창세기 30:1의 미드라쉬
וַתֵּ֣רֶא רָחֵ֗ל כִּ֣י לֹ֤א יָֽלְדָה֙ לְיַעֲקֹ֔ב וַתְּקַנֵּ֥א רָחֵ֖ל בַּאֲחֹתָ֑הּ וַתֹּ֤אמֶר אֶֽל־יַעֲקֹב֙ הָֽבָה־לִּ֣י בָנִ֔ים וְאִם־אַ֖יִן מֵתָ֥ה אָנֹֽכִי׃
라헬이 자기가 야곱에게 아들을 낳지 못함을 보고 그 형을 투기하여 야곱에게 이르되 나로 자식을 낳게 하라 그렇지 아니하면 내가 죽겠노라
Midrash Aggadah
As it was taught; And the life of Sarah....
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Eikhah Rabbah
“He wore away my flesh and my skin, broke my bones” (Lamentations 3:4).
“He wore away my flesh” – this is the community. “And my skin” – this is the Sanhedrin; just as the skin protects the flesh, so the Sanhedrin protects the community. “Broke my bones [atzmotai]” – my mighty ones [itzumai], people who were like mighty warriors [benei haatzumim].
“He built against me and surrounded me with gall and hardship” (Lamentations 3:5).
“He built against me and surrounded me with gall [rosh]” – this is Nebuchadnezzar, as it is written in his regard: “You are the head [reisha] of gold” (Daniel 2:38). “And hardship” – this is Nevuzaradan. Alternatively: “Gall” – this is Vespasian; “and hardship” – this is Trajan.
“He settled me in darkness, like those long dead” (Lamentations 3:6).
“He settled me in darkness, like those long dead” – Rabbi Shmuel said: Four are considered as dead: A blind person, as it is stated: “He settled me in darkness, like those long dead.” A leper, as it is stated: “Let her not be like a corpse” (Numbers 12:12).10Aaron said this in reference to Miriam, who was afflicted with leprosy, when he asked Moses to pray on her behalf. One who does not have children, as it is written regarding Rachel: “Give me children, and if not, I am dead” (Genesis 30:1). And one who has become impoverished, as it is stated: “All the men [seeking your life] have died” (Exodus 4:19). Were they, in fact, dead? Rather, they had become impoverished.11The Sages identified the men seeking Moses’s life as Datan and Aviram (see Avoda Zara 5a). They were not yet dead, as they later participated in Koraḥ’s uprising (see Numbers 16:1–2).
“He wore away my flesh” – this is the community. “And my skin” – this is the Sanhedrin; just as the skin protects the flesh, so the Sanhedrin protects the community. “Broke my bones [atzmotai]” – my mighty ones [itzumai], people who were like mighty warriors [benei haatzumim].
“He built against me and surrounded me with gall and hardship” (Lamentations 3:5).
“He built against me and surrounded me with gall [rosh]” – this is Nebuchadnezzar, as it is written in his regard: “You are the head [reisha] of gold” (Daniel 2:38). “And hardship” – this is Nevuzaradan. Alternatively: “Gall” – this is Vespasian; “and hardship” – this is Trajan.
“He settled me in darkness, like those long dead” (Lamentations 3:6).
“He settled me in darkness, like those long dead” – Rabbi Shmuel said: Four are considered as dead: A blind person, as it is stated: “He settled me in darkness, like those long dead.” A leper, as it is stated: “Let her not be like a corpse” (Numbers 12:12).10Aaron said this in reference to Miriam, who was afflicted with leprosy, when he asked Moses to pray on her behalf. One who does not have children, as it is written regarding Rachel: “Give me children, and if not, I am dead” (Genesis 30:1). And one who has become impoverished, as it is stated: “All the men [seeking your life] have died” (Exodus 4:19). Were they, in fact, dead? Rather, they had become impoverished.11The Sages identified the men seeking Moses’s life as Datan and Aviram (see Avoda Zara 5a). They were not yet dead, as they later participated in Koraḥ’s uprising (see Numbers 16:1–2).
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Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition)
(Fol. 64b) R. Jochanan said in the name of R. Simon b. Jochai: "Wherever you find the words nitzim, or nitzabim [written in the Pentatuch,] it refers to no one but Dathan and Abiram." If so, then how will you explain the passage (Ex. 4, 19) For the men are dead, etc., referring to Dathan and Abiram, and yet on occasions which happened many years later the words nitzim and nitzabim are found mentioned in the Torah? Resh Lakish therefore explained that they became poor." Resh Lakish said: "A man who has no children is accounted as dead, as it is said (Gen. 30, 1) Give me children or else die, and we are taught in a Baraitha that four are accounted as dead: — The pauper, the leper, the blind man, and he who is childless. That a pauper is accounted as dead we derive from the above quoted passage: For the men are dead; the leper, we derive from the following passage (Num. 12, 12) Let her not be as a dead-born child; That a blind one is accounted as dead we derive from this passage (Lam. 3, 6) In dark places hath He set me to dwell, like the dead of olden times; and that one who is childless is accounted as dead we infer from the passage. Give me children or else I die."
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