Pensamento Judaico sobre Isaías 33:16

Shemot Rabbah 25, interprets Isaiah 33,16, "He dwells in high places," as referring to the statement in the Torah (Deuteronomy 8,7) "for the Lord your G-d brings you to a good land, a land of rivers, fountains and deep waters springing forth in valley and mountain" to a table set in THE garden as in Psalms 116, "I will walk in front of the Lord in the land of the living." The Lord is pictured as sitting at the head of the table above the ancestors; all the righteous sit around at His feet, as it says "and they are sitting at Your feet receiving Your words." (Deuteronomy 33,3) G-d will present before them all manner of fruit from the garden of Eden, and feed them from the tree of life. After that, they will all bless their host, and ask G-d to assign the honour of reciting grace. G-d bestows this honour on the archangel Michael; the latter, in turn bestows it on the archangel Gabriel. Gabriel accords the honour to the ancestors, who in turn accord it to David. They say that the king they have chosen for themselves shall pronounce the blessing for the King of Kings. They present the chalice to him, and David, holding the chalice proclaims "I am lifting the cup of salvation and I will proclaim the name of the Lord."

The Talmud in Kiddushin 39, says that if one sits still, does not commit a sin, this is equivalent to having performed a mitzvah, a commendable deed. What is meant is that if a person resists the lure of the aveyrah, the transgression, the struggle involved in resisting the temptation is the mitzvah. Isaiah 33,15, lists a number of accomplishments that consist of not doing certain things. Included are such things as refraining from accepting bribes, not oppressing the defenseless etc. Such people tower above their peers (verse 16) "they live in lofty places." This proves that one can attain a degree of perfection by simply refraining from perpetrating sinful acts one used to perpetrate. It is true, that under normal circumstances, the baal teshuvah enjoys three advantages over the perfectly righteous person. 1) His actions are more convincing, stemming as they do from an inner struggle. They are performed with deeper consciousness of their significance. 2) He acts with a greater sense of urgency, does not postpone taking action, since he is aware of the obstacles that had to be overcome to make him ready to perform the good deed. 3) Even those good deeds he has not yet performed due to lack of opportunity, are considered as good as having been performed. We are told in Kiddushin 40, that G'd gives credit for the good intention of performing the good deed, not only for the good deed itself. This means that there are occasions when the good intention alone is equal in value to the mitzvah had it been performed. The amazement expressed by Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi about this, was resolved by a Heavenly voice telling him that a baal teshuvah may earn the title "Rabbi" even posthumously. Abraham who had prepared Isaac for slaughter was also rewarded as if he had in fact carried out the deed. This is the meaning of G'd saying "now I know that you are G'd fearing; for you have not withheld your only son from Me." (Genesis 2,12) The Rabbis comment that Isaac's ashes had lain in front of G'd. (Berachot 62) It is the quality of the mitzvah which is so important when the baal teshuvah performs it. Vet there are basic distinctions in the motivation of penitence experienced by different baaley teshuvah. A sinner whose pentitence is based on fear of punishment, accomplishes through his penitence that his intentional sins are now considered as having been committed unintentionally, as having been merely errors, whereas a sinner who recognises the folly of his ways and desires true closeness to G'd, has all his erstwhile sins transformed into meritorious acts. (Resh Lakish, Yuma 86) When we read in Kiddushin 39, that a man sitting down not committing a sin is considered as having performed a mitzvah, this refers to the repentant sinner who previously would not have missed an opportunity to indulge in that transgression. "Sitting" must be considered as "sitting down again although he had already risen in order to commit that sin. Conquering his temptation is what makes this sitting down equivalent to performing a mitzvah. After listing a number of non events such as not lending money for interest, not taking bribes, not slandering, Psalm 15,4, concludes by stating "he who does these will never waver." We see that on occasion inaction can be the height of perfection. Philosophers who state that perfection attained at birth is superior to perfection attained after much effort spent on refinement, have a point; however, the Torah viewpoint is based on the concept of "the reward is in direct ratio to the effort expended and pain experienced in order to perform that particular mitzvah "G’d decides which effort deserves what degree of credit. This is what Rabi Abahu's statement is all about. He does not disagree with Rabbi Chiyah. The latter is concerned with one's distance from sin, whereas Rabbi Abahu is concerned with the effort expended in not succumbing. A parable may illustrate the point.

When Shemot Rabbah 25, suggests that in answer to the question of why we observe the Sabbath, we should point out the fact that no Manna fell on the Sabbath, it means that we have seen proof that He created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh day. The falling of the Manna was associated with three miracles, (a) it did not fall on the Sabbath, to teach the sanctity of the Sabbath; (b) the fact that the daily ration collected was exactly adequate for each individual, there was no shortfall. This teaches that one should not chase after material goods and seek to accumulate them; (c) the double portion that fell on Fridays, teaching that the Sabbath was the day of rest, and that only those people would eat it who had prepared for it on Sabbath eve. The lazy people would starve. Compare Isaiah 65,13, "behold, My servants will eat, but you will starve!" (See Shabbat 153) (10) Since "seeing is believing," keeping a day's supply of Manna bottled up for future generations would reinforce the belief of future generations of Jews that Manna had indeed been also been spiritual nourishment, and as such had benefitted even the later generations. (11) The repetition of "they ate Manna for forty years etc.," is to emphasize that both their physical and their spiritual needs were met by consuming Manna during all these years. Alas, when the Manna stopped, and there was no longer visible evidence of G-d’s Providence, Israel began to depart from the level of Torah observance it had practiced up to that point. The Midrash quoted at the outset reflects the lesson of the Manna. Before explaining this in detail, we must understand some of the details in the parable. Why had G-d placed the table in the garden of Eden and not in the desert? Where were the angels Michael and Gabriel, if G-d sat the head and the righteous at His feet? Why did they divide the fruit of the garden and the fruit of the tree of life into separate courses? How does one accord honour to G-d if one portrays Him as asking others to recite grace? This is especially curious in view of the fact that that honour was declined by most of those who had been invited to say grace? Since the angels did not participate in the meal, how could they possibly have been asked to recite grace? What prompted David to bless G-d more than the other participants at that meal? Since G-d’s activities both within nature and when supernatural, are all designed to afford man a greater understanding of who He is, what He is, the extent of His power etc., eating at His table is symbolic of being allowed to share some of these insights. This is the reason the Midrash quotes the verses in Isaiah 33,16-22, in which G-d is featured as the Provider of parnassah, livelihood. When these verses describe how G-d established Israel in the choice land of Israel and Jerusalem, this refers to the Manna. Just as the Manna was food par excellence, so the land of Israel was soil and climate par excellence, providing the best in crops and agricultural products. Its advantages were similar to the advantages of Manna over ordinary food. Proverbs 30,7-9, expresses our attitude to earthly belongings. "Do not make me too poor or too rich." This is the reason that parnassah became known as shulchan aruch (see haggadah sheI Pessach) The term means that all necessities are at hand. The "fruit" represents the food for the body of elevated man, referred to earlier in this chapter. The bodies of such people are to be treated as separate from their spirit, and therefore rate vegetable matter as their proper nourishment. The fruit from the tree of life represents food offered to the mind and spirit. Since the latter is also the nourishment that sustains angels, it was quite in order for them to recite grace for what they had received from their Host. Honouring G-d by allowing Him to choose the order of who should recite grace, is a way of saying that G-d’s involvement in all that goes on in our world is not merely indirect, He being the ultimate Source, but that it is immediate. He remains in charge, overlords all that goes on in our world. Since the angels Michael and Gabriel had not been listed as guests participating at that meal, their mention may symbolise two different stages of human development. Michael is symbolic of the primordial intellect, something that represents merely man's potential. Gabriel, on the other hand, symbolises the mind and spirit that have matured, achieved their potential. According to Chagigah 16, these are the two angels that accompany man at all times, never leave him. G-d first asked Michael to recite grace, since he first and foremost is in need of the nourishment offered, and has to acknowledge what he has received from the Lord. Next comes the angel Gabriel, who has to give thanks for the spiritual sustenance received. It is this which enables the most refined part of man to achieve its perfection. Next in line are the ancestors who, though they owe many of their moral and ethical achievements to their own efforts, could not have done so without the nourishment (guidance) provided by Him. The ancestors in turn ask David to give thanks, since he is the king chosen by them; it is fitting that the human representative of Royalty, acknowledge the Royalty of the entire universe by this manner of thanksgiving. David was especially representative, since G-d had assisted him in an unparalleled manner. Therefore, it is he who says "I will pronounce the benedictions." It is worthwhile to recall another aggadah in Pessachim 119. In that instance, at the feast G-d prepares for the righteous in the future, "on the day He performs kindness with the offspring of Isaac," G-d offers the honour of reciting grace first to Abraham, who declines, citing inadequacies having sired Ishmael. Then Isaac declines, because he had sired Esau. Jacob also declines feeling inadequate having married two sisters during their lifetimes, something later on prohibited by Torah law. Moses declines not having been worthy to enter the holy land, whereas Joshua declines for not having been worthy to have a son. David, however, accepts the honour with alacrity. Actually, David had better reason to decline seeing he had transgressed Torah laws in effect during his lifetime. The answer, however is as stated. No one had received a cup so full of salvations, i.e. no one else had experienced so many acts of G-d’s Personal Providence as had David. It was fitting therefore that he, more than anyone else should lift the chalice in thanksgiving to the Lord. David's entire lifestyle of praising the Lord in song, reflects his constant awareness of all G-d’s kindness he had experienced. Having appreciated the foregoing, we can understand the inner connection between the Midrash with the Manna in the desert. (12) When Israel reached the oasis Refidim, which contained all the necessities of life except water, they thought that this was proof that Moses had acted on his own all along. They believed that Moses had finally miscalculated, having forced Israel to march through the desert. They challenged Moses to produce water. They argued that if G-d was indeed the force behind every one of Moses’s instructions, surely they were entitled to a miracle. Moses, realising that it was not really water they had requested, but that they had made the availability of water an issue to discredit his leadership, upraided them for "trying the Lord." If you have a quarrel with me, he said, do not bring the Lord into it. Moses was not angry at the request for water, but at the pretext this request served for. Only after the pangs of thirst grew stronger, and the people were actually afraid of perishing from thirst, did Moses call upon G-d to ask for help. This was both because the people were thirsty, and because he felt threatened personally. When the people accused Moses of taking them out of Egypt into a deathtrap, they did not refer to G-d, against whose leadership they would not have complained. Moses presented the people's case against himself as apparently justified. If succor would not be forthcoming, he argued, the people would be entitled to stone him, as is the fate of a false prophet. So as to remove such doubts from the people's mind, he was commanded to take the elders with him when he would perform the great miracle of producing water from the rock by means of the very staff that had up to now served to produce plagues, afflictions and death on the Egyptians. The episode of Massa and Merivah taught the lesson that G-d continued to guide the everyday lives of the Jewish nation.