Talmud su Esodo 11:20
Tractate Kallah Rabbati
GEMARA. ‘Always be dignified’, etc. R. Samuel b. Naḥmani said:13Sanh. 105b-106a (Sonc. ed., p. 721). What is the meaning of the verse, For the Lord will smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water?141 Kings 14, 15. Better is the curse wherewith Aḥijah the Shilonite cursed Israel than the blessing wherewith the wicked Balaam blessed them. Aḥijah the Shilonite cursed Israel with a reed, as it is written, For the Lord will smite Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. But Balaam blessed them with the cedar, as it is written, As cedars beside the waters.15Num. 24, 6 Therefore ‘be tender like the reed and do not be hard like the cedar … therefore the reed merited’, etc.
Why did dogs merit that of their excrement sacred books and tefillin should be made?16The parchment of Torah scrolls and tefillin is treated with the excrement of dogs. Because it stated, But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog whet his tongue.17Ex. 11, 7. Similarly you may ask, Wherein lay the merit of the haḥiroth?18i.e. Pi-haḥiroth of Ex. 14, 2. It was a sanctuary connected with the Semitic deity Baal-Zephon, in whose worship licentious rites were practised. When the women beheld the Israelites, they abandoned their rites and as a reward the place was named חִירׂת read as חֵרוּת, ‘freedom’. Cf. Tanḥuma, Balaḳ, §17, Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, III, pp. 10f. They were harlots and when they caught sight of Israel they turned their faces backward and are therefore called ḥeruth.
Why did dogs merit that of their excrement sacred books and tefillin should be made?16The parchment of Torah scrolls and tefillin is treated with the excrement of dogs. Because it stated, But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog whet his tongue.17Ex. 11, 7. Similarly you may ask, Wherein lay the merit of the haḥiroth?18i.e. Pi-haḥiroth of Ex. 14, 2. It was a sanctuary connected with the Semitic deity Baal-Zephon, in whose worship licentious rites were practised. When the women beheld the Israelites, they abandoned their rites and as a reward the place was named חִירׂת read as חֵרוּת, ‘freedom’. Cf. Tanḥuma, Balaḳ, §17, Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, III, pp. 10f. They were harlots and when they caught sight of Israel they turned their faces backward and are therefore called ḥeruth.
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Avot D'Rabbi Natan
Rabbi Elazar HaKappar would say: Anyone who respects his friends only for their money, in the end will be sent away from them in disgrace. And anyone who disgraces his friends in order to fulfill a mitzvah, in the end will be sent away from them honorably.
How do we know that anyone who respects his friends only for their money, in the end will be sent away from them in disgrace? For this is what we find with Bil’am the wicked, who respected Balak for his money, as it says (Numbers 22:18), “And Bil’am answered, saying to Balak’s servants: If Balak gives me his house full of silver and gold.” And how do we know he was sent away in disgrace? For it says (Numbers 24:11), “Now, get out of here and go back to your own place…for the Eternal has denied you honor.”
And how do we know that anyone who disgraces his friends in order to fulfill a mitzvah, in the end will be sent away from them honorably? For this is what we find with Moses our teacher, who disgraces Pharaoh in order to fulfill a mitzvah, as it says (Exodus 11:8), “All of your servants shall come down and bow before me, saying.” Now, was Pharaoh up on a roof and was Moses down on the ground? No, what Moses meant was: Even if all your servants who stand up (and bow) before you on your platform were to get up and beg me, I would not listen to them. And how do we know he was sent away honorably? For it says (Numbers 33:3), “On the day after the Passover offering, the Israelites went out with a raised hand.”
How do we know that anyone who respects his friends only for their money, in the end will be sent away from them in disgrace? For this is what we find with Bil’am the wicked, who respected Balak for his money, as it says (Numbers 22:18), “And Bil’am answered, saying to Balak’s servants: If Balak gives me his house full of silver and gold.” And how do we know he was sent away in disgrace? For it says (Numbers 24:11), “Now, get out of here and go back to your own place…for the Eternal has denied you honor.”
And how do we know that anyone who disgraces his friends in order to fulfill a mitzvah, in the end will be sent away from them honorably? For this is what we find with Moses our teacher, who disgraces Pharaoh in order to fulfill a mitzvah, as it says (Exodus 11:8), “All of your servants shall come down and bow before me, saying.” Now, was Pharaoh up on a roof and was Moses down on the ground? No, what Moses meant was: Even if all your servants who stand up (and bow) before you on your platform were to get up and beg me, I would not listen to them. And how do we know he was sent away honorably? For it says (Numbers 33:3), “On the day after the Passover offering, the Israelites went out with a raised hand.”
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