the three tribes which were neighbors of Korah (the grandson of Kohath) and his community in the South. These were destroyed with him in his dissension (as stated in Numb. 16:32), “And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, every person that belonged to Korah, and their property.” On the West were the Children of Gershom (i.e., Gershon ben Levi), with Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin being adjacent to them. And on the North were the Children of Merari (ben Levi), with Dan, Naphtali, and Asher being adjacent to them. Seven clouds of glory were surrounding them, and this was their [method] of travel: There was a sign⁶³Gk.: semeion. for Moses in the cloud when it departed. When it departed, he would say (in Numb. 10:35), “Rise up, O Lord, and may Your enemies be scattered.” Then the cloud would depart. When the cloud departed, they all prepared to travel and put away their implements. Whoever had a domestic beast put them on it; and if [a person] had none, the cloud took the remainder. When they were settled, they blew the trumpets. Then Judah and its standard moved out, first its prince and his tribe after him.⁶⁴CF. Numb. R. 2:7. And as signs for each and every prince there was a flag.⁶⁵Lat. (from the Punic): mappa And from them the empire learned to make a flag. There was also a color for each and every flag, like the color of the precious stones which were on the heart of Aaron. Each and every tribe had its flag dyed like the color of its stone. Then over them were the clouds. Until they were settled, they blew the trumpets. They traveled, and likewise the clouds [traveled over them]. Moreover, something like a kind of beam came out of the cloud, so that they would know in which direction they would be traveling. So was the journey of each and every standard. [When] they finished going to where it wanted them to camp, [since] that cloud which appeared like a kind of beam had, as it were, been traveling independently, they knew that they would camp in that place. [When] clouds of glory stood still for them, they began putting [things] away in their tents where they were to rest. Then the cloud which was over the tabernacle, moved over the camp of the Levites in the middle of the camps. First it stood still. When it stood still, the Children of Kohath and the Children of Levi set up the tabernacle in the presence of all the camps before they came, as stated (in Numb. 10:21), “And they would set up the tabernacle before they came.” When they had set up the tabernacle, each and every one set up [camp] in his [proper] place. Then the clouds of glory stood over them. This was grandeur in the hands of Moses, for the cloud of the glorious Divine Presence did not come down to the tabernacle, until Moses had said (in Numb. 10:36), “Return, O Lord, to the myriad thousands of Israel.” Then the clouds of glory encompassed them. Moreover, the holy spirit says through Solomon (in Cant. 6:4), “You are as beautiful my darling, as (ke) tirzah.” What is the meaning of “ketirzah (ktrtsh, rt.: rtsh)?” That I am pleasing (mtrtsh, rt.: rtsh) to you.⁶⁶Numb. R. 2:5. Another interpretation (of Cant. 6:4), “Ketirzah" (rt.: rtsh) [means] just as you are pleasing (rt.: rtsh) to Me in the sacrifices. Thus it is stated (in Lev. 1:4), “And it shall be pleasing (rt.: rtsh) for Him to atone for him.” (Cant. 6:4, cont.,) “As comely as Jerusalem (yrushlym),” [means] like these ministering angels, in that they feared (rt.: yr') [Me] and were reconciled (rt.: shlm) to Me. (Ibid., cont.,) “Awesome as [hosts] with standards,” like the standards which I gave you. So when David sees [them], he says (in Ps. 147:20), “He has not done so for any nation,” only for it.

Another interpretation (of Lev. 19:23), “When you come into the land.” This text is related (to Jer. 3:19), “But I said how I would put you among the children and give you a desirable land!” The situation is comparable to a king who had concubines and had a lot of children. But he had one child by a certain matron,³⁵Lat.: matrona. and he loved him to excess. The king gave fields and vineyards to all the children of the concubines, and after that he gave his [beloved] son a garden³⁶Pardes, which can also denote paradise. from which all his food³⁷This Latin words mean “food provisions,” “food receptacle,” or “larder.” The passage uses the word in more than one of these senses. came. The son sent and said to his father, “To the children of the concubines you have given fields and vineyards, but to me you have [only] given one garden?” The king said to him, “By your life, all my food (cellaria) comes to me from this garden; and because I love you more than your brothers, I have given it to you.” Similarly the Holy One, blessed be He, created the peoples of the world, just as it is stated (in Cant. 6:8), “There are sixty queens and eighty concubines and damsels without number,” these are the peoples; (vs. 9), “[Only ] one is my dove, my perfect one,” this is the congregation of Israel. Now the Holy One, blessed be He, has distributed fields and vineyards to the peoples of the world, as stated (in Deut. 32:8), “When the Most High gave the gentiles an inheritance”; but to Israel He has given the Land of Israel, the larder (cellaria) of the Holy One, blessed be He. The offerings come from it; the shewbread comes from it; the first fruits come from it; the omer comes from it; all the good things in the world come from it. Why all this? In order to make a distinction between the son of the matron and the children of the concubines, as stated (in Jer. 3:19), “But I said how I would put you among the children and give you a desirable land!” There was great love between the Holy One, blessed be He, and Israel; so how did they bring in the enmity.³⁸Above, Exod. 6:10; below, Numb. 4a: 15. The Holy One, blessed be He, said (ibid.), “how I would put (ashit) you,” and this language can only be the language of enmity. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 3:15), “I will put (ashit) enmity between you and the woman.” Another interpretation (of Jer. 3:19), “how I would put (ashit) you.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, “I have spoken in your defense.³⁹Gk.: synegoria, “advocacy”. How have you made Me bring charges⁴⁰QTRG. Cf. Gk.: kategorein. against you?” Now this can only be the language of an accuser,⁴¹Gk.: kategor. as stated (concerning one guilty of negligence in Exod. 21:30), “If a ransom is put (rt.: shyt) upon him.”

The Seers (i.e., the prophets) were the ones who said the doubled letters, mantzepakh (mem, nun, tzadi, peh, and kaf, which are the letters that have a different form when they appear at the end of a word). [The doubling of kaf that is found in Genesis 12:1,] "Lekh lekha (Go for yourself)," hints to Avraham that he will father Yitschak at one hundred years [of age] (as the numerical value of these two words is one hundred). [The doubling of mem that is found in Genesis 26:16,] "ki atsamta memenu (as you have become more powerful than us)" is a hint [to Yitschak] that hints that he and his seed will be powerful in both worlds. The doubling of nun [that is found in Genesis 32:12,] "Hatsileini na (Save me)" [is a hint to] Yaakov, [that] he will be saved in both worlds. The doubling of peh [that is found in Genesis 50:24,] "pakod yifkod (He will surely remember you)" [is a hint to] Yosef, [that] He will remember you in this world, and He will remember you in the world to come. The doubling of tzadi [that is found in Zachariah 6:12,] "hinei eesh, Tsemach shemo, ou'metachtav yitsmach (behold, a man called Branch shall branch out from the place where he is,)" is [referring to] the messiah. And so is it stated (Jermiah 23:5), "vahikimoti leDaveed tsemach tsadeek (and I will raise up a true branch of David)." ["The leader of fifty" (Isaiah 3:3)] ("Sixty were the queens" [Song of Songs 6:8]). Twenty-four books (of the Bible), and add to them eleven of the thirteen [books of the minor prophets] - besides Yonah which is by itself - and six orders of the Mishnah and nine chapters of Torat Kohanim, behold ["The leader of fifty"] ("Sixty were the queens"). "[Sixty were the queens] and eighty were the concubines" (Song of Songs 6:8). Sixty tractates and eighty study halls that were in Jerusalem corresponding to its gates. "And maidens without number" (Song of Songs 6:8). The study outside. "Behold the bed of Shlomo, sixty warriors" (Song of Songs 3:7). [This] corresponds to the [number of] letters of [the priestly blessing,) "May the Lord bless you and keep you, etc." (Numbers 6:24-26). The Satan (HaSatan) has the numerical equivalent of the count of the days of the solar year, as he rules over all the year to slander, except for Yom Kippur. Rabbi Ami bar Abba said, "Avraham was missing five organs before he was circumcised and [before he] fathered. The [letter] hay (with a numerical value of five) was added [to his name] and he became complete and fathered, and he was called Avraham [corresponding to the complete set of organs, two hundred and forty-eight], the numerical count of his letters." [Regarding] Sarai, two Amoraim (later rabbinic teachers) differed. One said, "The [letter] yod [with a numerical count of ten that was taken from her] was divided into two, [to give] a hay to Avaraham and a hay to Sarah." And [the other] said, "The yod that was taken from Sarah raised a protest until Yehshoua came and had a yod added, as it is stated (Numbers 13:16), "and Moshe called Hoshea [...], Yehoshua." And it saved him from the counsel of the [other] spies. [The significance of the letters in the name,] Yitschak [is as follows]: Yod [with a numerical count of ten] corresponds to the ten trials [of Avraham]. [The letter] tsadi [with a numerical count of ninety, as] Sarah was ninety when he was born. [The letter] chet [with a numerical count of eight, as] he was circumcised on the eighth day. And the letter kof [with a numerical count of one hundred, as] Avraham was a hundred years old when he was born. Yaakov was called according to [the significance of the letters of] his [own] name: Yod [corresponds to] the tenth of his offspring going backwards, Levi. Count from (the last son), Binaymin to Levi - there are ten sons, and Levi was the tenth. And he gave him as a tithe to the Omnipresent to fulfill [what he said] (Genesis 28:22), "all that You give to me, I will surely tithe it to You." [The letter] ayin [with a numerical count of seventy corresponds to the number of offspring he took to Egypt], "with seventy souls" (Deuteronomy 10:22). Kof corresponds to the [number of the] letters of the blessing [that he received], "And may He give you [etc.]" (Genesis 27:28). Take away the name [of God] from there, and one hundred [letters] remain. [The letter] bet [with a numerical count of two] corresponds to two angels [that he saw on the ladder in his dream] rising. Yehudah was called according to [the significance of the numerical count of the letters of] his [own] name: Thirty, corresponding to the thirty virtues of the monarchy. There were six hundred and thirteen letters on the tablets - from "I am" (Exodus 20:2) to "to your neighbor" (Exodus 20:14) - corresponding to the six hundred and thirteen commandments. And they were all given to Moshe at [Mount] Sinai; and in them are statutes and judgments, Torah and Mishnah, Talmud and aggadah. "The fear of the Lord is his treasure" (Isaiah 33:6). There is no greater characteristic than fear and humility, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 10:12), "And now Israel, what does the Lord, your God, ask of you [besides to fear Him]." "The fear of" (Yirat) has a numerical value of six hundred and eleven; along with Torah and circumcision, behold that is six hundred and thirteen. [The numerical value of] fringes (tsitsit) is six hundred. [Add] eight strings and five knots, behold that is six hundred and thirteen. "[The man (David)] raised on high" (II Samuel 23:1) - [high (al)] has a numerical value of one hundred, corresponding to one hundred blessings. As on every day, one hundred men of Israel were dying. [So] David and ordained [the daily saying of] one hundred blessings. "And now Israel, what (mah) does the Lord, your God, ask of you" - read it as one hundred (meah), these are the hundred blessings. Once he ordained it, the pestilence ceased. "This is the law of the burnt-offering (olah), it is the burnt-offering" (Leviticus 6:2), [meaning] the yoke (ulah) of Torah and the yoke of repentance. "Two anointed ones" (Zechariah 4:14). These are David and Aharon who were anointed with the anointing oil, such that their anointing was for [all] the generations. With Aharon, it is written (Numbers 25:13), "It shall be for him and his descendants after him, a pact of priesthood for all time." With David it is written (Ezekiel 37:25), "and My servant David as their prince for all time." "Forgive all guilt and take the good (tov)" (Hosea 14:3). Israel said, "Master of the world, at the time that the Temple existed, we would offer a sacrifice and be cleansed. But now all we have in our hand is prayer." The numerical value of tov is seventeen. Prayer [consists of] nineteen [blessings]. Take away from them the blessing for the malfeasers that was composed at Yavneh, and "Let the sprout of David blossom," which they ordained for the sake of "Probe me, Lord, and try me" (Psalms 26:2). Rabbi Simon says, "'Forgive all guilt and take the good (tov).' The numerical value of tov in at-bash (matching letters based on how close they are to the center of the alphabet) is [the same as] soul (nefesh). Israel said, 'Behold the fat from us, from our souls. May it be Your will that it be atonement for us and "that we pay with the words of our lips" (Hosea 14:3).'" "And the Lord gave her conception (herayon)" (Ruth 4:13). [Herayon] has a numerical value of the [number of the] days of the nine months of birthing (two hundred and seventy one). The name of the angel that is appointed for conception is night, as stated (Job 3:3), "and the night [that it was] said, 'A man was conceived." The measure of the water of a mikveh (ritual bath) is forty seah corresponding to the [forty mentions] of well, written in the Torah. And [the volume of] how many eggs is the measure of the mikveh? Five thousand seven hundred and sixty. And a seah is a hundred and forty-four eggs. Forty-three and a fifth eggs is the measure of [what is required for] hallah [tithe]. And from where [do we know] that a mikveh requires forty seah? As it is written (Isaiah 8:6), "Since this nation has rejected the waters of Shiloach that flow gently (le'at)." The numerical value of le'at is forty. Behold the measure of a seah is a tefach by a tefach with the height of [sixteen] tefach [and a fifth]. And one who separates the measure of the hallah [tithe] must separate [one part in forty three] and a fifth [from Torah writ like the numerical value of hallah]. Forty lashes (which are actually thirty-nine) is from Torah writ, as it is written (Exodus 35:1), "These (eleh) are the things which the Lord commanded." [The numerical count of] "eleh" is thirty-six; "things" (being plural) is two; "the things" [indicates an additional] one - behold, forty minus one (thirty-nine). "He shall strike him forty, he shall not add" (Deuteronomy 25:3), corresponds to the forty curses received by the snake, Chava, Adam and the ground, and the sages lessened one, because of "he shall not add." A Sanhedrin is twenty-three, so [that it is possible for] those advocating innocence to have one more (than twenty), and those advocating guilt to have two more. It is best for the two to come and push off one. The numerical value of anathmea (cherem) is two hundred and forty-eight. And Shmuel said, when it takes force it takes force on [all] two hundred and forty-eight organs, and when it leaves, it leaves from two hundred and forty-eight limbs, as it is written (Habakuk 3:2), "in anger, remember to have mercy (rachem, which is made up of the same letters as cherem)." It is written,"tirash," but we read it [as] tirosh. [If] he merits, he becomes a rosh (leader); [if] he does not merit, he becomes a rash (poor person). Our rabbis, may their memory be blessed said, "A man is recognized by three things: by his purse, by his glass and by his anger. Tavel is Ramaliah. Seshach is Bavel (Babylon) [according to] its numerical value of in at-bash. The numerical value of Gog and Magog is seventy, as they are the seventy nations [of the world].

(Lev. 19:23:) WHEN YOU COME INTO THE LAND. This text is related (to Jer. 3:19): BUT I SAID: HOW I WOULD PUT YOU AMONG THE CHILDREN AND GIVE YOU A DESIRABLE LAND! < The situation > is comparable to a king who had concubines and had a lot of children.⁴⁴Tanh., Lev.7:12. But he had one child by a certain matron,⁴⁵Lat.: matrona. and he loved him to excess. The king gave fields and vineyards to all the children of the concubines, and after that he gave his < beloved > son one garden⁴⁶Pardes, which can also denote paradise. from which all his food⁴⁷This Latin words mean “food provisions.” “food receptacle,” or “larder.” The passage uses the word in more than one of these senses. came. The son sent and said to his father: To the children of the concubines you have given fields and vineyards, but to me you have given one garden. The king said to him: By your life, all my food (cellaria) comes to me from this garden; and because I love you more than your brothers, I have given it to you. Similarly the Holy One created the peoples of the world, just as it is stated (in Cant. 6:8): THERE ARE SIXTY QUEENS: These are the peoples. (Vs. 9): < ONLY > ONE IS MY DOVE, < MY PERFECT ONE >: This is the congregation of Israel. Now the Holy One has distributed [fields and vineyards] to the peoples of the world, as stated (in Deut. 32:8): WHEN THE MOST HIGH GAVE THE GENTILES AN INHERITANCE; but to Israel he has given the land of Israel, the larder (cellaria) of the Holy One. The offerings come from it; the shewbread comes from it; the first fruits come from it; the omer comes from it; all the good things in the world [come from it]. Why all this? In order to made a distinction between the son of the matron and the children of the concubines, as stated (in Jer. 3:19): BUT I SAID: HOW I WOULD PUT YOU AMONG THE CHILDREN < AND GIVE YOU A DESIRABLE LAND >… ! There was great love between the Holy One and Israel; so how did they bring in the enmity.⁴⁸Above, Exod. 6:10; below, Numb. 4a: 15. The Holy One said (ibid.): HOW I WOULD PUT (ashit) YOU, and this language can only be the language of enmity. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 3:15): I WILL PUT (ashit) ENMITY BETWEEN YOU AND THE WOMAN.

How were they encamped? The Levites camped around the Tabernacle of Witness, with Moses, Aaron, and his children on the east.⁷⁶Tanh., 1:12, cont.; see Numb. R. 2:10. It is so stated (in Numb. 3:38): THOSE WHO CAMPED BEFORE THE TABERNACLE, IN FRONT BEFORE THE TENT OF MEETING TO THE EAST, WERE MOSES, AARON, AND HIS CHILDREN. And adjacent to them were Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Hence they said: Blessed is the righteous person and blessed are his neighbors.⁷⁷Suk. 56b. See below, Numb. 5:8. This refers to the three tribes (rt.: ShBT) which were adjacent to Moses and Aaron.⁷⁸Gen. R. 3:13; Numb. R. 3:12. They became great in the Torah, as stated (in Gen. 49:10): THE SCEPTER (ShBT) SHALL NOT DEPART FROM JUDAH […. In the case of Issachar it is written] (in I Chron. 12:33 [32]): AND FROM THE CHILDREN OF ISSACHAR, THOSE WHO HAD AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE TIMES,⁷⁹The midrash regards UNDERSTANDING as synonymous with Torah. TO KNOW WHAT ISRAEL SHOULD DO; THEIR HEADS NUMBERED TWO HUNDRED. These were two hundred heads of <tribal> sanhedria⁸⁰Gk.: synedria. that would come out of Issachar. [(Ibid., cont.:) AND ALL THEIR KINDRED UNDER THEIR COMMAND ('al pihem), <i.e., because they harmonize law (halakhah) at their command ('al pihem). Of Zebulun it is written] (in Jud. 5:14): AND FROM ZEBULUN THOSE WHO WIELD THE SCRIBAL PEN. Because they were neighbors of Torah, they all became children of Torah (i.e., Torah scholars). Now on the south were the children of Kohath (ben Levi), and adjacent to them were Reuben, Simeon, and Gad. Hence they say: Woe to the wicked person; and woe to his neighbor.⁸¹Suk. 56b; Numb. R. 18:5; ARN, A, 9:1; see Avot 1:7. These are the three tribes which were neighbors of Korah (the grandson of Kohath) and his community in the South. These were destroyed with him in his dissension (as stated in Numb. 16:32): AND THE EARTH OPENED ITS MOUTH AND SWALLOWED THEM, THEIR HOUSEHOLDS, <EVERY PERSON THAT BELONGED TO KORAH, AND THEIR PROPERTY>…. On the west were the children of Gershom (i.e., Gershon ben Levi), with Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin being adjacent to them; and on the North also were the children of Merari (ben Levi), with Dan, Naphtali, and Asher being adjacent to them. [Seven] clouds of glory were surrounding them, and this was their <method> of travel. There was a sign⁸²Gk.: semeion. for Moses in the cloud when it departed. When it departed, he would say (in Numb. 10:35): RISE UP, O LORD, AND MAY YOUR ENEMIES BE SCATTERED. Then the cloud would depart. When the cloud departed, they all prepared to travel and put away their implements. Whoever had a domestic beast <put them on it>⁸³The bracketed words are from the parallel in Tanh., Numb. 1:12.; and if <a person> had none, the cloud took the remainder. When they were settled, they blew the trumpets. Then Judah and its standard moved out, first its prince and his tribe after him.⁸⁴CF. Numb. R. 2:7. And as signs for each and every prince there was a flag.⁸⁵Lat. (from the Punic): mappa. [And from them the empire learned to make a flag.] <There was> also a color for each and every flag, like the color of the precious stones which were on the heart of Aaron. Each and every tribe had its flag dyed like the color of its stone. Then over them were the clouds. {Until they were settled, they blew the trumpets. They traveled, and likewise <the clouds> traveled over them.} Moreover, something like a kind of beam came out of the cloud, so that they would know in which direction they would be traveling. So was the journey of each and every standard. <When> they finished going to where it wanted them to camp, <since> that cloud which appeared like a kind of beam had, as it were, been traveling independently, they knew that they would camp in that place. <When> clouds of glory stood still for them, they began putting <things> away in their tents where they were to rest. Then the cloud which was over the Tabernacle, moved over the camp of the Levites in the middle of the camps. First it stood still. When it stood still, the children of Kohath and the children of Levi set up the Tabernacle in the presence of all the camps before they came, as stated (in Numb. 10:21): AND THEY WOULD SET UP THE TABERNACLE BEFORE THEY CAME. When they had set up the Tabernacle, each and every one set up <camp> in his <proper> place. Then the clouds of glory stood over them. This was grandeur in the hands of Moses, for the cloud of the glorious Divine Presence did not come down to the Tabernacle, until Moses had said (in Numb. 10:36): RETURN, O LORD, TO THE MYRIAD THOUSANDS OF ISRAEL. Then the clouds of glory encompassed them. Moreover, the Holy Spirit says through Solomon (in Cant. 6:4): YOU ARE AS BEAUTIFUL, MY DARLING, AS TIRZAH. What is the meaning of AS TIRZAH (KTRTsH, rt.: RTsH)? That I am pleasing (MTRTsH, rt.: RTsH) to you.⁸⁶Numb. R. 2:5.

(Exodus 15:13) "You have led forth in lovingkindness (chesed)": You have done chesed with us, for we were without (redeeming) deeds, viz. (Isaiah 63:7) "The lovingkindnesses of the L rd will I proclaim, etc.", (Psalms 89:2) "The lovingkindnesses of the L rd will I ever sing, etc." And the world in its very beginning was built only with chesed, viz. (Ibid. 3) "I said that the world (with) chesed will be built." (Exodus, Ibid.) "this people whom You have redeemed": For all the world is Yours, and You have no people but Israel, viz. (Isaiah 43:21) "This people have I created for Myself, etc." And thus is it written (Song of Songs 6:8) "Sixty are the queens and eighty, are the concubines": "Sixty are the queens" — These are the sixty ten thousands (of Israel, who left Egypt); "and eighty, the concubines" — those below the age of twenty; "and young maidens without number" — the minors, who are numberless. Notwithstanding this, (only) "one is My dove" — Moses, who countervails them all. Once, Rebbi was sitting and expounding that one woman bore sixty ten thousands, when a disciple interjected: Rebbi, who is greater, the world or the tzaddik? Rebbi replied: The tzaddik. How so? When Yocheved bore Moses, he countervailed the entire world. And where do we find that Moses countervailed the entire world? In (Numbers 26:4) "as the L rd commended Moses and the children of Israel", and "Then sang Moses and the children of Israel", and (Devarim 34:10) "And there arose no prophet again in Israel like Moses." (Exodus, Ibid.) "You have guided (them) in Your strength": in the merit of the Torah which they are destined to receive, "strength" being Torah, viz. (Psalms 29:4) "The L rd will give strength to His people; the L rd will bless His people with peace" and (Ibid. 99:4) "… and the strength of the King (i.e., Torah) who loves justice."

Once in the Garden of Eden; whence do we know? Because it is said, "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day" (Gen. 3:8). And it is written, "My beloved is gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices" (Cant. 6:2). (God) sat in judgment, and He judged with judgment. He said to him (Adam): Why didst thou flee before Me? He answered Him: I heard Thy voice and my bones trembled, as it is said, "I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, || because I was naked: and I hid myself" (Gen. 3:10).

Another interpretation: (Ezek. 36:17:) THEIR WAY BEFORE ME WAS LIKE THE UNCLEANNESS OF A MENSTRUOUS WOMAN, and not like the uncleanness of a corpse. With a corpse in the house, a high priest does not enter there; but in the case of a menstruous woman, a high priest enters into the house with her and sits with her on the couch,⁶⁰‘YSTWW’, probably from the Gk.: histion, which means “something woven.” but on condition that it not be shaken (when they sit on it). So if Israel were compared to the impurity of death, the Divine Presence would never return upon them; however, they are compared to the menstruant, because there is cleansing for her in a mikveh, so that the priest may be with her in the house and not be afraid. Thus the Divine Presence dwells with Israel, even though they are more unclean than those who serve stars, as stated (in Lev. 16:16): < THE TENT OF MEETING > THAT DWELLS WITH THEM IN THE MIDST OF THEIR UNCLEANNESSES. Our masters have said: When Israel was in Egypt, the women did not see menstrual blood, because the fear of Egypt was upon them. And also after Israel left Egypt, they did not see menstruation in the desert, because the Divine Presence was among them. Moreover, at first the women accepted the Torah. It is so stated (in Exod. 19:3): THUS SHALL YOU SAY TO THE HOUSE OF JACOB. These are the women.⁶¹Exod. R. 28:2. Cf. Shab. 118b: “R. Jose said:…, but my wife < I called > my house.” (Ibid., cont.): AND DECLARE TO THE SONS OF ISRAEL. These are the men. And so it says (in Cant. 6:10): TERRIBLE⁶²Buber, n. 91, points out that ‘ayummah (TERRIBLE) is seen as related to ‘emah (“fear”), in that the fear of the Divine Presence was upon them. LIKE BANNERED HOSTS. Now about them it is stated (in Cant. 4:12): A LOCKED GARDEN [IS MY SISTER, MY BRIDE], A LOCKED FOUNTAIN, [A SEALED SPRING]. The Holy One said to Israel: In this world you were clean and have returned to uncleanness; but in the world to come I myself will cleanse [you] so that you shall not ever become unclean. Thus it is stated (in Ezek. 36:25): I WILL SPRINKLE PURE WATER UPON YOU, AND YOU SHALL BE PURE; I WILL PURIFY YOU FROM ALL YOUR UNCLEANNESSES AND FROM ALL YOUR IDOLS.

21 The Seers (i.e., the prophets) were the ones who said the doubled letters, mantzepakh (mem, nun, tzadi, peh, and kaf, which are the letters that have a different form when they appear at the end of a word). [The doubling of kaf that is found in Genesis 12:1,] "Lekh lekha (Go for yourself)," hints to Avraham that he will father Yitschak at one hundred years [of age] (as the numerical value of these two words is one hundred). [The doubling of mem that is found in Genesis 26:16,] "ki atsamta memenu (as you have become more powerful than us)" is a hint [to Yitschak] that hints that he and his seed will be powerful in both worlds. The doubling of nun [that is found in Genesis 32:12,] "Hatsileini na (Save me)" [is a hint to] Yaakov, [that] he will be saved in both worlds. The doubling of peh [that is found in Exodus 3:15, is a hint to] Israel, to Moshe,"pakod pakadeti etchem (I have surely remembered you)." The doubling of tsadi [that is found in Zachariah 6:12,] "hinei eesh, Tsemach shemo, [ou'metachtav yitsmach] (behold, a man called Branch shall branch out from the place where he is,)" is [referring to] the Messiah. And so is it stated (Jermiah 23:5), "vahikimoti leDavid tsemach tsadeek [...] (and I will raise up a true branch of David [...])." "The leader of fifty" (Isaiah 3:3). Twenty-four books (of the Bible); add to them eleven of the thirteen [books of the minor prophets] - besides Yonah which is by itself - and six orders of the Mishnah and nine chapters of Torat Kohanim, behold fifty. "Sixty were the queens," (Song of Songs 6:8), sixty tractates; "and eighty were the concubines," eighty study halls that were in Jerusalem corresponding to its gates.; and maidens without number," the study outside. "Behold the bed of Shlomo, sixty warriors" (Song of Songs 3:7). [This corresponds to] the sixty letters of the priestly blessing (Numbers 6:24-26). Three hundred and eighteen [souls mentioned in Genesis 14:14 is the numerical equivalent of] Eliezer. "Inasmuch (ekev) as Avraham obeyed Me and kept My charge: My commandments, My laws, and My teachings" (Genesis 26:5) - he recognized him when he was three (the numerical equivalent of ekev, being three less than that of Avraham). The Satan (HaSatan) has the numerical equivalent of three hundred and sixty-four, the count of the days of the solar year that he rules over all of them to slander, excepting Yom Kippur. Rabbi Ami beiRabbi Abba said, "Avraham was missing five organs before he was circumcised and [before] he fathered. The [letter] hay (with a numerical value of five) was added [to his name] and he became complete and fathered [corresponding to the complete set of organs, two hundred and forty-eight], the numerical count of his letters." "A woman of valor is the crown of her husband" (Proverbs 12:4) - that is Sarah. Her name had been Sarai. Two Amoraim (later rabbinic teachers) differed. One said, "The [letter] yod (with a numerical count of ten that was taken from her) was divided into two, [to give] a hay to Avaraham and a hay to Sarah." And [the other] said, "The yod that was taken from Sarah raised a protest until Yehoshua came and Moshe added to him a yod - the Lord save you from the counsel of the [other] spies. [The significance of the letters in the name,] Yitschak [is as follows]: Yod (with a numerical count of ten) corresponds to the ten trials [of Avraham]. [The letter] tsadi (with a numerical count of ninety), [as] Sarah was ninety when he was born. [The letter] chet (with a numerical count of eight), [as] he was circumcised on the eighth day. And the letter kof (with a numerical count of one hundred), [as] Avraham was a hundred years old when he was born. Yaakov was called according to [the significance of the letters of] his [own] name: Yod [corresponds to] the tenth of his offspring going backwards. Count from (the last son), Binaymin to Levi - there are ten sons, [and Levi] was the tenth. [The letter] ayin (with a numerical count of seventy corresponds to the number of offspring he took to Egypt), "with seventy souls" (Deuteronomy 10:22). Kof corresponds to the [number of the] letters of the blessing [that he received minus the name of God, "And may He give you etc." (Genesis 27:28)]. [The letter] bet (with a numerical count of two) remains, corresponding to two angels (that he saw on the ladder in his dream) rising. There were six hundred and thirteen commandments in the tablets - corresponding to the letters from "I am" (Exodus 20:2) to "to your neighbor" (Exodus 20:14) - corresponding to the six hundred and thirteen commandments - no less and no more. And they were all given to Moshe at [Mount] Sinai; and in them are statutes and judgments, Torah and Mishnah, Talmud and aggadah. "The fear of the Lord is his treasure" (Isaiah 33:6). There is no greater characteristic than fear and humility, [as it is stated] (Deuteronomy 10:12), "And now Israel, what does the Lord, your God, ask of you besides to fear Him [...]." "The fear of" (Yirat) has a numerical value of six hundred and eleven; and Torah has a numerical value of six hundred and eleven - and Torah and fear [of God] along with them, behold that is six hundred and thirteen. [The numerical value of] fringes (tsitsit) [is six hundred] - the rabbis taught: [Add] eight [strings] and five [knots], behold that is six hundred and thirteen. The days of Avraham were one hundred and seventy-five years, [of] Yitzchak were one hundred and eighty years [and of] Yaakov were a hundred and forty-seven years. When you put them together, it is found to be five hundred and two years. And so is the distance of the the heavens to the earth, "like the the days of the heavens above the earth" (Deuteronomy 11:21). "[The man (David)] raised on high" (II Samuel 23:1) - [high (al) has a numerical value of one hundred] corresponding to one hundred blessings. As on every day, one hundred men of Israel were dying. [So] David came and ordained [the daily saying of] one hundred blessings. Once he ordained them, the pestilence ceased. High (al) [corresponds to] the yoke (ulah) of Torah and the yoke of suffering. "Forgive all guilt and take the good (tov) that we pay with the words of our lips" (Hosea 14:3). Israel said, "Master of the world, at the time that the Temple existed, we would offer a sacrifice and be cleansed. But now all we have in our hand is prayer." The numerical value of tov is seventeen. Prayer [consists of] nineteen blessings. Take away from them the blessing for the malfeasers that was composed at Yavneh, and "Let the sprout of David blossom," which they ordained after it for the sake of "Probe me, Lord, and try me" (Psalms 26:2). Rabbi Simon says, "Take tov [in at-bash (matching letters based on how close they are to the center of the alphabet), which is the same] as the numerical value of soul (nefesh). Israel said, 'At the time that the Temple existed, we would incinerate the fats and the innards and be cleansed. But now behold our fat, our blood and our souls. May it be Your will that it be atonement for us and "that we pay with the words of our lips" (Hosea 14:3).'" "And the Lord gave her conception (herayon)" (Ruth 4:13). [Herayon] has a numerical value of two hundred and seventy one (the number of the days of the nine months of birthing). The measure of the water of a mikveh (ritual bath) is forty seah [corresponding to the forty mentions] of well water, written in the Torah. And [the volume of] how many eggs is the measure of the mikveh? Five thousand seven hundred and sixty. Each seah is a hundred and forty-four eggs. Forty-three and a fifth eggs is the measure of [what is required for] challah [tithe]. And from where [do we know] that a mikveh requires forty seah? As it is written (Isaiah 8:6), "Since this nation has rejected the waters of Shiloach that flow gently (le'at)." The numerical value [of le'at] is forty. And one who separates the measure of the challah [tithe] must separate one part in forty three and a fifth from Torah writ like the [numerical] value of challah. The main categories of work [on Shabbat] are forty minus one (thirty-nine), as it is written (Exodus 35:1), "These (eleh) are the things which the Lord commanded." [The numerical count of] "eleh" is thirty-six; "things" (being plural) is two; "the things" [indicates an additional] one - behold, forty minus one. "He shall strike him forty, he shall not add" (Deuteronomy 25:3), corresponds to the forty curses that the snake, Chava, Adam and the ground were cursed - and the sages lessened one, because of "he shall not add." Those [judges] advocating innocence are more those advocating guilt. [For] it is best for the two to come and push off one. Seshach is Bavel (Babylon) [according to] its numerical value in at-bash. Tavel is Ramlah [according to] its numerical value in al-bam (another numerical scheme). "Thus (bezot) shall Aaron enter the shrine; with a bull of the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering" (Leviticus 16:3). Bezot (which has a numerical count of four hundred and ten) is a hint to the first Temple that stood for four hundred and ten years.

Another interpretation (of Numb. 3:40:) ENROLL EVERY FIRST-BORN MALE. This text is related (to Cant. 6:8-9): THERE ARE SIXTY QUEENS, EIGHTY CONCUBINES, AND MAIDENS WITHOUT NUMBER; <BUT ONLY> ONE IS MY DOVE, MY PERFECT ONE…. <The matter> is comparable to a certain merchant,¹²⁴Gk.: pragmateutes (“business representative”). who had glass beads,¹²⁵Tanh., 1:20; Numb. R. 4:2. which he would bring to market; but he paid no attention to their number (minyan), because he had brought them out without counting (minyan) <them>. So when he came in to put them away, he put them away without counting. Because they were <made> of glass, he did not pay attention to them. However, he had a certain string¹²⁶Lat.: linea. of fine pearls;¹²⁷Gk. margelis. and this he would take and bring out with a count, then put away with a count. Similarly, as it were, the Holy One said <in regard> to the nations of the world: I have not given them a count, because none of them is important to me, as stated (in Is. 40:17): ALL THE NATIONS ARE AS NOTHING BEFORE HIM; THEY ARE CONSIDERED BY HIM AS LESS THAN NOTHING AND VOID. But as for you, you are my children, as stated (in Is. 46:3): THE ONES WHO HAVE BEEN BORNE BY ME FROM BIRTH, CARRIED FROM THE WOMB. I therefore count you on every occasion. It is therefore stated (in Numb. 3:40): ENROLL EVERY FIRST-BORN MALE. Ergo (in Cant. 6:8-9): THERE ARE SIXTY QUEENS […, AND MAIDENS WITHOUT NUMBER]; <BUT ONLY> ONE IS MY DOVE, MY PERFECT ONE…. This is Israel.

[Another interpretation (of Numb. 19:2): <A RED HEIFER WITHOUT BLEMISH, IN WHICH THERE IS NO DEFECT, ON WHICH THERE HAS BEEN NO YOKE>. (Ibid.:) HEIFER. This is Israel, since it is written (in Hos. 4:16): ISRAEL HAS BALKED LIKE A BALKY HEIFER.¹³⁸PRK 4:10; PR 14:15. (Numb. 19:2:) RED. This is Israel, of whom it is written (in Lam. 4:7): THEIR LIMBS WERE REDDER THAN CORAL. (Numb. 19:2, cont.:) WITHOUT BLEMISH (rt.:TMM). This is Israel, of whom it is written (in Cant. 6:9): <ONLY ONE IS> MY DOVE, MY PERFECT ONE (rt.: TMM). (Numb. 19:2, cont.:) IN WHICH THERE IS NO DEFECT. This is Israel, of whom it is written (in Cant. 4:7): AND THERE IS NO BLEMISH IN YOU. (Numb. 19:2, cont.:) ON WHICH THERE HAS BEEN NO YOKE. This is the generation of Jeremiah, which did not take the yoke of the Holy One upon themselves. (Numb. 19:3:) THEN YOU SHALL GIVE IT UNTO ELEAZAR THE PRIEST. This is Jeremiah, of whom it is written (in Jer. 1:1): ONE OF THE PRIESTS THAT WERE IN ANATHOTH.¹³⁹According to Josh. 21:13–19 and I Chron. 6:35–45 [50–60], Anathoth is part of the heritage of the children of Aaron, and Anathoth was also the home of Abiathar the descendant of Eli (I Kings 2:26–27), who in turn was descended from Eleazar, according to 4 Ezra 1:2–3. see Exod. 6:23–25. Against this view, cf. Josephus, Ant. 5:361–362; also I Chron 24:3, according to whom Eli was descended from Ithamar. So also TDER 12 (11), p. 58 (Friedmann); TDEZ, p. 191 (Friedmann). (Numb. 19:3, cont.:) AND HE SHALL TAKE IT OUTSIDE THE CAMP. (Ezra 5:12:) AND HE DEPORTED THE PEOPLE TO BABYLON. (Numb. 19:3, cont.:) AND HE SHALL SLAUGHTER IT IN HIS PRESENCE. (II Kings 25:7:) THEY SLEW THE CHILDREN OF ZEDEKIAH BEFORE HIS EYES. (Numb. 19:5:) AND HE SHALL BURN THE HEIFER <BEFORE HIS EYES>. (II Kings 25:9 = Jer. 52:13:) HE ALSO BURNED THE HOUSE OF THE LORD AND THE HOUSE OF THE KING. (Numb. 19:5, cont.:) TOGETHER WITH ITS SKIN, <ITS FLESH, AND ITS BLOOD>. (II Kings 25:9, cont. = Jer. 52:13, cont:) AND ALL THE HOUSES OF JERUSALEM, EVEN {THE GREAT HOUSE} [ALL THE GREAT ONE'S HOUSE] DID HE BURN WITH FIRE. Now why does <Scripture> call <the heifer> a GREAT ONE'S HOUSE? It is simply that this was the house of study (bet midrash) that belonged to R. Johanan ben Zakkay, for there they taught the greatness of the Holy One.¹⁴⁰Rabbinic tradition tended to regard the Temple destruction under Nebuchadnezzar as closely paralleling the destruction under Titus. It is therefore possible to understand a description of the first destruction as a prophecy of the second, when R. Johanan ben Zakkay was teaching. (Numb. 19:6:) <AND THE PRIEST SHALL TAKE CEDAR WOOD, HYSSOP, AND CRIMSON STUFF, AND CAST THEM INTO THE MIDST OF THE BURNING HEIFER.> (Ibid.:) AND <HE> SHALL TAKE. This refers to Nebuchadnezzar. [(Ibid.:) THE PRIEST. This is Jeremiah, of whom it is stated (in Jer. 39:12, where Nebuchadnezzar gave the order): TAKE HIM AND LOOK AFTER HIM.] (Numb. 19:6, cont.:) CEDAR WOOD, HYSSOP, AND CRIMSON STUFF. These are Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. (Ibid., cont.:) AND CAST THEM INTO THE MIDST OF THE BURNING HEIFER. (Dan. 3:22): THE FLAME OF THE FIRE SLEW THEM (i.e., their executioners). (Numb. 19:9:) THEN <SOMEONE CLEAN> SHALL GATHER <THE ASHES OF THE HEIFER>. This refers to the Holy One, of whom it is stated (in Is. 11:12): SO HE SHALL RAISE UP A SIGNAL FOR THE NATIONS AND GATHER THE OUTCASTS OF ISRAEL. (Numb. 19:9:) SOMEONE (ish). This is the Holy One, of whom it is stated (in Exod. 15:3): THE LORD IS A MAN (ish) OF WAR. (Numb. 19:9, cont.:) CLEAN (rt.: THR). This is the Holy One, of whom it is stated (in Hab. 1:13): YOUR EYES ARE TOO PURE (rt.: THR) <TO BEHOLD EVIL>. (Numb. 19:9, cont.:) THE ASHES OF THE HEIFER. These are the dispersed people of Israel. (Ibid., cont.:) AND DEPOSIT THEM OUTSIDE THE CAMP IN A CLEAN (rt.: thr) PLACE. This <place> is Jerusalem, in that it is clean. (Ibid., cont.:) AND IT SHALL BE KEPT FOR THE CONGREGATION OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, because in this world things are <pronounced> unclean and clean from the mouth of a priest; however, in the world to come it shall not be so. Rather the Holy One is going to do the cleansing (rt.: THR), as stated (in Ezek. 36:25): I WILL SPRINKLE PURE (rt.: THR) WATER UPON YOU, AND YOU SHALL BE PURE (rt.: THR); I WILL PURIFY (rt.: THR) YOU FROM ALL YOUR UNCLEANNESSES AND FROM ALL YOUR IDOLS.

Rabbi Eliezer said: The Holy One, blessed be He, showed to our father Abraham (at the covenant) between the pieces the four kingdoms, their dominion and their downfall, as it is said, "And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old" (Gen. 15:9). "An heifer of three years old" (ibid.) refers to the kingdom of Edom, which is like the heifer of a sheep. "And a she-goat of three years old" (ibid.) refers to the kingdom of Greece, as it is said, "And the he-goat magnified himself exceedingly" (Dan. 8:8). "And a ram of three years old" (Gen. 15:9); this is the kingdom of Media and Persia, as it is said, "And the ram which thou sawest that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia" (Dan. 8:20). "And a turtle-dove" (Gen. 15:9); this refers to the sons of Ishmael. This expression is not to be understood in the literal meaning of Tôr (turtle-dove), but in the Aramaic language, in which Tôr means Ox, for when the male ox is harnessed to the female, they will open and break all the valleys, even as it says (about) "the fourth beast" (Dan. 7:19). "And a young pigeon" (Gen. 15:9); this refers to the Israelites, who are compared || to a young pigeon, as it is said, "O my dove, thou art in the clefts of the rock" (Cant. 2:14). For thy voice is pleasant in prayer, and thy appearance is beautiful in good deeds. "And a young pigeon" (Gen. 15:9); this refers to the Israelites, who are compared to a young pigeon: "My dove, my perfect (one), is (but) one" (Cant. 6:9).

Another interpretation of, "And you shall take for yourselves" (Leviticus 23:40): This is [the understanding of] that which is written (Psalms 16:11), "You will inform me the path of life, complete joy." David said in front of the Holy One, blessed be He, "Teach me through which gate it is straight to life in the world to come." Rabbi Yudan said, "The Holy One, blessed be He, said to David, 'If you need life, you need afflictions, as it is written, "And the path of life is the rebuke that disciplines."'" "Complete joy (literally, satiation of joys)" - He has satiated us with five joys: Scripture, Mishna, Mishnah, Talmud, Tosefta, and aggadot. Another interpretation of "complete (sova) joy" (Psalms 16:11) - these are the seven (sheva) groups of the righteous that will greet the face of the Divine Presence in the future. And their faces are similar to the sun, the moon, the firmament, the stars, lightning, lilies and the pure menorah that was in the Temple. From where [do we know] the sun? Since it is stated (Song of Songs 6:10), "radiant as the sun." From where [do we know] the moon? Since it is stated (Song of Songs 6:10), "beautiful as the moon." From where [do we know] the firmament? Since it is stated (Daniel 12:3), "And the knowledgeable will be radiant like the bright firmament." From where [do we know] the stars? Since it is stated (Daniel 12:3), "and those who lead the many to righteousness will be like the stars forever and ever." From where [do we know] lightning? Since it is stated (Nahum 2:5), "they appear like torches, they race like lightning." From where [do we know] lilies? Since it is stated (Psalms 45:11), "For the choirmaster; upon lilies." From where [do we know] the pure menorah? Since it is stated (Zechariah 4:2), "He said to me, 'What do you see?' And I said, 'I see a menorah all of gold.'" "Pleasant things are ever in Your right hand" (Psalms 16:11). And who will inform us which group are the most beloved and pleasant among them? Two Amoraiam (scholars of the Talmudic period) [differed about this]. One said, "That is [the one] that comes with the power of Torah and the power of [the] commandments." And the other said, "Those are the scribes and the teachers of Mishnah who teach infants truthfully and will stand in the future in the right hand of the Holy One, blessed be He." This is [the understanding of] that which is written, 'Pleasant things are ever in Your right hand.'" Another interpretation of "Complete (sova) joy" (Psalms 16:11) - these are the seven (sheva) commandments of the festival, and these are them: The four species that are in the lulav, the sukkah (hut), the festival offering and the offering of joy. If there is an offering of joy, why is there a festival offering; and if there is a festival offering, why is there an offering of joy? Rabbi Avin said, "[There is a relevant] parable about two that went into a judge and we do not know who was victorious. Rather we know that the one that [comes out] carrying a palm branch is the winner. So [too] Israel and the nations of the world come and prosecute [each other] before the Holy One, blessed be He, on Rosh Hashanah and we do not know who won. Rather when we see that Israel is coming out from in front of the Holy One, blessed be He, with their lulavs and citrons in their hands, we know that Israel are the winners (and that creates a need to offer an offering of joy, as well as the holiday offering). Hence, Moshe warns Israel and says to them (Leviticus 23:40), 'And you shall take for yourselves.'"

A sighted person and a blind person were walking together. The sighted person said, "Come and I will be your guide"; which enabled the blind person to walk. When they entered the house, the sighted person said to the blind person, "Go and light the candle for me, and provide me with light, so that you should no longer feel obliged to me for having accompanied you; therefore I said to you to light [the candle]."

An analogy: A king says to his wife: "Bedeck yourself with all of your jewels so that you be desirable to me." Thus, the Holy One Blessed be He said to Israel. "Be distinctive in mitzvoth, so that you be desirable to Me." And thus is it written (Song of Songs 6:4) "Beautiful are you My beloved, as Tirtzah" — You are beautiful when you make yourself desirable ("retzuya" [like 'Tirtzah']) to Me (through mitzvoth)."

"as the days of the heavens upon the earth": The faces of the righteous will (then) shine as the day (i.e., the sun). And thus is it written (Judges 5:31) "and His lovers, like the sun emerging in its strength." (Psalms 16:11) "… with seven joys, Your face": With seven joys the faces of the righteous are destined to receive the Face of the Shechinah in the world to come: [1] "His lovers like the sun emerging in its strength", [2] (Song of Songs 6:10) "fair as the moon", [3] (Daniel 12:3) "and the wise ones will shine as the brightness of the firmament", [4] "and they that turn the many to righteousness (will shine) as the stars forever", [5] (Nachum 2:4) "and like lightnings shall they run", [6] (Psalms 45:1) "To the chief musician upon shoshanim (the righteous, whose faces are like shoshanim (lilies)", [7] (Hoshea 14:7) "and his beauty will be as that of the olive tree."

And these are the days of the years of the life of Avraham (Bereishit 25:7). It's written, God knows the days of the pure, and their inheritance will be eternal (Tehillim 37:18). God knows the days of the pure: this is Avraham, as it is said And be pure. And their inheritance will be eternal - and these are the days of the years of the life of Avraham. That he adores the Holy Blessed One, who gives the righteous and writes them in the Torah, so that the inheritance of their days will be remembered forever: In ripe old age, old and satisfied (Bereishit 25:8). And Avraham perished (ibid.) - Rabbi Yehuda bar Ilai said, the original pious would suffer with intestinal disease for ten and twenty days, to say that illness clarifies. Rabbi Yehuda said, everyone of whom it is said "perish" died of intestinal disease. It's written, strength and beauty are her robes [and she laughs at the last day] (Mishlei 31:25) - every reward of the righteous is prepared for them for the future to come. The Holy Blessed One shows them, before they are in this world, all the reward which They will eventually give them in the world to come - and their souls are satisfied and they sleep. Rabbi Elazar says, it's like a banquet which a king prepared and invited guests, and showed them what they would eat and drink, and their souls are satisfied and they sleep - so too with the Holy Blessed One. They show the righteous before they are in this world their veentual reward, and they sleep, as it is said For now I would be lying down, silent (Iyov 3:13). That is to say, at the time of the departure of the righteous, the Holy Blessed One shows them the reward of their labour. When Rabbi Abahu slept, thirteen rivers of balsam were shown to him. He said to them, whose are these? They said to him, yours. He said, these are Abahu's? ...

Variantly: "When the Most High caused nations to inherit": When the L-rd caused the fearers of sin and the virtuous among the nations to inherit, "when He separated the sons of man": an allusion to Lot, viz. (Bereshith 13:11) "And they separated themselves, the one (Lot) from the other" (Abraham). "He set the bounds of the peoples": R. Eliezer, the son of R. Yossi Haglili, says: It is written (Song of Songs) 6:8) "Sixty are the 'queens' (Abraham and his descendants), and eighty, the 'concubines'" (Noach and his sons until Abraham). Sixty and eighty are 140 — yet our forefathers descended to Egypt with only seventy souls.