Midrash sa Mga Awit 119:72: Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Midrash Tanchuma, Tanna DeBei Eliyahu Rabbah & Ruth Rabbah

(Deut. 32:1–2:) GIVE EAR, O HEAVENS, <….> LET MY INSTRUCTION DROP DOWN LIKE THE RAIN. R. Joshua ben Levi said: When Moses went up to the heights, the angels were about to kill him.⁶Tanh, Deut. 10:2; see ARN, A, 2:3; Shab. 88b; Exod. R. 28:1. He said to them: Is it because of the two things in my hands that were granted to me from the heavens that you wish to kill me? They left him alone. A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To a great merchant who was walking in a dangerous place. <When some> brigands⁷Gk.: lestai. seized him <and> wanted to kill him, he said to them: Is it because of the five minas⁸There are four hundred minas to a shekel. in my hand that you wish to kill me? But they did not know that there were in his hand precious stones and pearls,⁹Gk.: margaritai or margeleis. which were invaluable. They said to each other: What profit is there in killing him? He has nothing on him. So they left him alone. When he entered the city, he began to sell precious stones and pearls. They said to him: When we captured you yesterday, you said: There is nothing on me but five minas; but now you are bringing out precious stones and pearls. He said to them: When I spoke to you, I was in a dangerous situation. So also did Moses our Master say to the angels: There are two things in my hand. <In fact> there was in his hand a great gift, as stated (in Ps. 68:19 [18]): YOU ASCENDED ON HIGH; YOU CAPTURED CAPTIVES; YOU RECEIVED GIFTS FOR HUMANS,¹⁰Some translations interpret the passage to mean that the gifts are from humans, but the midrash requires the interpretation given here. <EVEN THOSE WHO REBEL AGAINST THE LORD GOD's ABIDING THERE>. Therefore David said (in Ps. 119:72): THE LAW OF YOUR MOUTH IS BETTER FOR ME THAN THOUSANDS OF GOLD AND SILVER PIECES. It also says (in Ps. 19:11 [10]): MORE DELIGHTFUL ARE THEY THAN GOLD, THAN MUCH FINE GOLD …; and it says (in Ps. 12:7 [6]): THE SAYINGS OF THE LORD ARE PURE SAYINGS. Israel said to Moses our Master: Blessed are you, for your having received gifts. He said to them: If I had not said to the ministering angels that there were two things, I should have been burned by their fire, but this Torah saved me from their hand. It was with reference to them that he said (in Deut. 32:2): LET MY INSTRUCTION DROP DOWN LIKE THE RAIN. DROP DOWN (rt.: 'RP) must mean killing, since it is stated (in Deut. 21:4): AND THEY SHALL BREAK THE NECK (rt.: 'RP) OF THE HEIFER THERE; and INSTRUCTION must mean Torah, since it is stated (in Prov. 4:2): FOR I GAVE YOU GOOD INSTRUCTION.

(Deut. 32:1:) “Let my instruction drop down like the rain.” R. Joshua ben Levi said, “When Moses went up to the heights, the angels were about to kill him.⁴See ARN, A, 2:3; Shab. 88b; Exod. R. 28:1. He said to them, ‘Is it because of the two things that were granted to me [from the heavens] that you wish to kill me?’ When they heard this, they left him alone. A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To a great merchant who was walking in a dangerous place. [When some] brigands⁵Gk.: lestai. seized him [and] wanted to kill him, he said to them, ‘Is it because of the five minas⁶There are four hundred minas to a shekel. in my hand that you wish to kill me?’ But they did not know that there were in his hand precious stones and pearls⁷Gk.: margaritai or margeleis. which were invaluable. They said to each other, ‘What profit is there in killing him? He has nothing on him.’ So they left him alone. When he entered the city, he began to sell precious stones and pearls. They said to him, ‘When we captured you yesterday, you said, “There is nothing on me but five minas”; but now you are bringing out precious stones and pearls which are invaluable?’ He said to them, ‘When I spoke to you, I was in a dangerous situation.’ So also did Moses our master say to the angels, ‘There are [only] two things with me.’ [In fact] there was a great gift with him, as stated (in Ps. 68:19), ‘You ascended on high; [you captured captives; you received gifts for humans].’”⁸Some translations interpret the passage to mean that the gifts are from humans, but the midrash requires the interpretation given here. Therefore David said (in Ps. 119:72), “The Torah of Your mouth is better for me [than thousands of gold and silver pieces].” It also says (in Ps. 19:11), “More delightful are they than gold, than much fine gold”; and it says (in Ps. 12:7), “The sayings of the Lord are [pure] sayings....” Israel said to Moses our master, “Fortunate are you, for your having received gifts.” He said to them, “If I had not said to the ministering angels that there were [only] two things, I should have been burned by their fire, but this Torah saved me from their hand. It was with reference to them that he said (in Deut. 32:2), “Let my instruction drop down like the rain.” “Drop down (rt.: 'rp)” must mean killing, since it is stated (in Deut. 21:4), “and they shall break the neck (rt.: 'rp) of the heifer there”; and so too with Judah, it states (in Gen. 49:8), “your hand will be on the neck (rt.: 'rp) of your enemy.” And my instruction must mean Torah, since it is stated (in Prov. 4:2), “For I gave you good instruction....” And why is Torah compared to rain? To say [that] just as rain erodes, as it states (in Job 14:19), “Water erodes stones”; so does the Torah erode a heart of stone. And this is related to that which our masters say (in Qidd. 30b), “If [the evil impulse] is [like] a stone, it will be dissolved. If it is [like] iron, it will be shattered.” Therefore, there is nothing that is good for a man besides killing himself over the words of the Torah and to constantly occupy himself with it, day and night. And it is so stated (in Josh. 1:8), “and you shall meditate upon them night and day.” And this is related to that which they said (in Meg. 6b), “If a man tells you, “I have toiled but I have not found,’ do not believe [it].” And it is therefore compared to rain. Just like there can be no world without rain, as it is needed to grow all good things; so can the world not survive without Torah, as it is stated (Jer. 33:25), “Were it not that I have established My covenant day and night, I would not have put the laws of heaven and earth.” And just like rain descends little by little, so too with the Torah, one starts at the beginning with the small count of aleph, bet, gimmel, and comes to the large count of kof, reish, shin at the end. So does one start and then one understands the Torah and its details. Another interpretation (of Deut. 32:2), “Let my instruction drop down like the rain.” Israel said to Moses our master, “You have not come to speak with heaven and earth but with the rain and the dew.” He said to them, “[Let me tell you] a parable. It is comparable to a wealthy person who went to honor the king. He took with him great ministers and honored men. [So when] he went into the king along with them, the king received them cordially.” So also did Moses say, “It is better for me to call for heaven and earth, the rain and the dew to be with me, so that when I call upon the Holy One, blessed be He, He will answer me.” For that reason he said to them (in Deut. 32:1-2), “Give ear, O heavens…. Let [my instruction] drop down like the rain…”; and [then] afterwards (in Deut. 31:3), “For I am proclaiming the name of the Lord.”

David, King (may his memory be blessed), further said: "My fear is within my joy, and my joy is within my fear; and my love ascends above them all. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, made a covenant with me that I should be proficient in the Scripture, in the Mishnah, in the laws, and in the aggadahs, as it is said, 'For is not my house so with God? For He has made an everlasting covenant with me, ordered in all things, and sure; for all my salvation, and all my desire, will He not make it to grow' (2 Samuel 23). And there is no covenant but the Torah, as it is said, 'My covenant was with him, life and peace' (Malachi 2). Ordered in all things, in the Scripture, in the Mishnah, in the laws, in the aggadahs, and protection, so that the words of Torah should be preserved by me forever and for all eternity. "For all my salvation and all my desire, will He not make it to grow." From here they said: Every Torah scholar who increases in Torah study and does not derive sustenance much, it is a good sign for him. And if you say, 'If the Holy One, blessed be He, loves His Torah, why does He not sustain him?' You should say that if He enriches him, he may become presumptuous about the words of Torah. Therefore, every Torah scholar who increases in Torah study and does bring-in much produce (wealth), it is a good sign for him, for the Holy One, blessed be He, loves his Torah, that if He enriches him, he may become presumptuous about the words of Torah. And this is explicitly stated in the Kabbalah by Solomon, King of Israel: 'Two things I ask of You; deny them not to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me' (Proverbs 30). 'Lest I be full, and deny You, and say: "Who is the Lord?" Or lest I be poor, and steal, and profane the name of my God' (Proverbs 30). Blessed is He who chose the Torah and the Talmud (and the Sages), and their disciples, and the disciples of their disciples, and their children, and the children of their children, until the end of all generations, and He establishes upon them the measure with which a man measures, it is measured unto him. Just as they sit in synagogues and study halls and in every open place, and read for the sake of heaven, and He sees into their hearts, and they uphold the Torah according to its prescriptions, so that they do not forget it from their mouths and from the mouths of their children and the children of their children forever. So did the Holy One, blessed be He, choose them and their children and the children of their children until the end of time, as it is said: 'And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly' (Genesis 17). So said the Lord, 'My spirit that is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your seed, nor out of the mouth of your seed's seed,' said the Lord, 'from henceforth and forever' (Isaiah 59). But the sons of rebellious Israel are not like this. In their youth they are soft, and in their old age they are hard. What does the Holy One, blessed be He, do when they are still soft? He raises them up and burns them in the great study hall and in His great yeshiva, [as it is said: 'And all the wicked shall be stubble, and the day that comes shall set them ablaze' (Malachi 3). For none of them shall have a hand to bear or a hand to lay down, but every man's sword shall be against his brother's, and he shall burn the chariots with fire' (Zechariah 9). And there is none but the wicked], as it is said: 'And the sons of Belial said: "What shall this one save us?" And they despised him and brought him no present' (1 Samuel 10). And it says: 'And every man of Belial said: "What will this one save us?"' (1 Samuel 10). The Sages said: Anything that is destined to occur in the end has already been done in part today. There shall be a session for the Holy One, blessed be He, in His study hall, and the righteous of all time shall sit before Him, There has already been a part of the session for the righteous in this world for David, King of Israel, who illuminated his face with the halachah before the righteous who sat before him. And so it will be in the future for the righteous, whose lives will be without sorrow and without the evil inclination, to live with the son of David in this world. And in the World to Come, there has already been a part of life without sorrow and without the evil inclination for the righteous, such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Jabez, and Jether, and all who are like them. In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will resurrect the dead, whether in the time of the son of David or in the World to Come, for there has already been a part of the resurrection of the dead in this world by the hand of the righteous, Elijah and Elisha, and Ezekiel son of Buzi. In the future, there will be honor and strength for the righteous in the World to Come, for there has already been a part of honor and strength for the righteous in this world, such as Jehoshaphat, King of Judah. In the future, there will be eating, drinking, and joy for the righteous. And there will be no plague nor suffering nor distress, for there has already been a part of eating, drinking, and joy for the righteous in this world. In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will make peace among the righteous and among His people Israel, for there has already been a part of peace in this world by the hand of the righteous.