Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala Part 49

"The Lord your G.o.d hath multiplied you, and behold ye are this day as the stars of heaven for mult.i.tude" (Deut. i. 10). Why did He bless them with stars? As there are degrees above degrees among these stars, so likewise are there degrees above degrees among Israel. Again, as these stars are without limit, without number, and of great power from one end of the world to the other, so likewise is Israel. (Cf. 1 Cor. xv. 41.)

_Midrash Rabbah Devarim._

"Flee, my beloved" (A.V. "make haste," Cant. viii. 14). When Israel eat and drink, and bless and praise the Holy One--blessed be He!--He hearkeneth to their voice and is reconciled; but when the Gentiles eat and drink and blaspheme and provoke the Holy One--blessed be He!--He has a mind to destroy His world, until the Law enters and pleads in defense, "Lord of the universe! before Thou regardest those that blaspheme, look and behold Thy people Israel, who bless, and praise, and extol Thy great Name, with the Law, and with songs and with praises!" And the Holy Spirit shouts "Flee, my beloved! flee from the Gentiles, and hold fast to Israel!"

_Midrash Rabbah Shir-Hashirim._

Rabbon Gamaliel called on Chilpa, the son of Caroyna, when the latter asked the Rabbi to pray on his behalf; and he prayed, "The Lord grant thee according to thine own heart" (Ps. xx. 4). Rabbi H----, son of Rabbi Isaac, said, "It was not so; he prayed thus, 'The Lord fulfill all thy pet.i.tions'; for a man often thinks in his heart to steal or commit some other transgression, and therefore 'The Lord grant thee according to thine own heart,' is a prayer not to be offered on behalf of every man." But the answer was, "His heart was perfect before his Creator, and therefore he did so pray on his behalf."

_Midrash Shochar Tov_, 20.

Thou wilt find that whithersoever the righteous go a blessing goes with them. Isaac went down to Gerar, and a blessing followed him. "Then Isaac sowed," etc. (Gen. xxvi. 12). Jacob went down to Laban (Gen. x.x.x. 27), and Laban said, "I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake." Joseph went down to Potiphar, and "the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake" (Gen. x.x.xix. 5). Thus also thou wilt find it was with the ark which came down to the house of Obed-edom, etc. (2 Sam. vi. 11). Our forefathers came into the land and a blessing followed at their heels, as it is said (Deut. vi. 11), "And houses full of good things," etc.

_Yalkut Ekev._

"And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth" (Num. xxiii. 5). An angel took up his seat in Balaam's throat, so that when he wished to bless, the angel permitted him, but when he desired to curse, the angel tickled his throat and stopped him. "Word" in this place means simply an angel; as it is said (Ps. cvii. 20), "He sent His word and healed them." Rabbi Yochanan says, "There was an iron nail in his throat which permitted him when he wished to bless, but rasped his throat and prevented him when about to curse." "Word" in this place means only an iron nail; for it is said (Num. x.x.xi. 23), "Every thing (or word, for the original has both meanings) that may abide the fire."

Ibid.

Rabbi Avin said four kinds of excellency were created in the world: (1.) Man's excellency over the animal kingdom; (2.) the eagle's excellency over the feathered tribes; (3.) the excellency of the ox over domestic cattle; and (4.) the lion's excellency over the wild beasts. All were fixed under the chariot of G.o.d; as it is said (Ezek. i. 10), "As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, the face of a lion, the face of an ox, and the face of an eagle." And why all this? In order that they should not exalt themselves, but know that there is a kingdom of heaven over them; and on this account it is said (Eccles. v.

8), "He that is higher than the highest regardeth, and there be higher than they." This is the meaning of Exod. xv. 1: "He hath triumphed gloriously."

_Midrash Shemoth_, chap. 23.

No man in Israel despised himself more than David when the precepts of the Lord were concerned, and this is what he said before G.o.d (Ps. cx.x.xi.

1, 2), "'Lord, my heart was not haughty' when Samuel anointed me king.

'Nor were mine eyes lofty' when I slew Goliath. 'Neither did I exercise myself in matters too great and wonderful for me' when I brought up the ark. 'Have I not behaved myself, and hushed my soul, as a babe that is weaned of his mother?' As a child which is not ashamed to uncover himself before his mother, so have I likened myself before Thee, in not being ashamed to depreciate myself before Thee for Thy glory," etc. (See 2 Sam. vi. 20, 21.)

_Bamidbar_, chap. 4.

"I sleep, but my heart waketh" (Cant. v. 2). The Synagogue of Israel says "I sleep" with regard to the end of days, "but my heart waketh"

with regard to the redemption; "I sleep" with regard to redemption, but the heart of the Holy One--blessed be He!--waketh to redeem me.

_Midrash Shir Hashirim._

Rabbi Ishmael saith all the five fingers of the right hand of the Holy One of Israel--blessed be He!--are severally the efficient causes of redemptions. (1.) With His little finger He pointed out to Noah how to construct the ark; as it is said (Gen. vi. 15), "And thus thou shalt make it." (2.) With the finger next to the little one He smote the Egyptians; as it is said (Exod. viii. 19), "This is the finger of G.o.d."

(3.) With the third finger from the little one He wrote the tables; as it is said (Exod. x.x.xi. 18), "Tables of stone written by the finger of G.o.d." (4.) With the fourth finger, that which is next the thumb, the Holy One--blessed be He!--pointed out to Moses how much the Israelites should give as a ransom for their souls; as it is said (Exod. x.x.x. 13), "This shall they give." (5.) With the thumb and the whole hand the Holy One--blessed be He!--will in the future destroy the children of Esau, for they oppress the children of Israel, as also the children of Ishmael, for they are their enemies; as it is said (Micah v. 9), "Thine hand shall be uplifted upon thy adversaries, and all thy enemies shall be cut off."

_Pirke d'Rab. Eliezer_, chap. 48.

"For Mine own sake, for Mine own sake, will I do it" (Isa. xlviii. 11).

Why this repet.i.tion? The Holy One--blessed be He!--said, "As I redeemed you when you were in Egypt for My name's sake"--(Ps. cvi. 8), "He saved them for His name's sake,"--"so in like manner will I do it from Edom for My own name's sake. Again, as I redeemed you in this world, so likewise will I redeem you in the World to come;" for thus He saith (Eccles. i. 9), "The thing that hath been is that which shall be" (Isa.

li. 11); "The redeemed of the Lord shall return;" not the redeemed of Elijah, nor the redeemed of the Messiah, but "the redeemed of the Lord."

_Midrash Shochar Tov Tehillim_, 107.

"Her children are gone into captivity before the enemy" (Lam. i. 5).

Rabbi Isaac saith, "Come and see how greatly beloved are the children!"

The Sanhedrin were exiled, but the Shechinah was not exiled with them.

The Temple guards were exiled, but the Shechinah was not exiled with them. But with the children the Shechinah also was exiled. This is that which is written (Lam. i. 5, 6), "Her children are gone, ... and from the daughter of Zion all her beauty (i.e., the Shechinah) is departed."

_Midrash Rabbah Eicha._

"How doth the city sit solitary!" (Lam. i. 1). Three have, in prophesying, made use of this word "How"--Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.

Moses said (Deut. i. 12), "How can I myself bear your c.u.mbrance!" Isaiah said (Isa. i. 21), "How is the faithful city become an harlot!" Jeremiah said (Lam. i. 1), "How doth the city sit solitary!" Rabbi Levi saith, "The thing is like to a matron who has three friends; one saw her in her prosperity, another saw her in her dissipation, and the third saw her in her pollution. So Moses saw Israel in their glory and prosperity, and he said, 'How can I myself bear your c.u.mbrance!' Isaiah saw them in their dissipation, and he said, 'How is the faithful city,' etc.; and Jeremiah saw them in their pollution, and he said, 'How doth the city sit solitary!'"

_Midrash Rabbah Eicha._

Hezekiah saith the judgment in Gehenna is six months' heat and six months' cold.

_Midrash Reheh._

Gehenna has sixteen mouths, four toward each cardinal point. The Gentiles say, "h.e.l.l is for Israel, but Paradise is for us." The Israelites say, "Ours is Paradise."

_Midrash Aggadath Beres.h.i.th._

Rabbi Yochanan ben Zachai says, that coming once upon a man who was gathering wood, he addressed him, but at first he made no reply.

Afterward, however, he came up and said, "Rabbi, I'm not a living man, but a dead one." "If thou art a dead man," said I, "what is this wood for?" He replied, "When I was alive upon earth, I and an a.s.sociate of mine committed a certain sin in my shop, and when we were taken thence, we were sentenced to the punishment of mutual burning; so I gather wood to burn him, and he does the same to burn me." I then asked him, "How long are you to be punished thus?" He replied, "When I came here my wife was _enceinte_, and I know she gave birth to a boy. May I beg thee, therefore, to see that the child is instructed by a teacher, for as soon as he is able to repeat, 'Bless ye the blessed Lord!' I shall be brought up hence and be free from this punishment in h.e.l.l."

_Tanu d'by Eliyahu._

Rabbi Berachia saith, "In order that the Minim, apostates, and wicked Israelites might not escape h.e.l.l on account of their circ.u.mcision, the Holy One--blessed be He!--sends an angel to undo the effects of it, and they straightway descend to their doom. When Gehenna sees this, she opens her mouth and licks them." This is the purport of (Isa. v. 14), "And she opened her mouth to those without law" (i.e., to those without the sign of the covenant).

_Midrash Rabbath Shemoth_, chap. 19.

"G.o.d hath also set the one over against the other" (Eccles. vii. 14), i.e., the righteous and the wicked, in order that the one should atone for the other. G.o.d created the poor and the rich, in order that the one should be maintained by the other. He created Paradise and Gehenna, in order that those in the one should deliver those in the other. And what is the distance between them? Rabbi Chanina saith the width of the wall (between Paradise and Gehenna) is a handbreadth.

_Yalkut Koheleth._

"Those pa.s.sing through the valley of weeping make it a well; also blessings shall cover the teacher" (Ps. lx.x.xiv. 6, A.V.). "The valley of weeping" is Gehenna. "Make it a well," for their tears are like a well or spring. "Also blessings shall cover the teacher." Rabbi Yochanan saith, "The praises of G.o.d that ascend from Gehenna are more than those that ascend from Paradise, for each one that is a step higher than his neighbor praises G.o.d, and says, 'Happy am I that I am a step higher than the one below me.' 'Also blessings shall cover the teacher,' for they will acknowledge and say, 'Ye have taught well, and ye have instructed well, but we have not obeyed.'"

_Yalkut Tehillim_, 84.

Those of the house of Eliyahu have taught that Gehenna is above the sky, but some say it is behind the mountains of darkness.

_Tanu d'by Eliyahu._

Gehenna was created before Paradise; the former on the second day and the latter on the third.

_Yalkut_.

In T.B. P'sachim, fol. 54, col. 1, it is said that the reason of the omission of the words, "And G.o.d saw that it was good," in respect to the second day of the creative week, was because h.e.l.l-fire was then created; but see the context.

When Adam saw (through the Spirit) that his posterity would be condemned to Gehenna, he disobeyed the precept to procreate. But when he perceived that after twenty-six generations the Israelites would accept the law, he bestirred himself in compliance; as it is said (Gen. iv. 1), _Adam vero cognovit uxorem suam Hevam_.

_Yalkut_.

"And the souls they had gotten in Haran" (Gen. xii. 5). These are they who had been made proselytes. Whoever attracts a Gentile and proselytizes him is as much as if he had created him. Abraham did so to men and Sarah to women.