Midrash sa Mga Awit 61:5: Midrash Tehillim, Pesikta Rabbati & Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition)

“Who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked” (Psalms 1:1). Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi said, “And since he didn’t walk with them, where did he stand [with them]? And since he didn’t stand [with them] where did he sit [with them]? And since he didn’t sit [with them] where did he scoff [as they did]? Rather, [this comes] to teach you that if he walked [with them,] his end will be to stand [with them], and if he stood [with them,] his end will be to scoff, and if he scoffed, Scripture speaks of him [when it says]: “If you are a scoffer, your bear it alone” (Proverbs 9:12) [i.e., you may have scoffed as a result of peer-pressure, but in the end, you have to bear the responsibility on your own.] This comes to teach us that a good deed leads to another good deed, and a transgression [leads to another transgression]. And since he neither walked, nor stood, nor sat [with the wicked], you might [come to think] that he would neither do good nor bad, but [simply] put his hand upon his mouth. [Therefore, the psalm continues] to teach us, “but his delight is in the Torah of God” (Psalms 1:2). Rabbi Berechia said, “What is the verse coming to tell us [when it says], “Don’t be overly wicked” (Ecclesiastes 7:1)? That [it’s perfectly fine if we’re only] a little bit wicked?! Rather, [it means] if you’ve been wicked [already], don’t add to [what you’ve done]. Rabbi Shimon bar Yocahi says, if a person sat and didn’t transgress [any laws,] he is rewarded as if he did a good deed. Rabbi Zeira said, that this [only applies in a case where an opportunity to sin] came to him and he was saved from it [by his own resilience and will-power]. As it is said, “Depart from evil and do good” (Psalms 34:15; 37:27) — depart from evil in order to do good; and similarly, it is said, “they have never fallen into iniquity, in His ways they have walked” (Psalms 119:3) [which implies that, merely by not having fallen into iniquity, they are counted as if they have walked in God’s ways]. A sage of the academy of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Karcha says that the twenty instances of the word אשרי [meaning blessed, or happy] in the book of Psalms correspond to the twenty instances of הוי [which is an expression of dismay] in the book of Isaiah. Rabbi [Yehuda Ha-Nassi] said, “I am perplexed [by this]! How could Rabbi Yehoshua teach us that אשרי is written twenty times? And I say [that it is written] twenty-two times. Why? Corresponding to the twenty-two letters [of the alphabet]. And about them [David] said, “May the words of my mouth [and the prayer of my heart be acceptable to you, Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer]” (Psalms 19:15). They should be made [relevant] for the generations, and written for the generations, and inscribed for the generations. And those who read them shouldn’t be like those who read [words] in a book. Rather, they should read them and take reward [for reading] them, [like the reward one receives from learning the most difficult tractates of Mishna, such as] Negaim and Oholot. “May the words of my mouth [and the prayer of my heart] be acceptable.” “Oh, that I might dwell in your tent forever, [take refuge under Your protecting wings.]” (Psalms 61:5). [This verse uses a word for “forever” that can also mean “worlds.”] But could it enter your mind that David would have requested to reside in two worlds [in heaven and on earth]? Rather, this is what David said: May they [continue] to recall me [by reading my Psalms] in houses of prayer, and in study halls, [even after I have passed on to the next world, such that it should be] as if I were alive and well in two worlds.

... Teach us, our master, from when does the mitzvah of the Channukah lamp begin? Our rabbis taught – from when the sun sets until the majority of people are gone from the marketplace. And where are they to be lit? If one lives on an upper floor with a window facing the public domain, light there. If it is a time of danger, light within your house [and it is forbidden to do work by its light. R’ Asi said] it is forbidden to see by its light. Why do we light Channukah lamps? When the Hasmonean High Priest defeated the Greeks, as it says “For I bend Judah for Me like a bow; I filled [the hand of] Ephraim, and I will arouse your children, O Zion, upon your children, O Javan; and I will make you as the sword of a mighty man,” (Zechariah 9:13) they entered the Holy Temple. They found there eight iron stakes, fixed them in the ground and lit lamps upon them. Why do we read the Hallel psalms of praise? Because it is written “The Lord is God, and He gave us light.” (Tehillim 118:27) Why don’t we read it on Purim? It is written “…to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish the entire host of every people and province that oppress them…” (Esther 8:11) and we don’t read it except to mark the fall of a kingdom and the kingdom of Ahasuerus still stood. But when the Holy One destroyed the kingdom of Greece they began to sing hymns and praises and to say that in the past we were servants to Pharoah, servants to Greece and now we are servants to the Holy One “Praise, you servants of the Lord…” (Tehillim 113:1) How many channukot (dedications) were there? There were seven. The dedication of heaven and earth, as it says “Now the heavens and the earth were completed…” (Bereshit 2:1) What dedication was there then? “And God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to shed light upon the earth.” (Bereshit 1:17) The dedication of the wall, as it says “And in the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem…” (Nechemiah 12:27) The dedication of those who came up from the exile, as it says “And they offered up for the dedication of this House of God…” (Ezra 6:17) The dedication of the priests, which we light for. The dedication of the world to come, as it says “And it shall come to pass on that day, that I will search Jerusalem with candles…” (Tzephaniah 1:12) The dedication of the princes “This was the dedication offering of the altar…” (Bamidbar 7:84) The dedication of the Sanctuary, which this is speaking of “A psalm; a song of dedication of the House, of David.” (Tehillim 30:1) Another explanation. There are seven channukot. The dedication of the creation of the world, as it is written “Now the heavens and the earth were completed…” (Bereshit 2:1) Completion is the language of dedication, as is written “All the work of the Mishkan of the Tent of Meeting was completed…” (Shemot 39:32) The dedication of Moshe, as it is written “And it was that on the day that Moses finished erecting the Mishkan…” (Bamidbar 7:1) The dedication of the House, as it is written “A psalm; a song of dedication of the House, of David.” (Tehillim 30:1) The dedication of the Second Temple [as it says “And they offered up for the dedication of this House of God…” (Ezra 6:17) and the dedication of the wall] as it says “And in the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem…” (Nechemiah 12:27) The current one of the House of Hasmonean. The dedication of the world to come, because even that has lights, as it is written “And the light of the moon shall be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be seven-fold as the light of the seven days…” (Isaiah 30:26)

(Fol. 96 b) R. Elazar went and expounded the Halacha in the college and did not say it in the name of R. Jochanan. Upon being informed, R. Jochanan became angry, whereupon R. Ami and R. Assi went to [appease] him. They said to him: "Did it not so happen in the Congregation of Tiberi when there was a dispute between R. Elazar and R. Jassi concerning a doorbolt which had on its top a [movable] fastening contrivance [which may occasionally be used as a pestle,] until they tore a scroll of the Torah in their anger. (How can you possibly think that they tore it? But say that it was torn through their anger.) R. Josi b. Kisma, who was then present, remarked: 'I wonder if that synagogue will become a house of idolatry! And so it did happen. [Hence anger is a very evil passion."] Whereupon R. Jochanan became still more angered and said: "They call me his associate!" He was again visited by R. Jacob b. Idi, who said to him: "It is written (Josh. 11, 15) As the Lord had commanded Moses, His servant, so did Moses command Joshua; and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses. How is it possible that Joshua should have said on every little thing: 'Thus said to me Moses?' We must therefore say that Joshua sat and lectured anonymously, yet everybody knew that his Torah was that of Moses. So also is it with R. Elazar thy disciple. Although he sits and lectures anonymously, yet everybody knows that the Torah is [that which he learned] from you." "Why don't you know how to appease in the way Ben Idi our comrade does?" remarked R. Jochanan. But why did R. Jochanan become angry at all? Because R. Juda said in the name of Rab: "What does the passage (Ps. 61, 5) Let me sojourn in thy tent in the worlds (i.e., both worlds) mean? How can a man live in both worlds? We must therefore say that David said thus before the Holy One, praised be He! 'Sovereign of the Universe, may it be Thy will (Fol. 97) that a traditional law should be taught in my name in this world'. And R. Jochanan said in the name of Simon b. Jochai, 'Every [deceased] scholar whose traditional law is repeated in his name in this world, [causes] his lips to move in the grave.' " R. Isaac b. Zeiri, and according to others R. Simon Nezira, said: "Where is the passage to prove this? (Songs 7, 10) And thy palate like the best wine, that glideth down smoothly for my beloved, moving gently the lips of those that are asleep. This means like the mass of heated grapes; just as the mass of heated grapes begins to drip as soon as one puts his finger on it, so also is a scholar. When they [his disciples] repeat a traditional law in his name in this world, his lips begin to move in his grave."