מדרש אויף משלי 10:3

(Numb. 20:24, cont.:) “Because you rebelled against My command at the Waters of Meribah....” This text is related (to Prov. 10:3), “The Lord will not let a righteous soul go hungry.” This refers to the first Adam,¹¹⁶Numb. R. 19:18. in that none of the righteous, who stem from him and upon whom has been decreed sentence of death, will pass away until they see the face of the Divine Presence and reprove the first Adam, and say to him, “You have caused us death.” But he will answer them, “I have [only] one sin on my hands; but in your case; is there a single one of you that does not have more than four offenses on his hands?” So where is it shown that the righteous see the face of the Divine Presence? Where it is stated (in Is. 38:11), “I said, ‘I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord in the land of the living [...].’” The righteous shall be punished with death on account of small transgressions, so that the first Adam will not be blamed on their account. Thus it is stated (in Prov. 10:3), “The Lord will not let a righteous soul go hungry.” It is therefore stated (in Numb. 20:24), “because you rebelled.”

“Because you defied My directive” – this is what the verse said: “The Lord will not starve the soul of the righteous” (Proverbs 10:3) – this is Adam the first man, as all the righteous who will descend from him, death was decreed upon them. They do not pass away until they see the countenance of the Divine Presence and reprimand Adam the first man and say to him: ‘You caused death for us.’ He responds: ‘I have one sin attributed to me, but there is not one of you who does not have more than four iniquities.’ From where is it derived that they see the countenance of the Divine Presence and they reprimand Adam the first man? It is as it is stated: “I said: I will not see the Lord, the Lord in the land of the living; I will no longer behold a person [adam] among the inhabitants of the world” (Isaiah 38:11). The righteous are punished with death for minor transgressions,⁵⁶Because the righteous are punished with death for their own transgressions, Adam the first man is not ensnared on the grounds that they died because of him. so Adam the first man will not be ensnared by them, as it is stated: “The Lord will not starve the soul of the righteous.”⁵⁷As mentioned in the beginning of the paragraph, this verse refers to Adam and is interpreted here to mean that he will not suffer because of the death of the righteous. That is why it is stated: “Because you defied My directive.”

Another matter, “in accordance with the practices of the land of Egypt” – that is what is written: “The eye of the adulterer awaits the night [neshef], saying: No eye will behold me, and he directs his glance clandestinely” (Job 24:15). Reish Lakish said: So you will not say: Only one who acts with his body is an adulterer. One who is an adulterer with his eyes is [also] called an adulterer, as it is stated: “The eye of the adulterer.” This adulterer sits and waits: When will neshef come? When will evening come, as it is stated: “In the neshef, in the evening of the day” (Proverbs 7:9). But he does not know that the One who sits in the clandestine part of the world, this is the Holy One blessed be He, shapes all its features in order to publicize him.²⁴When the woman gives birth, God fashions the child’s features to look like the man with whom she committed adultery, even if the woman’s husband is the actual father of the child. That is what Job says: “Is it good for You that You should exploit?” (Job 10:3). This one²⁵The woman’s husband. sustains and provides, and He shapes all its features in the image of another. Moreover, “that You should despise Your handiwork” (Job 10:3) – after You toiled for it for forty days, You then ruin it?²⁶After giving the fetus the features of its father, You then change its features to match those of the man with whom its mother committed adultery? Moreover, “and appear in the counsel of the wicked” (Proverbs 10:3) – is it befitting Your glory to stand among an adulterer and an adulteress? The Holy One blessed be He said to Job: ‘It would be proper for you to placate. Shall it be said, as you said: “Do You have eyes of flesh; [do You see as man sees”?’ (Job 10:4).²⁷Should God involve Himself in such unsavory matters? Rather, the Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Behold, I will shape all its features in the image of its father in order to publicize him.’
Rabbi Levi said: This is analogous to the apprentice of a potter who stole a lump of potter’s clay, and his master became aware of his theft. What did he do? He stood and crafted it²⁸He took back the stolen lump and crafted a vessel from it. into a vessel and suspended it before him. Why to that extent? In order to make it known that his master became aware of his theft. The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Behold, I will shape all its features in his image in order to publicize him.’
Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon in the name of Rabbi Levi ben Parta: It is written: “You forsook [teshi] the Rock [Tzur] who begot you” (Deuteronomy 32:18). You weakened [hitashtem] the strength of the craftsman [yotzer]. This is analogous to a sculptor who was sitting and sculpting an image of the king. When he finished it, they came and said to him: ‘The king has been replaced.’ Immediately, the strength of the sculptor’s hands weakened. He said: ‘Whose image shall I sculpt, that of the first or the second?’ So, all forty days,²⁹After conception. the Holy One blessed be He is engaged in forming the fetus. At the end of forty days, [the mother] goes and sins with another. Immediately, the hands of the Craftsman weaken. He says: ‘In whose image shall I form it, that of the first or the second?’ That is, “you forsook the Rock who begot you” – you weakened the strength of the craftsman.
There is a small yod,³⁰In Torah scrolls, the letter yod in the word teshi is written smaller than usual. and there is nothing like it in any verse. Rabbi Yitzḥak said: We find with all those who commit transgressions, the thief benefits and the victim of the theft loses. The robber benefits, the one who was robbed loses. However, here, both of them benefit. Who loses? It is the Holy One blessed be He who loses His dyes.³¹After having fashioned the embryo, comparable to dying a fabric, God has to redo what He already fashioned. Alternatively, God fashions the embryo, but it is not a productive use of resources, as it were, because the child is a mamzer and cannot marry a regular Jew (Etz Yosef).