시편 37:25의 미드라쉬

(Fol. 16) GEMARA: In the days of Rabbi Dosa b. Horkinass the marriage of the daughter's Tzara was declared [in R. Dosa's name] to be legal. It seemed too hard a task for the sages [to give their consent or to protest against it]. Since he was considered a great scholar, and since because of his blindness, he stopped attending the house of learning, they refrained from taking action in his absence], the sages appealed: "Who will go and inform him [of our contradictory opinion?"]. "I shall go," replied R. Joshua. "And who else [will go]?" To which R. Elazar b. Azaria responded: "And who else [will go]?" To which R. Akiba responded. They finally went, and upon reaching his house they stopped at the door, where his servant noticed them. She entered and informed him: "Rabbi, the sages of Israel are coming to visit you." "Let them come in," was his reply. They then entered. R. Dosa immediately greeted R. Joshua and bade him sit down upon a gilded couch. To which R. Joshua replied: "Rabbi, bid your other disciple also to sit down." "Who is he?" inquired R. Dosa. "He is R. Elazar b. Azaria," came R. Joshua's reply. "Has then our friend Azaria a son?" inquired R. Dosa. He applied to him the following passage (Ps. 37, 25) I have been young and now I am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging for bread. He then took him and bade him sit down upon another gilded couch. "Rabbi," said R. Joshua again, "tell your other disciple to sit down." "Who is he?" inquired R. Dosa. "He is R. Akiba b. Joseph," replied R. Joshua. Whereupon R. Dosa exclaimed: "Art thou that Akiba b. Joseph whose fame reaches from one end of the world to the other? Sit down, my son, sit down. May there be many like thee in Israel." Thereupon he read the following passage concerning him, (Ecc. 7, 1) A good name is better than precious oil. They then began to beset him with various legal questions until they finally propounded the question: "What is the legal statute concerning a levirate marriage of the Tzara of one's daughter?" "In this law there is a dispute between the school of Shammai and the school of Hillel," was his reply. "And in accordance with whom does the law prevail?" they again asked. "Of course, in accordance with the school of Hillel," was his response. "But it was said in your name that the law prevails in accordance with the school of Shammai." "How were you informed, Dosa or Ben Harkinas?" "We can swear that we heard it anonymously." "If so," responded R. Dosa, "then I shall explain it to you. I have a younger brother, Jonathan, who is both sharp and persistent, and who is a disciple of the school of Shammai. Be careful that he does not catch and overwhelm you with citations of traditions, for he knows three hundred arguments to prove that the levirate marriage of the Tzara of one's daughter is legal; but I summon as witness the heavens and earth to testify that while Hagai had been sitting upon this mortar-shaped seat, he decided the following three things: (a) the levirate marriage of the Tzara of one's daughter is prohibited; (b) Jewish inhabitants of the land of Ammon and Moab must give the poorman's tithes on the Sabbatical year; (c) that we may accept proselytes from the Gardyenians and the Tarmodites (Palmyra)." We are taught in a Baraitha: "Although on their arrival they entered through one door, yet when they left they went out through three doors." R. Akiba was met by that Jonathan and the latter asked him such questions that he was unable to give answer. Thereupon Jonathan said: "Art thou that Akiba whose fame extends from one end of the world to the other? Happy mayest thou be that thou hast acquired such a name, although thou hast not reached [in scholarship] to be even an oxherd." Upon which R. Akiba remarked: "Not even a shepherd of small cattle."

And Jacob made a vow, saying: If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God (Gen. 28:20–21). R. Berechiah maintained that the Holy One, blessed be He, fulfilled all but one of Jacob’s requests. Jacob said: If God will be with me, and He replied: Behold, I am with thee (ibid., v. 15). Jacob said: And will keep me, and He responded: I will keep thee whithersoever thou goest (ibid.). He said: So that I come back to my father’s house in peace, and the Holy One, blessed be He, replied: And I will bring thee back (ibid.). But when Jacob said: And will give me bread, He did not reply. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: If I assured him concerning bread, what else would he ask of Me? Therefore, He did not promise him bread. The sages insisted, however, that He also replied to his plea for bread, since it is said: I shall not forsake thee (ibid.). The word forsake is employed in Scripture only in reference to bread, as is written: Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread (Ps. 37:25).

Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt (Gen. 42:1). Scripture says elsewhere in allusion to this verse: I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread (Ps. 37:25). R. Samuel the son of Nahman said: This verse was spoken by the Prince of the Universe.³God appointed Enoch the prince of angels. See Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews 1:129. I have been young: from the time of Adam; Now am old: until the days of the Messiah; yet have I not seen indicates that there is no time in which the Holy One, blessed be He, permits the world to be without righteous ones. In fact righteous men appear in every generation, as R. Tanhuma explained in the name of R. Aha: The world never lacks thirty men as righteous as Abraham, as it is said: And Abraham shall surely become a great nation (Gen. 18:18). The numerical value of the Hebrew letters of the word shall become (yihyeh) adds up to thirty.

“I hated all my toil that I toiled under the sun, as I will leave it to the man who will be after me. Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will control everything for which I have toiled and have become wise under the sun. This, too, is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 2:18–19).
“I hated all my toil that I toiled under the sun…” – Rabbi Meir was an excellent, expert scribe, and he would earn three sela per week from his toil. He would eat and drink with one, would clothe himself with one, and with the other, he would support the Rabbis. His students said to him: ‘Rabbi, your children, what do you do for them?’⁶⁵What will be left for them as an inheritance? He said to them: ‘If they become righteous, it will be as David said: “I have not seen a righteous man forsaken and his offspring seeking bread” (Psalms 37:25). If not, should I leave what is mine to the enemies of the Omnipresent?’ Therefore, Solomon said: “Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?”

(Devarim 33:11) "Bless, O, L-rd, his substance": i.e., his possessions — whence the adage: "Most Cohanim are wealthy." According to Abba the exegete, the verse (Psalms 37:25) "I have been a youth and I have also aged, but I have never seen a tzaddik forsaken nor his children begging for bread" applies to the seed of Aaron.