Мидраш к Мишлей 4:4

(Lev. 19:2:) “You shall be holy.” R. Pinhas bar Hama the Priest said that R. Reuben said, “What is the meaning of that which is written (in Ezek. 3:12), ‘and I heard after me?’¹⁴This translation follows the interpretation of the midrash. A more traditional translation would be BEHIND ME. I heard a great roaring sound. What is the meaning of ‘after me ('hry)?’¹⁵Tanh., Exod. 4:13. After ('hry) I and my friends praised Him, I heard the ministering angels, as they praised Him and said (ibid., cont.), ‘Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place.’” You should know that at the time that Moses went up above, he heard the voice of the angels praising like this. He [then] came down and taught Israel that they should say like this in a whisper, “Blessed be the name of His glorious majesty forever and ever.” R. Shmuel bar R. Nahmani said, “See what is written there (Ezekiel 1:25), ‘when they stood, their wings would droop.’ One who hears, ‘when they stood,’ would think there is sitting above. But [in fact] it is all in standing, as stated (Is. 6:2), ‘Seraphs standing above Him.’ And so does it state (Dan. 7:16), ‘I approached one of those standing.’ And so too (I Kings 22:19), ‘I saw the Lord sitting on His throne and all the host of the heavens were standing over Him.’ And what is the meaning of ‘in their standing, their wings drooped?’ From when Israel praised [God], the wings of the ministering angels drooped, [meaning] they stopped (stood) from saying praise, as they say praise with their wings.” It also says (in Job 38:7), “When the morning stars (i.e., the seed of Jacob)¹⁶This interpretation of THE MORNING STARS is explicit in the parallel passage of Gen. R. 65:21, which explains that Jacob’s offspring are likened to stars in Dan. 12:3. sang together, all the children of God (i.e., all the angels) shouted for joy.” R. Mani said, “Let not the recitation of the Shema be trivial in your eyes, because there are two hundred forty-eight words in it¹⁷The number includes the response after the first line of the Shema (cited below) plus the three preliminary words with which one precedes the Shema when praying in private, i.e., El melekh ne’eman (“God is a faithful King”). corresponding to [the number of] parts that are in a human being; and out of them [comes], ‘Blessed be the name of His glorious majesty forever and ever.’”¹⁸This blessing is the liturgical response to the first line of the Shema. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “If you have kept what is Mine in reciting it properly, I will also keep what is yours.” Therefore, David offered praise¹⁹Rt.: QLS; cf. Gk.: kalos (“beautifully”). (in Ps. 17:8), “Keep me as the pupil of an eye.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him (in Prov. 4:4), “Keep My commandments and live.” R. Simeon ben Halafta said, “To what is the matter comparable?²⁰Deut. R. 4:4. To someone who [lives] in the Galilee and has a vineyard in Judea, while someone in Judea has a vineyard in the Galilee. The one who [lives] in the Galilee goes to Judea to cultivate his vineyard. The one in Judea goes to the Galilee to cultivate his vineyard. [One day] they meet with each another, and one said to the other, ‘Instead of you coming to my place, keep watch over what is mine in your area; and I will keep watch over what is yours in my area.’” So did David say (in Ps. 17:4), “Keep me as the pupil of an eye.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him (in Prov. 4:4), “keep My commandments and live.” Similarly the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, “Keep the commandment to recite the Shema morning and evening, and I will keep you.” So is it stated (in Ps. 121:7), “The Lord shall keep you from all evil; He shall keep your soul.”

(Lev. 19:2:) YOU SHALL BE HOLY. R. Pinhas bar Hama the Priest said: R. Reuben said: What is the meaning of that which is written (in Ezek. 3:12): AND AFTER ME¹⁹This translation follows the interpretation of the midrash. A more traditional translation would be BEHIND ME. I HEARD A GREAT ROARING SOUND. What is the meaning of AFTER ME ('HRY)?²⁰Tanh., Lev. 7:6; also above, Exod. 4:13. After ('HRY) I and my friends praised him, I heard the ministering angels, as they praised him and said (ibid., cont.): BLESSED BE THE GLORY OF THE LORD FROM HIS PLACE. It also says (in Job 38:7): WHEN THE MORNING STARS (i.e., the seed of Jacob)²¹This interpretation of THE MORNING STARS is explicit in the parallel passage of Gen. R. 65:21, which explains that Jacob’s offspring are likened to stars in Dan. 12:3. See also the much fuller parallel in Tanh., Lev. 7:6. SANG TOGETHER, then (ibid., cont.:) ALL THE CHILDREN OF GOD (i.e., all the angels) SHOUTED FOR JOY. R. Mani said: Let not the recitation of the Shema be trivial in your eyes because there are two hundred forty-eight words in it,²²The number includes the response after the first line of the Shema (cited below) plus the three preliminary words with which one precedes the Shema when praying in private, i.e., El melekh ne’eman (“God is a faithful king”). corresponding to < the number of > parts that are in a human being; and out of them < comes > BLESSED BE THE NAME OF HIS GLORIOUS MAJESTY FOREVER AND EVER.²³This blessing is the liturgical response to the first line of the Shema. The Holy One said: If you have kept what is mine in reciting it properly, I will also keep what is yours. Therefore, David offered praise²⁴Rt.: QLS; cf. Gk.: kalos (“beautifully”). (in Ps. 17:8): KEEP ME AS THE PUPIL OF AN EYE. The Holy One said to him (in Prov. 4:4): KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS AND LIVE. R. Simeon ben Halafta said: To what is the matter comparable?²⁵Deut. R. 4:4. To someone who < lives > in Galilee and has a vineyard in Judea, while someone in Judea has a vineyard in Galilee. The one who < lives > in Galilee goes to Judea to cultivate his vineyard. The one in Judea goes to Galilee to cultivate his vineyard. < One day > they meet with each another, and one said to the other: Instead of you coming to my place, keep watch over what is mine in your neighborhood; and I will keep watch over what is yours in my neighborhood. So did David say (in Ps. 17:4): KEEP ME AS THE PUPIL OF AN EYE? The Holy One said to him (in Prov. 4:4): KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS AND LIVE. Similarly the Holy One said to Israel: Keep my commandment, the commandment to recite the Shema morning and evening, and I will keep you, as stated (in Ps. 121:7): THE LORD SHALL KEEP YOU FROM ALL EVIL; HE SHALL KEEP YOUR SOUL.

The moon and the stars borrow from each other, and when the Holy One, blessed be He, wills it, they do not go forth, as it is said: Who commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars (Job 9:7). The night borrows from the sun, and the sun from the night, yet it is said: The sun and moon stand still in their habitation (Hab. 3:11). Wisdom borrows from understanding, and understanding borrows from wisdom, as it is said: Say unto wisdom: “Thou art my sister,” and call understanding thy kinswoman (Prov. 7:4). Mercy and righteousness borrow from each other, as it is said: He that followeth after righteousness and mercy (Prov. 21:21). Heaven and earth borrow from each other, as it is said: The Lord will open unto thee His good treasure the heaven (Deut. 28:12). The Torah and the commandments, likewise, borrow from each other, as is said: Keep My commandments and live (Prov. 7:2).²³The Torah is a source of life, and so too are the commandments.

(Ibid. 25) "And he cried out to the L rd, and the L rd showed him a tree, etc.": — whence we derive that tzaddikim are not averse to conciliation, and, in passing, that the prayers of tzaddikim are short. Once, a certain disciple officiated in prayer before his master, and was short in his blessings — whereupon the others mocked him, calling him "a shortening disciple" — to which the master countered: "He is not shorter than Moses, who said (Numbers 12:13) 'G d, I pray You, heal her, I pray you.'" On another occasion, a disciple officiated in prayer before R. Elazar and was long in his blessings — whereupon they said to him: "This one is an elongater" — to which he countered: "Not more so than Moses, who said (Devarim 9:25) 'And I fell (in prayer) before the L rd these forty days and forty nights.'" There is a time to be short and a time to be long. "And the L rd showed him a tree": R. Yehoshua says: a willow tree. R. Eliezer Hamodai says: an olive tree, there being no tree more bitter than an olive tree. R. Yehoshua b. Karcha says: an ivy. R. Nathan says: a cedar. Others say: He uprooted a fig and he uprooted a pomegranate. R. Shimon b. Gamliel says: Come and see how different are the ways of the Holy One Blessed be He from the ways of flesh and blood. (A man of) flesh and blood heals bitter with sweet, but the Holy One Blessed be He heals bitter with bitter. How so? He places something damaging into something that has been damaged so that a miracle be wrought in it, as in (Isaiah 38:21) "And Isaiah said: Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the rash and he will recover." Now does not raw flesh, when you apply a cake of figs to it, become putrid? (The resolution:) Place something damaging into something that has been damaged so that a miracle be wrought in it. Similarly, (II Kings 2:21) "And he went to the (polluted) spring and threw salt into it, etc." Now does not even fresh water become putrid when salt is put into it? (The resolution:) Place something damaging, etc. The expounders of metaphors said: He showed him (Moses) words of Torah, which are compared to a tree, viz. (Mishlei 3:18) "It (Torah) is a tree of life to those who hold fast to it, etc." It is not written "Vayarehu etz" ("And He showed him a tree"), but "Vayorehu" ("And He taught him"), as in (Mishlei 4:4) "Vayoreni ('And He taught me') and He said to me: Let My words (of Torah) sustain your heart." "and he cast it into the waters": Others say: Israel were (hereby) imploring (mercy) and praying before their Father in heaven. As a son implores and guards himself before his father, so were Israel imploring and guarding themselves before their Father in heaven, saying before Him (as it were): "L rd of the universe, we sinned before You by caviling against You at the sea." "and the waters were sweetened": R. Yehoshua says: They were bitter for a short while and they were sweetened. R. Eliezer Hamodai says: They were bitter from the beginning, "the waters" being written twice. "There He made for them statute and judgment": "statute" — Sabbath; "judgment" — honoring of father and mother. R. Elazar Hamodai says: "statute" — illicit relations, viz. (Leviticus 18:30) "not to do according to the statutes of the abominations that were done before you." "judgment" — the laws of ravishment, penalties, and injuries. "and there nisahu": He elevated them to greatness, as in (II Kings 25:27) "Evil Merodach … elevated ("nasa") Yehoyachin, etc.", and (Numbers 4:22) "Elevate ("nasso") the sons of Gershon." These are the words of R. Yehoshua. R. Elazar Hamodai said to him: Isn't ("nasso" meaning) greatness written with a shin, but here ("nisahu") is written with a "samech"! What, then, is the intent of "and there nisahu"? There the L rd tried Israel.