Relacionado sobre Gênesis 18:2

[Thus far,] I have only derived that Divine punishment is meted out measure-for-measure, such that a person is measured (i.e., punished) according to the same measure that the person himself measures (i.e., sins). From where can you derive that the measure of Divine beneficence is five hundred times greater than the measure of Divine punishment (i.e., a good deed is rewarded five hundredfold)? [As to Divine punishment,] As it is written (Ex. 20:5), "[calling into account] the sins of the father upon the sons until the third and until the fourth of those who hate me." As to the measure of Divine beneficence, it is written (ibid.) "showing lovingkindness to thousands "^*The traditional vowel markers for the word אלפים yields alaphim ("thousands"); however, the same letters can also yield alpayim ("two thousand), i.e., five hundred times four. You must say [therefore] that the measurement of Devine beneficence is greater than the measure of Divine punishment by [a factor of] one to five hundred. And similarly you find regarding Abraham, that with the measurement that he measured, he was measured. Abraham "ran" (i.e., acted with alacrity) before the ministering angels on three occasions, as it is said (Gen. 18:2), "And he saw [them] and he ran to meet them, etc."; and (Gen 18:6) "And Abraham hastened into his tent, to Sarah, etc."; and (Gen. 18:7), "And to the flocks ran Abraham [and he took a young ox], etc." Thus, so too the Holy One, Blessed be He, "ran" before his descendants on three occasions, as it is said (Deut. 33:2), "Hashem came from Sinai and He shone forth from Sei'r for them; He sent out beams from Mount Paran, etc." Regarding Abraham it says, "he bowed down to the earth," so too the Holy One, Blessed be He, [did so] with Israel his descendants in the future, as it is said (Is. 49:23), "And kings will tend to your children, and their queens shall serve you as nurses; [They shall bow to you, face to the ground], etc." Regarding Abraham it says (Gen. 18:4, Fox tr.), "Pray let a little water be fetched," so too the Holy One, Blessed be He, [did so] with Israel, and he gave to [Abraham's] descendants a well in the desert [whose water] flowed in abundance for the entire camp, as it is said (Num. 21:17-18, Fox tr.), "[And Israel sang this song: Spring up, O well ...] The well that was dug out by princes! That was excavated by people's nobles!" It comes to teach that [the water] traveled over the entire face of the south, and irrigated the entire face of the wasteland, as it is said (Num. 21:20), "It overlooks the face of the wasteland." Regarding Abraham, it says (Gen. 18:4), "... and recline under the tree," so too the Holy One, Blessed be He gave to his descendants seven clouds of glory in the desert: One on their right, and one on their left, and one in front of them, and one behind them, and one above their heads, and one to the Shekhinah that was among them, and a pillar of cloud that was [placed] as an advance guard before them, killing snakes and scorpions and burning thorns and thistles and brambles [in their path]. He lowered for them the high places, and raised for them the low places, and made for them a straight pathway, and continually drew for them a marked pathway, as it is said (Num. 10:33), "And Hashem travels with the Ark of the Covenant before you, etc., " And it was in [that cloud] that they would serve Him all forty years that they were in the desert, as it is said (Num. 10:34), "And the cloud of Hashem was over them by day [in their journey from the camp]." What does it come to teach (Ex. 13:22), "The column of cloud would not depart by day[, nor the column of fire by night]"? That the column of the day would overlap with the column of night, and the column of night would overlap with the column of the day. Regarding Abraham, it says (Gen. 18:5), "And I will bring you a loaf of bread so that your hearts may be strengthened, etc." So too the Holy One, Blessed be He gave manna to his descendants in the desert, as it is said (Num. 11:8), "The people would go to and fro and collect it, etc., [and its taste was that of] a dainty (lashad) prepared with oil." The manna can be likened to a breast (dad):^*It appears that דד (dad), as used here, is a euphemistic alteration of שד (shad), both meaning "breast," the word שד contained within לשד (lashad, i.e., "dainty"), and thus midrashically expounded with the former meaning. Just as a breast is the most important thing for a baby, and everything [else] is secondary, so too the manna was the most important thing for Israel, and everything [else] was secondary to them. Another version: Just as a breast is such that even if a baby suckles from it the entire day it does not harm him, so too the manna was made such that even if [the Children of] Israel and of it the whole day, it would not harm them. But [unlike milk], whoever directed his thoughts toward [the manna], it would change itself inside his mouth to whatever taste that he desired, as it is said (Ps. 106:15), "He gave them what they asked for," [and] (Ps. 78:29), "He gave them what they craved." And not only that, but two thousand years' [worth] of food descended upon them in a single day. Regarding Abraham, it says (Gen. 18:7), "And to the flocks ran Abraham [and he took a young ox], etc." So too, the Holy One, Blessed be He swept in quail for his descendants from the sea, as it is said (Num. 11:31), "And a wind blew out from Hashem, and swept in quail from the sea, etc." [The quail were stacked] two cubits above the ground, the words of Rabbi Akiva (see ibid.). Rabbi Elazar the son of Rabbi Yosei HaGalili says [regarding the verse (ibid., Fox tr.)], "they spread out over the camp as far as a day's journey here [and a day's journey here]," what does it come to teach by repeating "and a day's journey here"? It teaches that [the quail] would ascend from the ground up until the firmament, and cover up the orb of the sun. And what does it mean (ibid.), "about two cubits on the face of the earth"? Two cubits were removed from the earth, so that one would not [even] need to trouble oneself to stoop down [in order to] take them away. Regarding Abraham, what does it say, but (Gen. 18:17), "And he stood over them [under the tree, and they ate]." So too the Holy One, Blessed be He, protected his descendants in Egypt, as it is said (Ex. 12:23), "And Hashem passed over the entrances, etc." With Abraham, what does it say, but (Gen. 18:17), "And Abraham went with them, to escort them." So too, the Holy One, Blessed be He, attached himself to his descendants for forty years, as it is said, "These forty years, Hashem your God is with you, etc."