민수기 18:21의 미드라쉬

Another [explanation]: "Bring close the tribe of Levi, etc." - this is [the meaning of] what is written (Psalms 65:5), "Happy is the one whom You have chosen and You have brought close": Happy is the one whom the Holy One, blessed be He, has chosen, even though he has not brought him close. And happy is the man that He has brought close, even though He has not chosen him. And who is the one whom He has chosen? That is Avraham, as it is stated (Nehemiah 9:7), "You are He, Lord God, Who chose Avram." But He did not bring him close, but rather he brought himself close. The Holy One, blessed be He, chose Yaakov, as it is stated (Psalms 135:4), "For Yaakov did the Lord choose." And so [too] it says (Isaiah 41:8), "Yaakov whom You have chosen." But He did not bring him close, but rather he brought himself close, as it is stated (Genesis 25:27), "Yaakov was a simple man that sat in tents." He chose Moshe, as it is stated (Psalms 106:23), "were it not for Moshe, His chosen"; but He did not bring him close. Happy are those that the Holy One, blessed be He, chose, even though He did not bring them close. Come and see - the Holy One, blessed be He, brought Yitro close, but He did not choose him. He brought Rachav the prostitute close but He did not choose her. Happy are these that whom He brought close, even though He did not choose them. A [Roman] matron asked Rabbi Yose, "[Does] your God bring close whomever He wants (arbitrarily)?" [So] he brought a basket of figs in front of her and she would choose a nice one, she would choose it and eat it. He said to her, "You know how to choose, [does] the Holy One, blessed be He not know how to choose? The one whom He sees has good deeds, He chooses him and brings him close." Rabbi Nechemiah [said] in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Rabbi Yitschak, "Not all who are close are close, and not all who are distant are distant. There is one who is chosen and pushed off and brought close, [and] there is one who is chosen and pushed off and not brought close. Aharon was chosen - (I Samuel 2:28) 'And I chose him from all the tribes of Israel for Me as a priest.' And he was pushed off - (Deuteronomy 9:20) 'And with Aharon did the Lord get angry.' And it is written [after the event that the last verse cited was referring to] (Exodus 28:1), 'And you should bring close to you Aharon your brother.' Shaul was chosen - (I Samuel 10:24) 'Have you seen the one that the Lord chose?' And he was pushed off - (ibid., 15:11) 'I have regretted that I have crowned Shaul, etc.' And he was not brought close [again] - (ibid., 16:1) 'And I have been disgusted with him from ruling over Israel.' David was chosen - (Psalms 78:70) 'And He chose David, His servant.' And he was pushed off - (II Samuel 15:16-17) 'And the king went out, and all of household on his heels,... and they stood in Beit Merchak.'" Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said, "They excommunicated him. Nonetheless, he accepted his excommunication. This is [the meaning] of that which is written, (II Samuel 15:30) 'and David went up to the Ascent of Olives, he went up and cried, and his head was covered.'" "And he was brought close [again]." Rabbi Yudan said, "Eira Hayairi, the teacher of David, brought him close. This is what David says (Psalms 119:79), 'Let those that fear You (yeirecha) return to me, and they that know Your testimonies' - ['they that know'] is written as 'he that knows,' [meaning that] Eira Hayairi was his teacher and brought [David] close." Rabbi Yehoshua of Sakhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi, "There are six that were chosen: the priesthood; the order of Levi; Israel; the monarchy of the house of David; Jerusalem; [and] the Temple. From where [do we know this about] the priesthood? Since it is written (I Samuel 2:28), 'And I chose him from all the tribes of Israel for Me as a priest.' From where [do we know this about] the order of Levi? As it is stated (Deuteronomy 18:5), 'As he was chosen by the Lord, your God.' From where [do we know this about]Israel? As it is stated (Ibid., 7:6), 'the Lord, your God, chose you.' From where [do we know this about] the monarchy of the house of David? As it is stated (Psalms 78:70), 'And He chose David, His servant.' From where [do we know this about] Jerusalem? As it is stated (I Kings 11:32), 'the city that you chose.' From where [do we know this about] the Temple? As it stated (II Chronicles 7:16), 'I have chosen and sanctified this house.'" David [meant to say in Psalms 65:5], "Happy is the one whom the Holy One, blessed be He, has chosen, and happy is the one that He has brought close. And who is the one who is doubly happy? The one that the Holy One, blessed be He, chose and brought close." And who is that? That is Aharon and [the tribe of] Levi. From where [do we know this about] Aharon? Since it is written (I Samuel 2:28), "And I chose him from all the tribes of Israel for Me as a priest." And from where [do we know] that He brought him close? As it is stated (Exodus 28:1), "And you should bring close to you Aharon your brother." The Holy One, blessed be He chose Levi, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 18:5), "As he was chosen by the Lord, your God." And from where [do we know] that He brought him close? As it is stated [here], "Bring close the tribe of Levi, and stand [it up]." And about them the verse (Psalms 65:5) says, "Happy is the one whom You have chosen and You have brought close, who dwells in your courtyards"; as you say (Numbers 3:7), "And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation, etc." [The continuation of Psalms 65:5 is:] "let us be satiated from the good of Your house" - that thy would eat from the tithes that were brought to the [Temple], as you would say (Numbers 18:21), "To the house of Levi, behold, I have given all tithe in Israel for an inheritance, etc."

And God remembered Rachel. Prior to this verse, it is written: And Leah conceived again, and bore a son; and she said: “This time will I praise the Lord” (Gen. 29:35). Why did she not say I will praise the Lord after the births of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and all the others, but only after the birth of Judah? This may be compared to a priest who goes to a man’s barn to collect the tithe⁸A tenth of a man’s possessions appropriated as a tax or sacrifice. The Mosaic law (Num. 18:21–26) made the tithe obligatory. and the priestly portion. When the owner of the barn hands the priest the priestly portion, he does not thank him, and when he gives him the tithe, he still does not thank him. But if, after he gives the priest what is due him, he adds a measure of unconsecrated food, the priest does thank him and recites a prayer in his behalf. A bystander asked the priest: “Why is it that when he gave you the tithe and the priestly portion, you did not thank him, but when he added only a single measure of unconsecrated food, you thanked him?” The priest replied: “The tithe and the priestly offering belong to me, and I merely accepted that which belonged to me, but the measure of unconsecrated food he added belonged to him, and so I thanked him for it.” Similarly Leah said: “Twelve tribes are to descend from Jacob, and since he has four wives, each of us is entitled to bear three sons. I have already given birth to three sons, my rightful share, but now a fourth son has been granted to me; surely it is fitting that I praise the Lord this time.” Therefore Rachel envied her sister (Gen. 30:1). The Holy One, blessed be He, declared: How long shall this righteous woman grieve? Is it not just that she too shall conceive? Should she not be at least equal to the handmaidens? Forthwith, And God remembered Rachel.

And thou shalt set apart unto the Lord all that openeth the womb (ibid. 12). Set apart means to put aside, as in the matter of an inheritance. Then ye shall cause his inheritance to be set apart unto his daughter (Num. 27:8). Simeon the son of Azzai said: Why does Scripture mention Thou shalt set apart all that openeth the womb (Exod. 13:12)? Since it states elsewhere: Whatsoever passeth under the rod,¹⁸Word-play on haavarta (“set apart”) and yavaor (“passeth under”). the tenth shall be holy unto Me the Lord (Lev. 27:32). Does this say (I might deduce) that this includes an orphaned animal? Since the word set aside is used in the former verse, just as in the latter verse, one may not sanctify the priests’ share of the offering except during the life of its mother, so in this instance one may not sanctify the priests’ share except during the lifetime of its mother. If this is so, then just as the latter verse refers only to male animals, so the former verse applies only to male animals. Hence, when Scripture says Whatsoever passeth under the rod, it means (to include) male and female. All that openeth the womb indicates that a prematurely born offspring is exempted from the law of the firstborn. The one that is born after the premature offspring is also considered not to be the firstborn.

R. Eliezer b. Yaakov says: This (verse) is not needed (to tell us this). It is written (Bamidbar 18:21) "And to the sons of Levi I have given all the tithe in Israel as an inheritance" — Just as an inheritance does not "move" (i.e., is not rescinded), so, the first-tithe.