예레미야 1:5의 미드라쉬

(Numb. 22:2:) “Now Balak [ben Zippor] saw (rt.: r'h).” This text is related (to Deut. 32:4), “The Rock, His work is perfect, because all His ways are justice.” As the Holy One, blessed be He, did [not] leave the nations of the world a pretext for saying in the future to come, “You alienated us and did not give us anything like what You gave Israel in this world."¹Numb. R. 20:1. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? Just as He raised up kings, prophets, and sages for Israel, so did He raise them up from the nations of the world. Moreover, the kings, prophets, and sages that belonged to Israel were examined alongside the kings, prophets, and sages that belonged to the nations of the world. He raised up Solomon as king over all the earth, and he did the same for Nebuchadnezzar, as stated (Jeremiah 27:6), “I even give him the wild beasts to serve him.” The [former] built the holy Temple and said many praises and supplications; and the latter destroyed it and cursed and blasphemed, and said (in Isaiah 14:14), “I will go up to high places of the clouds, I will resemble the Most High.” He gave David wealth, and he acquired the house for His name.²Cf. Ps. 30:1 [introduction]: a song at the dedication of the house (i.e., the Temple) of David. The Temple was David’s in that he acquired the materials to build it. He gave wealth to Haman, and he acquired a whole nation for slaughter. Every dignity Israel received, you find that the nations of the world [also] received. In like manner He raised up Moses for Israel, who spoke with him any time that he wanted, [and] he raised up Balaam for the nations of the world, in order that he might speak with Him any time that he wanted. Look at (rt.: r'h) what a difference there is between the prophets of Israel and the prophets of the nations of the world! The prophets of Israel warn the nations about transgressions, and so it says (in Jer. 1:5), “I have given you as a prophet to the nations.” The prophets who He raised from the nations, however, established a breach to cut off mortals from the world to come. And not only that, but all the prophets had a merciful attitude towards both Israel and the nations of the world; for so did Isaiah say (in Is. 16:11), “Therefore my inner parts throb like a harp for Moab….” And similarly has Ezekiel said (in Ezek. 27:2), “Son of man, ‘Raise up a dirge over Tyre.’” But this cruel man rose up to uproot a whole nation without cause, for nothing. Therefore the parashah about Balaam was written to make known why the Holy One, blessed be He, removed the holy spirit from the nations of the world. [It was] because He raised this man out of the nations of the world, and look (rt.: r'h) at what he did!

"he is Mine": What is the intent of this? It is written (Devarim 15:19) "the male shall you sanctify to the L rd your G d." (How am I to understand this?) As sanctify it so that you receive reward, or if you sanctify it, it is sanctified, and, if not, it is not sanctified? It is, therefore, written "he is Mine" — in any event. What is the intent, then, of "the male shall you sanctify"? Sanctify it (i.e., dedicate it to the L rd) for the sake of receiving reward. Similarly, (Leviticus 6:5) "And the Cohein shall burn wood upon it every morning, etc." What is the intent of this? Is it not written (Isaiah 40:16) "and (the whole forest of Levanon is not sufficient to burn, etc."? What, then, is the intent of "And the Cohein shall burn wood upon it"? For the sake of receiving reward. Similarly, (Numbers 28:4) "the one lamb shall you offer, etc." What is the intent of this? Is it not written (Isaiah, Ibid.) "nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering"? What, then, is the intent of "The one lamb, etc."? For the sake of receiving reward. Similarly, (Exodus 25:8) "and they shall make for Me a sanctuary, etc." What is the intent of this? Is it not written (Jeremiah 23:24) "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" What, then, is the intent of "And they shall make for Me a sanctuary"? For the sake of receiving reward for making it. Once, the disciples spent a Sabbath in Yavneh, R. Yehoshua not among them. When they returned to him he asked them: "What novelty did you hear in Yavneh?" They answered: "After you, our master" (i.e., there is no one to do so after you). R. Yehoshua: "Who spent the Sabbath there?" They: "R. Elazar b. Azaryah." R. Yehoshua: "Is it possible that R. Elazar b. Azaryah spent the Sabbath there without telling you something novel?" They: He expounded this principle (Devarim 31:12) "Gather the people — the men, the women, and the children." Now do little children know the difference between good and evil? But (He did so) in order to bestow reward upon their bringers, to increase the reward of the doers of His will, as it is written (Isaiah 42:21) "The L rd desires for the sake of His righteousness to magnify Torah and to exalt it." At this, he said to them: "What can be more novel than this? I am seventy years old, and I never merited hearing such a thing until this day! Happy are you, father Abraham, from whose loins Elazar b. Azaryah emerged! The generation is not an orphan in whose midst R. Elazar b. Azaryah resides!" They: Our master, he also expounded this principle: (Jeremiah 23:7) "Therefore, behold, days are coming, says the L rd, when it will no more be said: 'As the L rd lives, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, etc.'" To what may this be compared? A man desired children and had a daughter — whereupon (when he made a vow) he vowed upon her life. Thereafter, he had a son, and (in vowing) he left off (vowing by) his daughter and vowed upon the life of his son. R. Shimon b. Yochai says: To what may this be compared? A man was journeying and was accosted by a wolf, from which he was rescued — whereupon he would (always) talk about his encounter with the wolf. He was later accosted by a lion, from which he was rescued — whereupon he left off talking about his encounter with the wolf and spoke about his encounter with the lion. Similarly, (Genesis 29:19) "And he called the name of the place Beth-El." The first name was superseded by the second. Similarly, (Ibid. 17:5) "And your name will no longer be called Avram." The first name was superseded by the second. Similarly, (Ibid. 15) "Sarai, your wife, etc." The first name was superseded by the second. (Ibid. 32:28) "Your name will no longer be called Yaakov but Yisrael." The first name remained and the second was superadded. The name of Yitzchak was not changed, for he was thus (originally) called by the Holy One Blessed be He. There are three who were named by the Holy One Blessed be He — Yitzchak, Shlomoh, and Yoshiyahu. Yitzchak — (Ibid. 17:19) "But Sarah your wife will bear a son for you and you shall call his name Yitzchak." Shlomoh (I Chronicles 22:9) "for Shlomoh will be his name." Yoshiyahu (I Kings 13:2) "A son will be born to the house of David. Yoshiyahu will be his name." Others say: Also Yishmael among the gentiles. We find the names of righteous ones and their deeds to be revealed to the L rd before their creation, viz. (Jeremiah 1:5) "Before I created you in the womb, I knew you." Where do we find (the same for) the names of wicked ones? It is written (Psalms 58:4) "The wicked are estranged from the womb, etc."

It is written, (Job 9:10) "Who performs great deeds which cannot be fathomed, And wondrous things without number." Come and see how great are the Holy Blessed One's deeds! Since it says, "Who performs great deeds which cannot be fathomed," why does it also say "And wondrous things without number"? And since it says "And wondrous things without number," why does it also say "Who performs great deeds which cannot be fathomed"? How have the Sages interpreted it? "Who performs great deeds which cannot be fathomed," refers to all the created beings in the world, "And wondrous things without number," refers to the three beings who were born without their parents having mortal sex. And these are they: Ben Sira, Rav Papa, and Rabbi Zeira. (The "Yuchasin" brings the matter regarding Rabbi Judah the Pious's father, see further Tzemach David Part 1 1:448) They are all completely righteous ones, and wise, and great Torah scholars. And they said about Rabbi Zeria and Rav Papa that they never once spoke of worldly matters; and never slept in the Hall of Study, neither fully sleeping nor napping; and nobody ever showed up to the Hall of Study earlier than they did; and nobody ever found them sitting quietly instead of sitting and reciting Torah; and they never missed Kiddush; and they never gave their friends nasty nicknames; and never took honor from their friends' shame; and never even cursed their friends from their beds; and never looked at the image of an evil person; and didn't accept gifts; and these two both fulfill what is said: (Proverbs 8:22) "I endow those who love me with substance; I will fill their treasuries." (The Talmud lists these qualities about other Sages, see further in Megillah 27b-28a.) And how did their mothers give birth without husbands? They said: Once they went to the bathhouse, and some seed from an Israelite entered their bellies, and they conceived and gave birth from this, without knowing who their fathers were. But Ben Sira's father was known to him! How did his mother give birth without a husband's intercourse? They said about her that she was the daughter of Yirmiyahu. Once, Yirmiyahu went to the bathhouse, and found there evildoers from the tribe of Ephraim, and he saw that they were all wasting their seed, because the whole tribe of Ephraim in that generation were evildoers, as it is written about them that they did what was wrong in God's eyes. And when he saw them, he began to rebuke them. Immediately, they rose up against him, and said, "Why are you rebuking us? We swear by the road to Bethlehem that you will not leave here until you do what we are doing." He said to them, "Leave me alone and I will swear to you that I will never reveal this situation." They said to him, "Didn't Tzidkiyahu see Nevuchadnetzar eating a live rabbit, and swear to him in God's name that he would not reveal his secret, and then nullify that oath? (Nedarim 65b, Eicha Rabbah s.v.: "they sit on the ground") You will do the same thing! But now, if you do what we are doing, good, and not, we will do the Sodomite act to you, like our ancestors did for idolatrous purposes. If they did it for idolatry, how much more so should we do it to you!" Immediately, he did it, out of great terror and fear of them. When he began leaving there, he started to curse his birthday, saying (Jeremiah 20:14) "Accursed be the day That I was born!" He left there, and fasted for this incident 248 fasts, parallel to all the organs of a man. And the drop that came from that righteous man was guarded until that righteous man's own daughter came to the bathhouse, and it entered her belly. At seven months, she gave birth to a son who had teeth and could speak, and once she gave birth, she developed shame around people, because they would say that she gave birth through promiscuity. The child opened his mouth and said to his mother, "Why are you ashamed around people? I am the son of Sira." She said, "Who is Sira?" He said, "Yirmiyahu, and the reason he is called Sira is because he is the officer (sar) over all officers, and because he will ultimately name all officers and kings, and when you calculate 'Sira' and 'Yirmiyahu' in numerical values, they are equal." She said to him, "My son, if this is true, you should have said, 'I am the son of Yirmiyahu.'" He said to her, "I would have wanted to say that, but it is a shameful thing, saying that Yirmiyahu has had sex with his daughter." She said to him, "My son, is it not written (Ecclesiastes 1:9) "Only that shall happen Which has happened," and who has ever seen a daughter have a child by her father?" He said to her, "My mother, (Ecclesiastes 1:9) 'There is nothing new Beneath the sun!' Just as Lot was a completely righteous man, my father is also a completely righteous man. Just like Lot did it under compulsion, my father also had this done under compulsion." She said to him, "I am stunned by you. How do you know these things?" He said to her, "Do not be stunned by me, because there is nothing new beneath the sun. The same thing occurred with my father Yirmiyahu when his mother was kneeling to give birth- he opened his mouth, and my father called from his mother's innards, and said, 'I will not leave until you tell me my name.' His father opened his mouth and said, 'Come out, and your name will be Avraham' and he said, 'That is not my name.' He said, 'Come out, and your name will be Yitzchak...' and then Yaakov and all the tribes, and all the men of that generation, and he kept saying, 'That is not my name.' Until Eliyahu of Blessed Memory arrived there, and said, 'Your name will be Yirmiyah, because in your days the Holy Blessed One will establish an enemy to raise (yarim) his hand against Jerusalem.' He said, 'That is my name. And you, who told me my name, let your name be my name- let me have "yahu" from your name, and call me Yirmi-yahu.' Just as he was emerged speaking, I also emerged speaking; just as he emerged with prophecy from his mother's innards, as it is said, (Jeremiah 1:5) 'Before I created you in the womb, I selected you' ; just as he wrote an alphabetical acrostic book (Eicha), I also will write an alphabetical acrostic book, so not do not but stunned by my speech." She said, "My son, do not say it, so the Evil Eye will not reign over you!" He said to her, "The Evil Eye has no permission to reign over me, so now do not keep talking to me, for I am going to do what my father did. It is about me that it is said, (Ketubot 63a) 'One ewe follows another,' and a son follows his father's deeds." She said to him, "My son, why are you stopping me from talking?" He said, "Because you know that I am hungry, and you do not let me eat anything." She said to him, "Here are breasts for you- eat your food and drink your drink." He said to her, "I have no interest in your breasts. Rather, go and sift through flour like a hen, knead fine bread and fatty meat, and old wine, and you must eat together with me." She said to him, "But how could I buy things like this?" He said to her, "Make clothes and sell them, and the verse will be upheld for you: (Proverbs 31:24) 'She makes cloth and sells it.' and if you support me, the verse (Proverbs 31:29), 'Many women have done well, But you surpass them all' will be true." She began to make clothes and sell them, and she would bring him bread and fatty meat, and old wine, and she supported him for one year. And after that year, he said to her, "Bring me to the synagogue," so she brought him to the house of one educator who had seven daughters. He sat beside him, and said to him, "Rabbi, teach me Torah!" He said to him, "You are not yet eligible to study, because you are so small, and our Sages z"l said (Pirkei Avot 5:21): 'A child of five should study Written Torah.'" Ben Sira said to him, "And have you not learned that (Pirkei Avot 2:15) 'the day is short, and the work is plentiful'? And you are telling me 'Sit and do not learn yet because you are so small,' while I see in the cemetery those smaller than me who have died, and who knows what will be, whether I will live or I will die?" The educator said to him, "What, are you my teacher? Haven't our Sages z"l said: "Anyone who teaches halacha in front of their Rabbi is liable for the death penalty'?" He said to him, "So far, you are not my Rabbi and so far, I have learned nothing from you." The educator said to Ben Sira, "Say, 'Aleph.'" He responded to him, saying:

“What was, its name was already called, and it is known that he is man, and neither can he contend with what is mightier than he” (Ecclesiastes 6:10).
“What was, its name was already called” – this is Adam the first man, as it is stated: “The Lord God took the man” (Genesis 2:15), “and it is known that he is man.” This is analogous to a king and a minister who were in a royal carriage and the countrymen sought to say to the king, ‘Sire,’ but they did not know which one he was. What did the king do? He shoved [the minister] out of the carriage and everyone knew that he was the minister. So too, when the Holy One blessed be He created Adam, the first man, the ministering angels were mistaken and sought to say before him: ‘Holy.’²⁷As they say in praise of God (see Isaiah 6:3). What did the Holy One blessed be He do? He brought sleep upon him and they knew that he was man, and He said to him: “For you are dust and you will return to dust” (Genesis 3:19).
Another matter, “what was, its name was already called” – this is Moses, as it is stated: “The Lord called to Moses” (Leviticus 1:1), and it became known to all that this Moses was a prophet when the Holy One blessed be He said to him: “Now, go, and I will send you to Pharaoh [and take My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt]” (Exodus 3:10). When it came to that incident,²⁸The sin of the Golden Calf. He said: “Go descend [as your people…has been corrupted]” (Exodus 32:7). [Moses] said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, when they are good they are Yours, and when they are bad they are mine? Whether they are good or bad they are Yours.’ This is analogous to a king who has a vineyard and he entrusts it to a sharecropper to toil in it. When it produces superior wine, the king says: ‘How fine is the wine of my vineyard!’ When it produces inferior wine, the king says: ‘How poor is the wine of the vineyard of my sharecropper.’ The sharecropper weeps and cries and says before him: ‘My lord the king, when it produces superior wine it is yours, and when it produces inferior wine it is mine? Whether it is good or bad it is yours.’ So too, Moses said: ‘Whether they are good or bad, they are Yours.’
“And neither can he contend with what is mightier than he.” When he said to Him: “Please, let me cross and see the good land” (Deuteronomy 3:25), the Holy One blessed be He said to him: “Let it suffice you, do not speak to Me anymore about this matter” (Deuteronomy 3:26).
Another matter, “what was” – this is Jeremiah, and it is known to all that he is a prophet, as it is stated: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5).

In the case of Jeremiah, the Holy One, blessed be He, told him: Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee (Jer. 1:5). Then said I: “Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak; for I am a child (ibid., v. 6). The Holy One, blessed be He, thereupon responded: Say not: “I am a child”; for to whomsoever I shall send thee, thou shalt go, and whatsoever I shall command thee, thou shalt speak (ibid., v. 7); that is, against your will you will go, and against your will you will speak.

... Jeremiah said: when I was coming up to Jerusalem, I lifted up my eyes and saw a woman sitting on the mountaintop, her clothes were black and her hair unkempt. She cried: I am seeking who will comfort me! And I cried: I am seeking who will comfort me! I came near and spoke with her, and I said to her: if you are a woman, then speak with me. If you are a spirit, then go away from me. She answered and said to me: Do you not recognize me? I am the one who had seven children. Their father went away to a land across the sea and as I was going up to cry for him, a prophet said to me ‘the house collapsed on your seven children and killed them.’ I do not know for whom I am crying and for whom my hair is unkempt.I answered and said to her: you are no better than my mother Zion, who was made a pasture for the beasts of the field. She answered and said to me: I am your mother Zion, I am she – the mother of seven, so it is written “She who bore seven has been cut off…” (Jeremiah 15:9) Jeremiah said to her: the blows you have received are like those of Job. Job’s sons and daughters were taken from him, your sons and daughters were taken from you. From Job I took his silver and gold, from you I have taken your silver and gold. I cast Job into the trash heap, you I have made into a heap of trash. And just as I came back and consoled Job, so too in the future I will return and console you. I doubled Job’s sons and daughters, and in the future I will double your sons and daughters. I doubled Job’s gold and silver, and in the future I will do so for you. I shook the trash from Job, and of you it is said “Shake yourselves from the dust, arise, sit down, O Jerusalem…” (Isaiah 52:2) Flesh and blood built you and flesh and blood destroyed you. But In the time to come I will build you, because thus it is written “The Lord is the builder of Jerusalem; He will gather the outcasts of Israel.” (Psalms 147:2) Amen! May the Holy One fulfill what is written about us speedily and in our day “And the redeemed of Zion shall return, and they shall come to Zion with song, with joy of days of yore shall be upon their heads; they shall achieve gladness and joy, and sadness and sighing shall flee.” (Isaiah 35:10)

(Devarim 18:15) "A prophet from your midst, from your brothers, such as I, the L-rd your G-d will establish for you": "from your midst" — not from outside Eretz Yisrael; "from your brothers" — not from others (i.e., gentiles). "will establish for you" — and not for idolators. How, then, am I to understand (Jeremiah 1:5) "A prophet for the nations have I made you (Jeremiah)"? For those (Jews) who deport themselves as the nations do.