Midrash sobre Isaías 66:22

The tana, Rabbi Shimon son of Yochai: From where [is it] that a man must not say "a burnt offering (olah) to Hashem", "to Hashem as a meal-offering (minchah)", "a peace offering (shelamim) to Hashem"? We have learned to say: [When any one of you brings] an offering (qorban) unto Hashem (Leviticus 1:2). See! The words are an a fortiori (qal vechomer) inference: If when one is going to dedicate [an offering] the Torah says: he should not cause the name of Heaven to be associated [with anything besides a qorban], then they who revile and blaspheme and engage in idolatry, how very greatly they will be erased from the world! The rabbis said: flesh and blood builds a building, and when the building rises under his hand, he widens it as it rises, and if not, he widens it from below and makes it narrow at the top. But the Holy One, blessed be He does not act this way; rather [he created] "the heavens", heavens which rose by His thought, "and the earth" which rose by his thought. Rav Huna in the name of Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Yose the Galilean said: "even those about which it is written: "Now behold, I create a new heaven" (Isaiah 65:17); already these were created since the six days of creation. This is what is written: "For as the new heavens and the new earth [which I will make, shall remain before Me] (Isaiah 66:22), here "new" (hadashah) is not written, but rather "the new" (hachadashah).

You who are present today, all of you: You are the existence of this world and the world to come. When the Holy One, blessed be He, will come to give a goodly reward to the righteous, He will show them behemoths that crouch on a thousand mountains; and a thousand mountains will bring up grasses and they will eat. And from where [do we know] that they crouch on a thousand mountains? As it is stated (Psalms 50:11), "The behemoths on a thousand mountains." And they drink all [the water] that the Jordan draws, as it is stated (Job 40:23), "he is certain that he will draw the Jordan to his mouth." Rav Yosef said, "They take one swallow and draw all that the Jordan draws for six months. And it is a full verse (Job 39:24), 'With trembling and anger, he swallows the earth.'" And the Leviathan also crouches upon the deep. In the world to come, the Holy One, blessed be He, says to the ministering angels, "Come and fight with him." But when they descend to fight against him, he suspends his eyes and stares at them. And [then] they fear and flee, as it is stated (Job 41:17), "From his rising do the powers fears, the breakers are lacking." When he seeks to eat, he makes a wave in the sea. And [so] the fish think that it is [bringing] something edible, and they go to it; and he opens his mouth and swallows them. And not one of them escapes, but rather all of them enter into his mouth. And [then] the Holy One, blessed be He, says to the ministering angels, "Cast arrows." And they fling [them] at him, but he pays no attention, but they are rather considered like straw by him - as it is stated (Job 41:20), "The son of the bow does not make him flee." And [then] the Holy One, blessed be He, says to them, "Take projectile stones and hurl them at him." And they do it, but he thinks it is straw - as it is stated (Job 41:21), "The catapult is considered like straw." And if you say, where is he crouching; the Holy One, blessed be He, said, upon the clay that is better than gold - as it is stated (Job 41:22), "he reclines on the broken leaves of clay." And if you say [that] if he seeks to leave, he [can] leave - [hence] we learn to say, "he is enclosed with a narrow (tsar) seal" (Job 41:7) - I have closed in front of him, and sealed across from him and I have even restricted (hetsarti) him. And [so] how do the righteous ones eat [it]? Rather the Holy One, blessed be He, puts a spirit into the behemoths and also into the Leviathan, and they come and fight, one with the other - as it is stated (Job 41:8), "One approaches to the other." This one overturns the ground and quiets the behemoths, and these split the Leviathan. [Then] the righteous ones immediately gather around them, and the Holy One, blessed be He, says to each and every one [to eat]. And [each righteous one] eats according to his reward, as it is stated (Job 40:30), "Will the charmers (chavarim) repast upon him?" - Chizkiyah said, "These are [Torah] colleagues (chaverim)." Another [understanding]: "Will the charmers repast upon him?" - anyone who has charmed himself from doing [evil]. "Will it be divided by the traders?" (Job 40:30) - there are among men those that engage in trade: This one gives fifty gold pieces and this one gives ten; they purchase a pearl and it produces revenue. According to what each and every one gave do they take from the revenue. So did the Holy One, blessed be He, say - "Let anyone that was involved with Torah [study] and with [practice of] the commandments, come and take his reward"; as it is stated (Job 42:2), "There is no one so fierce as to rouse him; [and] who can stand (yityatsev) in front of Me?" Who are the ones that are eating in front of [God]? "You who are present." Said the Holy One, blessed be He, "You stood in front of Me in this world to accept the commandments; so too will I stand you in the world to come"; as it is stated (Isaiah 66:22), "For as the new heaven and the new earth, which I will make, shall stand in front of Me - speaks the Lord - so shall your seed and your name stand." Thus did Rabbi Tanchuma expound.

R. Huna says in the name of R. Eliezer the son of J. Jose the Galilean:²⁴Gen. R. 1:13. He created the new heavens and the new earth ahead of time. Thus it is stated (in Is. 66:22): FOR AS THE NEW HEAVENS AND THE NEW EARTH < WHICH I MAKE REMAIN BEFORE ME >.²⁵The argument is that the definite articles imply an already existing new heavens and new earth. Cf. the comment in the nineteenth-century commentary, ‘Ets Josef, by Enoch Zondel ben Joseph, ad loc.: “They existed potentially as an idea and not actually.” David said to the Holy One: Sovereign of the World, I offer you praise for the wonders which you have done in the world. It is so stated (in Ps. 104:1): BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL. O LORD, MY GOD, YOU ARE VERY GREAT. YOU HAVE PUT ON HONOR AND MAJESTY. How do the great ones of the world (i.e., the scholars) expound < this verse >? R. Eleazar and R. Joshua: You were great before you created, but you became very great after you created your world. YOU HAVE PUT ON HONOR AND MAJESTY.