Talmud su Salmi 121:78

MISHNAH: After they stood to pray they place before the Ark an old knowledgeable man who has children but his house is empty⁷³He has to be poor but must be knowledgeable enough to be able to recite all prayers without slowing down or interruption, and must have young children who are dependent on him. so that his mind should be concentrated on prayer. He recites before them 24 benedictions, eighteen of the daily prayers and additional six. These are they, Zikhronot and Shofarot⁷⁴The two additional benedictions in the musaf prayer of New Year’s Day; each one accompanied by the blowing of the shofar. The text of each addition is followed by an invocation and a doxology as spelled out in Mishnaiot 4–10.. To the Eternal in my straights⁷⁵Ps. 120.. I lifted my eyes to the Mountains⁷⁶Ps. 121.. From the depths I called on You, Eternal⁷⁷Ps. 130.. Prayer of the poor who is fainting⁷⁸Ps. 102.

BARAITHA.¹For the Baraithoth in this chap. cf. DEZ I. R. Judah [the Prince] said: The way of the disciples of the wise is to be meek and lowly of spirit.
GEMARA. Whence is this derived? For it is written, Seek ye the Lord, all ye humble of the earth, that have executed His ordinance; seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.²Zeph. 2, 3. When our holy Rabbi³i.e. R. Judah the Prince. Cf. Ḥag. 4b (Sonc. ed., p. 17) where this is attributed to R. Ammi. came to this verse, he cried out and wept [because it stated,] Seek righteousness, seek humility, and perhaps!⁴Even then salvation is only problematical, the text stating it may be, etc. Woe to the creatures who think that death is a place of refuge and declare, ‘How many iniquities we are able to guard ourselves against!’⁵Since when we die we are safe from punishment. R. Isaac b. Parnak said: All man’s sins are engraven in his bones and all his merits are inscribed on his right hand, so that you shall not say that their sins are recorded and their merits are not. Whence [is this learnt]? As it is stated, The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.⁶Ps. 121, 5, shade, meaning divine protection, in reward for a person’s merits; cf. ibid. XCI, 1.
R. Joshua b. Levi said: It is necessary for a man to take these words to heart, and then he will repent of his own accord. Come and see what is written, For, lo, He that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought [siḥo].⁷Amos 4, 13. In the hour of his death man is reminded even of his least important talk [siḥah]. How is this? When a man is about to die, three Ministering Angels come to him:⁸Cf. ‘A.Z. 20b (Sonc. ed., p. 105). one is the Angel of Death, the second is a scribe and the third the angel who has been given authority over him who says to him, ‘Arise, your appointed time has come’. He replies, ‘I will not come; my appointed time has not yet arrived’. Thereupon the scribe sits down and calculates his days and years. Immediately the human being opens his eyes and, seeing the Angel of Death, trembles and falls upon his face. The Sages said: The Angel of Death extends in length from one end of the world to the other; from the sole of his foot to the top of his head he is [covered] all over with eyes; his clothing is of fire, his feet are of fire, and on the fiery sword in his hand hangs a drop of gall. From this [drop of gall] man dies, from it [the corpse] decomposes, from it his face becomes sallow, and he does not die until he beholds the Holy One, blessed be He; as it is stated, For man shall not see Me and live,⁹Ex. 33, 20. [meaning,] in their lifetime they do not see Me, but at their death they do see Me, as it is stated, All they that go down to the dust shall kneel before Him.¹⁰Ps. 22, 30. Forthwith man testifies against himself all that he had done in this world. His mouth testifies and the Holy One, blessed be He, seals [his testimony], as it is stated, By Myself have I sworn, the word is gone forth from My mouth in righteousness, and shall not come back.¹¹Isa. 45, 23. Therefore it is necessary that a man should reflect upon his latter end, as we have learnt: R. Leviṭas, a man of Jabneh, said: Be exceedingly lowly of spirit, since the hope of man is but the worm.¹²Aboth IV, 4 (Sonc. ed., p. 45). Hence our Rabbis taught: [The way of the disciples of the wise is to be] meek and lowly of spirit.

Beloved are proselytes [by God], for [Scripture] everywhere uses the same epithets of them as of Israel; [61b] as it is stated, But thou, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen.⁷Isa. 41, 8. Jacob is here interpreted as ibid. XLIV, 5, And another shall call himself by the name of Jacob—these are the proselytes of righteousness (cf. towards the end of this tractate). The order of the quotations in V is confused. The term ‘love’ is applied to Israel, as it is stated, I have loved you, saith the Lord,⁸Mal. 1, 2. and the term ‘love’ is applied to proselytes, as it is stated, And He loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.⁹Deut. 10, 18. Israel are called ‘servants’, as it is stated, For unto Me the children of Israel are servants,¹⁰Lev. 25, 55. V omits the quotation. and proselytes are called ‘servants’, as it is stated, To be His servants.¹¹Isa. 56, 6. The term ‘acceptable’ is used of Israel, as it is stated, And it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord,¹²Ex. 28, 38. and the term ‘acceptable’ is used of proselytes, as it is stated, Their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon Mine altar.¹³Isa. 56, 7. The term ‘keeping’ is applied to Israel, as it is stated, The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand,¹⁴Ps. 121, 5. and the term ‘keeping’ is applied to proselytes, as it is stated, The Lord preserveth the strangers.¹⁵ibid. CXLVI, 9. The term ‘ministering’ is applied to Israel, as it is stated, But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord, men shall call you the ministers of our God,¹⁶Isa. 61, 6. and the term ‘ministering’ is applied to proselytes, as it is stated, Also the aliens, that join themselves to the Lord, to minister unto Him.¹⁷ibid. LVI, 6.
Beloved are proselytes seeing that our father Abraham did not circumcise himself when he was twenty or thirty years of age, but when he was ninety-nine years old;¹⁸Cf. Gen. 17, 24. since if he had circumcised himself when he was twenty or thirty years old, no Gentile would have become a proselyte when he had passed the age of twenty or thirty. The Holy One, blessed be He, kept putting it off¹⁹The verb has fallen out of V. until he had reached ninety-nine years, so as not to close the door in the face of proselytes, [and to allow more days and years so as to increase the reward of those who do His will, as it is stated, The Lord was pleased, for His righteousness’ sake, to make the teaching great and glorious].²⁰Isa. 42, 21. The passage within brackets is added by MS.K. and H.
Our father Abraham called himself a ger, as it is stated, I am a stranger [ger] and a sojourner with you.²¹Gen. 22, 4. Similarly David, king of Israel, called himself a ger, as it is stated, For I am a stranger [ger] with Thee,²²Ps. 39, 13. and likewise it states, For we are strangers before Thee.²³1 Chron. 29, 15.
Beloved is the Land of Israel because it makes proselytes fit [to be received]. If a man says in the Land of Israel, ‘I am a proselyte’, he is accepted at once, but outside the Land of Israel he is not accepted unless his witnesses are with him. Beloved is the Land of Israel because it atones for iniquities and transgressions, as it is stated, And the inhabitant shall not say: ‘I am sick’, the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.²⁴Isa. 33, 24.
And so you find in the four classes that stand before the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is stated, One shall say: ‘I am the Lord’s’; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel.²⁵ibid. XLIV, 5. One shall say: ‘I am the Lord’s’—this alludes to one who belongs wholly to the Omnipresent and has no admixture of sin. Another shall call himself by the name of Jacob—this alludes to the proselytes of righteousness.²⁶A term to denote the genuine and complete convert. Another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord—this alludes to those who repent. And surname himself by the name of Israel—this alludes to those who fear Heaven.

“The arousers.” Those who were saying (Ps. 44:24): “Be roused, why do You sleep, o Eternal, please awake, do not abandon forever.¹⁸¹According to Babli Sota(loc. cit.) and Tosephta Soṭah 13:9, this was a daily song of the Levites in the Temple.” Does there exist sleep before the Omnipresent? Has it not already been said (Ps. 121:4): “Lo, He will not slumber nor sleep, the Guardian of Israel!” Why does the verse say (Ps. 78:65): “Like a sleeper awoke the Eternal, like a hero exhilarated by wine.” But in a symbolic way it is as if sleep were before Him when Israel is in trouble and the other peoples are at ease. So it says (Job 17:2): “When they apostasize, My eye will rest.”

“The arousers.” Those who were saying (Ps. 44:24): “Be roused, why do You sleep, o Eternal, etc.” Does there exist sleep before the Omnipresent? Has it not already been said (Ps. 121:4): “Lo, He will not slumber nor sleep, the Guardian of Israel!” Why does the verse say (Ps. 78:65): “Like a sleeper awoke the Eternal, like a hero exhilarated by wine.” But in a symbolic way it is as if sleep were before Him when Israel is in trouble and the other peoples are at ease. So it says (Job 17:2): “When they apostasize, My Eye will rest.”