Mussar sobre Provérbios 8:26

Our father Abraham lowered himself, so the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him greatness. And that is to the one to whom the Holy One, blessed be He, first said, “Ask.” Rabbi Yonatan said, “There are three to whom the Holy One, blessed be He, said, ‘Ask.’” Rabbi Acha said they are four - Abraham, Solomon, Achaz and the messianic king. Abraham, from where [do we know it]? As it is written (Genesis 15:2), ‘And [he] said, “My Lord God, what will You give me?’” He would not have said, ‘What will You give me,’ unless He had said to him, ‘Ask.’ Solomon, from where [do we know it]? As it is written (I Kings 3:5), ‘In Givon, the Lord appeared to Solomon [... and …] said, “Ask that which I shall give you.”’ Achaz, from where [do we know it]? As it is written (Isaiah 7:10-11), ‘And the Lord spoke further to Achaz, “Request a sign for yourself from the Lord, your God.”’ The messianic king, from where [do we know it]? As it is written (Psalms 2:8), ‘Request of Me, and I will render nations your inheritance, your estate will be the limits of the earth.’” Rabbi Levi said, “The Holy One, blessed be He, showed our father Abraham, peace be upon him, the stars, the constellations and all the corners of the firmament, as it is stated (Genesis 15:5), ‘And He took him outside (chutzah).’ And did He take him outside of the universe? Rather it is that He showed him the chambers of the skies that are called chutzot, as it is stated (Proverbs 8:26), ‘Before He made earth and chutzot.’” Rabbi Yehudah bar Ilai said, “Five things did the Holy One, blessed be He, show to our father Abraham, peace be upon him, and these are them: 1) He showed him the splitting of the Red Sea, as it is stated (Genesis 15:17), ‘which passed between these pieces (gezarim).’ And likewise does it state (Psalms 136:13), ‘To slice the Red Sea into pieces (gezarim).’ 2) He showed him the giving of the Torah, as it is stated, ‘and behold, a smoking furnace and a flaming torch.’ And likewise is it with the giving of the Torah (Exodus 20:14), ‘And the entire people saw the torches and the sound of the shofar. 3) He showed him the Temple built and [4)] the order of the sacrifices, as it is stated, (Genesis 15:9), ‘He said to him, ‘Take for Me a calf of three.’ [5)] And He showed him the four empires (destined to subjugate Israel), as it is stated, (Genesis 15:12) ‘and behold, a dread of deep darkness fell upon him.’ Those were the four empires.” Rabbi Channan said, “He showed him the revival of the dead, as it is stated (Genesis 15:10), ‘Birds of prey came down upon the carcasses.’ He took the limbs and placed them side by side. And once the bird descended upon them, they came to life, as it is stated, ‘but Abram repelled (vayashev) them.’ And vayashev is always that they are scattered by the wind (which is only possible here if they returned to life), as it is stated (Isaiah 40:7), ‘when the breath [of the Lord] blows (nashvah) upon it.’”

Adam and Eve, who were the cause of the drop of semen becoming smelly, were also instrumental in Adam ejaculating semen for one hundred and thirty years without that semen impregnating his wife. Instead, that semen turned into a variety of evil spirits, thus necessitating additional refinement צירוף, and תקונים. The exile in Egypt was the first step designed to remove impurity from the holy seed of the descendants of Jacob who resembled the spiritual beauty of Adam before he had sinned. Jacob's first drop of semen was intended to impregnate Rachel, whom he thought he had married under the wedding canopy. It was Joseph who kept alive the covenant with G–d, and therefore the descent to Egypt of Jacob's entire family was orchestrated through Joseph. The area in which this refinement was to take place was one called ערות הארץ, a part of the earth in which shame resides. The earth is perceived as being similar to a human being in that it has a head, eyes, arms, legs, as well as parts corresponding to the private parts of a human being, מקום ערוה. Our sages deduce this from such verses as Proverbs 8, 26: ראש עפרות תבל, "the head of the clumps of dust in the world;" earth is also described as רחבת ידים "possessed of generous hands" (Genesis 34,21). Scripture speaks of the earth's טבור, "navel." There are many similar metaphors which describe parts of the earth. This means that though earth is one continuous mass, entity, it possesses many parts just as a human being, who is a unit, has many parts. Just as various organs in the human body perform different functions and possess different degrees of importance, so earth has many parts, each of which performs a different function.