xxxiii

“And the Elohim said, Let there be light, and there was light.” (The sense may be sought from that Psalm xxxiii. 9) where it is written, “Since He Himself spake, and it was done.” (First, therefore, is commemorated) the Path HVA, Hoa (that is, the mother of understanding, who is called ALHIM, Elohim, near the beginning of the verse, “And the Elohim said.” She also is called HVA, Hoa, in the words of Psalm xxxiii. 9, on account of her truly secret nature) is alone (as well with Moses as with David). The word VIHI, Vayehi. “and it was done,” is also alone. (As if the six members were considered separately, seeing that V, Vau occupieth the first place in the word VIHI, Vayehi,

“And the Elohim said, Let there be light, and there was light.” (The sense may be sought from that Psalm xxxiii. 9) where it is written, “Since He Himself spake, and it was done.” (First, therefore, is commemorated) the Path HVA, Hoa (that is, the mother of understanding, who is called ALHIM, Elohim, near the beginning of the verse, “And the Elohim said.” She also is called HVA, Hoa, in the words of Psalm xxxiii. 9, on account of her truly secret nature) is alone (as well with Moses as with David). The word VIHI, Vayehi. “and it was done,” is also alone. (As if the six members were considered separately, seeing that V, Vau occupieth the first place in the word VIHI, Vayehi,

It is written, Isa. xxxiii. 20: “Thine eyes shall behold Jerusalem at peace, even thy habitation.”

“For it is written, Deut. xxxiii. 29: ‘Blessed art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee?’ Also is it written, Exod. xv. 11: ‘Who is like unto thee among the gods, O Tetragrammaton?’”

“It is written, Ps. xxxiii. 18: ‘Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him;’ and it is written, Zech. iv. 10: ‘They are the eyes of the Lord, running to and fro throughout the whole earth.’

This is that which is written, Num. xiv. 14: “That Thou, O Tetragrammaton! art seen eye to eye.” Also it is written, Ps. xxxiii. 18: “Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him.” And it is written, Zech. iv. 10: “The eyes of the Lord running to and fro throughout the whole earth.”

“Also we have learned that through the first and second dispositions of the beard it is necessary to pass on to the third; like as it is written, Job xxxiii. 29: ‘Behold, God worketh all this with man by three paths.’

But toward evil, like as it is written, Isa. xxxiii. 20: “Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed.” Here truly it is toward good and toward evil, because the one existeth not without the other.

What nation is so holy as Israel? for it is written concerning them, Deut. xxxiii. 29: “Blessed art thou, O Israel! who is like unto thee?” Because that they are applied unto God in this world through the holy name.

“As it is written, Ps. xxxiii. 6: ‘And all the host of them by the Spirit of His mouth.’

As it is written, Isa. xxxiii. 6: “And Chokmah and Däath shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation; the fear of Tetragrammaton is His treasure,” &c., and they shall seek out Wisdom, Chokmah.

As it is written, Ps. xxxiii. 5: “Delighting in TzDQH, Liberality, and MShPT, Judgment; the earth is full of the ChSD, Mercy, of Tetragrammaton.

Now we have already spoken of the passage, Isa. xxxiii. 20: “Thine eye shall see Jerusalem quiet, even Thy habitation.”

"By His right hand" means Torah ; as it is said, "At His right hand was a fiery law unto them" (Deut. xxxiii. 2); "by the arm of His strength" means Tefillin, as it is said, "The Lord will give strength unto His people" (Ps. xxix. 11).

He answered : [It contains the following :] "For what great nation is there," etc. (Deut. iv. 7), "And what great nation is there," etc. (ibid, v. 8), "Happy art thou, O Israel " etc. (ibid, xxxiii. 29), "Or hath God assayed to go" etc. (ibid. iv. 34), and "To make thee high above all nations" etc. (ibid. xxvi. 19).

R. Helbo also said in the name of Rab Huna : Whoever partakes of the festivity of a bridegroom without felicitating him transgresses the five "voices" ; as it is said, "The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that say. Give thanks to the Lord of Hosts" (Jer. xxxiii. 11).

R. Johanan also said in the name of R. Jose : Whence is it that we should not try to appease a man in the time of his wrath? As it is written, "My face shall go and I will give thee rest" (Exod. xxxiii. 14). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, "Wait for Me until My wrathful countenance shall have passed away, then I will give thee rest."

R. Johanan also said in the name of R. Jose : Three things Moses sought of the Holy One, blessed be He, and He granted them. He sought that the Shekinah should rest upon Israel, and He granted it ; as it is said, "Is it not in that Thou goest with us?" (Exod. xxxiii. 16). He sought that the Shekinah should not rest upon the other peoples of the world, and He granted it ; as it is said,

This is opposed to the teaching of R. Meir ; for R. Meir said that God granted two of Moses' requests and refused one. As it is said, "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious" (Exod. xxxiii. 19), i.e. although he may not be deserving; "And I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy" (ibid.), i.e. although he may not be deserving.

"And I will take away My hand, and thou shalt see My back" (Exod. xxxiii. 23). Rab Hanna b. Bizna said in the name of R. Simeon Hasida : This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed Moses the knot of the Tefillin.

R. Johanan also said in the name of R. Simeon b. Johai: Whence is it that we should not try to appease a man in the time of his wrath? As it is said, "My face shall go, and I will give thee rest" (Exod. xxxiii. 14).

R. Abba said : Everybody admits that the Israelites were only redeemed from Egypt at even ; as it is said, "The Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night" (ibid. v. I); but they actually left Egypt by day ; as it is said, "On the morrow after the Passover, the children of Israel went out with a high hand " (Nam. xxxiii. 3).

There is a teaching to the same effect : "The Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night" (Deut. xvi. 1). Was it in the night they went out? Surely they went out during the day ; as it is said, "On the morrow after the Passover the children of Israel went out with a high hand" (Num. xxxiii. 3) ! But this teaches that the redemption began for them at even.

He replied : Quite so, in certain circumstances it is great ; and that is what 'Ulla said : Why is "vengeance" mentioned twice in the verse? One for good, the other for evil — for good, as it is written, "He shone forth from Mount Paran" (Deut. xxxiii. 2) ; for evil, as it is written, "O Lord, Thou God, to Whom vengeance belongeth, Thou God, to Whom vengeance belongeth, shine forth" (Ps. xciv. 1).

Is, then, the fear of Heaven a small thing? Lo, R. Hannina has said in the name of R. Simeon b. Johai : The Holy One, blessed be He, has in His treasury nothing but the store of heavenly fear; as it is said, "And the fear of the Lord which is His treasure" (Is. xxxiii. 6) !

R. Johanan said : Whoever says the benediction over a full cup will be granted a boundless inheritance; as it is said, "And full with the blessing of the Lord ; possess thou the sea and the south" (Deut. xxxiii. 23). R. Jose b. R. Hannina said: He will be worthy to inherit two worlds, this world and the world to come.

Who dreams of an ox should on rising say, "His firstling bullock, majesty is his" (Deut. xxxiii. 17), before another occurs to him, viz. : "If an ox gore a man" (Exod. xxi. 28).

Who dreams of having intercourse with his mother may hope for understanding; as it is said, "Yea, thou wilt call understanding 'mother'" (Prov. ii. 3). [Who dreams] of having intercourse with a betrothed maiden may hope for Torah, as it is said, "Moses commanded us a law [Torah], an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob" (Deut. xxxiii. 4) — read not morashah "an inheritance" but me'orasah "betrothed maiden." Who dreams of having had intercourse with his sister may hope for wisdom ; as it is said, "Say unto wisdom, thou art my sister" (Prov. vii. 4). Who dreams of having had intercourse with a married woman is assured that he is a son of the world to come ; but this applies only if he was not acquainted with her and did not think of her during the evening.

A certain disciple was following R. Ishmael b. R. Jose in the market-place of Zion. The latter noticed that he was afraid and said to him, "Thou art a sinner; for it is written, 'The sinners in Zion are afraid' (Is. xxxiii. 14)." He replied, "But it is written, 'Happy is the man that feareth always' (Prov. xxviii. 14)!" He said to him. "This is written in connection with words of Torah."

Why should we not wipe with the right hand but only with the left? Raba said : Because the Torah was given with the right hand ; as it is said, "At His right hand was a fiery law unto them" (Deut. xxxiii. 2). Rabbah b. Bar Hannah said : Because it is near the mouths. R. Simeon b. Lakish said : Because he binds the Tefillin with it. Rab Nahman b. Isaac said: Because he points to the accents of the Torah with it.

R. Judah, the chief of orators in every place, began with the honour of the Torah and expounded : "Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it without the camp" (Exod. xxxiii. 7). Can we not use here an a fortiori argument : If of the Ark of God, which was never more than twelve Mil distant, the Torah declares, "Everyone that sought the Lord went out unto the tent of meeting, which was without the camp" (ibid.), how much more so, the disciples of the wise who go from city to city and from province to province to study Torah!

When the soul of R. Joshua ben Chănania was departing, they said to him, O our Rabbi, what will become of us at the hands of the Epicureans? He said to them, "Is counsel perished from the sons, is their wisdom vanished?" (Jer. xlix. 7) When counsel has perished from the sons, the wisdom of the peoples of the earth has vanished. Or, if you like, draw comfort from this passage, "And he said, Let us take our journey and let us go, and I will go before thee" (Gen. xxxiii. 12).

"But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride" (Jer. xiii. 17). R. Samuel bar Inia in the name of Rab said, The Holy One, blessed be He, has a place, and its name is "secret places." What is the meaning of "for your pride"? R. Samuel bar Isaac said, For the glory of Israel, because it was taken away from them and given to the peoples of the world. R. Samuel bar Nachmani said, On account of the glory of the kingdom of heaven. And how is there weeping in the presence of the Holy One, blessed be He, seeing that R. Papa said, There is no tribulation in the presence of the Holy One, blessed be He. For it is said "Honour and majesty are before him, strength and beauty are in his sanctuary" (Ps. xcvi. 6). There is no difficulty. The one has to do with the inner, the other with the outer side of the Divine Being. Is there then no weeping on the outer side? And yet it is written, "And in that day did the Lord, the LORD of hosts, call to weeping and to mourning and to baldness and to girding with sackcloth" (Is. xxii. 12). That is a different matter, viz., the destruction of the Temple, for for this even the angels of peace wept, as it is said, "Behold, their valiant ones cry without: the angels of peace weep bitterly" (Is. xxxiii. 7).

There is a Baraitha of R. Jose, which says, Woe to the creatures which see and know not what they see, which stand and know not upon what they stand. Upon what does the earth stand? Upon the pillars, as it is said, "Who shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble" (Job ix. 6). The pillars stand upon the waters, as it is said, "To him that spread forth the earth upon the waters;" (Ps. cxxxvi. 6) the waters upon the mountains, as it is said, "the waters stood above the mountains" (Ps. civ. 6); the mountains upon the wind, as it is said, "For lo he that formeth the mountains and createth wind;" (Amos iv. 13) the wind upon the storm, as it is said, "Storm making the substance of the wind;" (Ps. cxlviii. 8) the storm is suspended upon the arm of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said, "underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. xxxiii. 27). And wise men say, It stands upon twelve pillars, as it is said, "He set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel" (Deut. xxxii. 8). And there are some who say, Seven pillars, as it is said, "she hath hewn out her seven pillars" (Prov. ix. 1). R. El'azar ben Shammua' says, Upon one pillar, and its name is The Righteous, as it is said, "but the righteous is the foundation of the world" (Prov. x. 25).

Araboth is that in which are righteousness and judgment and grace, the treasures of life and the treasures of peace and the treasures of blessing, and the souls of the righteous, and the spirits and souls which are about to be created, and the dew with which the Holy One, blessed be He, is about to quicken mortals: righteousness and judgment; for it is written, "Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of thy throne:" (Ps. lxxxix. 15; E.V. 14) grace; for it is written, "And he put on grace as a coat of mail:" (Is. lix. 17) the treasures of life; for it is written, "For with thee is the fountain of life:" (Ps. xxxvi. 9) and the treasures of peace; for it is written, "and called it, The LORD is peace:" (Jud. vi. 24) and the treasures of blessing; for it is written, "He shall receive a blessing from the LORD:" (Ps. xxiv. 5) the souls of the righteous; for it is written, "Yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God:" (1 Sam. xxv. 29) the spirits and souls which are about to be created; for it is written, "For the spirit before me shall join itself to a body, and the souls which I have made:" (Is. lvii. 16) and the dew with which the Holy One, blessed be He, is about to quicken mortals; for it is written, "Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, thou didst confirm thine inheritance when it was weary" (Ps. lxviii. 10; E.V. 9). There there are celestials and seraphs and holy beings and ministering angels, and the throne of glory, and the King, the Living God, high and lifted up, sitting over them among the clouds, as it is said, "Cast up a highway for him that rideth upon the clouds (Araboth); his name is Jah" (Ps. lxviii. 4). And whence do we get it that they are called heaven? Because mention of riding occurs in two passages. It is written in one place, "Cast up a highway for him that rideth upon the clouds," and it is written in another, "who rideth upon the heaven for thy help" (Deut. xxxiii. 26). And darkness and cloud and thick darkness surround Him, as it is said, "He made darkness his hiding place, his pavilion round about him; darkness of waters, thick clouds" (Ps. xviii. 12; E.V. 11). And how is there darkness in the presence of the Lord? For against this, there is the passage, "He revealeth the deep and secret things; he knoweth what is in the darkness and the light dwelleth with him" (Dan. ii. 22). There is no difficulty.

Samuel said to Chia bar Rab, Thou clever fellow, come, and I will tell thee something from those noble words, which thy father used to say. Every several day ministering angels are created from the fiery stream, and they utter a song and perish, as it is said, "They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness" (Lam. iii. 23). But R. Samuel bar Nachmani differs in his view; for R. Samuel bar Nachmani said that R. Jonathan said, Every several utterance that goeth out of the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, there is created from it an angel, as it is said, "By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth" (Ps. xxxiii. 6).

Samuel came upon R. Jehudah, who was swinging upon the bolt of a door, and weeping. He said to him, Oh, clever one, why weepest thou? He said to him, Is it a small thing that is written concerning our Rabbis, "Where is he that counted, where is he that weighed, where is he that counted the towers?" (Is. xxxiii. 18) "Where is he that counted?" for they counted all the letters that are in the Books of the Law. "Where is he that weighed?" for they weighed the light and the heavy things which are in the Law. "Where is he that counted the towers?" for they taught three hundred doctrines concerning the tower which flies in the air. And R. Ami said, Three hundred questions were treated by Doeg and Ahithophel concerning the tower which flies in the air. And there is a canonical Mishnah. Three kings and four private persons have no position in the world to come (Sanhedrin, 90a, ii. 22), and we—what will there be for us? He said to him, Oh, clever one, there was uncleanness in their hearts.

What did he expound? Rabbah bar bar-Channah said that R. Jochanan said, "And he came from the ten thousands of holy ones" (Deut. xxxiii. 2). He is clearly marked among His ten thousand. And R. Abohu said, "The chiefest among ten thousand" (Cant. v. 10). He is a sign among His ten thousand. And Resh Lakish said, "The LORD of hosts is His name" (Is. xlviii. 2). He is LORD amid His host. And R. Chia bar Abba said that R. Jochanan said, "The LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And behold, the LORD passed by" (1 Kings xix. 11, 12).