시편 118:20의 인용 해설

“Enough” [3:26]. The Holy One said to Moses: Adam brought death into the world, so that each person must die. Moses responded: Lord of the Universe, Adam committed a sin. The Holy One said: did Abraham have to die? He allowed himself to be thrown into the fire for the sake of God. Moses responded: an evil son, Ishmael, came from Abraham. The Holy One said: Isaac stretched out his neck to be slaughtered for the sake of God and he had to die. Moses said: the evil Esau came from Isaac. The Holy One said: Jacob had twelve righteous children and he had to die. Moses said: however, Jacob did not ascend to heaven like I did, and he did not receive the Torah, as I did. Moses said: there were six hundred thousand Israelites and they sinned many times, and You forgave them, and You do not want to forgive me? The Holy One responded: one does much more for the sake of a community than one does for the sake of an individual. Moses said: punish me with torments to my body, but do not give me into the hands of the angel of death. I will tell Your praises in the whole world, as the verse says, “I shall not die but live and proclaim the works of the Lord” [Psalms, 118:17]. The Holy One responded: there is a gate through which even the righteous have to enter, as the verse says, “this is the gateway to the Lord – the righteous shall enter through it” [Psalms, 118:20]. Moses saw that he could not win his case, so he went to heaven and earth and said: pray for me. They responded: we have to pray for ourselves, since we will also be destroyed in the end, as the verse says, “the heavens should melt away like smoke, and the earth wear out like a garment” [Isaiah, 51:6]. This means, the heavens will dissolve like smoke and the earth will melt like a skein of thread. So Moses went to the stars and to the sun and moon, and the high mountains. They all responded: we have enough to deal with. He came to the sea and the sea said to Moses: what happened to you? You beat me with your stick and I had to split. The Shekhinah always stood at your right hand. As soon as Moses heard that the sea spoke about the wonders that he did in his youth, Moses ran and screamed, and cried before the highest angel and said: pray for me. The angel responded: I have heard that your prayers will not help. Moses immediately shouted and cried. The Holy One said: I have sworn two oaths. If you want to remain alive, then Israel must be destroyed, heaven forbid. If Israel were to remain alive, then you must die. Moses responded: I and my thousands should be destroyed, before any Israelite should be destroyed. The Holy One said: if your fear of the angel of death is so great, then I will place the angel of death in your hands. Moses responded: how should my mother, Yocheved, not mourn? She has already buried two children, and should she also bury the third one? The Holy One said: the time has come for Joshua to be a king over Israel. Therefore, you must die. Moses said: if this is why I must die, I will be a disciple to Joshua and let him be the teacher. The Holy One responded: If you want to do that, then it is good. Moses immediately went to the tent of Joshua, early in the morning, and stood by the door. Joshua taught Torah to Israel and did not see Moses, since Moses had bent down so that he should not be seen, and closed his mouth with his hands, so that he should not be recognized. All of Israel came to Moses’ tent and they found him with Joshua. Moses stood and Joshua sat. All of Israel said to Joshua: what is this? You are sitting and your teacher is standing? As soon as Joshua saw that Moses was standing, he tore his garments and cried, and said: my teacher, my teacher, my lord, what are you doing? The Israelites said to Moses, teach us Torah. Moses responded I am not supposed to. They said: we will not allow you. A heavenly voice came down from heaven and said: learn Torah from Joshua. They immediately learned Torah from Joshua and Moses sat at the right hand of Joshua and Eliezer on his left side, and Joshua taught Torah before Moses. Afterwards, when all of Israel left the house of study, all of Israel came to Moses and said to him: teach us and explain what Joshua had said. Moses responded: I cannot do it. That hour, Moses said: Lord of the Universe, it is time; I will die. They said to Moses: there is still an hour to your death. Moses said: let us wait a while; I will first bless Israel. He blessed each tribe separately. Then he saw that it was almost time to die; he blessed all of Israel together. Then they said to him: Moses, there is still a half hour before your death. He began to ask forgiveness of all of Israel and said: I have troubled you many times to study Torah, forgive me. Then they said: Moses there is still a minute to your death. Immediately, he said: blessed be His name, who lives and exists forever. He said to Israel: when you will come to the land of Israel, remember me. They said: how should we not remember you? You have done everything good for us. Immediately they said: Moses, there is still half a minute before your death. Moses immediately put both hands on his heart and said to Israel. These hands that received the Torah will be buried in the earth. His soul immediately left him. No man and no angel buried him, but the Holy One himself. He died on the seventh day of the month of Adar, the same day that he was born. The Holy One counts the days of the righteous.³Tanhuma, Veethanan, 6.

אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם. Es heißt nicht: אשר תעשו אותם ותחיו בהם, sondern: אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם, und zwar nicht אדם, sondern: האדם, d. h. jeder, der den hohen in diesem Urbegriff der Menschenbestimmung (siehe zu Bereschit 1, 26) ausgesprochenen geistigen und sittlichen Menschencharakter durch Erfüllung der göttlichen Lebensordnungen in sich und an sich zu verwirklichen anstrebt. Daher in ת׳׳כ die bedeutsamen Sätze: מנין אפי׳ נכרי ועושה את התורה הרי הוא בכ׳׳ג ת׳׳ל אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם, וכן הוא אומר וזאת תורת הכהנים והלוים וישראל לא נאמר כאן אלא וכן הוא אומר פתחו שערים ויבאו כהנים ולויים ,(Sam. II.7, 19) וזאת תורת האדם ד׳ אלקים וכן הוא אומר זה השער, (Jes.26, 2) יישראלים לא נאמר אלא ויבא גוי צדיק שומר אמונים וכן הוא אומר רננו, (Ps.118, 20) לד׳ כהנים לויים וישראלים לא נאמר אלא צדיקים יבאו בו וכן הוא אומר, (Ps.33, 1) כהנים לויים וישראלים לא נאמר כאן אלא רננו צדיקים כד׳ (Ps. 125, 4) הטיבה ד׳ לכהנים ללויים ולישראלים לא נאמר כאן אלא הטיבה ד׳ לטובים הא אפי׳ גוי ועושה את התורה הרי הוא בכהן גדול, d. h.: "Selbst ein Nichtjude, der das göttliche Gesetz erfüllt, steht dem Hohepriester gleich; denn es heißt: welche der Mensch erfüllt und Leben durch sie gewinnt. So heißt es auch: Dies ist die Lehre des Menschen, und nicht: die Lehre der Priester, Leviten und Israels. Ebenso: Öffnet die Pforten, daß Priester, Leviten und Israel eingehen, heißt es nicht, sondern: daß ein gerechtes, die Treue bewahrendes Volk eingehe. Ferner: Dies ist die Pforte zu Gott, Priester, Leviten und Israel, heißt es nicht, sondern: Gerechte gehen in sie ein. So auch: Jauchzet Priester, Leviten und Israel, heißt es nicht, sondern: Jauchzet Gerechte in Gott. Endlich: Tue Gutes, Gott, den Priestern, Leviten und Israel, heißt es nicht, sondern: Tue Gutes, Gott, den Guten! Aus allem diesen folgt, daß selbst ein Nichtjude, der das Gottesgesetz erfüllt, dem Hohepriester gleichsteht". Leben, Lehre, Gottesnähe, Glückseligkeit und Heil ist somit nicht nur für Israel mit dieser Gesetzeslehre eröffnet, sondern jedem, jedem, der seine Welt- und Menschenanschauungen und Lebensgrundsätze aus ihr schöpft und durch Erfüllung ihrer חוקים und משפטים sich zur Höhe reinen Menschtums erhebt, ist damit die höchste, dem Menschen erreichbare Stufe der Vollendung und Glückseligkeit in der Gottesnähe zugesichert.

Furthermore, when we examine the different nuances in these two verses we will be enlightened further. In verse 4 the Torah writes אני ה׳ אלוקיכם, "I am the Lord your G'd," whereas in our verse the Torah only writes: אני השם, "I am the Lord." We may infer from this that the Torah addresses different Jews in the two verses. In one verse the Torah addresses the Jews who fulfil the commandments due to a feeling of love for G'd, whereas in the other verse the Torah addresses Jews who fulfil the commandments due to a fear of punishment should they fail to observe G'd's laws. Sotah 31 has already taught us that the reward for people performing the commandments out of a sense of fear of the Lord extends for up to one thousand generations, whereas the reward for people whose motivation is love for G'd extends for up to two thousand generations. It is quite impossible for a person to attain the level of serving the Lord out of feelings of love until he had first experienced the level of serving the Lord out of a feeling of fear of punishment. This is the mystical dimension of Psalms 118,19: "this is the gate of the Lord, the righteous are able to enter it." In accordance with this, verse 4 addresses itself to people who serve the Lord from a sense of fear, and the Torah writes: את משפטי תעשו, "you are to perform My ordinances, etc., ending with the words "I am the Lord your G'd," the word אלוקיכם being a clear reference to G'd in His capacity of the attribute of Justice. In verse 5, however, when the Torah addresses itself to someone who has already passed the initial stage of serving the Lord out of fear and he serves the Lord out of feelings of love, the Torah no longer has to make mention of the attribute of Justice because the person addressed would not be influenced in his observance by mention of that attribute.