מדרש אויף ישעיהו 53:7

What did Satan do? First, he obtained a lamb and slaughtered it beneath the vineyard. Then, he took a lion and slaughtered it there, and after that he obtained a pig and an ape and slaughtered them in the same place. Their blood seeped into the earth, watering the vineyard. He did this to demonstrate to Noah that before drinking wine man is as innocent as a sheep: Like a sheep that before her shearers is dumb (Isa. 53:7). But after he drinks a moderate amount of wine he believes himself to be as strong as a lion, boasting that no one in all the world is his equal. When he drinks more than he should, he behaves like a pig, wallowing about in urine and performing other base acts. After he becomes completely intoxicated, he behaves like an ape, dancing about, laughing hysterically, prattling foolishly, and is completely unaware of what he is doing. All this happened to the righteous Noah. If the righteous Noah, whom the Holy One, blessed be He, praised, could behave in such a fashion, how much more so could any other man!

“But to the sons of the concubines that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts; and he sent them away from Isaac his son, during his lifetime, eastward, to the east country” (Genesis 25:6).
“But to the sons of the concubines…” – In the days of Alexander of Macedonia, the children of Ishmael came to lodge a claim against Israel regarding the birthright. Two evil families, the Canaanites and the Egyptians, came with them. They [the rabbis] said: ‘Who will go and contend with them?’ Gevia ben Kosem said: ‘I will go and contend with them.’ They told him: ‘Be careful that you do not cede the Land to them.’ He said: ‘I am going to contend with them; if I am victorious, it is well and good, and if not, you can always say: Who is this lowly person, that he should represent us?’ He went and contended with them. Alexander of Macedonia said to them: ‘Who is lodging a claim against whom?’ The Ishmaelites said: ‘We are lodging a claim against them [Israel], and it is on the basis of their own Torah that we come against them. It is written: “Rather, he shall acknowledge the firstborn, son of the hated wife [to give him a double portion]” (Deuteronomy 21:17). By right, Ishmael is entitled to receive a double portion.’ Gevia ben Kosem said to him: ‘My lord the king, may a person not do as he pleases for his owns sons?’ He said to him: ‘Yes.’ He said to him: ‘Is it not written: “Abraham gave all that was his to Isaac”?’ (Genesis 25:5). They said to him: ‘Where is the document of gifts that he divided among his sons?’ He said to them: “And to the sons of the concubines of Abraham, Abraham gave gifts.” They departed from there shamefacedly.
The Canaanites said: ‘It is on the basis of their own Torah that we come against them. It is written everywhere: “To the land of Canaan,” “the land of Canaan” – let them give us back our land.’ Gevia ben Kosem said to them: ‘My lord the king, may a person not do as he pleases with his slave?’ He said to him: ‘Yes.’ He said to him: ‘What is written? “Cursed is Canaan, a slave of slaves…. [And he said: Blessed be the Lord, God of Shem, and Canaan shall be slaves unto them]” (Genesis 9:25–26). The Land is ours and they are slaves to my lord the king.’²⁷Alexander, being a Greek, was descended from Yefet (Genesis 10:2), and Canaan was cursed to be a slave to Yefet as well (see Genesis 9:27). They departed from there shamefacedly.
The Egyptians said: ‘It is on the basis of their own Torah that we come against them. Six hundred thousand [Israelite] men departed from our midst laden with silver vessels and gold vessels, as it is written: “They stripped Egypt” (Exodus 12:36). Let them give us back our silver and our gold.’ Gevia ben Kosem said to him: ‘My lord the king, six hundred thousand people spent two hundred and ten years in their midst, among them silversmiths and among them goldsmiths, who normally receive one dinar a day as wages. The philosophers sat and calculated and did not even reach one hundred years [of labor] before the land of Egypt would be found to be bankrupt.’ They departed from there shamefacedly.
He [Alexander] once sought to ascend to Jerusalem. The Samaritans²⁸Who were always antagonistic towards the Jews, and especially towards their Temple in Jerusalem (see Ezra chapter 4). went and said to him: ‘Be aware that they will not allow you to enter their Holy of Holies.’ When Gevia ben Kosem sensed this, he went and made two felt shoes for him and placed on them two gems, each valued at twenty thousand silver dinars. When he [Alexander] reached the Temple Mount, he [Gevia] said to him: ‘My lord the king, remove your shoes and put on these felt shoes, the floor being slippery, so your feet should not slip.’²⁹It is forbidden to enter the Temple Mount wearing shoes (Mishna Berakhot 9:6). When he reached the Holy of Holies, they said to him: ‘Until here we have permission to enter; from here on, we do not have permission to enter.’ He said to him [Gevia]: ‘When I leave here, I will flatten your forehead’ [variant reading: Your hump]. He said to him: ‘If you can do that, you would be an expert doctor, and could charge a great fee.’³⁰Gevia had a misshapen forehead or back.
“And sent them away from Isaac his son [eastward, to the east country]” – he said to them: As far east as you can go, go east,³¹This explains the apparent repetitiveness of: “eastward, to the east country.” so you will not be burned by Isaac’s coals.³²If you ever have a territorial dispute with Isaac, you will be burnt, so you had better keep your distance. But Esau, because he came to confront Jacob, he received his punishment from him. That is what is written: “Is it for you to be jovial, like those in antiquity whose legs led them afar to live? Who devised this against Tyre [Tzor] the glorious…”³³The prophet is warning the people of Tzor not to be jovial in their confrontation with Israel. That would be the proper mood for those other descendants of Abraham, who went to settle far away from Israel to avoid such confrontation. (Isaiah 23:7–8). Rabbi Elazar said: Every instance of Tzor that is written in the Bible with a vav, the verse is speaking of the city of Tyre; when it is without a vav, the verse is speaking of Rome.³⁴The Romans are considered to be descendants of Edom, or Esau. “The glorious [ma’atira]” – Rabbi Abba said: It was surrounded [with riches] like a crown [atara]. Rabbi Yanai said in the name of Rabbi Shimon son of Rabbi Yanai: It was surrounded by thorns.³⁵According to this interpretation, the verse is not speaking of the glory of Tzor, but of its ultimate downfall and desolation.

Moses, Aaron, and Eleazar ascended the mountain. Moses was ashamed to say to Aaron, "The time has come for you to depart from this world." Aaron said to him, "My brother, do you wish to know what is written about Abraham?" Moses replied, "Yes." Aaron said, "And you shall come to your ancestors in peace, and you shall be buried in a good old age" (Genesis 15:15), and he did not feel any pain. Aaron said to him, "If God were to say to you after a hundred and twenty years that you will die, what would you say?" Moses replied, "The Righteous Judge." Aaron then asked him, "And if He were to say to you today, what would you say to Him?" Moses answered, "The Righteous Judge is trustworthy in me." Aaron said, "Since you have accepted it upon yourself, let us ascend to the top of the mountain, for so the Lord told me." As Aaron was walking after him, the angels were astonished and said, "When Isaac ascended the altar and did not resist, you were amazed. Come and see the great one going after his younger brother to accept death willingly." Moses did not know how to disrobe Aaron of his outer garments and dress Eleazar with them, as it would not be appropriate to remove the sacred garments out of their order or to leave Aaron unclothed. God said, "You do what you need to do, and I will do what I need to do." Moses disrobed Aaron, and Aaron swallowed himself up in the mountain, while the ministering angels dressed Eleazar. Moses dressed Eleazar in the priestly garments that he had removed from Aaron, in his presence. God then showed Moses His favor and informed him that no one else would take away his greatness. Afterward, God descended and took Moses' soul with a kiss, as it is stated, "By the mouth of God" (Deuteronomy 34:5). Moses and Eleazar kissed Aaron. Moses kissed one cheek and Eleazar kissed the other cheek. Some say that Moses undressed Aaron from his ankles, and the cloud of glory descended and covered him. Moses asked, "What do you see?" Aaron replied, "I see nothing except that the cloud of glory clothes the limbs you undress." Moses continued undressing him until the cloud of glory covered him up to his waist. Then the cloud of glory descended and covered him up to his neck. Aaron said to Moses, "My brother, what do you see? What is death like?" Moses replied, "Until now, I see nothing except that the cloud of glory has covered me up to my neck." Once Moses had completely undressed him, the cloud of glory covered Aaron entirely. Moses called to Aaron, "My brother, what is the death of the righteous like? Where are you?" Aaron replied, "I am not worthy to tell you, but I wish I had come here earlier." When Moses saw how Aaron was passing away, Moses desired the same fate. When Moses said to God, "As Aaron, your brother, has passed away," God said, "The Lord, the God of spirits, will visit him." And when Aaron died and disappeared from them, Moses and Eleazar descended, and all of Israel stood trembling and eagerly waiting to see him because he was a lover of peace and pursued peace. But the Satan came between them and made all of Israel feel Moses and Eleazar's loss. All of Israel held them responsible and said, "Where is he?" God concealed him for the life of the world to come. They said, "We do not believe you. Perhaps you made an unjust decision against him and imposed a death penalty on him. We, all of Israel, seek to stone Moses and Eleazar." Immediately, God said to the ministering angels, "Lift up Aaron's staff, the lovers of the Eternal's exaltedness, so that Israel will know and not harm Moses and Eleazar." The ministering angels lifted Aaron's staff with the Eternal's exaltedness, and God went before the staff and mourned over it, and the ministering angels echoed His mourning. True Torah was in his mouth, and so on. When Israel saw the staff lifted with the Eternal's exaltedness and God and the ministering angels mourning over it, all of Israel, from the greatest to the smallest, rose and mourned for him with great mourning, weeping heavily over him, as it is said, "And all the house of Israel wept for Aaron." Come and see the honor and praise of the righteous Aaron, whom the entire world mourns. But when Miriam died, they did not mourn her or bury her. Moses went ahead, and Aaron followed, and they buried her. Even for our teacher Moses, all of Israel did not weep for him as they wept for Aaron, because he used to rebuke them in every matter. It is written about Moses, "And the children of Israel wept for Moses," and about Aaron, it is written, "All the house of Israel." This shows that they never bowed to the yoke of sin, as neither man nor woman ever said anything rebellious. And when Moses saw the honor and praise of Aaron, with his staff elevated in the exaltedness of the world, and God and the ministering angels surrounding him and mourning over him, immediately he sat and wept, saying, "Woe is me, for I am left alone." When Miriam died, not a single Israelite came to us except for me, Aaron, and his sons. We stood before her bier, we wept and mourned, and we buried her. When Aaron died, I and his son engaged in burying him. We stood before his bier, and I wondered, "Who will stand for me at the time of my death? Neither father, nor son, nor brother, nor sister—who will mourn for me?" At that moment, the Almighty replied to me, "Do not fear, for I myself will stand for you, and I will bury you with great honor, as it is written, 'And he buried him in the valley.' Just as Aaron's cave was concealed and unknown, so shall your burial place be concealed and unknown, as it is written, 'And no man knows his burial place.' Just as the Angel of Death had no dominion over Aaron except through a kiss, so shall the Angel of Death have no dominion over you, and you shall depart with a kiss, as it is said, 'By the mouth of God.' Immediately, Moses' mind was settled. Blessed are the righteous, for the Almighty Himself gathers them, as it is written, 'The honor of God will gather you.' Furthermore, the ministering angels go out to meet them, rejoice in their arrival, receive them with a pleasant countenance, and say to them, 'Come in peace, rest on your beds,' as it is written, 'Let peace come and let them rest on their couches.'"