Midrasz do Rodzaju 10:10

The second king was Nimrod, who ruled from one end of the world to the other, for all the creatures were dwelling in one place and they were afraid of the waters of the flood, and Nimrod was king over them, as it is said, "And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel" (Gen. 10:10).

[(Gen. 43:14:) AND MAY GOD ALMIGHTY (ShDY) GRANT YOU MERCY.] What was the reason for Jacob to bless them with < the formula > GOD ShDY?⁴⁶Tanh., Gen. 10:10; below, 10:16. To teach you that a lot of afflictions had come upon him. While he was in his mother's womb, Esau had contended with him, as stated (in Gen. 25:22): BUT THE CHILDREN STRUGGLED TOGETHER WITHIN HER.⁴⁷Cf. PRK 3:1. And so it says (in Amos 1:11): BECAUSE HE PURSUED HIS BROTHER WITH THE SWORD AND DESTROYED HIS WOMB. "His womb" is < what is > written.⁴⁸DESTROYED HIS WOMB would normally be read as a metaphor and translated by an expression such as “cast off all pity.” Because of Esau he fled to Laban. See how many troubles there were! (Gen. 31:40:) THUS I WAS: BY DAY SCORCHING HEAT CONSUMED ME…. < Look at > how, when he left, < Laban > pursued after him to kill him, [as stated (in Gen. 31:23)]: AND PURSUED AFTER HIM FOR A JOURNEY OF {THREE} [SEVEN] DAYS. He escaped from him; Esau came with the intention of killing him. On account of him he lost all that gift⁴⁹Gk.: doron. (according to Gen. 32:15 [14]): TWO HUNDRED SHE-GOATS…. He went away from Esau; the trouble about Dinah came (in Gen. 34). Then after that, the trouble with Rachel < dying > (in Gen. 35:19). Then, after these troubles, he was intending to rest a bit, until there came the trouble about Joseph (in Gen. 37); and after that, the trouble with his father, Isaac, who died (in Gen. 35:29) ten years after the sale of Joseph. So the Scripture has cried out (in Job 3:26): I WAS NOT TRANQUIL, NOT QUIET, HAD NO REST; AND TROUBLE CAME. After that there came upon him the trouble with Simeon (in Gen. 42:24); and after that, the trouble with Benjamin (in Gen. 42:36; 43:3-15). He therefore prayed (in Genesis 43:14) AND MAY GOD ShDY. Now he says: The one who said: Enough (DY), to the heavens and to the earth should say: Enough (DY), to my afflictions. For, when the Holy One created the heavens and the earth, they continued expanding until the Holy One said to them: Enough (DY).⁵⁰See above, 1:11; 3:25. below, 10:16. It is therefore written (in Gen. 43:14): GOD WHO IS ENOUGH (ShDY).

(Gen. 44:5, 13:) IS NOT THIS THE ONE FROM WHICH MY LORD DRINKS … ? SO THEY RENT THEIR CLOTHES…. The Holy One said to them: You caused your father's clothes to be rent for nothing (in Gen. 37:34); so you are rending < your clothes > for nothing.⁵³Gen. R. 84:20; 92:8. (Gen. 44:5, cont.:) THEN EACH ONE LOADED HIS ASS. Not one of them was required for his ass.⁵⁴Tanh., Gen. 10:10, probably has the correct reading: “Not one of them was required to assist his companion.” So they arose and, striking Benjamin on his shoulder, said to him: Oh you thief, you son of a thief, you have shamed me! You are your mother's son. Thus did she {your mother} shame our father (according to Gen. 31:19): AND RACHEL STOLE THE HOUSEHOLD GODS < OF HER FATHER >. By virtue of these blows with which they smote him on his shoulders, he was worthy of having the Divine Presence rest on his shoulders. It is so stated (of Benjamin in Deut. 33:12): AND HE (the Lord) DWELLS BETWEEN HIS SHOULDERS.

(Ibid., cont.:) GOD HAS FOUND OUT THE CRIME OF YOUR SERVANTS. Do not read: "He has found out" but: "He has caused < others > to find out." Two < of us > brothers never enter a banquet hall together because of the < evil > eye. Now all of us find ourselves in a single garden bed through a single offense which took place at our hands. He said to them: This brother of yours was not with you at that time. They said to him: Everything found with the thief is seized with him. He said to them: But, if in the case of your former brother, who neither stole nor caused you grief, you said (in Gen. 37:33 // 44:28): HE HAS BEEN TORN TO BITS; how much the more < are these words applicable > in the case of this one who has stolen and caused you grief! Go, say to his father: HE HAS BEEN TORN TO BITS. Now are not < these > words an argument a fortiori? And, if an unfortunate incident which came about through righteous ones (like Joseph) has been sustaining the whole world,⁵⁶Cf. the parallel version in Tanh., Gen. 10:10: “So if, in the case of an unfortunate incident which comes about through this righteous person, he has been sustaining all who come into the world…. ” In this version the reference is more clearly to Joseph’s misfortune which resulted in his feeding the world during the famine. how much the more so in the case of merit which the Holy One brings about through them!⁵⁷See above, note 35.

[Another interpretation] (of Gen. 43:14): AND MAY GOD ALMIGHTY GRANT YOU MERCY. Let our master instruct us: Where have they ordained that one says a blessing over the food? Where it is stated (in Deut. 8:10): THEN YOU SHALL EAT, BE FULL, AND BLESS. So much for after < the meal >. Where < is it ordained for > before the meal? R. Hiyya taught in the name of R. Aqiva:⁵⁸Ber. 35a. (according to Lev. 19:24:) < ALL ITS FRUIT SHALL BE > SET ASIDE FOR PRAISES TO THE LORD. < These words > teach that one needs a blessing before < a meal > and after it (since PRAISES is plural). The Holy One said: Just as I need to bring down rain, cause winds to blow, and bring down dews; so you need to bless me and be strictly observant in praying to me.⁵⁹Tanh., Gen. 10:10. Do not see yourself in the time of prosperity despising prayer.⁶⁰The parallel in Tanh. reads: “Do not be scornful in the time of prosperity so as not to pray.” Then, when trouble arrives, you would stand up and pray! No, my child, do not do this; but, before trouble comes, you should pray ahead of time, as stated (in Job 36:19): WILL YOUR CRY FOR HELP BE MAKE READY WHEN THERE IS NO TROUBLE, AND ALL YOUR POWERFUL FORCES?⁶¹Biblical translations generally emend the text. The present translation is required by the context of the midrash. So also in Sanh. 44b. You know that in the case of our father Jacob, when Benjamin was with him and he did not know what was going to happen to him, he began to pray ahead of time. It is so stated (in Gen. 43:14): AND MAY GOD ALMIGHTY GRANT YOU MERCY BEFORE THE MAN THAT HE MAY RELEASE TO YOU YOUR OTHER BROTHER AND BENJAMIN. And so the proverb says (in Ecclesiasticus 38:1): HONOR THE PHYSICIAN BEFORE YOU HAVE NEED OF HIM.⁶²The proverb is cited in Aramaic and probably circulated separately. The parallel account in the traditional Tanhuma, however, cites R. Eleazar (ben Pedat) as attributing the Aramaic saying to Ben Sira’s book, where it appears in 38:1. yTa‘an. 3:6 (66d) also gives the saying in Aramaic but simply attributes it to R. Laezar (= Eleazar ben Pedat). Exod. R. 21:7 and PR 25:2 attribute the saying to Eleazar (ben Pedat) but cite it in Hebrew. What is the meaning of (Job 36:19): ALONG WITH ALL YOUR POWERFUL FORCES? That < those who pray ahead of time > in this way have made POWERFUL FORCES.

Another interpretation (of Ps. 32:6): IN ANTICIPATION OF THE TIME OF DISCOVERY (MTs'). In anticipation of the departure (rt.: MTsH) of the soul. {R. Joshua} [R. Ishmael] said: One should pray in anticipation of the departure of the soul, for there is nothing harder than the departure of the soul.⁶⁴Tanh., Gen. 10:10. How does it pass away? R. Johanan said: It is like the pittore which passes out through the opening of a weshet {i.e., the rope when one is drawing it through a < hawse > hole in a ship to tie it up with it}.⁶⁵This scribal addition in Buber’s MS is essentially the interpretation of Rashi on Ber. 8a and of the pseudo-Rashi on MQ 28b-29a; but cf. Jastrow, p. 1161, s.v. pittore for an alternative interpretation. See also Eccl. R. 6:6:1; Lev. R. 4:2. So is the soul when it leaves (yots'ah) a person. Thus a person must not trust in himself until the day of his death; and so have our masters taught (in Avot 2:4): DO NOT TRUST [IN YOURSELF] UNTIL THE DAY OF YOUR DEATH.⁶⁶Cf. a shorter version of the following story in yShab. 1:3 (3b); above, 1:27. Once upon a time there was a certain man, a sectarian (min) whose master would teach him and say: DO NOT TRUST IN YOURSELF UNTIL THE DAY OF YOUR DEATH. But he took issue with the words of his master. The Holy One said: This one has come to take issue with the Torah. What did he do to him? He tempted him. Now he went out on the Day of Atonement into a certain garden and saw a certain young woman, who was beautifully and tastefully adorned. There she stood before him, and he wanted to have sexual intercourse with her. He talked with her. She said to him: I am someone's wife. He said to her: That's all right. She said to him: I am the wife of a priest. He said to her: That's all right. She said to him: I am menstruating. He said to her: That's all right. And he did not move until he had had sexual intercourse with her. He went home and sat olophyzon⁶⁷A variant of the Greek olophyromenos, which means “lamenting.” {i.e., distressed}, thinking about what had come over him. Then his masters came up to visit him, and month after month they found him like someone who was sick, saying: What have I done? Yet he was not sick. What did the Holy One do? He said: How long will he grieve? The Holy One nodded to the same female demon (shedah). So she came and stood before him. She said to him: How long will you grieve? I am that woman with whom you had sexual intercourse. I am a spirit. < It happened > simply because you differed with the words of the sages who have said (in Avot 2:4): DO NOT TRUST IN YOURSELF UNTIL THE DAY OF YOUR DEATH. David also has agreed, saying: One must pray concerning the departure of his soul. He therefore said (in Ps. 32:6): < THEREFORE LET EVERY SAINT PRAY UNTO YOU > IN ANTICIPATION OF THE TIME OF DISCOVERY (i.e., in anticipation of the time of departure).

Another interpretation (of Gen. 43:14): AND MAY GOD ALMIGHTY (ShDY).⁷⁰Tanh., Gen. 10:10; above, 10:12. R. Alexandri said: Blessed is the man upon whom chastisements come.⁷¹Gen. R. 92:1. Then the Holy One says to them: Enough (DY) for you, because (Sh) there is an end to them. Who was this man? This was Jacob when he said to his children: GOD ShDY. May God say to my chastisements: Enough (DY) for you. Ergo: GOD ALMIGHTY (ShDY).