{
"language": "en",
"title": "Otzar Midrashim",
"versionSource": "https://www.sefaria.org",
"versionTitle": "Sefaria Community Translation",
"versionTitleInHebrew": "תרגום קהילת ספריא",
"actualLanguage": "en",
"languageFamilyName": "english",
"isBaseText": false,
"isSource": false,
"direction": "ltr",
"heTitle": "אוצר מדרשים",
"categories": [
"Midrash",
"Aggadah"
],
"text": {
"Midrash Abba Gorion": [
"Abba Gurion: This is also called 'Agadta deMegilta' or 'Midrash Megillah', as it is based on the Book of Esther. Rabbi Aharon Yellinek published it in 'Beit HaMidrash', Volume 1 (Leipzig, 1873) based on a manuscript found in the Hamburg library collection, Bundle 37. However, in this manuscript, entire sections are missing and other sections are abbreviated with the term \"etc.\" Rabbi Shlomo Buber used this Midrash based on an old manuscript hidden in Rome and compared it with five other manuscripts. He printed it along with 'Midrash Panim Acherim' and 'Midrash Lekach Tov', all three on the Book of Esther, under the title 'Sifrei d'Agadta' (Vilna, 1877).",
"Refer to the entry 'Abba Gurion' in the 'Otzar Yisrael' encyclopedia and the introduction by Rabbi Shalom Buber in 'Sifrei d'Agadta'."
],
"Ethics of the Fathers": [
"Pirkei Avot: A Mishnaic text also known as 'Masekhet Avot'. It is included in the Babylonian Talmud under the order of Nezikin, between the tractates 'Avodah Zarah' and 'Horayot'. It comprises ethical teachings, opinions, and virtuous qualities passed down by the \"Fathers\" of the Jewish Assembly.",
"For more, see the entry 'Pirkei Avot' in the 'Otzar Yisrael' encyclopedia."
],
"Ethics of The Fathers of Rabbi Nathan": [
"Avot d'Rabbi Natan: One of the minor tractates in the Babylonian Talmud under the order of Nezikin. It serves as a kind of Braitot or Tosefta for the Mishnaic tractate 'Pirkei Avot'. Three different versions of this tractate exist: one is found in the Babylonian Talmud, the second is known as ADRN brought from the Land of Israel, and the third is the version used by French Jewish scholars. The latter is referenced in a commentary attributed to Rashi on 'Pirkei Avot' (Chapter 1, Mishna 5), particularly on the phrase \"Do not talk excessively with a woman\". The second version was printed together with the first by R' M.Z. Schechter (Vienna, 1887). The French version was printed from a Munich manuscript by RSHZ Teusick, titled 'Neva Shalom' (Munich, 1872). Another narrative from the French version of Avot d'Rabbi Natan was published by R' Chaim Meir Horowitz Levi in 'Beit Akeidot', booklet 1, page 34 (Piotrków Trybunalski, 1881), beginning with \"When Vespasian came to Jerusalem...\". This narrative is also found in the Midrash 'Ten Kings'.",
"For more, see the entry 'Avot d'Rabbi Natan' in the 'Otzar Yisrael' encyclopedia, and in Schechter's introduction to the printed version of ADRN.\""
],
"Midrash Avkir": [
"Avkir: This Midrash is named so because of the acronym at the end of the teachings: Amen, B'yamenu, Ken, Yehi, Ratzon (in our days, so be it).",
"The Midrash Avkir was never printed and is not currently found in known manuscript collections. However, it is mentioned by ancient scholars, and the last one who saw and referenced it in print was Rabbi Azariah dei Rossi in his book \"Me'or Einayim\" (1577). The Yalkut Shimoni references it many times. Rabbi Shalom Buber collected the snippets from Midrash Avkir found scattered in the Yalkut and added his notes in \"HaShachar\" year 11, and also in a separate booklet (Vienna, 1873). See also \"Yeri'ot Shlomo\", an addition to \"Rav Pe'alim\" by Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer (Warsaw, 1894).",
"See also \"Avkir\" in the \"Otzar Yisrael\" encyclopedia."
],
"Avraham our Father": {
"Introduction": [],
"The Story of Avraham our Father and Nimrod": [
"",
"",
"It was said before Abraham was born. Nimrod was a heretic concerning the truth of the lord blessed be he. He was conceited and he said that he himself was a God. And the people of his time served and bowed to him. He was so - an established king, and he was wise and he saw in the wisdom of the stars that there will be one man born in his time that will oppose him and deny him from his faith and he will be victorious over him. And he [Nimrod] trembled with a great fear. What did he do? He sent after his lesser officers and he told them this matter. He consulted them about what to do concerning this future child that will come. They advised him \"we agree on the following: that you will build a great palace and place guards in the opening and declare among your kingdom that every woman that they pass through and come there after ...[unknown]... if it's a son, you will slaughter him on her womb and if it's a daughter, it will live and you will give gifts to the mother and dress her in royal garments and they will call before her. Such will be done to a mother of a daughter. When Nimrod hear their advice, he was greatly gladdened much so. He declared in all the countries of his kingdom that there will come all the nations to build a great palace for the king 60 ama high, 80 ama long. After it was completed, he declared that all the women shall come and pass through the house and remain there until they gave birth. He commanded officials to bring them there. ...[unknown]... He decreed that the born son will be slaughtered on the chest of the mother and if a daughter, the mother was dressed in clothing of fine linens and silks colorfully embroidered and she will go out from there and they will give her much honor. So commanded King Nimrod and they left the house with honor."
],
"The Story of Avraham": [],
"Midrash on Avraham our Forefather": [],
"The Legend of Avraham": []
},
"Aggadah": [
"\"Aggadah: A Midrash on the Five Books of the Torah, found in a unique ancient manuscript in the world brought from Aleppo (Aram Tzova). It was published by R. Shalom Buber with annotations and corrections. Part one covers Genesis and Exodus, and part two covers Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy (Vienna, 1894). Some pages were missing from the manuscript towards its end, so the scribe's name and the year of writing are unknown. However, according to R. Shalom Buber's opinion, the Midrash was copied around the same time the manuscript 'Talmud Torah' was copied, which is a collection on the Five Books of the Torah, in the year 1522 in Damascus by Rabbi Yitzhak the Scribe. According to the opinion of the Maharal (a prominent rabbi), the Midrash Aggadah was arranged from a single order that had already seen Rashi's commentary on the Torah. This Midrash also took from 'Likutei Tov' by Rabbi Tobiah and incorporated sayings from ancient Midrashim. The Maharal named this Midrash \"Midrash Aggadah\" because many things that Rashi brings in his commentary on the Torah in the name of \"Midrash Aggadah\" are found in this Midrash. Even though the version before us is from a time later than Rashi's, it's possible that both of them took these aggadot from a common source that predates them.\""
],
"Aggadah on Genesis": [],
"Aggadata": [
"Agadeta: There are many Midrashim called by the name 'Aggadah' or 'Agadeta' that were composed by the early scholars, some of which were by Tannaim and Amoraim who compiled aggadot or interpretations. However, all of these have been lost to us, and most of the sayings were later incorporated into other Midrashim like Midrash Rabbah, Tanchuma, and more.",
"Mentions of the early collections of Aggadot can be found in the Talmud. For example, Rav Shimi bar Ukva frequented Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi and organized Agadeta before Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi (Berachot 10). Rabbi Yochanan held a 'Sefer Aggadeta' (ibid 23). Rav Chisda said to a certain scholar who was organizing Agadeta before him (Yoma 38). Rav Chisda told Rav Tachlifa bar Avina to write 'Kanigi' and 'Blistri' in your Aggadot and explain them (Chullin 60). Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish would study the 'Sefer Aggadeta' on Shabbat and interpret it (Temurah 14). We also find an 'Agadeta of Bei Rav', Rabbi Yaakov bar Acha was writing in the 'Sefer Aggadeta of Bei Rav' (Sanhedrin 56), and in the Zohar (Parashat Vayikra, page 37) and in the 'Sefera Aggadeta of Bei Rav' they say, \"Even though the Torah was said from the mouth of the Almighty, everything from the mouth of Moses was said likewise\". And in the 'Sefera Aggadeta of Rav Yiba Saba' it says, \"From the forehead of the Ancient One\" (Zohar, Parashat Haazinu, 292). And the 'Sefera of Rav Hamnuna Saba' (ibid, Parashat Pinchas, 236)."
],
"Agur": [
"Agur: Rabbi Menachem de Lonzano mentions it in the introduction to his book 'Shtei Yadot' (Venice, 5488 [1728]). He intended to print it in the second part, following the 'Midrash Aggadat Bereishit' (first finger), but at the end of his book, he apologizes and says: \"Here the work stops for now, as there is no money left, until God provides me with funds to print the four fingers mentioned at the beginning of the book.\" However, according to the testimony of Rabbi Yehosef Schwartz in his book 'Tevo'ot HaAretz' (Part 'Ma'aseh HaAretz', entry for Tzfat), he saw the book 'Midrash Agur' that Rabbi Menachem de Lonzano printed in Tzfat or Ein Zeitim in the year 5386 [1626]. But since it's not available to us, we don't know its content and essence."
],
"Chapter on Adam HaRishon": {
"Introduction": [
"Chapter of Adam the First: A legend about Adam the First regarding the decrees that were issued upon him and Eve after they ate from the Tree of Knowledge.",
"The Chapter of Adam the First is one of those narratives in the form of Midrashim (Jewish interpretative stories). There are two versions of it. The second version differs from the first in the order of the sequence: serpent, Adam, Eve, earth, instead of Adam, Eve, serpent, earth, and it lists only 39 lashes instead of 40, as in the first version. The number of lashes corresponds to the curses: ten for Adam, ten for Eve, ten for the serpent, and ten for the earth. According to the second version, the earth was cursed with nine curses, totaling 39. In the Midrash Bamidbar Rabbah (Chapter 5, 5), it is mentioned that just as Adam was punished with death and received 40 lashes, the world was cursed with 40 curses due to his sin: ten for Adam, ten for Eve, ten for the serpent, and ten for the earth, etc. In Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer (Chapter 14), nine curses and death itself are counted separately for the serpent, the woman, and the man. The curses for the earth are not counted. In the Zohar Chadash, it is mentioned that God decreed ten decrees each upon Adam, Eve, the serpent, and the earth, totaling 39, corresponding to the 40 lashes (minus one) that a wicked person is obligated to receive in a court of law. In Avot DeRabbi Nathan Chapter 1, it's mentioned that on that day, ten decrees were issued upon Adam, and similarly, ten decrees were issued upon Eve. At that time, God said, 'If I don’t judge the serpent,' and immediately turned to him and cursed him, but the number of decrees for the serpent isn't specified.",
"The first version is found in the Vatican manuscript 171 and is an abbreviated version of Avot DeRabbi Nathan version B. The second version is from the book Tziyyoni with commentary (printed in Cremona, page 12b). Both versions are mentioned in the book 'Kavod Chupah' by Rabbi Chaim Meir Horowitz (printed in 1888)"
],
"Chapter on the First Man (Version 1)": [
"",
"",
"Ten decrees were decreed upon Adam, ten upon Eve, ten upon the serpent, and ten upon the earth:",
"Ten upon man: He was clothed in garments of splendor, but God stripped them from him. That he earns his livelihood through toil. That he eats good food but eliminates waste. That he is exiled from place to place. The odor of sweat. That he has an evil inclination. That maggots and worms rule over him. That he was handed over to death, that it should kill him. Shortened days and much turmoil. That he is destined to stand in judgment, as it says \"Rejoice, young man, in your youth, etc.\" (Ecclesiastes 11:9)",
"Ten upon Eve: The blood of menstruation; she is scolded from her home, divorced from her husband. That she gives birth after nine months. That she nurses for 24 months. That her husband rules over her. That her husband is jealous over her, that she not speak with any man. That she ages quickly. That she is weak after giving birth, while the man continues to bear children forever. That she sits in the house and is not known to any man. She goes out to the marketplace with her head covered like a mourner - therefore they precede the corpse in a funeral procession (this was their custom, that the wailing women would walk ahead of the men in a funeral procession). If she was virtuous, her husband buries her, as we find with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who buried their wives.",
"And ten upon the serpent: Its mouth was sealed shut. Its hands and feet were cut off. It eats dust. It sheds its skin and suffers like a woman in childbirth, and its voice carries from one end of the world to the other, yet its voice is not heard. \"And I will put enmity...\" (Genesis 3:15) Rabbi Chelfai said in the name of Rabbi Meir: Even if it eats delicacies and drinks the sweetest wine, it becomes dust in its mouth, as it says \"and dust shall be the serpent's bread\" (Isaiah 65:25). It gives birth every seven years. (Bechorot 8a) A person sees an animal or bird and is not bothered, but when he sees a snake he is bothered and curses it. Everything receives blessing but it remains accursed. Rabbi Meir would say a tradition: \"And I will remove the evil beasts from the earth\" (Leviticus 26:6) - this refers to the snake. And ten upon the earth: That it would absorb water on its own from now on: \"And a mist rose up from the earth\" (Genesis 2:6) That it is afflicted in its fruits. That it is afflicted with blight and mildew. That mountains and valleys were made upon it. That thornbushes and gravel were created upon it. That barren trees grew upon it. That thorns and thistles grew upon it. They plant a lot but it produces little. That it will testify about its dead in the future, as it says \"And the land will reveal its blood, and will no longer cover its slain\" (Isaiah 26:21). That it is destined to wear out like a garment, as it says \"And the earth will wear out like a garment\" (Isaiah 51:6). Why were these forty decrees? Corresponding to the 40 days that the fetus is formed. Another interpretation: Corresponding to these decrees, the Sages instituted 40 lashes in the court. How so? When a person stumbles in a sin that makes him liable for death by the hand of Heaven, they bring him to court and lash him, and immediately forgive him entirely. This is what is taught: \"There are four death penalties by the court.\" (All those liable for excision who were lashed were exempted from their excision - Makkot 23a.) Rabbi Eliezer says: Adam was the blood of the world, and when Eve spilled it [by causing his death], she became liable for the blood of menstruation. Adam was the challah of the world, and when Eve defiled it [through sin], she became liable for separating challah. Adam was the light of the world, and when Eve extinguished it [through sin], she became liable to light the Shabbat candles. This corresponds to what was taught: \"For three sins women die in childbirth: menstruation, challah, and lighting the candles\" (Shabbat 31b)."
],
"Chapter on the First Man (Version 2)": [
"",
"",
"And the Rabbis said, ten decrees were decreed upon the serpent, and these are they: That it was made mute. The cutting off of its hands and legs. That it eats dust. Its tongue drags in the dust. That it was made hated in the eyes of creatures. That it sheds its skin every seven years, and it has birth pangs like a woman giving birth. That it gives birth only once every seven years. That it injects poison. That in the future to come all will be healed except for it. That it will die.",
"And ten decrees were decreed upon man: That he will eat his bread through hardship and sorrow. That he eats good food but eliminates bad. That he will be ruled by bad odors, maggots, and worms. Lice, flies, and fleas in his lifetime. That his days will be short. That his children will be exiled from place to place. That he will be given over to an evil beast. That he will be judged constantly and his judgment is prepared for the world to come. That afflictions will come upon him. Death.",
"And ten decrees were decreed upon woman: The blood of menstruation. The blood of virginity. The distress of pregnancy. The distress of childbirth. That after giving birth she is unclean and ill. That she enters like a mourner. That man rules over her. That she is tied down in the corners of the house. That she ages quickly. Death. And if she is a woman of valor, her husband buries her, as it says \"And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.\"",
"And nine decrees were decreed upon the earth: That it should absorb water on its own, as it says \"And a mist rose up from the earth.\" That it will be afflicted in its fruits. That it will be afflicted with blight. That it should grow thorns and thistles. That there will be mountains and rocks upon it. That people will be lacking from it and it will be plowed with iron implements. That it will not mourn its dead. At a time when people are liable, they plant a lot but harvest little. That it is destined to wear out, as it says \"And the earth will wear out like a garment\" - and this will be its death. [Gloss: And I also found in a gloss: And I saw in the Midrash that the 39 lashes below correspond to the 50 punishments 50 times over, because from age 13 and up they punish him, and the lashes above are with 60 fiery poles, see Bava Metzia p. 75b, because they do not punish according to the heavenly court until age 20 and beyond]."
]
},
"Idra Rabba & Idra Zuta": [
"Idra Raba and Idra Zuta: Two compilations from the Zohar, the first in the portion of Naso and the second in the portion of Ha'azinu. The term \"Idra\" in Greek means a gathering or assembly of scholars, and these Idrot (plural of Idra) are gatherings of the students of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai who were studying the esoteric secrets of the Torah from a sage. When their assembly was large and abundant with students, it was called \"Idra Raba Kadisha\" (the Holy Great Assembly).",
"Idra Zuta, which is a continuation of Idra Raba, was written on the day Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai passed away. Before his passing, he revealed deep secrets to them. Rabbi Elazar, his son, would explain them, and Rabbi Abba, the scribe, would write them down in the book. See \"Idra\" in the Otzar Yisrael encyclopedia.",
"Pious individuals and mystics enjoyed studying the Idrot on the nights of Shavuot and Hoshana Rabbah. In Jerusalem, it was customary to study them on the tomb of the prophet Samuel on the day of his passing, the 28th of Iyar. In Safed, they recite them on the night of Lag BaOmer, which is the anniversary of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's passing. They were printed in special booklets, such as \"Idra Rabta and Zutarta etc.\", \"Idra of the portion Mishpatim and Sifra DeTzni'uta\" (Kushta 1748); \"Holy Idrot and letters of Rabbi Nathan Spira etc.\" (Amsterdam 1808); \"Order of the Holy Idrot etc.\" (Venice 1711), and more."
],
"Aharon": {
"Introduction": [
"\"Aaron: The midrash 'And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses' that is presented below was printed by Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Wertheimer in his book 'Batei Midrashot', Volume 3 (Jerusalem, 1895), from an old manuscript. According to his opinion, it is the remaining fragment of a complete book from one of the midrashes that we have lost. However, it's unlikely to consider it as part of our teachings. His assumption that Rashi saw this midrash because in his commentary on Proverbs 17:6, he wrote \"the crown of the old men are the children's children\" and here, it was interpreted as \"When do the elderly get praised? When their children act like them\" is indeed another interpretation. Also, the beginning of the midrash uses a halachic ruling for an aggadic purpose. The theme of brotherly hatred in general, as opposed to the love between Moses and Aaron, is repeated at the end of the midrash.",
"A second midrash about Aaron is called 'The Death of Aaron' from the Yalkut Shimoni's study hall, Volume 1. It is an ancient aggadic midrash about the death of Aaron the High Priest, which was printed alongside the 'Book of Chronicles of Moses' (Kushta 5377, Venice 504, and others). The author attempts to clarify Aaron and Moses' sin at the Waters of Meribah and how Moses didn't want to reveal to Aaron that he would die on Mount Hor, only hinting at it, even though it's explicit in the scripture that God said to Moses and Aaron, \"Aaron will be gathered to his people\" (Numbers 20:24). The author also states that the Clouds of Glory surrounded Israel due to Aaron's merit (as the sages said), and during that entire time, they didn't see the light of the sun or the moon. When Aaron died, and clouds departed, they saw the two luminaries, wanted to worship them, and were warned against it. The 'Death of Aaron' midrash is similar to the 'Death of Moses' midrash and was probably composed later, following the latter's characteristics.\""
],
"And These are the Generations of Aharon and Moshe": [
"And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses.",
"[Betai Midrashot Third Chamber]",
"Our rabbis taught: Brothers who are partners and who increased assets, even if their father left them only a bed or an axe, divide equally. Why? Because they are brothers (Baba Bathra 143b), and you find that partners who are brothers were beloved before the Holy One, blessed be He, like Moses and Aaron, about whom the community of Israel said before the Holy One, blessed be He: \"Who will make you like a brother to me etc.\" Since the Holy One, blessed be He, calls Israel \"brothers\", as it says \"For my brothers and companions' sake etc.\" (Psalms 122:8), she said before Him: \"Who will make you like a brother to me\", not like all brothers who hated one another, but like Moses and Aaron who loved one another and raised one another and rejoiced in each other’s greatness (Numbers Rabbah 21:3, Exodus Rabbah 5:5, Tanhuma Shemot 27). Know this from what we read regarding \"And these are the generations of Aaron and etc.\"",
"This entire passage, Aaron prophesied to them in Egypt, and from where do we know that Aaron prophesied to them in Egypt? As it says \"And a man of God came to Eli etc.\" (I Samuel 2:27) and it is written \"And I chose him etc.\" (Psalms 105:26). Therefore Moses said: Aaron my brother was prophesying to them all these years, now I will go to him. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Moses! He rejoices in your greatness. When? When he was anointing Aaron with the anointing oil, the oil bubbled and flowed down Aaron’s beard. Moses thought it was on his own beard, as it says \"Like the goodly oil upon the head etc.\" (Psalms 133:2). What is \"upon the beard\"? One beard! Did Aaron have two beards? Rather, it flowed down on Aaron's beard as if it was on Moses' beard (see Vayikra Rabbah 3). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: By your life, any greatness that I bestow upon Aaron is through you that I bestow upon him, as it says \"And you shall bring near to yourself Aaron your brother, and this is the thing that you shall do to them\" (Exodus 28:1, 29:1). Therefore it says \"And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses.\"",
"This is what the verse says: \"A crown of elders are children’s children etc.\" (Proverbs 17:6). When are elders praised? When their children follow their deeds. What is the reason? \"Instead of your fathers will be your sons etc.\" (Psalms 45:17). Therefore it says \"And these are the names of Aaron’s sons, the firstborn Nadab etc.\"",
"Another interpretation: \"And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses\" - in every place it puts Moses before Aaron, as it says \"And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders,\" and in one place it puts Aaron before Moses, as it says \"He is Aaron and Moses, whom the Lord said to them etc.\" (Exodus 6:27), teaching that they are equal to each other (Mekhilta Bo, Tanhuma Bo 5, Bereishit Rabbah end of 91, Vayikra Rabbah 34). And in every place it puts Joshua before Caleb, as it says \"And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh\" (Numbers 14:6), and in one place it puts Caleb before Joshua, as it says \"Except for Caleb son of Jephunneh etc.\" (ibid. 14:30), teaching that they are equal to each other. In every place it puts the father before the mother, as it says \"Honor your father\" etc., and in one place it says \"A man, his mother and his father shall you revere\" (Leviticus 19:3), teaching that they are equal to each other. But the Sages said: The father precedes the mother in every place, because he and his mother are obligated to honor his father (Kiddushin 31b). One verse says \"He is Moses and Aaron\", and one verse says \"And the sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses and Miriam etc.... and Moses, the man of God, his sons were called to the tribe of Levi\" (I Chronicles 23:13-14), R' Berechyah and R' Yehudah ben Korchah: all those forty years that the Israelites were in the wilderness, Moses did not refrain from serving as High Priest (Shocher Tov 99, Pesikta Parah, Vayikra Rabbah 11). This is what is written: \"Moses and Aaron among His priests etc.\" (Psalms 99:6). R' Berechyah said in the name of R' Simon: We learn from here: \"And the sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses and Miriam etc.... and Moses, the man of God, his sons were called etc.\" Moses was counted among the priests, \"And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses.\"",
"Until the Tabernacle was erected, He spoke to him (Moses) in the thornbush, as it says \"And God called to him from amid the thornbush.\" And He spoke to him in Midian, as it says \"And the Lord said to Moses in Midian.\" And He spoke to him in Egypt, as it says \"And it was on the day that the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt.\" And He spoke to him at Sinai, as it says \"And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses on the day that the Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai.\" [And He spoke to him] from the Tent of Meeting - \"How good are modesty and humility etc.\" [And He returned and spoke] from the Tent of Meeting: \"And the Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai etc.\" The Holy One, blessed be He, said: My glory, that I should speak from within, as it says \"And when Moses would come etc.\" (Exodus 34:34).",
"The Holy One, blessed be He, established three leaders for Israel, and these are they: Moses, Aaron and Miriam, as it says \"And I sent before you Moses, Aaron and Miriam.\" And in their merit the Israelites were sustained in the wilderness: the manna through the merit of Moses, as it says \"And He fed you the manna.\" Know that it was through the merit of Moses that it descended, for when Moses was gathered in, what does it say? \"And the manna ceased etc.\" (Joshua 5:12). Through the merit of Aaron, the Clouds of Glory, and know that when Aaron was gathered in, \"and the soul of the people grew impatient on the way\" (Numbers 21:4), because the sun beat down upon them (see end of Midrash on the Death of Aaron below). Through the merit of Miriam was the well, for when Miriam passed away, what does it say? \"And there was no water for the congregation etc.\" (Numbers 20:2). You have thus learned that through the merit of these three the Israelites were sustained - fortunate are they!",
"Moses and Aaron encamped from the east, as it says \"And those encamping before the Tabernacle\" (Numbers 3:38), and adjacent to them were three tribes: Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. And because they were adjacent to Moses and Aaron, they merited to be great in Torah, as it says \"The scepter shall not depart from Judah\" (Genesis 49:10), \"And from the children of Issachar, men who understand the times\" (I Chronicles 12:33), and similarly it says \"And from Zebulun they that handle the pen of the scribe\" (Judges 5:14), because they were neighbors of Torah, for there is no greater trait than Torah, as it says \"The Torah that Moses commanded us\" (Deuteronomy 33:4). Therefore it says \"And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses.\"",
"Another interpretation: This is what the verse says: \"Behold how good and how pleasant etc.\" (Psalms 133:1). And so you find that never were there brothers who loved each other like Moses and Aaron, as it says \"And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses etc.\" It teaches that most brothers hate each other: Cain hated Abel, as it says \"And Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him\" (Genesis 4:8). And Ishmael hated Isaac, as it says \"And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian laughing etc.\" (Genesis 21:9). And Esau hated Jacob, as it says \"And Esau said in his heart: 'The days of mourning for my father will draw near, and I will kill Jacob my brother'\" (Genesis 27:41). And similarly Abimelech killed his brothers, as it says \"And he came to his father's house, to Ophrah, and killed his brothers\" (Judges 9:5). And similarly Jehoram killed his brothers, as it says \"And Jehoram rose up...and killed all his brothers by the sword\" (II Chronicles 21:4). [It teaches that] brothers hate each other, but Moses and Aaron loved each other and cherished each other, and both were great and equal, as we read regarding \"And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses.\"",
"\"Your two breasts are like two fawns\" (Song of Songs 7:4) - this is Moses and Aaron, the majesty of Israel. Therefore it says \"And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses.\" Just as these breasts are the adornment of a woman, so Moses and Aaron are the majesty of Israel (Shir Hashirim Rabbah 4:12, Midrash Shmuel 15).",
"Another interpretation: \"Your two breasts\" - just as these breasts are the beauty of a woman, so Moses and Aaron are the beauty of Israel. Therefore it says \"And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses.\""
],
"Midrash on the Death of Aharon": [
"Midrash on the death of Aaron",
"",
"\"I lost the three shepherds in one month\" (Zecharia 11:8); and thus, in one month, Aaron, Miriam, and Moses died. Miriam died on the 1st of the month of Nisan, and the well closed up; and in the second of Nissan, Aaron's sons died; On the first of Av, Aaron died, and the clouds of glory dissipated; On the seventh of Adar Moses our teacher, and God's servant, died. Even though they didn't all die in the same month, it's considered as if it were one month. Each had a gift that they gave to the Israelites. By the merit of Miriam, God gave the well, by the merit of Aaron, the clouds of glory, By the merit of Moses, the Mana. When Miriam died, the well closed so the Israelites could see that it was by her merit that God granted them the well. Moses and Aaron bewailed her internally, and the Israelites did so publicly. Moses didn't know about the Israelites mourning until after six hours, when the Israelites came to them and said: \"how long will you sit and mourn?\" He said to them \"should I not continue to mourn my sister who has died.\" \"They said to him: \"just as you mourn for one soul, all the more so mourn for all of us.\" He said to them: \"why\" They said to him \"because we do not have water to drink.\" He stood and went and saw that there was no water in the well, and he began to argue with them, he said:\"did I not say to you that I can't carry this people on my own, did I not appoint for you officers for the thousands, and officers for the hundreds, and the fifties, and the twenties, I gave you officials, and chiefs, and great elders, and they are to busy themselves with your problems.\" They said to him: \"Everything is on you, for you are the one who brought us out of Egypt and brought us to this terrible place, if you give us water, everything will be fine, but if you don't, then we will stone you.\" When Moses heard this, he fled from them and went into the tent of meeting. God said to him \"Moses what is going on?\" Moses said before the Master of the World: \"your children want to stone me, and were I not to have fled, I would have already been stoned to death.\" God said said: \"how long will will you speak ill of my children, was it not enough for you that I told you at Horeb, just a little more and they will stone you. Now go and pass before them and see whether they will actually stone you, and it is said the Torah: \"God said to Moses, pass before the people.\" Moses went first and his cohort after him, and Moses didn't know which rock God had intended to give to them for bringing out water. The Israelites found a rock that was dripping, and they stood upon it. When Moses saw them standing on it, he turned around and said to God \"how long will you put our lives at risk?\" He said to them, \"until I bring water out of the rock.\" The Israelites said: \"give us water so that we can drink!\" Moses responded to them \"How long will you continue to rebel? Does a creation rebel against its creator? As such, you are rebelling against God. Moses said: \"God wants to give you water.\" The Israelites said: \"you are the prophet who shepherds us in the dessert and now you say you don't know which rock God intends you to bring water out of? Moses and Aaron gathered the people around a different rock, as it says in the Torah \"Moses and Aaron gathered the community at the face of the rock.\" Moses said to himself: \"If I command the rock to bring out water and it doesn't, I'll be embarrassed before the community, and they will say to me, 'Moses, where is your alleged wisdom.'\" At the very same moment Moses told the Israelites, \"you know that God can do miracles for you, and you know that miracles are beyond me. For when the knowledge of man is divinely inspired, it is not his own knowledge or wisdom. Moses brought down his staff upon the back of the rock, and he did so himself, as he spoke to the israelites , as it says in the Torah \"from this rock, we will bring you water.\" The rock began to fill itself to bring out water, and when Moses saw it, he lifted his arm again and struck the rock, as it says in the Torah \"he hit the rock twice with his staff.\" This time though, blood came out, as it says in the Psalms, \"yes, he hit the rock and the waters flowed (Psalm 78:20).\" It's a flow of blood, as we see from the laws of menstruation \"when a woman has a discharge of blood (Leviticus 15:25).\" Moses came and said to God \"the rock isn't bringing out water, only blood.\" God said to the rock: \"why are you only bringing out blood, and not water?\" The rock said \"Master of the Universe, why did Moses hit me?\" God then asked Moses, \"why did you hit the rock?\" Moses responded: \"In order to bring out water.\" God said: \"Did I tell you to hit the rock? Did I not tell you to speak to it with words?\" Moses responded: \"I did speak to it, but nothing came out!\" God responded \"did you not command all of Israel \"in justice you shall judge your people (Leviticus 19)? Thus, why didn't you judge the rock with justice? This is how I raised you in Egypt, as it says in scripture 'God fed him honey from the rock, (Deuteronomy 32:13).' It befits you to lead, and thus say to my children \"listen you rebels!\" Don't read \"rebels\" rather \"idiots\" shotim (also a hominem for drinkers). They are idiots, and you have your eyes open. A nation of idiots will not enter the land of Israel, as it says in the Torah \"you will not bring this community . . .\" Therefore God said to Moses, \"tell the rock to turn it's blood into water.\" It is thus written in scripture: \"who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flinty rock into a spring (Psalm 114:8).\" (Note this is a Psalm recited during Hallel on Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of the month). When they reached the beginning of the month, God said to Moses, \"your time has come to an end.\" Moses said before him, \"please God, let it not be soon.\" \"It is tomorrow\" responded God, thus Moses was distressed all day, for he didn't know when exactly his death would come. ...",
"Go now, and return to Aaron and tell him that the time has come for him to depart this world. It is also the time for all those who are at least 50 years old who you led for the duration of the Exodus. Get up, it is the time for the seventy elders, and those with the officials of Israel shall come with Eliezer and Aaron, and they shall gather at Moses's tent, and they asked about his welfare, and after that they will go to the Tent of Meeting. This is the order in which they should go: Moses in the middle, Aaron to his right, Eliezer to his left, and the Elders on either side, and all of Israel behind them, and then all of them should enter the Tent of Meeting. Aaron should sit to the right of Moses, who will sit at the head. Eliezer will be at his left and the officers behind them. And you will say to him: \"God decrees that Moses and Aaron will die.\" And God said to Moses: \"my servant Moses, in every part of my house you were faithful, you have been a great speaker, and but there is a great request that I must ask of you, and it's hard for me to ask. Moses asked: \"What's the request?\" God said: \"You need to gather your brother unto his people (bury your brother), for he will not enter the land that I have given to the Israelites, those who rebelled against my commandments at Merivah. Moses said: \"God, all is known and clear to you and your holy throne, for you are master of the world, and all of your creations that you created in this world, and by your hand they came to be, and by your hand you will do that which you will, but it is not apparent to me how you could ask me to tell my brother that he is going to die. My brother is greater than me, and how can I speak to him and tell him to go up to the mountain of Hor where he will die.\" God responded to Moses: \" do not tell him with words, rather take Aaron and Eliezer his son and bring them to the mountain of Hor, and there you will go up with them and speak to him softly and gently, but also in a way that he will understand what's going on. When the three of you are on the mountain, strip Aaron of his clothes, and dress Eliezer his son in them, and Aaron will be gathered unto his people, and die there. ",
"When Moses heard this, he was deeply troubled in his heart, and he didn't know what to do. He cried a great and mighty cry, until it was time was time to deliver the news to his brother Aaron that he would die. Moses was steadfast to act, and went with this brother Aaron to tell him of the matter. He went to the Tent of Meeting and found Aaron there. That very day, Moses taught the custom: sit and cry only until the crowing of the rooster. Moses called Elieer and said to him: \" go and get the elders and the officers, for God has told me of an important matter. They came and gathered at the tent of Aaron. Aaron stood and found Moses standing. Aaron said to Moses: \"my brother, why have you taught us this custom today?\" He said to him: God is revealing something that I must tell you.\" He said to him: \"Speak!\" He responded, \"not until we leave here.\" Moses stood and dressed Aaron with the eight vestiges of the priestly clothing within Aaron's tent. After that he left. Therefore it was added as a custom that day that one should sit and cry only until the crowing of the rooster.\" Aaron was placed in the along with Moses; to their right was Joshua, to their left, the elders. The officers were both here and there, and all of Israel was behind them. Because the Israelites saw Aaron with the same respect as Moses, they rejoiced a great rejoicing, and said that \"Aaron is ascending farther toward the spirit of God. Because they loved him, they all came out after him, and when they arrived at the tent of meeting, Aaron requested to enter the tent, but Moses wouldn't let him. Moses said to him: \"Let's go outside of the camp, for that is the intended direction.\" Aaron said to him: \"tell me what did God say to you?\" Moses responded: \"I'll tell you once we get to the mountain.\" Moses commanded the people (just as he did at Sinai, and just as Abraham did his lads on the way to Moriyah) stay here until we return to you, me, Aaron and Eliezer will go up to the top of the mountain, we will hear the word of God, and then we will return. The three of them went up. Moses wanted to say something to Aaron, but didn't know how, and didn't know what to say. Moses finally said: \"Aaron my brother, what are the appointed things that that God has given you?\" He responded: \"These\" He said: \"What?\" Aaron said: \"God has given me the altar, the table, upon which sits the bread of welcoming.\" Moses responded: \"These are the things that God has appointed to your hand, but now, God has something that he is asking of you.\" \"What is it\" Aaron asked? \"God has given you a light,\" said Moses. Aaron asked: \"What are you talking about, god has given more more than just a single light, God has given me seven (the lights of the menorah), and they are currently lit in the Tent of Meeting. Moses gave Aaron the sense that he was talking in parable, and that the candle of which he was referring, was really Aaron's soul. As it says in scripture: \"the soul of man is the light of God (Proverbs 20:27).\" Moses saw that Aaron still didn't understand the parable. He said to him \"in truth, you are called simple,\" as it says in scripture: \"and of Levi it is said, your Urim and Tumim (being read here is your light and your simpleness) are for a man of your faith.\" Immediatly, the cave opened at its mouth. Moses said: \"Aaron my brother, enter the cave.\" Aaron responded \"ok,\" and Moses request to strip Aaron of his clothing. Is it possible that when he stripped his clothing, he died naked, and was buried naked? God forbid! Rather, every high priest wears eight of the priestly garments, but the lower priests wear four. Aaron wore, eight, and Eliezer wore four. Moses only took four of Moses's clothes from Aaron and gave them to Eliezer to make him the high priest. Aaron still remained with four vestiges of clothing. They said to Eliezer, wait here until we leave, and Aaron and Moses entered. They saw a made bed and a set table with a menorah lit, and the angels of God standing on either side. Aaron said to Moses: \" my brother, how long will you hide from me what God has told you? You know that For you know that although God speaks to you first, God's mouth testifies on my behalf. Even now he is setting out to meet you, and he will be happy to see you. Why do you conceal the matter which the Holy One entrusted to you?even if it is about my death, I will accept it with joy. Moses said to him: \"Since you mentioned the subject of death, I will confirm your suspicion, and say that it is a matter of death which he spoke to me. I was afraid, however, to inform you of it. Your death is not like that of anyone else, for the ministering angels have come to carry you away. Aaron said to him: \"My brother Moses, why didn't you tell me in the presence of my Maker, my wife, and my children?\" Moses answered: \" My brother, do you not know that it is forty years since you made the calf and that you deserved to be killed then, but I stood in prayer and supplication before God, and God saved you from death, as it is written: \"Moreover, God was angry enough with Aaron to have destroyed him; so I also interceded (Deuteronomy 9:20). Is my death then going to be like your death? For when you die, you will have me to bury you, but when I die, I will not have my brother to bury me. When you die, your sons inherit your station, but when I die others will inherit my honor.\" Thus he comforted him with his words. "
]
},
"Divine Signs": [
"\"Book of Supreme Signs\": It is cited in the book \"Chag HaPesach\" by Rabbi Yaakov Kitzingen (Krakow, 5377). In the list of books by Rabbi Moshe David Oppenheim, there's a mention of the book \"Otot\" (Signs) that God showed to Ezra the Cohen. In the book \"Likkutei Shas\" by the Arizal, there's a reference to the \"Book of Letters\" which is the reasoning behind the images of letters (Rav Pe'alim 38). It seems that this is the \"Book of the Image\", see there."
],
"Otiot D'Rabbi Eliezer": [],
"Otiot D'Rabbi Akiva": [],
"Midrash on Job": [
"\"Midrash Job\": This is mentioned in the Yalkut Shimoni for Job, reference 997, and in \"Matnot Kehuna\" on Leviticus, chapter 96. God said to Job, \"You said 'a cloud vanishes and goes away', if a person goes to a painter and says, 'draw a likeness of my father', what would the painter say? 'Show me a portrait of him, and if not, I cannot make it.' I created man without any portrait, how much more so the dead [to revive them], for each one has the likeness of their image before Me in the heavens.\" The author of \"Rav Pe'alim\" states that Midrash Job is cited in Recanati's commentary on Genesis, and it says: \"Midrash Job - 'It was the day when he made a feast', as it's said 'his sons went and held a feast and Satan came', permission was granted for him to enter inside, similarly it's said 'sin crouches at the entrance', everything is from you, if you wish, its desire is for you, behold, it enters within you, and if you wish, you have dominion over it, see it and it will flee from you, so God said to all generations, if the evil inclination rules over a person, sin rules over him, if he rules over his inclination, he subdues it, sees it, and it flees from him, and the angel assigned to him reminds him of his virtues before his Creator.\" However, in the first print of Recanati's book (Venice 5433) this discourse does not appear. Excerpts from Midrash Job, from the commentary of Rabbi Yitzhak HaKohen of Kushta 4956, were printed in a collection of Midrashim by Wertheimer."
],
"Midrash on Lamentations": [
"Eikha Rabbah: A midrash (Jewish rabbinic literature) on the Book of Lamentations (Eikha). It is also called Eikha Rabati, Aggadat Eikha, or Midrash Kinot. In the Tosefta of Sukkah (chapter 8, section 1), it is referred to as Midrash Nechamot (Consolations). This midrash is divided into two parts. Part one consists of introductions organized based on the verse 'Eikha Yashva' (How she sits alone). In early editions, this section was called 'Ptiha DeChakimi' (Introduction of the Wise), named so because each discourse begins with 'Rabbi So-and-so \"Patach\" (opened)' and almost every introduction ends with the verse 'Eikha Yashva Badad' (How she sits alone). Often, the discourse ends with the statement, 'When they sinned, they were exiled, and when they were exiled, Jeremiah began to lament over them with \"Eikha\"'. There are 34 introductions, but they should be counted as 36 since in the second introduction two introductions were combined. This is evident in the statement, 'When they discarded the words of the Torah, Jeremiah began to lament over them with \"Eikha\"', which concludes the second introduction. From the phrase 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, consider' is an introduction on its own. However, because no specific Amora (Talmudic sage) stated it as in other introductions, the printers did not leave a space between them and combined it with the previous introduction. Similarly, in the 31st introduction that begins with 'Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai opened \"Evil, evil\"', and ends with 'When they sinned, they were exiled, etc.' includes a second introduction. It seems they were precise with the number 36, which is the gematria (numerical value) of \"Eikha\", as hinted by R' Shimon ben Pazi: 'The word \"Eikha\" has a gematria of 36, corresponding to the 36 karet (divine punishments) they were liable for, as indicated by \"Eikha\"'. Also in Eikha Rabbah (chapter 1, section 1), 'Israel was not exiled until they violated the 36 karet in the Torah, as indicated by \"Eikha\"'. The second part is the main body of the midrash, divided into five chapters like the Book of Lamentations. It includes a collection of interpretations and discourses on each verse (except for a few verses that were not interpreted). It contains many stories, parables, and tales from the wisdom of the Men of Athens, known in the Talmud as 'The Elders of Athens' (Bekhorot 8a)Eicha Rabbah is one of the earlier Midrashim. Zunz placed it after Bereishit Rabbah and before Vayikra Rabbah, and estimates it was completed and fully compiled in the 7th century CE. But Buber dates it to the 4th century, for in his opinion Eicha Rabbah was composed in the Land of Israel after the Yerushalmi Talmud was compiled and before the Bavli Talmud, since the story about the Sages of Athens in the Bavli is later than the story of the Athenians in Eicha Rabbah.",
"According to Rabbi S. Buber, the introductions [to Midrash Eikhah] were composed at a later time than when the body of the Midrash was compiled, and the compiler of the introductions had already seen Midrash Eikhah and made use of it (see Buber's Introduction p. 4). The first three introductions were taken from Pesikta deRav Kahana, ed. Buber, and some other passages from this Pesikta were repeated in later introductions. Midrash Eikhah is one of the early Midrashim, and Zunz placed it chronologically after Genesis Rabbah but before Leviticus Rabbah. He estimates that Midrash Eikhah was completed and compiled entirely in the 7th century CE (around 4000 AM). But Buber dates it earlier, to the 4th century, because in his view Midrash Eikhah was composed in the Land of Israel after the completion of the Jerusalem Talmud and before the Babylonian Talmud, since the story of Abba deBei Atonia in the Bavli is later than the story of the Men of Atonia in Midrash Eikhah (see Rapoport's entry for \"Words\" under \"Atonia\").",
"Bar Goldburg in \"Carmel\" (Year 2, p. 179) testifies to an error in Midrash Eikhah regarding \"The Lord has swallowed up and has not pitied;\" that eighty priestly brothers married eighty priestly sisters in one night, \"they hanged them on one vine.\" But in the Jerusalem Talmud (Ta'anit 4:8) it says that eighty pairs of priestly brothers married eighty pairs of priestly sisters in \"the same body,\" etc. And in the Babylonian Talmud (Berakhot 44b) there was a city in the Land of Israel called Gophna, where there were eighty pairs of priestly brothers married to eighty pairs of priestly sisters, etc. The copyist in the Midrash made a mistake in copying \"in the same body\" as \"in one vine,\" and added the word \"they hanged\" - that is, they hanged the priests on one vine. But in fact Gophna is a known city in the Land of Israel (see R. Buber's footnote p. 108).",
"\"The Midrash Eicha Rabbah was first printed in the Five Scrolls in Pisa in the year 1519 (in Hebrew, רע\"ט), followed by prints in Constantinople in 1586 (רמ\"פ), in Venice in 1605 (ש\"ה), and with the commentary of M\"C in Thessaloniki in 1594 (שנ\"ד). It was then printed many times after. In 1899 (רמ\"ש), Buber published the Midrash Eicha Rabbah based on a manuscript in the British Museum in London, complete with an introduction, annotations, and corrections, in Vilna. This edition differs from the Eicha Rabbah of the first prints. He also published the smaller Midrash on the Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, and Ecclesiastes in Berlin in 1895 (תרנ\"ה). See also 'Eicha Rabbati' in the 'Otzar Yisrael'.\"\n"
],
"Midrash Al Yit'hallel": {
"Introduction": [],
"": [
[
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"...\"Let not the rich person glorify themselves with their wealth (Yirm 9:22).\" This [refers to] Korach the Levite, who had three hundred mules just to carry the load of the keys to his hidden storehouses. His wealth was so much the more so, wondrous and vast. Where did he get all this? It was the money that Yosef had collected in Egypt [in return for distributing the stored grain during the seven years of famine], which had filled three towers. Each tower was a hundred amot [about 180 feet] deep and a hundred amot wide. As soon as Korach found one of these towers, he became proud of his wealth. Another one was found by Antiochus, and the third is hidden for the World to Come. The origin of Korach's dispute was a widow who had a single ewe. When she came to shear it [for the first time], Aharon heard and took the wool. She went to Korach and wept before him, telling him, \"This and this has Aharon done to me.\" Korach came by Aharon and said to him, \"What have you done by this widow, to take her wool?\" Aharon said to him, \"It is mine according to the Torah, for as it says, 'the premier-part of the shearing of your sheep you are to give him' (Dev 18:4).\" So Korach took four silver [coins] and gave [them] to her. The days [passed] and the ewe gave birth to its first-born. Aharon heard and took the lamb. She went and wept before Korach. Korach said to Aharon, \"What is it for you and for this widow, to take the son of the ewe?\" He said to him, \"It is mine according to the Torah, for as it says, 'every firstling that is born in your flock and in your herd, the male-one, you are to hallow to ha-Shem your God' (Dev 15:19).\" Korach went to him, full of anger. When the widow saw this, she sent and slaughtered the ewe. Aharon heard, and came and book the shankbone, the jawbone, and the rough-stomach. Korach said to him, \"What is it for you, by this widow?\" He said to him, \"They are mine according to the Torah, for as it says, 'the priest is to be given the shankbone, the jawbone, and the rough-stomach' (Dev 18:3).\" When the widow saw this, she stood and specially-devoted the meat. Aharon heard and took the meat. Korach said to him, \"It wasn't enough, everything that you took from her? Now even the meat?\" He said to him, \"It is mine according to the Torah, for as it says, 'everything specially-devoted in Israel -- it is for you' (Bam 18:14, Parshat Korach).\" He [Korach] said to him [Moshe], \"Why have you, son of Amram, established authority over us, and been raised up over us?\" Moshe said to him, \"Unto the morrow, judgement.\" In the morning, Korach had gathered to him 250 men with [fire-]pans and smoking-incense. Immediately Moshe stood before the Holy One of Blessing and said, \"Multiplier of Universes, is this prophecy you have sent me true?\" Ha-Shem replied to him, \"It is true. And now you will see what I will do to Korach, and why his name is called Korach. For in his days, there will be made baldness in Israel.\" Immediately the Holy One of Blessing instructed the ground and it swallowed them [Korach and his followers] up to their navels. Korach cried out and said, \"Moshe! Have mercy on us!\" Moshe said to them, \"'Too much is yours, Sons of Levi!' (Bam 15:7).\" Immediately they were swallowed up [by the earth], and the rest were burned up [by fire]. Those that were swallowed [by the earth] reasoned that they would never rise up [again]. Until Hannah came and prophesied for them, as it [the song of Hannah] says, 'ha-Shem brings death and gives life, lowers to Sheol and raises up (Shmuel I 2:6).' But in all this they didn't believe, until the Beit ha-Mikdash destroyed. [For the earth] swallowed the gates of the Beit ha-Mikdash, and they [the gates] came by Korach and he grabbed hold of them. They [Korach and his followers] said, \"When these gates rise up, so too we will be brought up with them.\" [ed. Jellinek: And they were appointed the guardians, or, those who carried out the observances, over the gates until they rise up.] Therefore we say, 'Let not the rich person glorify themselves with their wealth,' for all wealth belongs to the Holy One of Blessing. As it says, 'Mine is the silver and mine is the gold -- the word of ha-Shem, Master of Legions (Hag 2:8). And it says, 'One who pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor (Mish 21:21).'"
],
[
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"\"Let not the rich person glorify themselves with their wealth (Yirm 9:22).\" This [refers to] Korach the Levite, who had three hundred mules just to carry the load of the keys to his hidden storehouses. His wealth was so much the more so, wondrous and vast. Where did he get all this money? From the money that Yosef the Righteous had collected in Egypt [in return for distributing the stored grain during the seven years of famine], which had filled three towers. Each tower was a hundred amot [about 180 feet] deep, a hundred amot wide, and one hundred amot inside. Yosef gave them all to the house of Pharaoh, and did not give his children even five silver [coins]. For what reason? Because he proceeded faithfully, as it says (Ber 47:14), \"Yosef brought the silver into Pharaoh's house.\" When Korach found one of these towers, he became proud of his wealth. Another one was found by Antoninus, and the third is hidden for the World to Come. What was the origin of Korach's dispute with Moshe and with Aharon? It was for the sake of a particular widow who had a single ewe. When she came to shear it [for the first time], Aharon heard and took the wool. She went to Korach and cried out and wept, telling him, \"This and this has Aharon done to me.\" Korach came by Aharon and said to him, \"What is it with you and this widow, that poor woman? Return to her her wool!\" Aharon said to him, \"It is mine according to the Torah, for as it says, 'the premier-part of the shearing of your sheep you are to give him' (Dev 18:4).\" What did Korach do? He took four silver [coins] and gave [them] to her. She went off, and Korach went full of anger. The days [passed] and the ewe gave birth to a [first-born] male. Aharon heard and took the lamb. She went before Korach, crying out and weeping. Korach said to Aharon, \"What is it with you and the poor woman, this widow?\" He said to him, \"It is mine according to the Torah, for as it says, 'every firstling that is born in your flock and in your herd, the male-one, you are to hallow to ha-Shem your God' (Dev 15:19).\" Korach went on his way, full of anger. When the widow saw this, she went and slaughtered the ewe. Aharon heard, and came and took the shankbone, the jawbone, and the rough-stomach. Korach said to him, \"What is it with you and this widow?\" He said to him, \"They are mine according to the Torah, for as it says, 'the priest is to be given the shankbone, the jawbone, and the rough-stomach' (Dev 18:3).\" And Korach went, full of anger. When the widow saw this, she stood and made an oath, saying the meat of this ewe is set-aside for me. Aharon heard and took all the meat, as it says, 'everything specially-devoted in Israel -- it is for you' (Bam 18:14, Parshat Korach).\" He [Korach] said to him [Moshe], \"Why should you, son of Amram, establish authority over us?\" [not in ed. Jellinek: 'Should you pluck out the eyes of these men, we will not come up.' They said this verse specifically against Moshe and Aharon.] Moshe said to him, \"To the morrow, judgement.\" In the morning, Korach had gathered to him 250 men (and alongside Moshe and Aharon, all the prophets), these with their fire pans, these offering sacrifices and these burning incense. Immediately Moshe Rabbeinu stood in prayer before ha-Shem and said, \"Multiplier of Universes, is this prophecy you have sent us true?\" Ha-Shem replied to him, \"It is true. And you will see what I will do to Korach.\" This is why he was named Korach -- for in his days, 'a void was created in Israel' (Sanhedrin 109b). Moshe said further before the Holy One of Blessing, \"If these die as all people do, if their lot be the common fate of all humanity, ha-Shem did not send me (Bam 16:29).\" The Holy One of Blessing said to Moshe, \"You have rejected a major principle of faith\" (Passover Haggadah, Maggid, Four Children; and Yer. Sanhedrin 10:1, 50a). Moshe said before the Holy One of Blessing, \"Multiplier of Universes, 'if ha-Shem creates a new creation...' (Bam 16:30). The Holy One of Blessing said to him, \"I will do according to your will.\" Immediately the Holy One of Blessing hinted to the ground and it swallowed them [Korach and his followers] up to their navels. Korach and all his household cried out and said, \"Moshe! Moshe! Have mercy on us!\" Moshe said to them, \"'Too much is yours, Sons of Levi!' (Bam 16:7).\" Immediately they were swallowed up [by the earth], and the rest were burned up [by fire], as it says, 'so they went down, they and all theirs, alive, into Sheol; the earth covered them (Bam 16:33).' And it is written, 'fire went out from before the presence of ha-Shem and consumed the fifty and two hundred men, those who had brought-near the incense.' Those that descended below the earth remained there. And they reasoned that they would never rise up [again]. Until Hannah came and prophesied for them, as it [the song of Hannah] says, 'ha-Shem brings death and gives life, lowers to Sheol and raises up' (Shmuel I 2:6). But with all this, they didn't believe that they would rise again, until the Beit ha-Mikdash was destroyed and the gates of the Beit ha-Mikdash were swallowed up, as it says, 'her gates have sunk into the ground' (Eichah 2:9). They [the gates] came by Korach and he grabbed hold of them. Immediately they believed and said, \"When these gates rise up, so too will we rise up with them.\" And they were appointed the guardians [or, those who carried out the observances] over those gates until they rise up. Thus was Korach and his wealth obliterated from among the community. Therefore it says, 'Do not praise the wealthy for their wealth,' for all wealth belongs to the Holy One of Blessing. As it says, 'Mine is the silver and mine is the gold -- the word of ha-Shem, Master of Legions' (Hag 2:8). [ed. Jellinek: And it says, 'One who pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor' (Mish 21:21).] "
]
]
},
"Eldad HaDani": {
"Introduction": [],
"The Book of Eldad HaDani, Story 1": [
"Book of Eldad the Danite",
"A Question and Answer between the People of Kairouan and Rabbi Zemach Gaon",
"[Epstein, Eldad the Danite, Story I]",
"Before the chariot of Israel and its horsemen, the right hand pillar, the strong hammer, the champion among shepherds, the head of the warriors, armed and sent forth in the war of Torah, girded and equipped with every instrument of splendor to discern and contemplate the Book of the War of the Lord, to detail and explain its secrets, to decode the mysteries of its wonders, to unveil and proclaim the depths of its strategies, and to expound the hidden aspects of its matters to understand its taste and to clarify its interpretations, to open eyes blind from their sockets, to release those locked within their confinements, to open hearts sealed in their closures, to set matters straight on their foundations, saying each word in its own right, and he is our master, the light of our eyes, the glory and splendor of our majesty, the crown of our head, the diadem of our splendor, our champion and victor, our master, the great Rabbi Zemach the Exilarch, son of Jacob. May it be the will before the Lord of Lords to add days to the life of our master, to elevate and bless him, to improve his stock and to cause his offspring to flourish, to sweeten their root, to make his flower blossom, to bring his blooms to bud, to crown his presence with splendor, to enrich and to perfect him, and to make his offspring successful, to bring forth shoots like thousands and like our master, for our master is the ornament and the praise of Israel, the stretched-out arm to the congregation of Israel, the staff of Israel and their crown of beauty, and not for us alone who are scattered but for the tribes beyond the river of Ethiopia, for they eat the bread of our master and drink his waters.",
"Let it be known to our master that a man stayed among us, his name is Eldad the Danite, of the tribe of Dan, and he told us that there are four tribes in one place: Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher; the name of the place is ancient Havilah where the gold is. And they have a judge, his name is Obdon, and they judge with the four capital punishments of the court, and they live in tents, traveling and encamping from place to place, and they wage war with the seven kings of Ethiopia (text should read 'five'), and it takes seven months to traverse their land. However, five hundred of those kings surround them from behind and on both sides and they wage war with them continuously, and whoever is fainthearted among them, they give over to the inheritance of the Lord (to the wise as teachers).",
"Their entire scripture is complete, and they do not read from the Megillah of Esther because they did not experience that miracle, nor from the Megillah of Lamentations so as not to break their hearts, and all of their Talmud does not mention any sage except for \"Joshua said from the mouth of Moses from the mouth of the Almighty.\"",
"And every strong man among them is given an allotment of the war, and they do not move from their work, and when they go out [to battle], they do not go out mixed. The warriors of Dan have a known three months pursuing their warfare on their horses and do not dismount from them all week, and on the eve of the Sabbath, they disembark wherever they are, and their horses stand in their armor. If enemies do not come upon them, they observe the Sabbath properly, and if enemies do come upon them, they go out with all their armor and kill many of them as the war power of God is upon them. And there are among them some mighty ones, sons of Samson from Delilah (nowhere mentioned that Samson had children and in Sotah 10a it teaches that every man brought his wife to the prison so that she might conceive from him), and they run to meet them for war, and the smallest among them will pursue many of them, and the voice raising of each one is with a voice of answer of strength like the voice of a lion, and he will loudly call out: \"To the LORD belongs salvation; upon Your people be Your blessing, Selah.\" And they stand in war until they complete three months, and at the end of the three months, they come with all the spoil to King Adiel (in other sources it is written \"Azriel\" son of Malkiel or son of Michael) and he divides everything equally among all of Israel. And when the king receives his portion, he gives it to the wise, those who study Torah, and whoever is worthy to receive a portion, they give him a portion (meaning those who are not entitled to a portion others take their share, they distribute it to other worthy individuals). And so it is with Gad and Asher and Naphtali until the completion of twelve months, and they return.",
"And they do not speak any language other than the Holy Tongue alone, and this Eldad the Danite, even a single word he does not understand, neither in the language of Cush nor in the language of Ishmael but only the Holy Tongue alone. And in the Holy Tongue that he speaks, there are words that we have never heard before, such as for a dove he calls 'tinthera,' for a bird he calls 'reqot,' dialectical pilpul called 'dramosh'—like these we wrote many from his mouth, as we would show him an object and he would tell us its name in the Holy Tongue, which we do not write, and after days we asked him again on each thing, and we found him consistent with his original word.",
"Their Talmud in the Holy Tongue is immaculate, and it does not mention any sage, neither from the Mishnaic nor the Talmudic authorities, but rather thus it says in every legal ruling: \"So we learned from the mouth of Joshua from the mouth of Moses from the mouth of the Almighty.\" And it seems that even in the matters of prohibited and permitted, we saw that it is one Torah, though they make some changes. And we had to explain to our master these words that we wrote some of their Talmud, because there is a great astonishment in it, and because our master will look into it, etc. [Here the people of Kairouan bring the halakhic rulings of Eldad, see Epstein Eldad the Danite page 83 and in the Otzar Yisrael, entry for Eldad the Danite].",
"And he also told us, when the Temple was destroyed, Israel went up to Babylon, the Chaldeans stood over the sons of Moses and said to them, \"Sing for us the songs of Zion,\" the sons of Moses stood and cried in tears before the Holy One, blessed be He, and they bit their fingers with their teeth to say, \"The fingers that used to play in the Temple, how can we strike with them in an unclean land?\" And a cloud came and took them with their tents and their sheep and their cattle, and brought them to Havilah and dropped them there at night (see Pesikta Rabbati page 144 the edition of Ish Shalom, Jerusalem Talmud Sanhedrin chapter 1, verse 5, and Midrash Eichah Rabbati chapter 3). And they also told us, our fathers told us and our fathers from their fathers that they heard on that night a great noise and in the morning saw a large and heavy camp, and it turned for them the river that rolls stones and sand in a place where there was previously no river, and that river still rolls stones and sand without water with a great noise and a loud voice, that if it hit a mountain of iron it would shatter it. And the river rolls the stones and sand all six days of the week without any drop of water, and on the Sabbath it rests. And at the time of the Friday twilight between the sunsets, a cloud descends upon it, and no one can approach it until after the Sabbath, and its name is Sambation and we call it Sevtinu (or Sanbation), and there are places in the river that are not wider than sixty cubits, and they stand on one side and we stand on this one, and tell each other stories. And they are forbidden (see Jerusalem Talmud there, and Targum Yonatan to Exodus 34), since the river encircles them, and we cannot enter among them, nor can they come out from there.",
"And among them, there are no evil beasts or unclean animals, nor detestable things or crawling creatures, only their sheep and their cattle; and they plow and sow and ask each other questions. And they tell them about the destruction of the Temple, and the sons of Dan did not know anything about it. However, after the destruction of the Second Temple (text should read 'First Temple'), Naphtali, Gad, and Asher came to Dan, because initially, they were living with Issachar in their cities, and they were quarreling with them, as they were saying to them, \"You are children of the maidservants,\" and they feared that these would not provoke a war among them, and they traveled and went until they reached Dan and became four tribes in one place.",
"[And here is the response that Rabbi Zemach Gaon Jacob returned to the words of the people of Kairouan who asked about the affairs of Eldad the Danite and the changes in his Talmud:]",
"Regarding Rabbi Eldad the Danite you sent to us and that you heard from him, our sages told us that they heard from Rabbeinu Yitzhak son of Mar and Rabbeinu Simcha that they saw this Rabbi Eldad the Danite and were astonished at his words, as some of them seemed like our own Sages' words, and some were extraordinary.",
"In discussing this matter, we found verses that support our Sages that when Sennacherib rose and exiled the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali in the eighth year of King Ahaz, and from the foundation of the Temple until the eighth year of Ahaz was almost 64 years. And since the sons of Dan saw that they were mighty warriors and the king of Assyria began to rule over Israel, they left the land of Israel for Cush and encamped there, it being a land of gardens and orchards, fields and vineyards, a land spacious of frontiers and filled with all good things, and they set their hearts to worship the Lord in reverence and to do all His commandments in love, and it availed them that they were crowned with two crowns, in Torah and kingdom, as related by this Rabbi Eldad the Danite.",
"And our Rabbis say that Israel experienced ten exiles (see Midrash on the Ten Exiles), four by Sennacherib and four by Nebuchadnezzar, and one by Vespasian and one by Hadrian, and the tribe of Dan is not mentioned in any of the exiles, because they went to Cush on their own before the destruction by about 265 years. It seems there is no flaw in this matter, perhaps Dan did not travel until the third exile (according to Epstein's view, Rabbi Zemach tries to reconcile the difference between our Sages and Eldad, who say that Dan went to Cush in the days of Assyria (Midrash Rabba 22, and Midrash Konen) and Eldad who says he left there already in the days of Jeroboam, and therefore Rabbi Zemach says I do not see any flaw in this matter, perhaps Dan did not travel until the third exile, and perhaps they forgot the time of their departure from the land of Israel).",
"And Rabbi Eldad says they judge with the four forms of execution: stoning, burning, slaying, and strangulation. Astutely, our Sages expounded and said every death prescribed in the Torah is really strangulation (Sanhedrin 52b).",
"And that the sons of Moses are with them and the river Sambatyon encircles them—true he said, as thus do our Sages say in the Midrash that Nebuchadnezzar exiled the Levites, sons of Moses, totaling 600,000, and when they reached the rivers of Babylon, they and their harps experienced what Rabbi Eldad recounted to you.",
"And prior to our fathers' entrance to the land of Canaan, they engaged in wars and forgot the teaching they had taken from Moses' mouth (text should read 'from Joshua'), and even about Joshua of blessed memory, it was said that he encountered doubts after Moses' death (Tractate Temura 14:), and among all the tribes that were in the whole land, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin held fast to the Torah above all.",
"And do not wonder about the variation and change that you heard from Eldad's mouth; for the sages of Babylon and the sages of the land of Israel have differences in a single teaching with much precision, and they neither subtract nor add, and sometimes these students say one reason and those another, like two scholars sitting to understand a scripture or a Mishnah, this one sees one reason, and that one sees another. And even regarding scripture which is fixed in the text, there is variation between Babylon and the land of Israel in the absences and additions, in the open and closed [texts], in the musical accent divisions, and in the traditions of dividing the verses. And how much more so the Mishnah which is an intricate matter, profound, profound, who can discover it. And it is plausible to say that this Eldad made a mistake and confused things because of the abundant troubles he had been through and the weariness of the journey that wears the body down. But the Mishnah Torah is one, to it we shall not add nor from it shall we take away, and you shall not find change, neither a substantial nor a minor change, except in the Talmud. For the people of Babylon recite it in the Aramaic tongue and the children of the land of Israel in the translation tongue (Targum). And the sages who were exiled to Cush interpreted the Talmud in the Holy Tongue which they recognize. And the reason it does not contain the name of any sage is because every Mishnah that Israel discussed in the Temple was anonymous and did not bear the name of any sage. And the Torah is one, whether in the Mishnah or Talmud, and they all drink from one source, and it is not proper to interpret every matter, for it is said: \"It is the glory of God to conceal a matter\" (Proverbs 25).",
"And that Eldad said that they pray first for the sages of Babylon and then for all the exiles, rightly they do, because the principal sages and prophets were exiled to Babylon, and they established the Torah and founded a yeshiva by the Euphrates from the days of Jehoiachin king of Judah to this day. And they were the chain of wisdom and prophecy, and from them the law for all the people emanates. And we have already informed you that they all drink from one source, and be strengthened by what the sages expound to you and the Talmud they have taught you, and do not deviate right or left from all their words, as it is written: \"According to the law [Torah] which they instruct you and according to the judgment they tell you, you shall do\" (Deuteronomy 17)."
],
"The Book of Eldad HaDani, Story 2": [
"Story of Eldad the Danite, Narrative B",
"",
"In the name of the LORD God of Israel, blessed be His name, of our God the King, King of kings, Who chose Israel from among all nations and granted unto us the law of truth and planted everlasting life in our midst, statutes upright and life therein; and ye, our brethren, children of the exile, be strong and let your hearts be of good courage to keep the commandments of our God in their season, for as long as Israel doeth the will of the Omnipresent, no nation nor language doth prevail over them. And peace be unto you, our brethren, children of the exile, and peace unto Jerusalem, our glory's city, place of our God's abode Who doeth wonders among the nations, and place set before the Holy of Holies; and peace unto all the elders of Israel and the craftsmen of the Lord's Torah and its interpreters, its priests and levites, unto all tribes of Israel and Judah, both great and small. May God strengthen your hearts in the LORD our God and in the truth's prophet, Moses our teacher, the righteous servant of the LORD.",
"[And now we will narrate to our brothers, the tribes of Jeshurun, about the matter of Eldad the Danite who doth tell all this, of how his egress happened throughout all the lands, for he is a noble of the tribe of Dan, and the LORD wrought a great miracle with him and delivered him from several places, and many troubles were overcome by him to go out to these lands to tell all the children of Israel dispersed in exile his matters and the matter of our land, to announce comfort unto them and to speak good words unto their hearts] (This is like an introduction to the following narrative, and the enclosed text is the note of the transcribing scribe. And Eldad wrote this narrative for the Jew of Spain who he went unto them to ask for their support).",
"Thus was my departure beyond the rivers of Kush. A certain Jew from the tribe of Asher and I entered a small ship [to trade] with the seafarers and it happened at midnight, that the LORD sent forth a great and mighty wind and the ship was rent in sunder, and by God's providence, I caught hold of a timber plank, and when my companion saw such, he also grasped with me upon the same plank, and we went up and down upon it until the sea cast us unto a certain nation, whose name is Romranos (or Romrom in the kingdom of Kush), and they are black Kushites of stature, unclothed and unwrapped, for like the beasts are they compared, and they eat human flesh. When we came to their land, they laid hold on us, and seeing my comrade healthy and plump and delicate, they slaughtered and did eat him, and he cried out, woe unto me that I have encountered this nation for the Kushites will eat my flesh, and they took me for I was sick upon the ship and put me in a collar until I would become fat and healthy, and they brought before me all manner of goodly forbidden foods, yet did I not eat a thing, and I did conceal my eating, and they would ask if I had eaten and I would say yea, I did eat. ",
"And I was with them a long time until Hashem performed a miracle with me, and a great army from another place came unto them, and took them captive and spoiled them and slew them, and took me with them among the captives. And those wicked ones worshipped fire and I dwelt with them four years, and they made a great fire every morning and burnt and bowed down to it, until once they brought me unto the city of Atzitz (or Atzin, Tzin, Altzin, near the author of the Kuzari part B, chapter 19).",
"And there found me a certain Jew a merchant from the tribe of Issachar and bought me for thirty-two gold pieces and returned with me to his land. And they are those in the mountains of Tehom (the mountains near the sea, for Tehom in Arabic is the land near the sea), and they are underneath the land of Medes and Persians and they keep this verse: \"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth\" (Joshua 1:8), and they have no yoke of kingdom but the yoke of Torah, and with them are chiefs of armies but they war not with men but with Torah, and they are in solace and tranquility and there is no Satan nor evil occurrence, and they make journey of ten days upon ten days, and they have very many flocks and camels and donkeys and slaves and they raise not horses, and they have no weapon of war save slaughter knife. And also they have no oppression nor robbery, and even if they find on the way garments or money they will not stretch forth their hand to take, and near them are wicked fire worshippers and they take their aunts and sisters to wife, but they harm them not and doth not help (aid) them. And they have a judge and I enquired of him and they told me his name is Nahshon, and they have four capital punishments of the court and they speak in the holy tongue and in Persian.",
"And the children of Zebulun are camped in the mountains of Paran (another version \"Pariyan\" and see the note from Epstein there), and they reach their [the children of Issachar's] neighborhood, and they plant tents of hair which come unto them from the land of Armenia, and they reach unto the river Euphrates and are engaged in commerce. And they have four capital punishments of court according to their fashion.",
"And the tribe of Reuben is opposite them behind the mountain of Paran, and there is peace between them and brotherhood and companionship. And these (the aforementioned tribes) go together to war and rob (plunder) the ways, and all their spoil together they divide and they go by the way of the kings of Medes and Persians, and they speak in the holy tongue and in Persian, and with them are Scripture and Mishna and Talmud and Aggadah, and every Sabbath they open the reasons of Torah in the holy language and the explanations in Persian.",
"And the tribe of Ephraim and half the tribe of Manasseh are there in the mountains opposite the land of \"Makkah\" an error of the Ishmaelites, and they are those of sullen soul and faint heart, owners of horses and robbers of the ways and they spare not their enemies and they have no livelihood save from the spoil, and they are those strong in war and one of them will go out against a thousand.",
"And the tribe of Simeon and half the tribe of Manasseh are in the land of the Chaldeans (in other narratives \"Kadraim\" or \"Kuzarim\") far away six months, and they are those most numerous of all and they take tribute from twenty-five kingdoms and some of the Ishmaelites pay tribute.",
"And we say in our land that it is a tradition in our hands that you children of the exile, the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, under the faith of idolatry in the impure land, are scattered under Rome, who destroyed the house of our God, and the Greeks and the Ishmaelites, their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.",
"And we have a tradition from man to man that we the tribe of Dan in the beginning were dwellers of tents in the land of Israel, and there was in all the tribes of Israel no warriors of strength like us. And when Jeroboam the son of Nebat stood up, who made Israel sin and he made two golden calves, the kingdom of the house of David was split and the tribes gathered and said, rise up and fight against Rehoboam and against Jerusalem, they said to him why should we fight with our brothers and with the son of our lord David, king of Israel and Judah, God forbid and God forbid! In that hour the elders of Israel said thou hast not in all the tribes of Israel like the tribe of Dan, warriors. Immediately they said to the children of Dan, rise up and fight with the children of Judah. They said unto him by the life of the head of Dan our father we will not make war with our brothers and we will not spill their blood. Immediately the children of Dan took swords and spears and bows and gave themselves to die to go forth from the land of Israel, for we saw that we could not stand. Let us go now and find for us rest and place, and if we wait until the end they will lead us away. And they set their mind and counseled to go to Egypt to destroy it and to slay all its inhabitants. Our princes said unto us, and is it not written \"Ye have seen Egypt no more again forever\" (Exodus 14), and how shall you prosper? They said we will go against Edom or Ammon and Moab to annihilate them and we will dwell in their place. Our princes said it is written in the Torah that the Holy One, blessed be He, prevented Israel from crossing their border. At last they gave advice to go to Egypt and not by the road which our fathers went and also not to destroy but to pass over the river Pishon (Nile) to the land of Kush. And it happened that we came close to Egypt and all of Egypt were shaken and they sent unto us whether for war or for peace? And we said unto them peace! We will pass through your land to the river Pishon, for there shall we find a resting place. And it happened that they believed not and all Egypt stood on their watch until we crossed their land and we reached the land of Kush, and we found it a good land and fat, and therein fields and vineyards, gardens and orchards. And the children of Dan were not prevented from dwelling with them for with force they took the land. And it happened that they wanted to kill everyone and they became tributaries under Israel and dwelt with them many years until they were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly and we had great wealth.",
"And thereafter Sennacherib king of Assyria came up and exiled Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh and brought them to Halah and Habor, and the river of Gozan (1 Chronicles 5:26). And again Sennacherib came up a second time and exiled the tribe of Asher and the tribe of Naphtali and brought them to the land of Assyria (2 Kings 15:29). And after the death of Sennacherib the three tribes of Israel, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher went to the land of Kush, and they journeyed and camped in the wilderness until they came to their border and they slew of the men of Kush the journey of twenty days, and they fight to this day with the sons of the kingdoms of Kush.",
"And these four tribes, Dan and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher, are camped in ancient Havilah where there is gold (and they are in good places and established in the kingdom of Pharaoh, government of Hauran, and they trust in their Creator first and God with their help. And these tribes place their hand upon the neck of their enemies, and every year they make war with seven kingdoms and seven lands. And the names of these lands are Thausena and Kamtav and Kovav and Triaugi and Takul and Karmav and Kaalum (with variations in other narratives) and they are beyond the rivers of Kush. And these four tribes, they have gold and silver and precious stones, many sheep and cattle and camels and donkeys, and they sow and reap and dwell in tents. And whenever they wish they journey and camp with their tents from border to border a journey of two days upon two days, and in the place where they encamp there is no place that a foot may enter and they encamp only in fields and vineyards).",
"And the name of their king is Uzziel, and the name of the great prince is Elizaphan of the sons of Ahliab of the tribe of Dan, and his flag is white written in black: Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD. And at the time when he desires to go out to war, the trumpeter shall cry aloud with the trumpet and the army chief shall come and the troops shall go forth one hundred twenty thousand small white flags. And every month (should read three months), one tribe goes out to war and the tribe stands outside for three months, and all that they bring from the spoil of their enemies they divide with their tribe. And they are of the sons of Samson of the tribe of Dan over all, not at all shall they flee for it is a great shame unto them, and they are as the sand of the sea now and they have no occupation but war, and when they fight they shall say, it is not good for the warrior to flee, let the young die and not flee, let his heart be strong unto the LORD, and they shall say many times and all shall cry out together, Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD, and then they shall all be guarded.",
"And thus they do until the three months are complete and they return, and they bring all the spoil to king Uzziel and he divides it all with all Israel. And this is the ordinance for them from king David until this day. And king Uzziel takes his portion and the king gives to all the wise Torah scholars dwellers of tents their portion and thereafter all take their portion and the prince over the war. And thus they do in three months Issachar goes out, in three months Naphtali goes out, and so all of them until a year is completed and they return God forbid.",
"And yet another tribe of Moses our teacher of blessed memory, the righteous servant of the LORD, and they are called in our midst the tribe of Janus because they fled from idolatry and clung unto the fear of the LORD. And the sea surrounds them from a three months' journey upon three months' journey and they dwell in splendid houses and in elegant buildings and they prepare for themselves towers and in the time when they rejoice they ride upon the elephant, and with them there is no unclean thing, nor unclean bird nor unclean beast nor unclean cattle, nor flies nor fleas nor lice nor foxes nor scorpions nor snakes nor dogs, for all this came out of idolatry which they served in the land, except the sheep and cattle and fowl. And their sheep give birth twice a year, and also their seed they sow twice a year, and they sow and reap, and they have gardens and orchards and olive trees and pomegranates and figs and all kinds of legumes and melons and squash and onions and garlic and barley and wheat and from each comes forth a hundred [stalks].",
"And they are men of faith, and their Talmud is entirely in the holy tongue, and so they study: Thus have our rabbis taught us from the mouth of Joshua the son of Nun from the mouth of our teacher Moses from the mouth of the Almighty. And they know not of the sages for in the Second Temple they were and they did not reach them. And they know not to speak save in the holy tongue, and all of them are pure, owners of immersion, and they swear not at all, and he who remembers the Name in vain they shall cry out upon him and say that because of the iniquity of oaths your children shall die young (under the sin of vows, Shabbat 32a). And they prolong their days and live a hundred years or a hundred and twenty years, and no son shall die in the lifetime of his father, and they reach unto three or four generations, and they sow and reap [by themselves] for they have no servants nor maidservants, and all are equal. And they lock not their houses by night for it is shame unto them, and the youth walks with the flock a ten days' journey and they are not afraid neither of robbers nor of demons. And all of them are Levites and they have no priest nor Israelite and still [stand] in the holiness of Moses our teacher the righteous servant of the LORD.",
"And yet they see not the sons of men and the sons of men [see] not them (them), except these four tribes who dwell beyond the rivers of Kush. And there is a place where they see one another and speak by shouting and the river Sambatyon is between them, and they say such has happened to us in war, and they informed all Israel what has befallen them. When they desire to speak or for a great matter, they have a kind of pigeons known amongst them and they write their tales and tie them on the wings or the pigeon's leg, and they go and cross the river Sambatyon and the pigeons come to their kings and to their princes. And yet they have very many precious stones and silver and gold, and they sow flax and raise cochineal worms and make beautiful garments without end. And they are as those who went out of Egypt five times for there is no number. And the breadth of that place the river is two hundred cubits like the drawing of a bow, and the river is full of great and small stones and the noise thereof thunders like the roar of a great wind in a storm at sea, and at night its voice is heard the journey of a day. And there are with them six springs and all gather to one lake and from them they water their land, and there breed in it clean fish. And the river goes and the stones and sand thunder six working days, and on the seventh day it rests and is at peace until the going out of the Sabbath. And beyond the river from the side near the four aforementioned tribes there is a blazing fire on the Sabbath and no man can move [in that place] much as a mile's journey.",
"And this is my name, Eldad son of Mahli, son of Ezekiel, son of Hezekiah, son of ALUK, son of ABNER, son of Shemaiah, son of Hatir, son of Hor, son of Elkanah, son of Hillel, son of Toviah, son of Pedah, son of Enan, son of Naaman, son of Ta'am, son of Taami, son of Unam, son of Naol, son of Shalom, son of Caleb, son of Amram, son of Domam, son of Ovadiah, son of Abraham, son of Joseph, son of Moses, son of Jacob, son of Capur, son of Ariel, son of Asher, son of Job, son of Shalem, son of Eliab, son of Ahisamak, son of Hushim, son of Dan, son of Jacob our father of blessed memory and peace unto all Israel amen.",
"[In that year of forty and three, this Master Eldad dispatched these epistles unto the land of Spain, and indeed, this Master Eldad is replete with the Torah and the commandments, as if a man were to sit with him from dawn until eve, his tongue would not stay from the savor of Torah in the sacred tongue, and his words are sweeter than honey and the droppings of the honeycomb. The LORD of Hosts shall grant unto him goodly reward in this world and in the world to come.]",
"Here endeth the Book of Eldad the Danite."
]
},
"Midrash 'These I Recall' (Eleh Ezkerah)": [],
"Sefer Eliyahu": {
"Introduction": [
"Elijah: There is a Midrash attributed to the prophet Elijah or named after him, which is 'Seder Eliyahu Rabbah' and 'Seder Eliyahu Zuta', also known as 'Tanna Devei Eliyahu'. We find a reference to this Midrash in the Talmud: Rav Anan was accustomed to Elijah's visits... Once, after causing Rav Anan to prioritize the case of one individual, who was related to Rabbi Akiva, over that of orphans, Elijah departed. Rav Anan then fasted and prayed for Elijah's return. When Elijah came, he approached him in a frightening manner (since he was no longer accustomed to him as before), but made gestures and sat before him until he presented his teachings to him. This is the basis for the names 'Seder Eliyahu Rabbah' and 'Seder Eliyahu Zuta' (Ketubot 106b). It seems that the book was already known during the Talmudic period in Rav Anan's time, assuming it is the same book we have today. According to R. M. Ish Shalom, there is evidence that this Midrash was composed after the Mishnah but before the Talmud since it mentions the names of the Tannaim (Mishnaic sages) and not the Amoraim (Talmudic sages). Even though it contains much of what the Amoraim said, and the term \"Talmud\" mentioned alongside Mishnah, Halachic Midrash, and Aggadot, is either a scribal error or refers to the teachings of the scholars (see Rashi's commentary in Bava Metzia on the topic 'Elu Metziot').",
"Statements titled \"Tanna Devei Eliyahu\" are scattered throughout the Talmud, and they include: 'Tanna Devei Eliyahu recounts a story of a student who studied much, etc.' (Shabbat 13b), 'Tanna Devei Eliyahu, Rabbi Natan says: Every settlement is situated under its own star' (Pesachim 94b), 'Tanna Devei Eliyahu: Even though Rabbi Akiva said, \"Let your Shabbat be common (rather than rely on others)\"' (Pesachim 112b), 'Tanna Devei Eliyahu: Whoever studies Halachot (laws) daily' (Megillah 28b), 'Tanna Devei Eliyahu: Since women are light-minded, regarding seclusion' (Kiddushin 80b), 'Tanna Devei Eliyahu: A person should always burden himself with Torah study like an ox for the yoke and like a donkey for its burden' (Avodah Zarah 5b), 'Tanna Devei Eliyahu: The world exists for six thousand years' (Avodah Zarah 9a), 'Tanna Devei Eliyahu: Righteous individuals whom God will revive will not return to their dust' (Sanhedrin 92b), 'Tanna Devei Eliyahu: Gehenna is above the sky' (Tamid 32a). These are nine Baraitot, three of which are Halachic and six are Aggadic, some of which are included in Seder Eliyahu Rabbah and Zuta. Additionally, in Seder Zuta, it is brought in the name of 'Devei Eliyahu the Prophet', which seems to be a later addition. The term \"Seder\" (order) is used like 'Sidra', 'Parsha', or a chapter in a Halacha or Aggada. The term \"Tanna Devei Eliyahu\" refers to the sage who recites the Halacha or Aggada in Elijah's Beit Midrash or the Yeshiva named after him, similar to 'House of Shammai' and 'House of Hillel', meaning the students of their Beit Midrash. It's possible that the students of Beit Eliyahu (Devei Eliyahu) were named so because Elijah was known to reveal himself to them either when awake or in dreams. Sometimes, when it is said \"Tani Devei Eliyahu\", 'Tani' with a 'Yud' instead of 'Tanna' with an 'Alef' is a plural form, 'Tannai' like 'Rabbanan'.",
"We find that Elijah revealed himself to prominent individuals among the Tannaim and the Amoraim and also in the generations that followed them. For instance, 'Elijah was a regular visitor at Rabbi's academy' (Bava Metzia 85b), 'It was taught: Rabbi Yosei said: Once I was walking along the way... Elijah, may he be remembered for good, came and waited for me at the entrance until I finished my prayer' (Berakhot 60b), 'Elijah came and stood at the entrance to the cave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai' (Shabbat 33b), 'Rabbi Nathan found Elijah and asked him, \"What is the Holy One, blessed be He, doing now?\"' (Bava Metzia 59b), 'Elijah the Prophet asked Rabbi Nehorai, \"Why do tremors come to the world?\"' (Jerusalem Talmud, Berakhot, chapter 'One who sees'), 'Rabbi Yosei encountered Elijah' (Yevamot 63a), 'Elijah said to Rav Yehuda, the brother of Rav Salla the Pious' (Berakhot 29b), 'Rabbi Beroka Hoza'ah was frequently in the market of Bei Lapat; Elijah often appeared to him' (Ta'anit 22a), 'A certain sage who was accustomed to Elijah's visits' (Bava Metzia 85b), 'Elijah said to the son of this one' (Chagigah 9b), 'Rabba bar Shila encountered Elijah and said to him, \"What is the Holy One, blessed be He, doing now?\"' (Chagigah 15b), 'Rabba bar Rav Abuh found Elijah standing in a non-Jewish cemetery' (Bava Metzia 114b), and many stories and events involving Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha with Elijah. In the Zohar (Parashat Vayetze 151), 'Rabbi Chiya and Rabbi Hizkiya were sitting under the trees of the field of Ono; Rabbi Chiya's face lit up (or became warm) towards Elijah.' There are many more instances of Elijah's revelations, who is also called 'that old man' in the Zohar and Kabbalistic texts.",
"At times, Elijah disguised himself and appeared as different people with unique characteristics, such as when Elijah passed by and appeared to him as a peddler (Berakhot 6b), Elijah came and appeared to him as a man of the world and testified (ibid. 58b), Elijah came and appeared to him as one of the distinguished members of the kingdom (Avodah Zarah 17), Elijah came and appeared to them as one of them (Sanhedrin 109b), a certain elder approached, and it was Elijah, may he be remembered for good (Tanhuma, Ha'azinu), Elijah entered in the form of Rabbi Chiya (Jerusalem Talmud, Kilayim 9:4), what did Elijah do? He appeared as Harbonah (Jerusalem Talmud, Megillah 3:3, Bereishit Rabbah 49:6), Elijah came and appeared to them as a prostitute in the city (Avodah Zarah 18b), Elijah came and appeared to him as a horseman (Shabbat 119b), Elijah came and appeared to them as a fiery bear (Bava Metzia 85b).",
"It seems that the pious sages took Elijah the Prophet as a symbol of the future revelation of deep truths. They said that Elijah does not come to declare the impure as pure, or the pure as impure, or to distance or bring close, but rather to distance those brought close by force and bring close those distanced by force (Eduyot 8:7). He will not issue new rulings, but rather clarify and explain doubts. They said this matter will be expounded by Elijah in the future (Menachot 45a), and in monetary matters, anything in doubt will be set aside until Elijah comes (Bava Metzia 29a). All of this is based on his words when he said to the people, \"How long will you waver between two opinions?\" and he proved the true faith. The legend also chose Elijah as the hero of its stories because he ascended in a whirlwind with a chariot of fire and horses of fire and did not taste death (Kings II 2:11). He is the angel of the covenant, and it is said, \"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes\" (end of Malachi), who heralds the coming of the Messiah and the redemption of Israel from exile.",
"All of these formed the foundation of the \"Beit Eliyahu\" yeshiva in the Land of Israel, where the pious and the men of action studied even during the times of the Tannaim (early rabbinic sages). From this institution came the teachings of \"Tana Debei Eliyahu\" and the compilation of \"Seder Eliyahu Rabbah and Seder Eliyahu Zuta\". One of the main students was Rav Anan at the beginning of the Amoraim (later rabbinic sages) period. However, even though this midrash (interpretive or homiletic exposition of the Torah) was primarily composed between the time of the Mishnah and the time of the Gemara, there is no doubt that many additions were made later during the time of the Geonim (post-Talmudic sages) and some even later than that. Evidence for this can be seen in three places in the current versions. For instance, at the beginning of Chapter 2 of Eliyahu Rabbah it is taught: \"Another interpretation: 'Days are formed, and none of them [is like the other]', refers to the seventh day of the world,\" based on the notion that this world will last six thousand years: two thousand of chaos, two thousand of Torah, and two thousand of the Messiah. But because of our numerous sins, the servitude of exile has entered into the two thousand years of the Messianic era, exceeding them by more than seven hundred years, as it is written, 'God has done that which He purposed.' Similarly, in Chapter 31, it is stated: 'From the destruction of the Temple until now is nine hundred years.' According to these calculations, the book was arranged at the end of the Geonic period, or the year 4688 from creation (928 CE). However, the variation in these time frames indicates that two different scribes at different times added the counts of seven hundred and nine hundred or modified the original time written before them to align it with the count they were using.",
"The Midrash 'Tanna Devei Eliyahu' as we have it is lacking in both surplus and deficit in the number of chapters and various versions. According to the author of the Aruch (entry: 'seder'), 'Seder Eliyahu Rabbah' and 'Seder Eliyahu Zuta' are external teachings. The former contains three sections and thirty chapters, while the latter has twelve chapters. In the printed versions, 'Eliyahu Rabbah' has 31 chapters and 'Eliyahu Zuta' has 25 chapters. However, Rabbi Meir Ish Shalom, based on an old manuscript (in the Vatican), counts 29 chapters in 'Eliyahu Rabbah' and 15 chapters in 'Eliyahu Zuta', as ten of the last chapters in the printed versions added three from 'Derech Eretz' and seven from 'Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer'. The 'Seder Eliyahu' is written in a unique style emphasizing pure speech, and it's called 'Seder' (order) because it arranges the 'order of conduct according to events in their cause and their evolution either for the sustenance or destruction of the world' (introduction to RAMASH). Acts that aren't in the way of the world and are considered disgraceful, he calls them 'ugly things and things that are not suitable'. He divides the worlds into three periods: this world, the days of the Messiah, and the world to come. The sermons are intertwined with stories and beautiful parables. Overall, it's one of the most elevated midrashim in Jewish literature. The book is a collection of various sermons intended to inspire hope in the hearts of listeners, strengthen weak hands in exile, arouse them to the love of Israel and Torah study, and prepare them for noble lives in the days of the Messiah. In several places, he begins his words with \"Blessed is the Place, blessed is He\" or with a verse related to the content of his sermon, and starts with \"Behold, he says\", and concludes the sermon with comfort. In the first chapter, he begins with \"and He drove out the man\", teaching that God gave him a divorce like a woman, etc., and goes on to expound on verses, making them like rings in a chain, starting the second sermon with the verse that concludes the first one. Chapter 6: Why did Abraham merit life without stride and without the evil inclination in this world, what is destined to be given to the righteous in the world to come, and also considers Jacob and Jethro. Chapter 8: On the ten plagues in Egypt. Chapter 12: Not to eat or feast with an ignoramus. Chapter 4: To minimize laughter, chatter, and frivolities. Chapter 6: Why did Abraham merit life without taking a step and without the evil inclination in this world, which is what will be given to the righteous in the world to come? The chapter also considers Jacob and Jethro. Chapter 8: On the ten plagues in Egypt. Chapter 12: Not to eat or dine with the common people. Chapter 4: To minimize laughter, chatter, and trivialities. Chapters 15 and 17: Scholars should study the Bible and the Mishnah, which laws to study, and immersion for those who have experienced seminal emissions. Chapter 24: The Ten Commandments. Chapter 28: On the martyrs of the kingdom. Chapter 29, which is the last according to the RAMASH edition: It discusses that anyone who is haughty is uprooted from the world, considering the people of the flood, the tower builders, the people of Sodom, Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar, and also Saul, the king of Israel. It concludes with the days of the Messiah. The second part is 'Seder Eliyahu Zuta', which is like a summary of 'Seder Eliyahu Rabbah', as many things have been changed from the previous order and in the legends of the sages. It begins with: 'In the house of the prophet Elijah, they said: A person should always be cunning in piety.' It talks about charity and the Torah (Bible and Mishnah), the laws of prayer, good qualities, and concludes with the redemption to come. Many words in the prayer orders, in hymns and penitential prayers, are taken from 'Seder Eliyahu', such as the saying 'Our Father in Heaven' or 'Father in Heaven', 'May His great name be blessed forever and ever', which was translated into Aramaic in Babylon as 'May His great name be blessed forever and ever', which is the foundation of the Kaddish. There's also the saying, 'Blessed is he who says and the world exists, blessed is he, blessed is he who says and does' (Eliyahu Zuta Chapter 4), and all of them are familiar in the prayers of Israel.",
"The midrash 'Tanna Devei Eliyahu' was first printed in Venice in the year 5358 (1598). In this edition, there were many errors. In the year 5356 (1596), it was published again in Prague with a lengthy commentary titled 'Zikkukin DeNura', along with extensive introductions 'Mar Kashisha' and 'Mar Yenuka' by the Kabbalist Rabbi Shmuel son of Rabbi Moshe HaYeda. He also added a new version in which he introduced things that were never originally in this book and altered its style to the language of the Babylonian Talmud. In his view, the old version couldn't be understood by human intellect. Thus, he fasted, repented, and prostrated on the graves of his ancestors, praying to God to enlighten his eyes and guide his heart to understand and comprehend. He sought permission from Elijah and his student Rabbi Anan to reveal the true interpretation and correct version of this book. As a special practice, he would say 'Eliyahu HaNavi' (Elijah the Prophet) 132 times every Motzei Shabbat (Saturday night), until in his imagination, it seemed as if a man stood before him and said, \"I am Eliyahu HaTishbi.\" However, according to critics, especially Rabbi Meir Ish Shalom, this author was misled by a false imagination and misled others who followed him. Based on this edition, all subsequent editions were made. It was also printed with a glossary and a concise continuation by Jacob son of Naphtali Hertz of Brody titled 'Yeshuot Yaakov' (Zolkva, 5553). Another edition with a commentary 'Ma'orei Or' by Rabbi Abraham son of Rabbi Judah Aryeh Leib Shick (Sadilkov, 5555). Another with the commentary 'Ma'aneh Eliyahu' and annotations 'Sich Yitzchak' by Rabbi Yitzchak Eliyahu Landa (Vilna, 5600). The most accurate edition with a correct version is by Rabbi Meir Ish Shalom from the manuscript of Rumi from the year 4813 (1053) and was printed with his long introduction, annotations, and corrections titled 'Meir Ein' (Vienna, 5661), with additions to 'Seder Eliyahu Zuta' (Vienna, 5664). Rabbi Meir Halevi Horowitz brought from the manuscript of Parma the 'Seder Eliyahu Zuta'.",
"There is also a midrash called 'Hupat Eliyahu Rabbah' and 'Hupat Eliyahu Zuta'. However, it has no relation to the prophet Elijah, and his name is not even mentioned in it. Therefore, it will be discussed under the entry 'Hupot' (canopies).",
"There is another midrash named after the prophet Elijah, titled 'Sefer Eliyahu', 'Chapters of the Messiah', and 'Mysteries of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai'. It was printed in Thessaloniki in the year 5150 (1390 CE) along with 'Stories' about the Ten Commandments, and in the second statement, there is a story of Abraham. Ya'alei Ne'ekah (a scholar) cited this midrash in his Beit Midrash, volume 3, and according to his opinion, this midrash was compiled during the time of the Geonim (post-Talmudic sages). The content of the midrash describes how the angel Michael revealed to Elijah the end of the future at the edge of the world during the days of King Harmilat or Termila. It recounts and enumerates the wars and epochs that would pass from then until the coming of the Messiah, and when Jerusalem would be built and established. The name Harmilat corresponds to the name Armilus in other messianic legends, and its meaning in Greek is 'destroyer of nations' or 'Heremolaos'. In his commentary on Daniel, he suggests that the Armilus in legend is Caligula Armillus, whose description is similar to Armilus who is \"very tall, with thin legs, deep-set eyes, and is bald.\" Here, only the first part of the midrash concerning Elijah is presented, and the other parts will be discussed in their respective places under 'Messiah' and 'Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai'."
],
"": []
},
"Midrashim of Rabbi Eliezer": {
"Introduction": [],
"Book of the Ways of Life": [
"",
"",
"",
"",
"",
"\"Be sure to sit at the dust of the feet of the sages (Avot 1:4):\" Do not rely on your own opinions. Never say: \"accept my opinion (Avot 4:8).\""
],
"The Tale of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hurkanus": [],
"The Chapter of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hurkanus": []
},
"The Aleph Bet of ben Sira": {
"Introduction": [
" Alphabet of Ben Sira: A small book called the Alphabet of Ben Sira is ascribed to Jesus the son of Sira, who is known through his book, which collects folk proverbs and wisdom sayings under the name The Wisdom of Ben Sira and is considered among the Apocrypha. ",
"The Alphabet is apparently the work of a late author who pored over the book of Ben Sira and selected from it several sayings and several other things that were said in his name in the Aramaic language which was then the common language among the masses, and organized them alphabetically as a mnemonic aid. And after him came a second author who made a second alphabet, in the Holy Tongue, because he found some Talmudic and Midrashic content, and appended it to them in order to complete the alphabet. And after him came a third author, and appended to these a commentary "
],
"": [],
"The Alphabet of ben Sira, (alternative version)": [
"Another Alphabet of ben Sira",
"It is written, (Job 9:10) \"Who performs great deeds which cannot be fathomed, And wondrous things without number.\" Come and see how great are the Holy Blessed One's deeds! Since it says, \"Who performs great deeds which cannot be fathomed,\" why does it also say \"And wondrous things without number\"? And since it says \"And wondrous things without number,\" why does it also say \"Who performs great deeds which cannot be fathomed\"? How have the Sages interpreted it? \"Who performs great deeds which cannot be fathomed,\" refers to all the created beings in the world, \"And wondrous things without number,\" refers to the three beings who were born without their parents having mortal sex. And these are they: Ben Sira, Rav Papa, and Rabbi Zeira. (The \"Yuchasin\" brings the matter regarding Rabbi Judah the Pious's father, see further Tzemach David Part 1 1:448) They are all completely righteous ones, and wise, and great Torah scholars. And they said about Rabbi Zeria and Rav Papa that they never once spoke of worldly matters; and never slept in the Hall of Study, neither fully sleeping nor napping; and nobody ever showed up to the Hall of Study earlier than they did; and nobody ever found them sitting quietly instead of sitting and reciting Torah; and they never missed Kiddush; and they never gave their friends nasty nicknames; and never took honor from their friends' shame; and never even cursed their friends from their beds; and never looked at the image of an evil person; and didn't accept gifts; and these two both fulfill what is said: (Proverbs 8:22) \"I endow those who love me with substance; I will fill their treasuries.\" (The Talmud lists these qualities about other Sages, see further in Megillah 27b-28a.) And how did their mothers give birth without husbands? They said: Once they went to the bathhouse, and some seed from an Israelite entered their bellies, and they conceived and gave birth from this, without knowing who their fathers were. But Ben Sira's father was known to him! How did his mother give birth without a husband's intercourse? They said about her that she was the daughter of Yirmiyahu. Once, Yirmiyahu went to the bathhouse, and found there evildoers from the tribe of Ephraim, and he saw that they were all wasting their seed, because the whole tribe of Ephraim in that generation were evildoers, as it is written about them that they did what was wrong in God's eyes. And when he saw them, he began to rebuke them. Immediately, they rose up against him, and said, \"Why are you rebuking us? We swear by the road to Bethlehem that you will not leave here until you do what we are doing.\" He said to them, \"Leave me alone and I will swear to you that I will never reveal this situation.\" They said to him, \"Didn't Tzidkiyahu see Nevuchadnetzar eating a live rabbit, and swear to him in God's name that he would not reveal his secret, and then nullify that oath? (Nedarim 65b, Eicha Rabbah s.v.: \"they sit on the ground\") You will do the same thing! But now, if you do what we are doing, good, and not, we will do the Sodomite act to you, like our ancestors did for idolatrous purposes. If they did it for idolatry, how much more so should we do it to you!\" Immediately, he did it, out of great terror and fear of them. When he began leaving there, he started to curse his birthday, saying (Jeremiah 20:14) \"Accursed be the day That I was born!\" He left there, and fasted for this incident 248 fasts, parallel to all the organs of a man. And the drop that came from that righteous man was guarded until that righteous man's own daughter came to the bathhouse, and it entered her belly. At seven months, she gave birth to a son who had teeth and could speak, and once she gave birth, she developed shame around people, because they would say that she gave birth through promiscuity. The child opened his mouth and said to his mother, \"Why are you ashamed around people? I am the son of Sira.\" She said, \"Who is Sira?\" He said, \"Yirmiyahu, and the reason he is called Sira is because he is the officer (sar) over all officers, and because he will ultimately name all officers and kings, and when you calculate 'Sira' and 'Yirmiyahu' in numerical values, they are equal.\" She said to him, \"My son, if this is true, you should have said, 'I am the son of Yirmiyahu.'\" He said to her, \"I would have wanted to say that, but it is a shameful thing, saying that Yirmiyahu has had sex with his daughter.\" She said to him, \"My son, is it not written (Ecclesiastes 1:9) \"Only that shall happen Which has happened,\" and who has ever seen a daughter have a child by her father?\" He said to her, \"My mother, (Ecclesiastes 1:9) 'There is nothing new Beneath the sun!' Just as Lot was a completely righteous man, my father is also a completely righteous man. Just like Lot did it under compulsion, my father also had this done under compulsion.\" She said to him, \"I am stunned by you. How do you know these things?\" He said to her, \"Do not be stunned by me, because there is nothing new beneath the sun. The same thing occurred with my father Yirmiyahu when his mother was kneeling to give birth- he opened his mouth, and my father called from his mother's innards, and said, 'I will not leave until you tell me my name.' His father opened his mouth and said, 'Come out, and your name will be Avraham' and he said, 'That is not my name.' He said, 'Come out, and your name will be Yitzchak...' and then Yaakov and all the tribes, and all the men of that generation, and he kept saying, 'That is not my name.' Until Eliyahu of Blessed Memory arrived there, and said, 'Your name will be Yirmiyah, because in your days the Holy Blessed One will establish an enemy to raise (yarim) his hand against Jerusalem.' He said, 'That is my name. And you, who told me my name, let your name be my name- let me have \"yahu\" from your name, and call me Yirmi-yahu.' Just as he was emerged speaking, I also emerged speaking; just as he emerged with prophecy from his mother's innards, as it is said, (Jeremiah 1:5) 'Before I created you in the womb, I selected you' ; just as he wrote an alphabetical acrostic book (Eicha), I also will write an alphabetical acrostic book, so not do not but stunned by my speech.\" She said, \"My son, do not say it, so the Evil Eye will not reign over you!\" He said to her, \"The Evil Eye has no permission to reign over me, so now do not keep talking to me, for I am going to do what my father did. It is about me that it is said, (Ketubot 63a) 'One ewe follows another,' and a son follows his father's deeds.\" She said to him, \"My son, why are you stopping me from talking?\" He said, \"Because you know that I am hungry, and you do not let me eat anything.\" She said to him, \"Here are breasts for you- eat your food and drink your drink.\" He said to her, \"I have no interest in your breasts. Rather, go and sift through flour like a hen, knead fine bread and fatty meat, and old wine, and you must eat together with me.\" She said to him, \"But how could I buy things like this?\" He said to her, \"Make clothes and sell them, and the verse will be upheld for you: (Proverbs 31:24) 'She makes cloth and sells it.' and if you support me, the verse (Proverbs 31:29), 'Many women have done well, But you surpass them all' will be true.\" She began to make clothes and sell them, and she would bring him bread and fatty meat, and old wine, and she supported him for one year. And after that year, he said to her, \"Bring me to the synagogue,\" so she brought him to the house of one educator who had seven daughters. He sat beside him, and said to him, \"Rabbi, teach me Torah!\" He said to him, \"You are not yet eligible to study, because you are so small, and our Sages z\"l said (Pirkei Avot 5:21): 'A child of five should study Written Torah.'\" Ben Sira said to him, \"And have you not learned that (Pirkei Avot 2:15) 'the day is short, and the work is plentiful'? And you are telling me 'Sit and do not learn yet because you are so small,' while I see in the cemetery those smaller than me who have died, and who knows what will be, whether I will live or I will die?\" The educator said to him, \"What, are you my teacher? Haven't our Sages z\"l said: \"Anyone who teaches halacha in front of their Rabbi is liable for the death penalty'?\" He said to him, \"So far, you are not my Rabbi and so far, I have learned nothing from you.\" The educator said to Ben Sira, \"Say, 'Aleph.'\" He responded to him, saying:",
"א) \"Do not allow worry into your heart, because worry has killed many.\" ",
"Immediately the educator was stunned, and said, \"I have no worry in the world, except on behalf of my wife, who is ugly.\" He said, \"Say, 'Bet.'\" He said to him: ",
"ב) \"By the appearance of a beautiful woman have many been destroyed, and numerous are those she has killed.\" He said to him, \"Because I have revealed to you my secret and told you that my wife is ugly, you tell me this kind of thing! Perhaps I harmed you when I told you my secret.\" He said, \"Say, 'Gimel.'\" He said to him:",
"ג) \"Reveal your secret to one out of a thousand, even if you have many well-wishers.\" He thought again, and said to him, \"I have revealed my secret to you, but to no other.\" He said to him, \"Advise me based on what I tell you. I want to divorce my wife, because there is in my neighborhood an extremely beautiful woman.\" He said, \"Say, 'Dalet.'\" He said to him: ",
"ד) \"Deprive your flesh of a graceful woman, like the flame of a coal.\" He said to him, \"But what can I do? Every single time that I enter my house, she is laid out before me, and I place my eye on her, since she suits my eye.\" He said, \"Say, 'Hey.'\" He said to him:",
"ה) \"Blind your eyes because of the graceful woman, lest you be caught in her trap.\" The educator said to him, \"My son, what trap could I be caught in? If it is because of some magic you could do for me, I know that you will never do magic for me! Because her first husband is a thin-bearded man, (see Sanhedrin 100b and Rashi there) and I am a thick-bearded man.\" He said to him, \"Say 'Vav.'\" He said to him:",
"ו) \"Woe to one who follows after his eyes! And know that they are the product of straying, and there is nothing to them.\" He said to him, \"Say 'Zayin.'\" He said to him:",
"ז) \"Do not be thin-bearded or thick-bearded. Scorn these things, because you do not know what has been decreed about you.\" He said to him, \"I do not want to take your advice, because I am considering marrying her. And I have seven daughters, and she has one, and they will live in my house and provide for me with dignity.\" He said, \"Say, 'Chet.'\" He said to him: ",
" \"Males are dear to all, but woe to fathers of females.\" He said to him, \"But I have seven daughters, and they spin yarn and do all the chores of my household, and they are like a green olive tree or a beautiful garden in my house. So how could you tell me 'Woe to fathers of females?' And if there were no females, where would the males come from?\" Ben Sira said to him, \"Oh, poor one! You comfort yourself with empty comfort. For this is how our Sages z\"l said it: (Pesachim 65a) 'Fortunate is the one whose children are male, and woe to the father of females.' This is why I said it to you. And furthermore, when a daughter is coming out of her mother's belly to the air of the world, the heavens and earth and stars and constellations and everything created in the world grieves over her, but when a son is coming out of his mother's belly to the air of the world, the whole world is happy. And if a person has a daughter and you ask, 'What did So-and-So's wife give birth to?' he answers with a weak voice, somber expression, eyes downcast, 'She gave birth to a daughter.' But if it is male, he answers you with sparkle, 'She gave birth to a son,' in a pleasant voice, with the best expression, and eyes looking upward.\" He said to him, \"Say 'Tet.'\" He said to him: ",
"ט) A daughter is a false image to her father. Out of fear of her, does not sleep at night.\" He said, \"Say, 'Yud.'\" He said to him: ",
"י) \"The watchman does not sleep. When she is a minor- lest she be seduced or raped in her youth. When she has grown up- lest she commit adultery.\" (see Sanhedrin 100b) He said to him, \"Everything that you have said, you have said truly.\" He said to him, \"Say 'Kaf.'\" He said to him: ",
"כ) \"When you marry the daughter, you worry about her the most- lest she not have children. And when you are older- lest she perform magic.\" He said to him, \"Say, 'Lamed.'\" He said to him: ",
"ל) \"Do not sleep in your youth, and when you are old, do not marry an old wife. Because an old wife drains your energy even if you are a youth, but a virgin wife adds strength and power to you.\" He said to him, \"Say 'Mem.'\" He said to him:",
"מ) \"The waters of a virgin wife are sweet and add strength; the waters of an old wife are bitter as wormwood and drain strength, like a cistern that had water but the wind has drawn it out.\" He said to him, \"Say, 'Nun.'\" He said to him:",
"נ) \"Shake yourself off from a wife who is bad and rules over you with her tongue, because a bad wife is like crazy dogs, and doors close to her while she has much in her mouth to answer.\" He said to him, \"Say, 'Samech.'\" He said to him: ",
"ס) \"A scribe and an educator should marry a virgin woman and not marry a non-virgin woman. Because the waters of a virgin are for you alone, but the waters of a non-virgin have already been drawn by a stranger aside from you.\" He said to him, \"Say, 'Ayin.'\" He said to him:",
"ע) \"Blind your eyes because of a widowed woman, and do not covet her beauty in your heart, because her children are the children of straying.\" He said to him, \"Say, 'Peh.'\" He said to him:",
"פ) \"Control your face around evil friends. Do not walk on the road with them. Hold your feet back around them, lest you be caught in their trap.\" He said to him, \"Say, 'Tzadi.'\" He said to him:",
"צ) \"My son, hide your money during your lifetime and store it, and until the day of your death, do not give it to your heirs.\" He said to him, \"Say, 'Kuf.'\" He said to him:",
"ק) \"Acquire for yourself money, and a good wife, fear of God, and accumulate sons for yourself, even a hundred of them.\" He said to him, \"Say, 'Resh.'\" He said to him: ",
"ר) \"Distance yourself from an evil neighbor and do not be counted among their friends. Because their legs run to evil, and they are in a rush to spill blood. But at the same time, have mercy on your neighbors, even if they are evil. Share your food with them, because when you are standing to be judged, they will testify about you.\" He said to him, \"Say, 'Shin.'\" He said to him:",
"ש) \"Listen, master, to what I am saying, and incline your ear to my speech.",
"Rest yourself, master, from starting quarrels with your neighbors, and if you see something evil about your friend, do not produce their slander on your tongue.\" He said to him, \"Say, 'Tav.'\" He said to him: ",
"ת) \"Acquire for yourself gold coins, and all money, but do not tell your wife where the money is, even if she is good.\" ",
"The educator said to him, \"The natural orders of Creation have been changed for you.\" He said to him, \"There is nothing new under the sun, as behold: Yirmiyahu studied this way with Baruch ben Neriah, and the natural orders of Creation were not changed. For he said to him, \"Say, 'Aleph'\" and he said, (Lamentations 1:1) \"Alas! Lonely sits the city...\" And he said to him, \"Say, 'Bet'\" and he said, (Lamentations 1:2) \"Bitterly she weeps in the night...\" And so on for every alphabetical acrostic that is in the scroll of Lamentations. Additionally, they said about Ben Sira that he learned the book of Leviticus in one day, and the educator said to him, \"The natural orders of Creation have been changed for you.\" Ben Sira said to him, \"There is nothing new under the sun, as behold Yirmiyahu learned it [this way], and it is written, (II Samuel 23:20) \"Benaiah son of Jehoiada, son of a 'living' man,\" where 'living' (\"chai\") is written but we read it 'valorous' (\"chayil\"). Could it be that the whole world is dead, and [only] he is living? Instead- he must have been 'living' through Torah, when he studied the book of Leviticus in one day.\" ",
" They told about Ben Sira: That same year, he learned the entire book of Torah. The second year, he learned the Mikrah and the Mishnah, and the Talmud, both laws and narratives. The third year, he learned the Biblical and scribal grammatical traditions. The fourth year, he learned tools of logical inference, calculating equinoxes, and geometry. The fifth year, he learned the language of palm trees, the language of the ministering angels, the language of demons, and the Fox Fables. The sixth year, he learned the Sifra, and Sifrei, and Tanna De-Bei Eliyahu. The seventh year, he did not leave anything -large or small - without study. ",
" Come and see how wise Ben Sira was! They would bring him a se'ah [2-ish gallons] of wheat, and he would say to them, \"Count the wheat grains in this se'ah, and you will find in it such-and-such number of grains in sum,\" until his reputation had spread around the whole world. Eventually, Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon heard of his wisdom. And who did he hear it from? From his wise ones. And when his wise ones heard of his [Ben Sira's] wisdom, they said, \"Oy for us, Voy for us- because now Nebuchadnezzar will get rid of us. Instead, let us slander him to the king. He should send after him, and we will ask him something difficult, from our own logic that is not his logic, and if he does not respond do us with an answer, we will kill him.\" And this they did- they told the king and he sent for him, and he said to them, \"And what do you want to ask him?\" They said to him, \"What is 'Oy Vanehi.' If he knows, very well, and if not, we will kill him.\" A thousand cavalry went after him, all of whom had cut off a finger and uprooted a tree. They all said, as one, to the King, \"Our master, if you want to deploy us to anywhere in the world, we will go. But do not send us to one of the Israelite Sages, so that he does not do us what Elisha did to the Aramean troops. He wrote to them: (Jeremiah 27:6) (Shabbat 129b (150a?)) '\"I even give him [Nebuchadnezzar] the wild beasts of the field to serve him.\" As he tells you, you must go. They said to him(?): \"This is a sign that his God has entrusted me, and he should come with you,\" and he wrote it for them in a letter. When they arrived to him and showed him the letter, Ben Sira said to them, \"He sent you not for me but for one rabbit that I have.\" Immediately, he took a rabbit and wrote on its head, \"Behold, this is of the wild beasts of the field and will serve you.\" He [Nebuchadnezzar] said, \"How is it that this hair is shaved off like vellum?\" He said, \"It is not by iron or any other thing.\" \"I see its flesh inside it, and vellum cannot possibly have its flesh inside it.\" And he did not know how it was constructed. Immediately, he sent after him another delegation, and sent him in writing, \"If you do not want to come in my honor, come in the honor of your rabbit.\" Immediately, he [Ben Sira] softened and became willing to do it, and went to him. And at the point when he arrived to him, he was seven years old. Immediately all Nebuchadnezzar's wise ones gathered around him and began questioning him. They said to him, \"What is Oy Vanehi?\" He said to them, \"When you heard about me, you had an 'Oy,' and if I kill you, you would have a 'Nehi.'\" They said to him, \"Explain it well for us, what is \"Nehi' and what is 'Vay?\" He said, \"There are two vavs in it, and their meaning is: When someone goes and touches a dog, and grabs its ear- that is certainly 'Vay' for him. And even before being saved from a snake, if a lion comes to him - that is certainly 'Oy Vanehi.'\" When they heard this, they were afraid, and they passed around the words, and said, \"We do not know what you are saying. Show us 'Voy Vanehi' to our own eyes.\" Immediately, he went and took a container (a hollow tube) with two openings and went and caught three snakes and three scorpions, and placed the scorpions in the lower opening and the snakes in the upper opening, and sealed the container and came before the king. And his wise ones said, \"What is in the container?\" He said to them, \"Look!\" Immediately one of them put his hand in the container in the first opening and felt the snakes, and said, \"Vay, what is this?!\" One put his hand in the lower opening and a scorpion struck him, and he said, \"Vay Vanehi!\" Ben Sira said to them, \"Behold- you know 'Vay Vanehi' and you have seen them.\" When they saw that it was so, they immediately were afraid and sweated and trembled, and fell on their faces. The king said to them, \"You contracted with me that if he did not know 'Vay Vanhei' you would kill him; behold, he knows 'Vay Vanehi.' The judgment that you ruled for him, that he should be executed- now you are liable for that execution.\" They said to him, \"Let the king do whatever he wants to his servants.\" Immediately he handed them over to Ben Sira. He said to them, \"Haven't you brought me here here for 'Vay Vanehi?'\" Immediately he took them and threw them into the lion's den and they died, at the words 'Vay Vanehi.' Then the king lifted Ben Sira and placed him on a golden throne and set a crown on his head. The king said to him, \"I will king you, since you are suitable to rule.\" He said to him, \"My master, I do not want it, since I am small. And it would not be suitable for me to rule over Israel, since I am not from the dynasty of David.\" He said to him, \"But Yoash assumed the throne when he was seven years old.\" He said to him, \"He was from the royal dynasty.\" He said to him, \"Since you do not want it, sit with me in my kingship, since I want to ask you about any matters that I have in my heart, that I see in the world and do not know.\" He said to him, \"My master, anything that you want, ask, and I will explain to you anything that you say.\" Then he asked him twenty-two questions (the number of the alphabet) and he responded to (and answered) his questions, and here they are: ",
" א First he asked him, \"How does the rabbit shave her head?\" He said to him, \"With a serum of quicklime.\" He said to him, \"What is it like?\" He said to him, \"The shaver shaves the hair.\" He said to him, \"And what is it called?\" He said to him, \"A serum of quicklime, which is quicklime and 'zernich' (arsenic), and this material, in the days of your mother, was created by Solomon from his mind, in his wisdom. When your mother, the Queen of Sheba, came to Solomon and brought him a gift to see his wisdom, she appealed to him, and he wanted to sleep with her, and he found her entirely hairy, and he brought her quicklime and arsenic, and crumbled it with a chopper by way of (the soles of) the feet, and crushed the arsenic, and mixed them in water, and it turned into the quicklime serum for shaving, and he applied it to her, and rinsed her, and her hair detached, and at that point he had sex with her.\" He said to him, \"I would not believe these things unless I saw them with my own eyes.\" He said to him, \"How do you know this?\" He said to him, \"I am a prophet and the Holy Blessed One reveals all sealed matters to me.\" He said to him, \"If so, then what you have told me is true.\" ",
" ב \"Count the trees in my garden.\" He said to him, \"Thirty types of trees are in your garden. Ten of them are eaten as-is, and here they are: apples, figs, shekamim, citrons, grapes, quinces, pears, botnim, peppers, and limonia, which is the Ishmaelite language and is prepared salted. And for ten of them the inside is eaten and the outside is discarded, and here they are: pomegranates, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, sanduvin, morlin, katpilin [kalpilin], gonzarin, krumin. And their names in the Arab language are goz, luz, fistuk, banduk, sahablot, doman, tznobar, blot [...] For ten of them, what is on the outside is eaten, and here they are: dates, olives, carobs, persimmons, crabapples, plums, achonyot, gadgadniyot, charutim, alusim.\" He said to him, \"And who planted them?\" He said to him, \"The first Adam took them from the Garden of Eden, and even before he left, he took them from there, with the permission of the Holy Blessed One. And he took with them too all kinds of fragrances, and all kinds of other medicines, thirty types.\"",
" ג He said to him, \"Have you seen them in my garden? Or have you been told?\" He said to him, \"If you want, cover my eyes and go out with your soldiers, and form them into separate troops for yourself, and I will tell you which troop you are in.\" And he did so- he covered his eyes and placed a trusted man with him. A troop passed by with noise and shouts, until the earth was shaking. The trusted one who was with him said to him, \"Is the king among this troop?\" He said to him, \"No.\" (In the Talmud, this is told about Rav Sheshet, Berachot 55a) Another troop passed by with great shouting, and it had cavalry running along all the sides. The trusted man said, \"Is the king among this troop? He said to him, \"No.\" A third troop passed by with chants and all kinds of music. He said to him, \"Is there a king here?\" He said to him, \"No.\" A fourth troop passed by in silence, and even the sound of the horses' hooves could not be heard, but rather a thin stillness. He said to him, \"Is it here?\" He said to him, \"Yes. [And behold he is right across from me!\" Immediately they opened his eyes and he saw him standing by him.] The king said to him, \"Inform me how you knew this great secret.\" He said to him, \"You are so haughty in your royalty that you compare yourself to the Holy Blessed One, as it is said, 'And behold, God passed by with a thin, still sound,' in which the King, King of Kings, was visible seated on a high and lofty throne.\" He said to him, \"You equate me with your God!\" He said to him, \"You are not equal to Them, but because of your pride and great wickedness, you have become comparable to the Holy Blessed One's authority, and that is why Their anger is against you.\" He said to him, \"And if Their anger is against me, how could They have lifted me up, and made me great in the world, and handed everything over to me?\" He said to him, \"When the Holy Blessed One wants to bring a person low, They first raise them and then lower them, as it says, (Ovadiah 1:4) 'If you go as high as an eagle...'\" Immediately, he said to him, \"If you become my son-in-law and marry my daughter, I will appoint you king in my place.\" He said to him, \"I am a human being, and I cannot marry an animal, as it says, 'Their flesh is the flesh of donkeys...'\" When the king heard that he was cursing, insulting and slandering the nations of the world, he got very angry. He said to his wise ones, \"Tell me something that we can feed him secretly so that he will die.\" They said to him, \"We do not know.\" Immediately, he killed them, and said to Ben Sira: ",
" ד \"I will ask you about something, and you will tell it to me, and I will give you one r'em of silver, and incomprehensible amounts of gold. I have a friend and I hate him and want to kill him using something he doesn't know about, with a food that they can feed him so he dies.\" Immediately, Ben Sira understood that he intended to kill him, so he said to him, \"Let me compare it to a fable for you. There was once an unendingly beautiful horse belonging to Nimrod. The other horses said to him, 'Give us your head to cut off, and we will give you a house full of straw and barley.' The horse knew what they were trying to do to him, for he was intelligent. He said to them, 'Fools! If I give you my head to cut off, who will eat the straw and barley?' Thus you are seeking to kill me, but if you kill me, who will take one r'em of silver and god, and who will eat them?\" He said to him, \"By Kemosh's life, I will not kill you.\" He said to him, \"I will tell you.\" He said to him, \"Give him ten days and have him eat egg yolks without salt, and he will die.\" The king thought to himself, \"He lies.\" He brought someone and fed it to him, and he died. The king said to him, \"Eat it before me, and I will leave you alone.\" He said to him, \"Everything that you prepare with your hands I cannot eat. I will prepare it and eat them.\" What did he do? He added salt secretly, and he ate it for a full month. He said to him, \"Why did you lie to me?\" He said to him, \"I made them thin, crushed them a little, and put something in them.\" Immediately, the king went and did this, and became ill. He said to him, \"Heal me!\" He wrote him an amulet, and he was healed. He said to him, \"Why did you try to kill me?\" He said to him, \"Thus goes the ancient fable- evil comes from evil people. Act first to kill someone who is trying to kill you.\" ( Someone trying to kill you- kill them early ) Immediately, his small son became ill. The king said to him, \"Heal my son, and if you do not, I will kill you.\" Immediately he sat and wrote him an amulet in the Name quickly, and wrote the names of the angels who are appointed for healing, with their names, and their composition, and their form, and their wings, and their arms, and their legs. And when Nebuchadnezzar saw the amulet he said, \"What are these?\"",
" ה He said to him, \"The angels appointed for healing: Sanoy, Sansanoy, Semangalof. When the Holy Blessed One created the first Adam alone, They said, (Genesis 2:18) 'It is not good for this Adam to be alone.' They created for him a wife out of the Earth like he had been, and called her Lilith. Immediately they began to challenge each other. She said, 'I will not lie below,' and he said, 'I will not lie beneath you, but only on top. For you are fit only to be in the bottom position, while I am to be the superior one.' Lilith responded, 'We are equal to each other inasmuch as we were both created from the Earth.' But they would not listen to one another. When Lilith saw this, she pronounced the Ineffable Name and flew away into the world's air. Adam stood in prayer before his Creator and said, 'Sovereign of the universe! The woman you gave me has run away from me.' Immediately, the Holy Blessed One sent these three angels to bring her back. The Holy Blessed One said to Adam, 'If she agrees to come back, good. If not, she must permit one hundred of her children to die every day.' They departed and pursued her, and overtook her in the midst of the sea, in the mighty waters wherein the Egyptians would ultimately drown. They told her God's word, but she did not wish to return. The angels said, 'We shall drown you in the sea.' She said to them, 'Let me be. I was created only to cause illness to infants. I have dominion over them for eight days after birth if they are male, and if female, after birth for twenty days.' When the angels heard Lilith's words, they insisted on taking her. But she swore to them by the name of the living and eternal God, 'Whenever I see you or your names or your forms in an amulet, I will have no power over that infant.' She also agreed to have one hundred of her children die every day. Accordingly, every day one hundred demons perish, and for the same reason, we write their names on the amulets of young children, and she sees them, she remembers her oath, and the child is healed.\" After some time, the king said to him, \"I have one daughter who sneezes [note- a euphemism for passing gas] one thousand sneezes in an hour. Heal her.\" He said to him, \"Send her to me in the morning with her guards and I will heal her.\" In the morning, she came to him with her guards. When he saw her, he began to get angry. She said to him, \"Why did you get angry?\" He said to her, \"Your father has decreed upon me to sneeze a thousand sneezes before him tomorrow and in two days, and I am afraid that he will kill me. He has waited for me for three days, and I do not know what I will do.\" She said to him, \"Do not worry about this- I will go in your place and I will sneeze before him a thousand sneezes for you and for myself.\" He said to her, \"Since that is the case, stay with me for three days and do not sneeze during them, and be 'prepared for the third day.' Immediately, every time when the sneeze came to her, she would stand on her feet and stretch between her eyes, as he had told her, and she suffered with herself and closed her mouth little by little, and the sneeze ended from her entirely. After three days, no sneeze came from her mouth. On the third day, he took her to her father and said to her, \"Go sneeze two thousand sneezes for your father.\" She went before him, and she could not sneeze even one time. Immediately, he stood up and kissed him. He began asking him questions. He said to him:",
" ו \"Why were sneezes created?\" He said to him, \"If not for sneezes, people would defecate in their clothes, but when a person knows that sneezes are coming upon them, they can go and attend to their needs, so they they do not come to shame, and sitting in their soiled clothes. ",
" ז He said to him, \"Why is it is that on a person's body every follicle has two hairs, but on their head every follicle has one hair?\" He said to him, \"The Holy Blessed One created on the head every follicle with one hair, but if They had created two in every follicle, both their eyes would be darkened.\" (Bava Batra 16a) And so too, for the world- if there were two raindrops in each 'follicle' the world would be destroyed and it would be more than the Flood. And in a place where the Holy Blessed One has created an affliction, They have created parallel to it its cure.\" He said to him, \"How fortunate you are, my son, that the Holy Blessed One has revealed so much to you.\" ",
" ח He said to him, \"Why were gnats created? For they only exist in the world for just one day, and then they are destroyed and others are created?\" He said to him, \"On the merit of one gnat who will in the future get revenge on the evil Titus. And the remainder- to give life to raven chicks when they hatch from the eggs. They go out to their nest and their parents flee and leave them, and they cry out to them, as it says, (Psalms 147:9) 'to the raven's brood what they cry for' and they bring them gnats in their mouth, and they eat it and live off of it for three days. After three days they turn black and their parents return to them, and the Holy Blessed One prepares the cure before the harm.\" ",
" ט He said to him, \"Why did the Holy Blessed One create in Their world wasps and spiders, which cause harm and get no benefit from it?\" He said to him, \"It once happened that David King of Israel, peace be upon him, was sitting in his garden, and he saw a wasp eating a spider, and a fool arrived with a stick in his hand and was chasing them away. David said before the Holy Blessed One: 'Master of the world! What benefit is there to these, which you created in your world? The wasp eats honey and stings, and she gets no benefit from it; the spider weaves all year but he never dresses in it; the fool with no intelligence harms other creatures and does not know your unity and strength, and there is no benefit in him to the world.' The Holy Blessed One said to him: 'David! You are slandering the creatures. The hour will come when you will need them, and you will know why they were created.' And when he hid in a cave because of King Saul, the Holy Blessed One sent a spider, and she wove a web over the mouth of the cave and sealed it. Saul came and saw it woven. He said, 'Certainly nobody has entered here, for anyone entering would have torn the webbing to shreds.' He continued and did not enter there. And when David exited and saw the spider, he kissed her and said to her, 'Blessed is your Creator and blessed are you! Master of the world, who can compare to your workings and strength? For all you make is good.' And before Achish, he made himself out to be a fool before his men, and Achish's daughter was an insane fool, so when they brought him [David] to him, he [Achish] said to them, 'Are you mocking me? Is it because of my daughter who is a fool that you brought this to me? Or maybe I do not already have enough fools?' Immediately, they released him, and he escaped and gave thanks to God for his deeds, for everything that he created in the world has benefit in it. And when David found Saul lying down at noontime, Avner was lying at the entrance, with his head at one entrance and his legs outstretched, and he [David] came and entered between his legs and took the water flask. And when he went to leave between his legs, Avner stretched his legs and covered him with them, and they were over him like two great pillars. And he asked for mercy from Hashem, and said, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' At that moment, a miracle was done for him, and sent him a hornet, and she bit Avner's legs, and he straightened them, and David exited and praised the Holy Blessed One. And it would be inappropriate for a human to slander God's doings.\"",
" י Nebuchadnezzar said to Ben Sira, \"Why does an ox have no hair on his nose?\" He said to him, \"When Israel and Joshua were encircling Jericho to make it fall, Joshua was fat. They brought him a horse, a donkey, and a mule to ride, but they all died underneath him. So they brought him an ox and it carried him, and when he saw this he kissed him on his nose, and therefore it has no hair.\" ",
" י\"א He said to him, \"Why do cats eat mice more than any other vermin?\" He said to him, \"At the beginning, the cat and the mouse were friends. Once, the mouse went and slandered the cat to the Holy Blessed One. He said to Them, 'Ruler of the world! The cat and I are partners and we have nothing to eat.' They said to him, 'You slandered your friend so that you could eat from him; now he will eat you, and you will be his food!' He said to Them, 'Ruler of the world! But what did I do?' They said to him, 'Oh, impure vermin! Haven't you learned a lesson from the sun and moon, which were equal in stature and appearance, but because the moon slandered the sun I reduced the luminaries and added onto the sun? Thus you too have slandered your friend to feed you, therefore he will eat you.' He said to Them, 'Ruler of the world! If this is the case, then I and my offspring will be destroyed!' They said to him, 'I will allow a remnant of you to remain, as I did for the moon.' Immediately, the mouse went and bit the cat on his head, and the cat jumped and threw the mouse to the earth and bit him and he died. At that moment, the hatred of the cat for the mouse descended, and therefore they eat them.\" ",
" י\"ב He said to him, \"Why does the donkey urinate on his friend's urine and smell his manure?\" He said to him, \"When the Holy Blessed One created all creations, the donkey said, 'The horse and mule and all creatures get a rest, but we toil for generations upon generations and we get no rest. Let us pray to our Creator that They will give us a rest, and if not, let us refrain from producing offspring.' They prayed and were not answered. But They said to them, 'When your urine is like rivers and they use it to power mills, and your manure has a scent like the smell of spices, then I will give you your reward.' And therefore they smell and urinate (as mentioned above).\" ",
" י\"ג He said to him, \"And why is there hatred between the dog and the cat?\" He said to him, \"When the cat was created, he went and partnered with the dog, and the two of them would hunt and eat. One day came along, and then a second and third, when they could not find anything to eat. Then the dog said to the cat, 'How long will we sit hungry? You, go to First Adam and live with him in his house, and eat and be satisfied, and I will go to the creeping, crawling animals, and though nothing is found, we will eat and we will live.' The cat said to the dog, 'Let us both swear not to go to the same master.' He said to him, 'You have said well.' Immediately they both swore, and the cat went to the house of the First Adam and found mice and ate and was satisfied, and the remaining ones fled from him. When he saw this, Adam said, 'The Holy Blessed One has sent me a great healing!' Immediately he settled him in his house and fed him bread and gave him water. Then what did the dog do? He went to the wolf. He said to him, 'Can I come to you tonight and sleep over?' He said to him, 'Yes.' They both went into a cave and lay down. The dog heard the sound of loud animal footsteps. Immediately he woke the wolf and said to him, 'I hear the sound of bandits!' He said to him, 'You go out and chase them away.' They stood up against him as if to kill him. He ran away and went to the monkey, and he chased him away. He went to the sheep, and he accepted him and lay down with him. He heard the sound of footsteps. The dog said to the sheep, 'I hear the sound of bandits!' He said to him, 'You go out.' The dog went out and started barking. The wolves said, 'The sheep went there,' and they went and found him [the sheep] and ate him, and the dog ran away from lodging to lodging and could not find any rest at all. Immediately, he went to First Adam, who accepted him and lay down to lodge with him. At midnight, the dog said to Adam, 'I hear footsteps!' Immediately, Adam stood up and took up the spear and went with the dog, and they chased the animals until they had made them run away, and the two of them returned together. Adam said to the dog, 'Come with me to my home, and live with me and eat my food and drink my water.' So he went with him. When the cat heard the dog's voice, he came out to greet him. He said to him, 'Why have you come to me?' He said to him, 'Adam brought me.' They began to quarrel. Adam said to the cat, 'Why are you fighting with him? I brought him, because I saw that he is he is entirely loyal.' He [Adam] said to him [the cat], 'Do not worry! You will be with me as has been your habit.' He said to him, 'My master, he is a thief. Is it nice to live with a thief?' The cat said to the dog, 'Why did you break your oath?' He said to him, 'I will not come into your residence, I will not eat what you have, I will not harm you at all.' He would not listen to him, so they began to quarrel. When the dog saw that it was so, he immediately ran to Seth's house and lived with him. The dog would try to make peace with the cat, but the cat was not amenable, and from that moment until this day they are in a quarrel. And the practice of the ancestors is the practice of the descendants, whether wild animals, domesticated animals, or people. And they say this parable about them: 'One ewe follows another.'\"",
" י\"ד He said to him, \"Why can the dog recognize his owner but the cat does not?\" He said to him, \"Anyone who eats from something that a mouse has eaten from forgets his studies (Horayot 13a), so a cat who eats the mouse itself, how much more so should it be unable to recognize its owner!\"",
" ט\"ו He said to him, \"Why are there 'stitches' on a mouse's mouth?\" He said to him, \"During the days of the Flood, the creeping crawling animals entered the ark, male and female. Once the mouse was sitting with his female companion near the cat. The cat said, 'I remember that my father ate him, and I am permitted to eat his offspring...' Immediately he went to eat him. The mouse ran away and was looking for a hole to hide, but could not find one. Immediately a miracle was done for him, and he found a hole and entered there. The cat came to the hole and wanted to enter after him, but he could not because the hole was too small. He put his hand in to take him out, the mouse opened his mouth, and he caught his cheeks with his claws, and below his mouth it was torn about half a finger-width. When the cat left, the mouse exited the hold and went to Noah and said to him, 'Righteous man, do a righteous act for me, and stitch up my cheeks which my enemy the cat has torn.' He said to him, 'Go bring me a hair from the pig's tail [so he went to the pig, and found him asleep, and stole hair from his tail], and he went to Noah and he stitched it, and until today the stiches can be seen.\" ",
" ט\"ז He said to him, \"Why does the raven dance while it walks?\" He said to him, \"Once, the raven saw the dove walking well, with a finer walk than any other bird. He approved of how the dove walked, and said to himself, 'I will also walk the way she does!' And he would take pains with his walking, and the other birds made fun of him. The raven got embarrassed and said, 'I will go back to my original walk.' He tried to go back, but he could not, because he forgot his original walk, and he seemed like a dancer, and he was left holding neither the original walk nor the later walk. And they say the parable about this: One who tries to grasp more ends up holding less. Thus, he was left holding nothing.\"",
" י\"ז He said to him, \"And why does the raven produce seed from his mouth?\" He said to him, \"The Sages of Israel disagreed about this. Some said that because he mated on the ark, he was made odd (and likewise, the dog was decreed to become tied during mating), while some said that because he is wicked, a thief, and damaging, therefore he was made different from all creatures. One Sage came and said to the disagreeing Sages, 'I will uphold your words.' He said, 'In the ark, when Noah wanted to send him to see whether the waters had receded, he got himself away from Noah and went under the eagle's wing, so that Noah would not send him. They searched for him and found him under the eagle's wing. Noah said to him, \"Wicked one, go out of the ark and see if the waters have lessened from upon the land.\" He said to him, \"Of all the birds, you only found me?!\" He said to him, \"I only have permission to send out two, whose names begin with the letters ayin and yud, raven and dove.\" He said to him, \"But why the raven, and not the eagle and the dove?\" He said to him, \"Because there is one city and its name is Ai, and its residents will in the future kill Yair, who captured Orev and released Yonah.\" The raven said to Noah brazenly, \"You only send me in order to kill me and to mate with my wife, and for this reason everything that you brought into the ark is two by two, and I am part of a couple.\" Immediately, Noah cursed him and said to him, \"By the thing about which you are slandering me falsely, you will be cursed, for you will never mate with your female partner except with your mouth!\" And all the animals that were on the ark answered and said, \"Amen!\" The raven said to him, \"Why have you cursed me? I have a legal case against you!\" He said to him, \"Because you are promiscuous and a fool and you project suspicion on the worthy.\" He [Noah] said to him, \"Wicked one! Even my wife, who is in my form, in my image, and permitted to me, I am not intimate with, so your female partner, who is not in my form, and in contrast is even prohibited to me, how could I be intimate?!\" He said to him, \"And why did you tell me 'You are promiscuous?'\" He said to him, \"You certainly are promiscuous, as your words prove, and I have not slandered you falsely.\" From that time on, the raven used his mouth for mating, as Noah had cursed him.'\"",
" י\"ט He said to him, \"Why is it that all species on land have their parallel in the sea except for the species of fox (and weasel) which are not in the sea?\" He said to him, \"Because the fox is intelligent, and when the Holy Blessed One created the Angel of Death and he saw the creatures, he said to Them, 'Ruler of the world, give me permission to kill them.' They said to him, 'You have permission for any of the creatures and their offspring except for the offspring of Malchas the bird, who must not taste the flavor of death [and therefore he is called Malchas the bird, for he has compassion (chas) on his life to escape (lehimalet) from sin.] He said to Them, 'Master of the world, separate them, because they are righteous, so that they do not learn the habits of the other creatures and sin before you, so they will not taste the flavor of sin.' Immediately, They gave him permission, and he built them a large city and brought them into it, and signed on the doors of that city and said, 'It is decreed that my sword will not rule over you, nor the sword of another, and you will not taste the flavor of death until the end of all generations.' Afterwards, he returned to before the Holy Blessed One. They said to him, 'Throw into the sea some of all the creatures, pair by pair, and what remains you will rule over.' Immediately he did this, and was throwing into the sea some pairs from all the species and drowning them in the sea. When the fox saw this, what did he do? Immediately he stood and was crying. The Angel of Death said, 'Why are you crying?' He said to him, 'For my friends, who you threw into the sea.' He said to him, 'And where are your friends?' Immediately the fox stood on the seashore and the Angel of Death saw the fox's shadow in the sea and thought that he had thrown in a pair other than him. He said to him, 'Get away from here.' Immediately the fox ran away and escaped. The weasel ran into him, and he told him what he had done. The weasel went and did it too, and escaped. After a year, Leviathan gathered up all the creatures in the sea, and the fox and the weasel were missing, for they had not entered the sea. He sent for them, and they told him what the fox had done, and that he and the weasel had escaped through their wisdom, and they said to him they he was extremely wise. And when Leviathan heard about him that he was intelligent, he was jealous of him and sent after him big fish and commanded them to steal his intelligence and bring it to him. They went and found him strolling along the seashore. When the fox saw that the fish were playing on the seashore, he was astounded and entered among them. When they saw him, they asked him, 'Who are you?' He said to them, 'I am a fox.' They said to him, 'Do you know that a great honor is coming to you, and that we have come for you?' He said to them, 'What is it?' They said to him, 'Leviathan is sick, and leaning towards death. He has commanded that nobody but the fox should rule in his place, because he has heard that you are wiser and more understanding than all other creatures. So come with us, for we are messengers and have come for your honor.' He said to them, 'But how could I enter the sea and not die?' They said to him, 'You will ride on one of us, and he will steer you above the sea, and the sea will not touch even one drop on the edge of your paw, until you arrive to the royalty, and we will bring you down, and you will not understand [how] and you will rule over everything, and you will be king, and you will be happy all your days, and you will not need to seek out food anymore or have evil animals larger than you attack and eat you.' When he heard their words, he believed them, and he rode on one of them, and they steered him in the sea. When the waves came over him, he began to get uncomfortable. His mind left him and he said, 'Oy, what have I done? The fish have pranked me in return for all the pranks that I pranks that I played on the creatures, and now I have fallen into their hands, and how can I be saved from their hands?' He said to them, 'Now that I have come with you and I am in your possession, tell me the truth. Why do you want me?' They said to him, 'We will tell you the truth. Leviathan heard your reputation, that you are the wisest, and he said, \"I will tear his belly and eat his heart and I will become wise.\"' He said to them, 'And why did you not tell you the truth? I would have brought my heart with me, and I would have given it to King Leviathan and he would have honored me. But now you are going wrongly.' They said to him, 'Your heart is not with you?' He said to them, 'No, for our custom is such that we leave our hearts in our residences while we travel here and there. If we need it we bring but if not, it remains in our residence.' They said to him, 'So now what will we do?' He said to them, 'My residence, my lodging, is on the seashore. If you want, bring me back to the place where you took me from, and I will get my heart and I will come with you and I will give it to Leviathan, so he will honor me and he will honor you too. But if you bring me like this, with no heart, he will be angry with you and he will eat you. For myself, I am not afraid, because I can tell him, \"My master, they did not tell me ahead of time, and when they did tell me about you I told them to go back with me so I could get my heart, but they did not want to.\"' Immediately, the fish said, 'He is speaking well.' So they returned to the place from where they had taken him, to the seashore, and he descended off from the fish, and he started dancing and throwing himself onto the sand and laughing. They said to him, 'Quickly, get your heart and we will go!' He said to them, 'Go away, fools! If my heart was not with me, I would not have entered the sea with you! Unless you know of any creature who can walk while their heart is not with them?' They said to him, 'You have pranked us.' He said to them, 'Oh, fools. I pranked the angel of death, how much more so you!' Immediately, they returned embarrassed, and told him [Leviathan] this. He said to them, 'Truly, he is clever and you are simpletons, and about you it is said: (Proverbs 1:32) \"For the tranquility of the simpleton will kill him.\" And he ate them. And from that time forward, all the species from all of creation, even Adam and his wife, exist in the sea, except for the fox and the weasel, which are not in the sea.\" ",
" כ He said to him, \"Why does the angel of death have dominion over all creatures except for the generation of Malchas the Bird?\" He said to him, \"It is not just the generation of Malchas the Bird over which the angel of death has no dominion, but even the generation of Yonadav, and some say that human beings entered Gan Eden alive.\" כ\"א He said to him, \"Who were they?\" He said to him, \"Enoch; and Serach bat Asher; and Bitya bat Paroh; and Hiram, King of Tyre; and Eliezer the, servant of Abraham; and Eved-Melech the Ethiopian; and the servant of Rabbi Yehudah; and Yabetz; and Rabbi Yehushua ben Levi; and all the descendents of Yonadav; and all the descendents of Malchas the Bird.\" He said to him, [\"And why?\" He said to him,] \"I will tell you: Enoch- because he was righteous in his generation, for nobody was like him, and he lives in Gan Eden. Eliezer, servant of Abraham- he is the son of Ham, son of Noah, and when he heard the curse of his father, he gave himself over to Abraham and became righteous and he is in Gan Eden. Serach bat Asher- because she told Jacob, 'Joseph is alive.' Jacob said to her, 'This mouth that informed me about Joseph being alive will not taste the flavor of death.' Bitya bat Paroh- because she raised Moshe our teacher from his infancy, so that they do not say, 'what was her reward for that?' Eved-Melech the Ethiopian- who saved Jeremiah from the muddy pit. The servant of Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi- because he was righteous, humble, and of a low spirit. Yabetz- he is in Gan Eden too, because he was the most righteous from his whole generation. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi- for he too was completely righteous, and beloved by the angel of death. Once he said to the angel of death, 'Show me Gan Eden.' He said to him, 'With pleasure!' He walked with him on the way. He said to him, 'I am afraid of you- perhaps you will kill me with your sword unintentionally. If you love me and want me to come with you, let me carry your blade in my hand while I walk with you and you show me Gan Eden the right way, until I have looked at its rooms from the gate.' He said to him, 'The right way,' and immediately he brought him. What did Rabbi Yehoshua do? He stood in the entryway to Gan Eden and began looking and suddenly jumped and entered Gan Eden. The angel of death's blade was in his hand too, and he had it his hand for seven years until the Holy Blessed One said to him, 'Yehoshua ben Levi, you have done a serious thing. Return the angel of death's blade.' And when he had jumped from before the angel of death and entered Gan Eden, the angel of death had shouted a great shout, and had wanted to destroy the world, but God had quieted him. And after seven years, he returned it (the blade) to him. Hiram, King of Tyre- the Holy Blessed One gave him entry to Gan Eden because he built the Temple. He was originally God-fearing, and was made to live in Gan Eden for a thousand years, but afterwards he became haughty and said, 'I am a god.' As it says: (Ezekiel 28:2) \"Mortal man, say...\" And therefore he was disturbed from Gan Eden and he entered Gehennom. The generation of Yonadav ben Rechav- because he wrote all the matters that are in the book of Jeremiah, and he was righteous and reproved Israel, and he lives in Gan Eden. And the generation of Malchas the Bird- when Chava ate from the Tree of Knowledge and gave to her husband too and he ate with her, she grew jealous of the other creatures and fed it to all of them. She saw Malchas the Bird and she said to him, 'Eat from this, which your friends have eaten from.' He said to her, 'Is it not enough for you that you have sinned to Blessed Hashem, and that you have caused others to die, that you are also coming to me to entice me to negate the command of the Holy Blessed One, so I will eat it and I will die? I am not listening to you.' And then he reproved Chava and all the creatures. A heavenly voice speedily called out and said to Chava and to Adam, 'You are commanded, but you did not observe, and you sinned, and you came to Malchas the Bird to make him sin too, and he did not accept that, and he feared Me, even though I had not commanded him, and he kept my decree. Therefore, eternally, he will not taste the flavor death, neither him nor his descendants.\" כ\"ב He said to him, \"And why does the eagle reach closer to the firmament than any other bird?\" He said to him, \"When they left the ark, the (female) eagle was standing with a bird in front of her, and she wanted to eat it. All the animals said, 'One who wants to eat his companion deserves the death penalty!' They hit her and shaved her wings and threw her into a lions' den. But after a year, her wings grew, and she flew away. The birds caught her and tried to kill her, but the raven used trickery to help her escape. He had sex with her and she became pregnant by him, and gave birth to an eagle, and that is why it is called an eagle [nesher]. And the raven is called raven ['orev] because he mixed ['irbev] his seed in all directions, due to the magnitude of his promiscuity. All the animals were searching for her, and a miracle was done and the Holy Blessed One manifested Their Shechinah over her so that his creation should not go extinct, and gave her the strength to fly above all the birds. Therefore it is called an eagle [nesher], because the Holy Blessed One manifested [hishrah] Their Shechinah over her. That is why she flies above, up to the firmament, so that her enemies will not catch her and kill her, extinguishing one type of the Holy Blessed One's creatures from the world.\" He said to him, \"Blessed is the One who distributes Their wisdom to those who fear Them, and has revealed secret, deep matters.\" ",
" The book of Ben Sira is completed "
]
},
"Midrash 'Aleph Bet' on Psalm 119": [],
"Aleph Bet of Rabbi Akiva": [],
"Megilat Antiochus": [],
"Midrash Esfah": [
"\"Midrash Esfah\": This midrash is based on the verse \"Gather for me seventy men\" (Numbers 11:16), explaining the names of those seventy individuals. It includes discourses on portions of Numbers and Deuteronomy. It's possible that it begins with the portion \"Beha'alotekha\" with the phrase \"Gather for me\", which is why it's known by this name.",
"The \"Midrash Esfah\" existed before the works of the Baḥya and Rabbi Yitzhak Abohav, author of \"Menorat Hama'or\" (in the portion \"Beha'alotekha\"). It's also mentioned in the \"Rokeach\" (Halacha of Blessings section 320) and in the book \"Raziel HaMalach\" (page 7). However, it was lost to us, and all that remains are fragmented discourses found in \"Yalkut Shimoni\". All these discourses were collected by Baer in \"Knesset Yisrael\" (1st year). See Rabbi Avraham of the GRA in his book \"Rav Pe'alim\" (side 147).",
"According to Zunz in his book on midrashim, the \"Midrash Esfah\" was composed in Babylon around the 9th century, approximately 940 CE. According to Rapoport in \"Kerem Chemed\" volume 6 (letter 14, section 18), this midrash was founded around 940 CE in the Yeshiva of Rav Ḥaninai Kohen Gaon. Wertheimer in his book \"Batei Midrashot\", house 3, brings some content on portions \"Korach\" and \"Chukat\" that he found in an old manuscript, which he believes is from the \"Midrash Esfah\" (see there, side 5)."
],
"Midrashim on Megilat Esther": {
"Introduction": [],
"Midrash on the Book of Esther": [],
"Drash on Purim": [],
"Midrash on the Megillah (of Esther)": [],
"Mordechai's Dream and Additions to the Book of Esther": [],
"The Prayer of Mordechai and Esther (Hebrew and Aramaic)": []
},
"Tractate of Emanations": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Midrash on The Four Kings": {
"Introduction": [
"\"Ma'amar Arba'ah Melakhim\" (The Discourse of Four Kings): This is similar to the \"Midrash Asarah Melakhim\" (The Midrash of Ten Kings), but here it focuses solely on the kings Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Sennacherib, and Hiram. These kings were overly prideful and, as a result, fell from their status and were humbled. This discourse can be found in two versions in the Rossi manuscript. Rabbi Chaim Horowitz printed them in his work \"Beit Eked HaAgadot\", booklet B'."
],
"": []
},
"'Resourceful Ways'": [
"\"Orchot Tushiya\": These are the paths that the angel Ezekiel conveyed to our forefather Abraham as part of the covenant traditions. They are cited in the book \"HaPliyah\", in the introduction to Rabbi Abraham ben David's (RABaD) commentary on the \"Sefer Yetzirah\", and in the \"Shoshan Sodot\" book authored by a student of the Ramban (Nahmanides), as mentioned in the writings of Rabbi Isaac Luria (the Arizal) and in the \"Sefer HaKanah\". They represent the fifty gates of understanding and their names (see \"Rav Pe'alim\" 38)."
],
"Orchot Chaim": [],
"The Order of Arakim": {
"Introduction": [
"creation of the world or lands, where \"Arakim\" in Aramaic means lands. The second name reflects its theme, which is about the virtuous qualities that God created in His world, which were lost due to sin, but God will restore them in the future. At the beginning of the Midrash, it is written \"And this is the order of virtuous qualities,\" and at its end, \"The qualities have ended, the virtuous qualities have concluded.\"",
"Its primary foundation comes from the book \"Chupat Eliyahu,\" published by Rabbi Chaim Horowitz in his book \"Kavod Chupah,\" based on two manuscripts: \"Di Rossi 563\" from the 13th or 14th century, and the \"British Museum 27089\" written in the year 1644 in the city of Mestre near Venice. \"Seder Arakim\" is the thirteenth book in this collection.",
"The section of \"Seder Arakim\" concerning the Holy Temple is also found in the Midrash \"The Lord by wisdom founded the earth\", printed by Ya'alinak in \"Beit HaMidrash\", chamber 8. It appears that \"Seder Arakim\" was its source, and he added his own additions to it."
],
"": [
[]
]
},
"Sefer HaBahir (\"The Book of Brightness\")": [
"Sefer HaBahir or Midrash Rabbi Nehunya ben HaKana, as it is attributed to him, is a profound and wondrous book of Kabbalah, and it is held in great esteem among Kabbalists like Sefer HaZohar.",
"The Raavya (19th chapter) wrote that originally it was called Midrash Rabbi Nehunya ben HaKana (and so it is referred to by the Ramban and the Tzioni), after its opening \"Said Rabbi Nehunya ben HaKana\" (even though his name is not mentioned a second time in this book), and afterwards there was uncertainty whether he authored it, so they called it Sefer HaBahir, from the verse it opens with \"Pure it is in the skies\" (Job 37:21).",
"The Chida, in the name of the great rabbis (part 2, entry \"Bahir\"), writes in the name of Rabbi Avraham Rovigo that he found in an ancient Zohar that Sefer HaBahir was authored by Rabbi Nehunya ben HaKana, and he was the head of the Kabbalists, followed by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, because Rabbi Nehunya ben HaKana lived in the generation of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai (and is mentioned in Avot 4:2). Now, even if we believe the tradition that Rabbi Nehunya ben HaKana wrote the main part of Sefer HaBahir, we must admit that many things were added to it by later copyists from later midrashim. Many things were also omitted from it that Bachya and Recanati quote in their commentaries on the Torah in the name of Sefer HaBahir.",
"Modern scholars conjecture that the author of Sefer HaBahir was Rabbi Yitzchak Sagi Nahor son of the Raavad in the 13th century. Their mistake comes from finding in the commentary Or HaGanuz on Sefer HaBahir of one of the students of the Rashba, who writes in his introduction: \"Therefore I set my heart to reveal the glory of God according to what I received and prepared from my teachers Rabbi Yehoshua ben Shuaiv and from Rabbi Shlomo of Barcelona who received from the Ramban, and he received from the Baal HaRokeach, and he received from Rabbi Yitzchak Sagi Nahor, and he received from Elijah the prophet.\" These scholars brought proof for their words from the first verse it starts with \"And now they do not see light, it is pure in the skies,\" and they interpreted it as referring to Sagi Nahor. But in truth they did not understand the intention hidden within it, for it is connected to the verse after it \"For darkness hides it, and cloud and dense fog surround it,\" and the third verse decides: \"Even darkness does not darken in the night, but day shines like darkness lights up.\" Guttlavber shows that several ideas from Sefer HaBahir are found in the commentary on Song of Songs attributed to Rabbi Azriel or Ezra, teacher of the Ramban. (Kabbalah and Hasidism at the end)",
"In Sefer HaBahir there are expositions on the letters, vowels and cantillation notes, and it gives symbolic reasons for them in Aramaic even though the whole book is in Hebrew. Bachya in Shemot brings from it another passage in Aramaic that begins \"This point in the Torah is like the soul in the body.\" From kabbalistic topics it mentions the 32 wondrous paths of wisdom with which the world was created, as in Sefer Yetzirah, and counts seven sefirot (that is, after the breaking of the vessels which are the first three sefirot as is known to those who know wisdom). It also counts ten sefirot with which heaven and earth were sealed. And it explains the word sefirot from the verse \"The heavens recount the glory of God.\" It mentions there a name of 12 and a name of 72 corresponding to the 72 languages brought out from the verses \"He journeyed and encamped and pitched\" (see Otzar Yisrael, Shemot entry \"Shemot\"). It also hints to 36 righteous people, and Rabbi Berechya asked \"What is lulav?\", he said to him: \"To it give your heart\" etc.",
"Sefer HaBahir was printed in Amsterdam 1711, Berlin 1746, Korets 1784, Shklov 1784, and with commentary Or HaGanuz and notes of the Gra, Vilna 1893. It is also found in Sefer HaZohar.",
"See also Otzar Yisrael, entry \"Bahir\"."
],
"Bustanai": {
"The Tale of Rabbi Bustanai": []
},
"The Book of Trust": [
"\"Book of Trust\": This book is attributed to Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira. Rabbi Hai Gaon (a renowned Jewish sage) mentioned it in his book \"The Unity\", and it was also referenced by the holy \"Kanah\" in his book \"The Wonder\". It is said there (presumably in the \"Book of Trust\") that the Prophet Jeremiah was engaged in the study of the \"Book of Creation\" privately. A heavenly voice then proclaimed, \"Acquire a companion for yourself.\" He then approached Seraiah, his son, and they studied the \"Book of Creation\" together for three years, fulfilling the verse, \"Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another\" (as referenced in \"Avodat HaKodesh\" by Rabbi Meir ben Gabbai, \"The Ultimate Purpose\" section, page 77b).",
"The \"Book of Trust\" deals with Kabbalah, as listed in the catalog of books by Rabbi Meir Eisenstadt under the letter \"Mem\" titled \"Source of Intellect\" and other compilations on Kabbalah, including \"The Book of Trust by Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira\", as mentioned (in \"Rav Pe'alim\" 41)."
],
"Midrash Bayom HaShmini (\"on the Eighth Day\")": {
"Introduction": [
"\"Midrash On the Eighth Day\": This is a \"Pesikta\" or a discourse for the holiday of Shemini Atzeret, based on the verse in Isaiah (26:15) \"You have increased the nation, O Lord\". It highlights the distinction between the assembly of Israel and the nations of the world in the celebration of the festivals and in other matters, especially in prayer and charity. It expounds on the verse in Ecclesiastes that says \"This too is set against that\", and concludes that the sacrifices act as a favorable advocate for the descent of rain; hence it is written about \"the eighth day, Atzeret\", etc. A similar theme is found in \"Midrash Kohelet Rabbah\" and \"Yalkut Shimoni\" 496.",
"The \"Midrash On the Eighth Day\" was printed by Ya'alin'ek from the Mortara manuscript in \"Beit HaMidrash\" Part 4, page 137."
],
"": []
},
"Ben Sira": [],
"Ben Shua": [
"\"Midrash Ben Shua\": The author of \"Seder HaDorot\" in Part 3, \"Names of the Books\", letter Mem, cites a \"Midrash Ben Shua\" in the name of Mar Rav Hafetz, who wrote: \"I found in one book, in the introduction to the book 'Sheltei HaGiborim', it cites 'Midrash Rabbi Akiva with crown letters', etc., and 'Midrash Ben Shua'. Maharatz Chayot, in his book 'Emrei Binah' (page 6b), cited it in the name of 'Seder HaDorot' and considered it a lost midrash. However, in truth, this is not a midrash, and the omission of a single letter misled him. For in the introduction of 'Sheltei HaGiborim', instead of 'Midrash Shua' it should read 'of Shuaib'. This book is called 'Drashot Even Shuaib' or 'Shaar HaDrashot on the Torah' by Rabbi Yehoshua ben Shuaib, first printed in Constantinople between the years 280-282 and a second time in Krakow in the year 333. See 'Otzar HaSefarim' by Ben Yaakov, under 'Drashot', and Galante, citing R. S. Buber in 'HaMelitz' issue 99, 1895."
],
"Drashot of Rabbi Bena'ah": {
"Introduction": [
"\"Drashat Rabbi Bena'ah\": It was printed by R. Chaim Horowitz in \"Beit Eked HaAgadot\", volume 2, based on manuscript \"De Rossi\" No. 1240 from the year 5070 (1270) and a second version from manuscript \"De Rossi\" No. 541. The Midrash is named \"Drashat Rabbi Bena'ah\" based on its beginning, which starts with \"Drash Rabbi Bena'ah\".",
"The discourse is based on the verse, \"Lord, in the morning You will hear my voice\", and its content is about the nations who mock Israel in exile, yet Israel still hopes for their redemption. In the second version, Rabbi Bena'ah's discourse is mentioned in the middle of the Midrash without mentioning his name. At the beginning, there's another discourse about Abraham our forefather recognizing his Creator at the age of three and about the change of his name and his wife's name. Additionally, there are some appended matters unrelated to Rabbi Bena'ah's discourse.",
"Rabbi Bena'ah was one of the last Tannaim in the Land of Israel and was a disciple of Rabbi Yochanan. He was renowned for his piety and was known for marking the gravesites (Bava Batra 58a). His study hall was named after him (Jerusalem Talmud, Shabbat chapter 2, halacha 3). For more information, see \"Bena'ah\" in the \"Otzar Israel\" encyclopedia."
],
"": [],
"Drashot of Rabbi Bena'ah (Alternate Version)": []
},
"Midrash Hagadol": [],
"Midrash Gadol u'Gedolah": {
"Introduction": [
"\"Midrash Gadol and Gedolah\": This Midrash is based on statements of our sages (Chazal) in which the words \"gadol\" (great) or \"gedolah\" (greater) are mentioned, such as \"charity is greater than sacrifices\" and similar concepts. The author also added his own interpretations. It contains twenty chapters and is the second part of the treatise \"Or Olam,\" which collects all the statements of Chazal containing the word \"forever.\" It is attached to the book \"Reshit Chochma\" by Rabbi Eliyahu de Vidas (published in Kushta, 1596).",
"At the beginning of the \"Gadol and Gedolah\" section, it is written: \"Great are the deeds of the Lord, sought out by all who desire them.\" The last chapter speaks about \"peace,\" drawing its origins from the chapter on peace at the end of the tractate \"Derech Eretz Zuta\" and in \"Midrash Rabbah\" on the portion of Naso. Ya'alin'ek printed the \"Midrash Gadol and Gedolah\" in the third room of the Beit Midrash (study hall)."
],
"": []
},
"Gehinnom": [],
"Midrash HaGalui": [
"",
"",
"And [R. Avraham Saba] also explains the reason for the counting of the omer in Parashat Emor, and these are [his] words: And in the Midrash HaGalui, \"'And you shall count seven weeks' - this counting is because the Lord, may He be blessed, said to Moshe (Exodus 3:13), 'When you take the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God' (and receive the Torah). And since the Torah was beloved to them, they counted the days, the nights and the moments until the time would come. It can be compared to a man who will be receiving a desired object or marrying a woman at the end of fifty days; so due to his great desire, he counts the days and the moments. Likewise is Israel [with this]. And that is why they said (Menachot 66), 'It is a commandment to count days and it is a commandment to count weeks.'\" To here are [the words] of the midrash. (Rav Paalim 42)"
],
"Midrash on Goliath the Phillistine": {
"Introduction": [
"Goliath the Philistine: The foundation of this Midrash is in Aramaic in Sanhedrin 95a: 'One day he went out to hunt, Satan came and appeared to him like a deer, etc.' and it was translated to Hebrew with several changes, especially at the beginning. According to the legend in the Talmud, this event happened to David as atonement for his sin, which led to the killing of the priests in Nob. As a result, Doeg the Edomite was pursued and King Saul and his three sons were killed. God said to him, 'Would you prefer your descendants to be destroyed, or to be delivered into the hands of an enemy?' David replied, 'Master of the Universe, it's better for me to be delivered into the hands of an enemy so that my descendants are not destroyed.' And he was delivered into the hands of Ishbi-Benob. However, in the Hebrew translation, David was punished for boasting excessively about his strength, not realizing that the strength came from God.",
"\"The Midrash Goliath the Philistine is part of the Midrash 'Do not boast' which was printed here in two versions. It included Solomon, David, and Korah, where each one boasted about his quality; one in his wisdom, one in his strength, and one in his wealth, and all were punished. Ya'alin'ek printed the Midrash Goliath (Galit) the Philistine from the 21st of Saloniki found in Oxford in the study room, room D, and this is its version"
],
"": [
"The Midrash of Goliath the Philistine",
"It is written \"Let not the mighty man glory in his might\" (Jeremiah 9:22) - this refers to King David. They said that when David would fight, he would throw [his spear] and kill eight hundred men with one throw, and he would unsheathe his sword against three hundred men at once. When David saw this, he would become arrogant and say \"There is none like me in the world, and after me there will be none like me.\" The Holy One Blessed Be He said to him \"Do not become arrogant in your might, you are numbered.\" And now you will see that it does not come from your might. What did the Holy One Blessed be He do? He made a gazelle pass before him, and Avishai was sitting with him. David and Avishai went after it until they went too far after the gazelle, and they got lost on the road, and the strap of Avishai's sandal came undone. While he was tying it, David went ahead until he saw a beautiful tower. He went and entered it, and saw an old woman, the mother of Goliath the Philistine, and she was sitting and spinning wool. She recognized him as the one who killed her son Goliath the Philistine, but he did not recognize her. She went and cut her thread, and said \"My son, pass me my distaff.\" He said to her \"By your life, my lady!\" When he reached to take the distaff, she immediately hid it in her lap, and placed him under the legs of the bed she was sitting on, in order to break all his bones. Immediately, God showed David that He has neither forgetfulness nor favoritism, and He made a vat fall under him into which David fell. When the brother of Goliath the Philistine came, his mother immediately went out to meet him and said \"My son, do you know what I have captured?\" He said \"No.\" She said \"Here, I have captured David who killed your brother.\" He said to her \"My mother, what have you done to that wicked man? Give him to me and I will kill him.\" She said \"Go and see him under the legs of the bed, where I have broken all his bones.\" He went and saw him sitting in the vat. When he saw this, he said to his mother \"He lives!\" He went and took his spear, and went into the sand, and placed his spear in the ground with its blade towards the sky in order to catch David on his spear. He took David and threw him up in the air with his spear underneath, but God made David hover in the air. Meanwhile, Avishai arrived and saw the whole incident. He went to the brother of Goliath the Philistine and said to him \"Give me your spear and I will kill him.\" He said \"Take it.\" When he took it, Avishai went and killed that wicked man. Then immediately David fell down, and they returned to their place. Then they said \"Where is the might? It is not his, but God's.\" And this is the meaning of the verse \"And Avishai helped David and struck the Philistine.\"",
"End of the Midrash of Goliath the Philistine"
]
},
"The Garden of Eden; Gehinnom": {
"Introduction": [],
"Tractate of Gan Eden": [],
"Seder Gan Eden": [
"",
"",
"",
"",
"",
"",
"",
"there are seven levels of the tzaddikim in the garden of eden with seven diffrent types of houses"
],
"Seder Gan Eden, (version 2)": [],
"The Feast of the Garden of Eden": [],
"The Feast of the Leviathan": [],
"Chapter of the Garden of Life": [],
"The Book of Gehinnom": [
"The Book of Gehinnom",
"[Reishit Chochmah: Gate of Fear: Chapter 12; Beit haMidrash: Section 1]",
"It is written: \"Who can stand before His wrath? Who can resist His fury?\" (Nahum 1:6). Rabbi Zeira opened [the discussion of Gehinnom with the verse]: \"The leech has two daughters, 'Give!' and 'Give!'\" (Proverbs 30:15). Said Rabbi Eliezer: Two walls of angels stand at the entrance of Gehinnom, and they say \"Give! Give! Bring! Bring!\" And why is its name Gehinnom? Because the sound of its groaning (from the Hebrew root NHM) goes from one end of the world to its other end. And why is its name Taphteh? Because all enter there through the temptation (from the Hebrew root PTH) of the evil inclination.",
"Chapter 1: Rabbi Yochanan opened: \"Those who pass through the valley of weeping (alluding to Gehinnom) turn it into a water spring; moreover, the early rain covers it with blessings.\" (Psalms 84:7). This teaches that the evil person confesses like the leper (who has to cover his upper lip) confesses, and says \"I am so-and-so, son of so-and-so. I committed such-and-such sin in such-and-such place on such-and-such day in front of so-and-so in such-and-such and such-and-such gathering. There are three gates (reading שערים as per mss.) in Gehinnom, one in the sea, one in the wilderness, and one in settled land. From where is the one in the sea? As it is said: \"From the belly of Sheol (another name for Gehinnom) I cried out, And You heard my voice.\" (Jonah 2:3). From where is the one in the wilderness? As it is said: \"They went down [with all that belonged to them] alive into Sheol...\" (Numbers 16:33). From where is the one in settled land? As it is said: \"Declares the LORD, who has a fire in Zion, Who has an oven in Jerusalem.\" (Isaiah 31:9). There are five types of fire in Gehinnom: Fire that eats and drinks, that drinks and doesn't eat, that eats and doesn't drink, that doesn't eat and doesn't drink, and there is fire that eats fire. There are burning coals the size of mountains in it, and there are burning coals the size of hills in it. There are burning coals the size of the Dead Sea in it, and there are burning coals the size of large stones in it. There are rivers of pitch and sulfur in it, dragging and boiling hot coals of broom-wood. The sentence of an evil person: Angels of destruction push him so that he falls on his face and others receive him from them and push him in front of the fire of Gehinnom, and it opens its mouth wide and swallows him, as it is said: \"Assuredly, Sheol has opened wide its gullet And parted its jaws in a measureless gape; And down into it shall go, That splendor and tumult, That din and revelry.\" (ibid. 5:14), to the one who doesn't have a single positive action that tilts him to the side of merit, but one who has in his hand Torah and good deeds and great afflictions come upon him is saved from the judgement of Gehinnom, as it is said: \"Though I walk through a valley of deepest darkness, I fear no harm... Your rod and Your staff—they comfort me.\" (Psalms 23:4). \"Your rod,\" those are the afflictions, \"and Your staff,\" that is the Torah.",
"Chapter 2: Rabbi Yochanan opened: \"But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall have no way to flee, and their hope shall be the drooping of the soul.\" (Job 11:20), a body that isn't destroyed and its soul leaves in a fire that doesn't extinguish, and about them the scripture says: \"For their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched.\" (Isaiah 66:24). Said Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: One time, I walked on the road and I found Elijah the Prophet, his memory for blessing. He said to me: Is it your desire that I place you at the gate of Gehinnom? I said to him: Yes. He showed me humans that were hanging by their noses and humans that were hanging by their hands and humans that were hanging by their tongues and humans that were hanging by their legs, and he showed me women that were hanging by their chests, and he showed me humans that were hanging by their eyes, and he showed me humans to whom they were feeding their flesh and humans to whom they were feeding hot coals of broom-wood and humans sitting alive and worms were eating them. He said to me: These are the ones that about them it is written \"For their worm shall not die.\" (ibid.). And he showed me humans to whom they were feeding fine sand, and they were feeding them against their will and their teeth were breaking, and the Holy One Blessed Is He was saying to them: Evil ones, when you ate stolen [food], it was sweet in your mouths, and now there isn't within you the strength to eat, to fulfill that which is said: \"You break the teeth of the wicked.\" (Psalms 3:8). And he showed me humans whom they were casting from the fire to the snow and from the snow to the fire like this shepherd who shepherds his sheep from mountain to mountain, and about them the scripture says: \"Sheeplike they head for Sheol, with Death as their shepherd. The upright shall rule over them at daybreak, and their form shall waste away in Sheol till its nobility be gone.\" (ibid. 49:15). Said Rabbi Yochanan: Each individual angel is appointed to exact the punishment of one sin. This one comes and judges him and goes on his way, and so the second one and so the third one and so all of them until they recompense for all the sins that are in his hand. To what is the matter similar? To a debtor who had many creditors and they brought him before the king. Said to them the king: What should I do for you? Go and split it (his money) between yourselves. [So too] at that time, his soul is passed in Gehinnom to cruel angels and they split it between themselves.",
"Chapter 3: It is stated: Three go down to Gehinnom and don't go up: The one who has an affair with someone's wife and the one who whitens the face (embarrasses) of his friend in public and the one who swears falsely in the name of God, and some say even the one who is honored through the dishonor of his friend and the one who causes friction between a man and his wife to bring strife between them. On every Sabbath eve, they bring them to two snowy mountains and leave them there, and at the Sabbath's departure, they return them to their places, and an angel goes out and pushes them and returns them to their places in Gehinnom. And from them (the mountains) they take snow and put it beneath their underarms in order to cool them during the six weekdays, and the Holy One Blessed Is He says to them: Evil ones, Woe to you that even in Gehinnom you are stealing, as it is said: \"May drought and heat snatch away their snow waters, And Sheol, those who have sinned.\" (Job 24:19, read homiletically as they will snatch away snow waters), as if to say: even in Sheol they sinned.",
"Chapter 4: Every twelve months they (the evil ones) are made into ashes and the wind scatters them under the feet of the righteous, as it is written: \"And you shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet.\" (Malachi 3:21), and after that, their souls return into them and they go out from Gehinnom and their faces are black like the bottom of a pot and they affirm the righteousness of the judgement over them and say: You have sentenced us properly, You have judged us properly. Lord, righteousness is Yours, but we are shamefaced, as of this day. But the nations of the world, the worshipers of foreign worship, they judge them in seven pyres of fire and in every individual pyre [they are judged for] twelve months. And the River of Fire goes out from under the Throne of Glory and descends on them and goes from one end of the world to its other end. And there are seven pyres in Gehinnom (reading בגיהנם as per mss.) (In the Midrash Rut HaNe'elam they detailed the seven pyres. See Zohar Chadash: 33, and see also Zohar: Terumah: 150b that there is a place in Gehinnom that is called boiling excrement ..., also in Midrash Tehillim 11:6), and in each individual pyre there are six thousand houses, and in each individual house there are six thousand windows, and in each individual window there are six thousand jugs of bitterness, and all of them are prepared for the scribes and for the judges that did not act reasonably, and concerning that time Solomon said: \"And in the end you roar, When your flesh and body are consumed...\" (Proverbs 5:11), and not one of them escapes, unless there is Torah and good deeds in him. After all of this, the Holy One Blessed Is He has mercy on His creations, as it is said: \"For I will not always contend, I will not be angry forever: Nay, I who make spirits flag, Also create the breath of life.\" (Isaiah 57:16).",
"Completed is the Book of Gehinnom"
],
"Chapter from Gehinnom, by Rabbi Yitzchak ben Parnach": [],
"Tractate 'The Beating in the Grave'": [],
"The Judgment of the Grave": []
},
"Divrei Hayamim of Moshe": [],
"Devarim Zuta": [
"\"Devarim Zuta\": This is a midrash on the Book of Deuteronomy that was known to the author of the Yalkut Shimoni, and it appears in the Yalkut Shimoni for the Book of Deuteronomy 31 times. It is distinct from the midrash \"Devarim Rabbah\". The statements brought in the name of \"Devarim Zuta\" are not found in \"Devarim Rabbah\", and this midrash has been lost. What remains of it are only the statements cited by authors in its name.",
"Rabbi Shlomo Buber collected all the statements from this Midrash that are scattered throughout the Yalkut Shimoni. He also included a Midrash on the portion of Devarim based on a manuscript from Munich, as well as excerpts that Rabbi Bahya cited from Midrash Devarim which are not found in the printed versions. He combined these with annotations and corrections, under the title \"Lekutim from Midrash Eleh HaDevarim Rabba\" (probably meaning \"Zuta\"), published in Vienna in the year 1885. It was previously printed in segments in the quarterly \"Beit Talmud\" in its fourth year. At the beginning, Rabbi Shlomo Buber demonstrates that many statements brought by early scholars under the name \"Midrash Devarim Rabba\" are not found in our version, and they might have been referring to \"Midrash Devarim Zuta.\" For instance: The Ramban, in the portion \"Vayishlach,\" regarding the death of Deborah, states: \"I found in Eleh HaDevarim Rabba in the portion 'Ki Teitzei'...\" and this is not present in the printed Devarim Rabba. The Ro'keach, in the laws of blessings, cites: \"In Devarim Rabba it states 'Every time it is mentioned, it should be like a new letter...'\", but this is not found in our version. The author of Or Zarua, in the laws of diverse kinds, brings in the name of Eleh HaDevarim Rabba, but it is not found in our printed version. The Abudraham, in the laws of the morning order for weekdays, states: \"As said in Eleh HaDevarim Rabba, 'Guard my commandments and live, guard the 248 words of the Shema, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, will guard your 248 limbs'\", and this too is not present in the printed version. Undoubtedly, all these references are from the lost \"Devarim Zuta\" Midrash."
],
"Agadot of Dorshei Reshumot": {
"Introduction": [],
"": [],
"Dorshei Chamurot": []
},
"The Story of Daniel": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Tractate Derech Eretz": [],
"The Lord Founded the Earth by Wisdom": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Haggadah": [
"\"Haggadah\": A collection of legends and tales that was available to the ancient scholars. Rashi, of blessed memory, cites it in Sanhedrin (31b): \"I found in the 'Sefer Haggadah' that Rabbi Oqva was a penitent. He set his eyes on a certain woman, and his heart was stirred with passion, and he became ill. The woman was married. After some time, the woman needed to borrow from him, and due to her pressing need, she made herself available to him. However, he overcame his desire and sent her away in peace, and he was healed. When he would go out to the market, a light would shine above his head from the heavens. Because of this, he was called 'Natan of the Sparkles', etc.\" The author of \"Seder HaDorot\" wrote that perhaps the 'Sefer Haggadah' in which Rashi found the story of Rabbi Oqva is referring to Oqvan bar Nehemiah. I found that Natan of the Sparkles lived during the time of Rabbi Meir, as mentioned in the 'Book of Deeds' by Rabbi Nissim bar Yaakov, the father-in-law of Dunash (referenced in \"Rav Pe'alim\" 51)."
],
"Passover Haggadah": [],
"Midrash \"Hizhir\"": [],
"Hekhalot": {
"Introduction": [],
"Tractate Hekhalot": [
"",
"",
"The Holy One of Blessing is High and Exalted, His throne is [also] High and Exalted. And from where do we know that the Holy One of Blessing is called \"High and Exalted\"? From (Isa. 57:15) \"This is what [Ad-nai] High and exalted said\". And from whre do we know that even His throne is High and Exalted? From (Isa. 6:1) \"And I saw my Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne\" etc. The Holy One of Blessing is called Justice as it says \"I, Ad-nai, am the Speaker of Justice\" (Isa. 45:19) - and from where do we know that even His throne is called Justice? From \"Justice and Judgment are the foundation of Your throne\" (Ps. 89:15)The Holy One of Blessing is called Judgment as it says \"because a God of Judgment is Ad-nai\" (Isa. 30:18) and even His throne is called Judgment, as it says \"from there were sat thrones of Judgement (Ps. 122:5).The Holy One of Blessing is called Truth as it says \"Ad-nai is a God of Truth\" (Jer. 10:10) and even His throne is called Truth, as it says \"And he readied in Lovingkindness a throne, and sits there in Truth (Isa. 16:5). The Holy One of Blessing is called Glory as it says \"May the King of Glory enter\" (Ps. 24:7) and even His throne is called Glory, as it says \"A throne of Glory, high from the beginning\" (Jer. 17:12). May the King of Glory come and sit on the Throne of Glory, in the Temple of Glory as it is said \"and in His Temple everything says 'Glory!'\" (Ps.29:9) The Holy One of Blessing is called Holy as it says \"Holy, holy Holy is Ad-nai Tzevaot, the whole earth is filled with His Glory\" (Isa. 6:3) and even His throne is called Holy, as it says \"God sat on His throne of Holiness (Ps. 47:9). May the King of Holiness come and sit on the Throne of Holiness, in the great secret of holy ones, as it is said: “A God dreaded in the great secret of the holy ones” (Ps. 89:8). - How many thrones the Holy One of Blessing has!He has an Established throne, as it says \"Your throne has been established ever since time\" (Ps. 93:2). He has a throne of Justice and Judgment, as it says \"Justice and Judgement are the foundation of Your throne\" (Ps. 89:15). He has a throne of Lovingkindness, as it says \"He readied in Lovingkindness a throne\" (Isa. 16:5). He has a Throne of Yah, as it says \"because there is a hand against the throne of Yah\" (Ex. 17:16). He has a throne of Glory, as it says \"a throne of Glory high from the beginning \" (Jer. 17:12). He has a throne of Truth, as it says \"He readied in Lovingkindness a throne and sits there in Truth\" (Isa. 16:5). He has a Holy throne, as it says \"God sat on his throne of Holiness\"(Ps. 47:9). He has an eternal throne, as it says \"Your throne, oh God is forever and ever\"(Ps. 45:7). He has a throne of Mercy, as it says \"To our Lord belongs Mercy and Forgivenesses\" (Daniel 9:9). He has a throne of Sovereignty, as it says \"and Sovereignty shall be Ad-nai's\"(Obadiah 1:21). He has a High and Exalted throne, as it says \"And I saw my Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne\" (Isa. 6:1). May the High and Exalted King sit on the High and Exalted throne, blessed, and exalted, and higher than any blessing and praise."
],
"Hekhalot Rabbati": [],
"Chapter from the Chapters of Hekhalot": [],
"The Seven Palaces of Impurity": []
},
"Midrash on Hallel 'Sefer HaMa'asim'": {
"Introduction": [
"\"Hallel\": This is a midrash on Psalms 113-118, which are recited during Rosh Chodesh and festivals. Since there was a specific midrash dedicated to Hallel, these psalms were not fully expounded upon in the \"Midrash Shocher Tov,\" which is a midrash on the Book of Psalms. Some verses were not interpreted at all in the latter, likely because the authors relied on the \"Midrash Hallel\". Psalm 116 was entirely omitted from the \"Midrash Tehillim\". It's possible that this was because it contained criticism of the faith in idols and images, which were also worshiped by Christians.",
"Within the \"Midrash Hallel\", there are references to the Book of Enoch and also to the \"Midrash Hekhalot\" in the statement: \"This teaches that Rabbi Akiva's eye saw [mystical visions] in the Divine Chariot in the same way that the eye of the prophet Ezekiel saw, hence it is said 'Who turns the rock into a pool of water.'\"",
"The author of the midrash laments that in his time, there were ignorant Jews who donated charity for idolatrous purposes, and he expounded on the verse \"The Lord protects the simple.\"",
"This midrash is found in a manuscript in Munich, in collection 222, alongside other midrashim, with the inscription: \"In the name of God, the miracle-worker, I begin the book of deeds.\" It was printed by Ya'alin'ek in \"Beit HaMidrash,\" volume five."
],
"": []
},
"Midrash Harninu": [],
"Hashkem": {
"Introduction": [],
"Midrash Hashkem ('Arise Early')": []
},
"A Certain Woman From the Wives of the Sons of the Prophets": {
"": [
[
"\"And a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets\": This midrash is based on the verse, \"And a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets...\" (2 Kings 4:1). It praises righteous women in contrast to wicked ones, particularly lauding the woman mentioned in this verse. According to the midrash, she was the wife of Obadiah who helped her sustain the prophets. The midrash then continues to explain the entire chapter and the story in an aggadic (legendary) manner as it was passed down to the author of the midrash. In the Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation of rabbinic interpretations, only a few lines from this midrash can be found: \"Rabbi Mena said: Were it not for the merit of Obadiah's wife, Israel would have long been lost, God forbid. This is based on the verse 'And a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets...'. The oil she had was precious, and she came to ask Elisha if she should sell it or not. The final blessing she received was greater than the first, as it is said, 'You and your sons shall live on the rest,' until the resurrection of the dead.\" That's the extent of it in the Yalkut. This midrash was copied from a manuscript in Rome and was published in \"Otzar Tov\" by Berliner and Hapman (Vol. 1, p. 014, Berlin, 1878)."
]
]
},
"Midrash 'And He Passed Before Them'": [],
"Midrash V'Hizhir ('And He Warned')": [],
"Midrash Vayosha ('And He Saved')": {
"Introduction": [
"\"Midrash Vayosha\": This is a midrash on the Song of the Sea and the Exodus from Egypt. It is named after the verse \"And the Lord saved Israel that day\" (Exodus 14:30), and it seems that the midrash primarily began with this verse, including the legend of Uzza, the angelic prince of Egypt, and his dispute with Michael, the angelic prince of Israel, before the Divine Throne concerning the duration of the enslavement. After this, the story of the Binding of Isaac was added to its beginning, even though it doesn't truly belong there. Midrash Vayosha is cited in the book \"Bachayei\" on Parsha Beshalach, which states: \"According to the midrash, 'And behold, the Egyptians were marching after them.' The prince of Egypt saw that there was an angel descending from the heavens to help Egypt, and he was Uzza. I also saw in the Midrash Vayosha that Uzza was the prince of Egypt.\" This is also cited in the book \"Minchat Shai\" by Rabbi Raphael Manortzi on Parsha Beshalach.",
"Midrash Vayosha was first printed in Kushta in the year 1759, in a collection of 18 agadic midrashim. It also appears in the \"Divrei Chachamim\" collection edited by Rabbi Eliezer Ashkenazi from a manuscript corrected by Rabbi Shlomo Munk (Metz, 1819). Additionally, it was published by Yellinek in \"Beit HaMidrash\" volume 1, and in the Yiddish-Ashkenazi language in Prague (without a printing year). It was also published with a commentary \"Beit HaGadol\" by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Bliman (Warsaw, 1886), and with a new commentary by Rabbi Chaim Abraham Aba Goldblatt (Vilna, 1893)."
],
"": []
},
"Vayechulu ('And They Were Completed')": {
"Introduction": [
"\"Midrash Vayikhalu\": This midrash is named after the verse \"And the heavens and the earth were finished\" (Genesis 2:1). It is one of the midrashim that have been lost to us, and only fragmented statements remain which were brought by ancient authors who had access to this midrash.",
"In the commentary attributed to Rashi on Chronicles (1 Chronicles 3:1), a statement is brought in the name of Midrash Vayikhalu regarding Daniel being the son of Abigail. The Ro'keach (Rabbi Elazar of Worms) also cites it (section 326) about Hannah praying the 18 blessings. In the Yalkut Shimoni (Samuel, code 80), this is mentioned in the name of Midrash Yelammedenu, and in Halachot Gedolot (Laws of Blessings, Chapter 5), the midrash is mentioned with the phrase \"it is said in the West\" alongside Midrash Yelammedenu. The Tosafists (Shabbat 117b) cite: \"As we say in the midrash that they journeyed from Mount Sinai a three-day journey like a child leaving school, etc.\" In Rabbi Moses ben Shem-Tov's commentary on Demai (chapter 4, mishna 2), \"Vayikhalu Rabbah\" is mentioned, but this seems to be an error and should be \"Vayikra Rabbah\". The Midrash Vayikhalu is also mentioned in the Book of Gematrias of the disciples of Rabbi Judah the Pious, in a manuscript on parchment (see Shem HaGedolim).",
"Most of the content of Midrash Vayikhalu was taken from Midrash Yelammedenu. The name of the compiler and his time are unknown, but it likely was compiled after the 11th century, as it is not mentioned by authors who lived before that time. Even the compiler of the Yalkut Shimoni does not mention Midrash Vayikhalu (see Rav Pe'alim 62; Tzuntz in Sefer HaDarshot, page 293, note 4, and in Otzar Yisrael in his article).",
"Rabbi Avraham Greenhut in his Sefer HaLekutim (Volume 2) collected all the statements mentioned in the aforementioned books in the name of Midrash Vayikhalu, and they are: "
],
"": []
},
"Midrash Vayissu ('And They Journeyed')": [
"\"Midrash Vayisu\": It is based on the verse \"They journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob\" (Genesis 35:5). It is also referred to as the \"Book of the Wars of the Sons of Jacob\" as it recounts the valor of Jacob's sons in their battle against the kings of the Amorites who gathered against them following the incident of Shechem, and Jacob and his sons' battle against Esau and his progeny. In these battles, Judah particularly stood out for his valor and courage.",
"This story is a very ancient legend, also mentioned in the Book of Jubilees (chapter 37) which was composed by a Jew from Alexandria during the Second Temple period. There, as in Midrash Vayisu, it is said that Jacob himself killed Esau in his battle against him with the help of his sons. However, in the Book of Jasher, it is narrated that this battle took place after Jacob's death and then Esau was killed to fulfill Rebecca's prophecy \"Why should I be bereft of both of you on one day?\", and that Judah was his slayer. Similarly, this is described in the Jerusalem Talmud (Ketubot chapter 1 and Gittin chapter 5), with variations in the Babylonian Talmud (Sotah 13), in the Sifrei Devarim chapter 33, in Targum Jonathan Genesis 3, in Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer (chapter 39), in Midrash Shocher Tov (Psalms 18), where it is said that Esau's death was at the hands of Hushim, the son of Dan. Nevertheless, even in the Vayisu narrative, it is not entirely clear, as it says that Jacob wounded him, and Esau died from his wounds in the town of Arudin, and some say he did not die there. The legend of this war is in external books like the \"Wills of the Twelve Tribes\", specifically in \"Judah's Will\" (see Kautzsch Apocrypha vol. 2 pages 97, 107, 471), which originate from the Essenian scholars of Alexandria, and are not considered credible, so they were not accepted by our sages. Regarding this, Ramban (Nachmanides) said: \"If we believe in the Book of the Wars of the Sons of Jacob (Midrash Vayisu)...\", indicating that he did not see it as authoritative and had doubts about its veracity.",
"Midrash Vayisu can be found in a collection of 19 books in the British Museum in London, No. 27089. It was printed in Kushta in 1779 and was printed by Charles in his edition of the Book of Jubilees, Appendix B (Oxford 1895), and by Yellinek in Bet HaMidrash 8a at the beginning, which is a verbatim copy from Yalkut Shimoni 1a, code 133. Since this Yalkut is available to scholars of midrashic literature, there is no need to reproduce the Midrash Vayisu here."
],
"Zohar": [],
"Zohar Chadash": [
"\"Zohar Chadash\": It consists of some esoteric Torah teachings (letters), verses, and Mishnaic teachings with a concealed Midrash on the Torah and the Song of Songs, as well as some parts of Lamentations and teachings from Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, all that was found after the aforementioned book of Zohar was printed. They were arranged and brought to print by Rabbi Shlomo son of Rabbi Yitzhak Katz of Ashkenazi origin and Rabbi Naphtali son of Rabbi Joseph, in Salonika, 1557. With additional annotations and comments by the Ari (Rabbi Isaac Luria) and many others, it was compiled by Rabbi Moshe Mordechai son of Samuel Margaliot, in Krakow, 1803, and was printed in other editions as well. Recently, it was printed with all the aforementioned as well as the \"Zohar Chadash\" on the Book of Ruth, which is called the \"Sefer Har Adni\", attributed to Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, with commentaries by Rabbi Moshe di Lonzano, explanations by the Vilna Gaon (GRA), annotations by Rabbi Israel of Kozhnitz, comments by Rabbi David Luria, in Warsaw, 1885."
],
"Zuta": [
"\"Zuta\": \"Zuta\" is an Aramaic and Arabic word meaning \"small\" in contrast to \"Raba\" which means \"large\" or \"great\". There are Midrashic compilations that were composed in two editions, with one, the larger version, being called \"Raba\" and the other, which is an addition and later than the first, called \"Zuta\". Examples include \"Seder Eliyahu Raba\" and \"Seder Eliyahu Zuta\", \"Derech Eretz Raba\" and \"Derech Eretz Zuta\".",
"R. S. Buber published \"Midrash Zuta\" on Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, and Ecclesiastes, in Berlin, 1894. See \"Kehilat Aharon\" under its entry."
],
"The Book of Zerubavel": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Tractate Chibut HaKever ('Beating in the Grave')": [],
"The Weasel and the Pit": {
"Introduction": [
"\"Chuldah and Bor\": An ancient legend that was known during the Talmudic times and is mentioned in the words of Rabbi Chanina: \"Come and see how great artisans are. From where [do we learn this]? From Chuldah and Bor. Just as one believes in Chuldah and Bor, so too one believes in the Holy One, Blessed be He, all the more so.\" (Ta'anit 7b).",
"Rashi referenced this story, and it is also found in Tosafot and in \"Pachad Yitzchak\" under the entry \"Artisans\", each in their own stylistic manner and in brief. It seems that all of them drew from the tradition of the Geonim, and the \"Aruch\" presents it in greater detail.",
"Using this material, Moshe Laski composed his song \"Faithful of the Land or Chuldah and Bor\" (Warsaw, 1940). Likewise, Eliyahu Mordechai Werbel wrote a song titled \"Chuldah and Bor or Faithful Witnesses\" (1912), and Avraham Goldfaden incorporated this legend into his play \"Shulamit\".",
"According to Shmuel Krois, this legend was also found among ancient nations (\"HaGoren\", Vol. 1, page 30)."
],
"": []
},
"Chuppah of Eliyahu": {
"Introduction": [],
"Seven Chupot or Eliyahu's Chuppah": [],
"Chuppat Eliyahu Rabbah": []
},
"Midrash Chazita": [
"\"Midrash Chazit\": It is also called \"Aggadat Chazit\", and it is a comprehensive midrash on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes. These midrashim begin with the verse \"Do you see a person skilled in his work?\" (Proverbs 22:29).",
"It was first printed in Pisa in the year 5379 (Hebrew calendar).",
"In \"Shibbolei HaLeket HaShalem\" (Laws of Passover, section 218), it is written: According to what is expounded in \"Aggadat Chazit\", when the Israelites left Egypt, they inherited like this woman who takes a tenth of the assets. Similarly, Israel inherited the seven nations, which are a tenth of the seventy nations. Therefore, they sang in the feminine language, \"Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song...\", but in the future, when they will inherit as males, they will sing in the masculine language, as it is said, \"A psalm, sing a new song to the Lord...\" This is from \"Song of Songs Rabbah\" on the verse \"I am black and beautiful\". Similarly, there (in the laws of Lulav, section 372) it is written: As we found in \"Aggadat Chazit\", \"And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and he went up and made burnt offerings and made peace offerings and made a feast for all his servants.\" Rabbi Elazar said: From here we learn that a feast is made for the completion of the Torah. This is from \"Song of Songs Rabbah\" chapter 1 and \"Ecclesiastes Rabbah\" chapter 1 (Rav Pe'alim 62). See also: Ecclesiastes; Song of Songs."
],
"The Incident of Chiram, King of Tsur": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"The Wise One of Secrets": [
"Midrash Chacham HaRazim\" (The Sage of Secrets): A Midrash regarding angels and gematria (Jewish numerology).",
"According to Stein Schneider, this is the secret teachings of Raziel to Rabbi Eliezer of Worms, the author of \"Rokeach\". It begins with \"Blessed is the Wise of Secrets\", and it's also his \"Sod Razia\" (Raziel's Secret), whose foundation is the \"Merkava\" (Divine Chariot) and other secrets according to the Hebrew alphabet order. Up to the middle of the letter \"nun\", it was printed in the book \"Raziel\". It might also be called \"Sod Raziel\" due to another version, \"Sod Razia gematria Elazar\", which can be found in manuscripts in Offenbach and Minkhen, among others.",
"The book \"Chacham HaRazim\" is mentioned in \"Yalkut Shimoni\" on the portion \"Chayei Sarah\". It says: Sometimes a man seeks a wife and she refuses because an angel persuades her to refuse. But here, \"He will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife\", meaning the angel will persuade them to say \"take and go\" and Rebecca will say \"I will go\", even if against their will. In the portion \"Bo\", it says: \"For I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants\", meaning an angel was given to him and controlled him according to his thoughts. There it says, \"I will strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, etc. I and not an angel\", because of the sorcerers and magicians who wanted to destroy the destroyer from their houses. Therefore, it was necessary to say \"I and not an angel\" as they cannot override my decrees. There it says: \"And he called for Moses and Aaron at night\", Pharaoh screamed \"Get up! Leave!\" and his voice was heard throughout Egypt because an angel entered his throat and screamed. In the portion \"Yitro\", it says: \"Who makes His angels winds; His ministers a flaming fire\" with gematria (numerology) equating to Moses. This is because the angels said, \"What is man that you are mindful of him?\" When Moses ascended to the heavens, God brought down the Throne of Glory, and Moses held onto the Throne of Glory, as it is written, \"And on Earth, he showed you his great fire\". In the portion \"Terumah\", it says When God said to Israel, \"Make Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them,\" all the chief angels gathered and said, \"Master of the Universe, why do You wish to dwell below in a place of impurity? It is better for You to dwell with us, for we are pure and in a pure place. Do not dwell among them.\" God replied, \"I have a man below who is equivalent to all of you. You sing before me with 248 wings, as it is written, 'Praise, O heavens, for He has done it; shout, O depths of the earth.' 'Praise, O heavens' refers to the angels, and 'shout, O depths of the earth' refers to Israel who sing below.\" Moreover, they sing before you, as it's written, \"When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.\" And furthermore, he is more esteemed to me than you, for your strength is only \"Ranu\" (248), while his name is \"Aharon\" (which is complete). \"Ronu\" is for Jacob's joy, as written, \"And he saw and rejoiced in his heart.\" Jacob's visage is engraved on the Throne, and Jacob said, \"I am the God of Bethel\" which has the gematria (numerology) of \"Kise\" (Throne). Thus, Jacob receives the letter \"He\" when the prayer ascends above. In the portion \"Beshalach\", it's written: \"Who is like You among the gods, O Lord?\" This means, \"Who is like You, even Michael, the great prince?\"",
"In the tractate \"Menachot\", it is taught: Those who stand in the House of the Lord at night, meaning the altar is built, and Michael, the great prince, stands and offers a sacrifice upon it. Tosafot comments: There are differing Midrashim; some say the souls of the righteous, others say lambs of fire. This is referred to in the Amidah prayer, \"And the offerings of Israel.\" See the Tur on Orach Chaim. I saw in \"Chacham HaRazim\" that before the Temple was destroyed, Michael, as the high priest, offered sacrifices in the form of Israel's offerings before the Holy One, blessed be He. After the destruction, God said to him: \"Do not offer me the form of an ox, sheep, or goat, for I will not bring [them] into the Heavenly Temple until I build for My name a temple below,\" but rather the souls of the righteous and the infants who have not sinned, and they ascend as a pleasing aroma. (Rav Pe'alim 128)."
],
"The Book of Chanoch": {
"Introduction": [],
"The Life of Chanoch": [],
"": []
},
"Chanukah": {
"Introduction": [],
"Megilat Antiochus, Called \"The Greek Scroll\"": [
"",
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"It was in the days of Antiochus, king of Greece, he was a great and mighty king, he was powerful in his governance, and all kings listened to him.",
" He conquered many countries and mighty kings. He made desolate their castles, their halls he burned with fire, and the men he locked in prison.",
"From the days of Alexander the king no king arose like him across the river.",
"He built a great city on the coastline to be for him a capital, and he called it the city of Antiochus after his name.",
"Also Bagris his second built another city opposite [Antioch] and he called it Bagris after his name. These are their names to this day.",
"In the 23rd year of his reign, this was the 213th year after the construction of the house of God, ?there he placed his face? to ascend to Jerusalem."
],
"Midrash The Tale of Chanukah": [
"",
"",
"It is written (Jeremiah 50:33) \"Thus said the LORD of Hosts: The people of Israel are oppressed, And so too the people of Judah etc.\" and it is written (ibid 34) \"Their Redeemer is mighty, His name is LORD of Hosts. He will champion their cause— So as to give rest to the earth, And unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.\" They said in the days of the Greeks, This verse endangers [the Jews] because it reveals a secret about Israel. They said, Come let renew upon them decrees until they have forsaken their God, and they will believe in our foreign worship. They stood up and decreed: Any Israelite who makes a latch or bolt on his door will be stabbed with they sword. (What was the reason for this [decree]? [It was] in order that there should not be honor and privacy in Israel, because any house that does not have a door has no honor or privacy. And any who wants to enter can enter whether day or night.) Since Israel saw this, they got up and removed all doors of their houses. They were unable to eat, drink or have relations, because of thieves, robbers, and Greek invaders. They did not sleep day or night. The verse was fulfilled upon them, \"You will be afraid night and day\" (Deuteronomy 28:66). They said before The Holy One Blessed is He (THOBH), Master of the world how much are we able to carry? He said to them, [This decree is] with the sin of Mezuzzah, but even so room was found in this decree. Israel was living without doors, and there is nothing that removes the evils of a wife from upon her husband like a door. As it says \"Go my people, come into your rooms etc.\" (Isaiah 26:20) They endured the decree for three years. When the Greeks saw that Israel endured the decree and no one violated it in any way, they stood up and decreed another decree. They spread a rumor: Any person from Israel who has an ox or sheep, he should inscribe on its horns that it has no portion in the God of Israel. (What was the reason for this [decree]? In order that Israel would not eat meat, milk, or cheese, and they would not be able to plow.) They said we know that they cannot endure this decree. When Israel heard this they were pained a great pain. They said O mercy! that we will be atoned with our God. They stood up and sold their animals whether pure or impure, and Israel was traveling on foot. Upon them [the verse] was fulfilled, \"I have seen slaves on horseback etc.\" (Ecclesiastes 10:7) THOBH said to them, [This decree is] with the sin that you withheld yourselves from ascending to Jerusalem on the three pilgrimage festivals, bringing the sacrifices, and giving the priestly gifts. Therefore [the verse] is fulfilled upon you \"Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes\" (Deuteronomy 28:31) But even so room was found in this decree. The deer, the rams and all species of pure birds were coming into and entering the houses of Israel, because they did not have doors. Israel came and grabbed them and slaughtered and ate meat. They gave praise to THOBH and they said, Blessed is he that flipped the intentions of our enemies for good. Because if their houses had doors, how could all game enter to them. THOBH answered them, You were meciful on my honor and you did not deny me, So I have prepared for you game. When the Greeks saw that Israel endured this decree, they stood up and decreed: Anyone whose wife goes to immerse herself, he will be stabbed with the sword. And the one who catches her [going to immerse] will have her as a wife and her children as slaves. When Israel saw this they refrained from having relations. When they Greeks heard this they said, since Israel is not using their beds, we will attach ourselves to them [beds]. When Israel saw this, they returned to their wives without immersion, [because] they were forced to. They said, Master of the world we are forced [to have relations] without immersion. "
],
"The Tale of Chanukah, (Version 2)": [],
"Midrash for Chanukah": []
},
"Midrashim on Missing and Extra Letters": {
"Introduction": [],
"": [
[
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"...And in Jonah it is written, \"I would rather die than live.\" Jonah was the son of the woman of Zarfat. He had already died once, and knew that he would have rest, and Elijah did not die. And so he said, \"am I not better than my ancestors?\""
]
]
},
"Moshe's Sword": [],
"Chapter of Rabbi Yoshiahu": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Yehudit": {
"Introduction": [],
"The Tale of Yehudit (Version 1)": [],
"The Tale of Yehudit (Version 2)": []
},
"Tale of Yehoshua Bin Nun": {
"Introduction": [],
"Letter of Yehoshua bin Nun": []
},
"A Tale of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levy": {
"Introduction": [],
"": [
[
"The deeds of Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi",
"[from the Sefer Ma'asiot of Rabbi Nissim Ga'on; Beit Midrash]",
"Rabbi Joshua ben Levi discovered something so overwhelming and frightening [which would continue to do so] unless he could manage to uncover the true mystery and the straightforward meaning of the matter. And he learned of his doubt, and he clarified the matter. And this is what occured: He fasted for many days and sat in his fasting and prayed to his Creator (may His Name be Blessed) for Elijah [the Prophet] to appear to him. And behold, Elijah approached and appeared to him. And [Elijah] said to him: If you have a matter you desire from me, I will fulfill it for you. And Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said to him: I want to travel with you, and to witness the events in the world which are improved by your actions, and I will be able to learn much wisdom from you. And Elijah said to him: You will not be able to bear (tolerate) the things that you will see me do and it will be very bothersome for me to explain to you the purpose of my deeds and actions. And Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said to him: My Master, I will not ask [anything of you] or bother you with any questions, for all I want is to see is what you do and what you say and nothing more. And Elijah made a condition with him that if Rabbi Joshua asked him to know the reasoning of his actions, signs, wonders and the like, that if he asked him any question he would not travel with him anymore. Then they both went together until they came to the house of an utterly poor and destitute man who had nothing [of value] but one cow which was standing with him in the yard. And the man and his wife were sitting at the gate. And [the couple] saw [Elijah and Joshua ben Levi] coming toward them, and they went to greet them and they asked of them of their welfare and were rejoiced to meet them. And they brought them of the best of their home and they brought out before them whatever food or drink they had. And they all ate and drank. And they slept there [overnight]. And the morning came, and they rose to go about on their way. And Elijah prayed for the cow to die, and it died immediately. And they both went [on their way]. And Rabbi Joshua ben Levi saw and wondered about the matter and was overwhelmed and thought to himself \"Was there was no reward for this poor man for the honor he showed to us but to kill his cow? And he has no other one!\" And he said to Elijah: \"My master, why did you kill the cow of this man, who honored us so much?\" And Elijah answered: \"Remember the condition for our travels: you have to be quiet, and not ask, unless you want to separate from me.\" And so Joshua Ben Levi stopped talking, and did not ask again. And the two walked together all day long. At night, they arrived to the house of a very rich man, who did not give them any food or drink, and just let them sleep there. And the house of the man had a wall that was about to fall, but in the morning Elijah prayed, and the wall was miraculously restored. And the two walked from there. And this added to R. Joshua Ben Levi's grief and surprise, but he controlled himself and did not ask any questions regarding the deeds of Elijah. And they walked all they long, and at night they arrived at a huge synagogue, in which all the chairs were made from silver, and there was gold everywhere, and every person was sitting there according to how rich and powerful they were. And one of them [looked at Elijah and R. Joshua ben Levi and] said: \"Who will feed these poor tonight?\" And another answered: \"Oh, they should be all right with the water, the bread and the salt they themselves brought here!\" And so they refused to honor them even minimally. They slept there until morning, and as they were up and leaving Elijah said to them: \"May God make you all strong leaders!\" And they walked all the next day, and this compounded R. Joshua ben Levi's suffering, but he was careful not to ask. And as the sun was setting, they arrived in a town, and the leaders of the town saw them coming, and they went to meet them, with happiness and good heartedness, and received them with smiles and comraderie, and gave them the best that was in their houses, and they ate and drank and slept there in great honor. And come morning, Elijah prays: \"May the Holy One of Blessing give you all only one leader.\" And as Rabbi Joshua Ben Levi hears this, he can't hold himself back anymore. He can't be quiet and not ask regarding the deeds of Elijah. And so: \"Now, please, tell me your secret!\" And Elijah said: \"Now, that you really want to leave me, I will explain to you all of it, and let you know the secret of my deeds. Now you will know that regarding the man whose cow I killed there was a decree that his wife should die, and I prayed to God that his cow would die in her place, moreover, I saw that through that woman a great goodness would come to his house, and all would be well afterwards. And the rich man whose wall I fixed, there was a great treasure of silver and gold hidden under that wall, and should he fix it by himself he would have discovered it. And I know that the wall will collapse gain, and that the treasure will remain hidden, and that house will not be rebuilt. And the people I prayed that they would all become great leaders, this is because it will be bad for them, as they will not be able to reach any agreement on their thoughts and deeds, since any place that has too many bossy leaders eventually gets destroyed and vandalized. And the people I prayed that they should have only one leader it is because such a community will have agreement and all will work together towards their goals, and there will be no disputes among them, all will be well. And this is why the makers of sayings say: \"Too many captains sink the ship, but one mayor makes a city prosper.\" And Elijah told R. Joshua Ben Levi: \"I am leaving you, but here is what I will leave you with: if you see an evil person who is prospering, do not let yourself despair, because it will be that evil person's downfall. And if you see a righteous person suffering, whether for lack of food, clothing or because of sickness or other sufferings, don't get angry, and don't let your impulse to doubt take you over, and strengthen your mind and heart, because the Holy One is just, and righteous, and God is paying attention to all the ways in which people walk. A person cannot know every thing, and who can ask God for an accounting of God's deeds?\" And with that the two said 'Shalom' to each other, and went their separate ways."
]
],
"Letter of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levy": []
},
"Yoav": {
"Introduction": [],
"Midrash on the Verse \"And He Passed Before Them\"": []
},
"Letter of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai from Jerusalem": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Midrashim on Sefer Yonah": {
"Introduction": [],
"Midrash Yonah (From Pirkei d'Rabi Eliezer)": [],
"Midrash Yonah (version 1)": [],
"Midrash Yonah (Version 2)": []
},
"Midrash Yelamdeinu": {
"Introduction": [],
"Last Composition from Midrash Yelamdenu": []
},
"Yalkut": [],
"Sefer Yesod (\"Foundation\") of Rabbi Moshe HaDarshan": [],
"Yaakov Our Father": {
"Introduction": [],
"Yaakov Our Father's Blessing to His Sons": [],
"Lekach Tov on the Blessings of Yaakov Our Father": [],
"The Testament of Naftali ben Yaakov": [],
"Aggadah of the Sons of Yaakov": []
},
"Sefer Yetzirah": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"The Creation of the Embryo": {
"Introduction": [
"The order of the fetus's formation can be found in the manuscript collection in the \"Beit Aked Sefarim\" in Leipzig. From there, Ya'alinak copied it into his \"Beit Hamidrash\", Part 1. A similar version is found in \"Avkat Rochel\", page 23a, Amsterdam edition. Another variant is in the book \"Likutei Hapardes\", attributed to Rashi, on page 4d.",
"The origin of this Midrash is from the Talmud, as taught by Rabbi Simlai: Why is a fetus in its mother's womb similar to a notebook that's folded? Its hands are on its two sides, its temples on its two thighs, its heels on its buttocks, and its head rests between its knees. Its mouth is sealed, and its navel is open. It eats from what its mother eats and drinks from what its mother drinks. It does not excrete waste, lest it harm its mother. When it emerges into the world, the sealed mouth opens, and the open navel seals. If not for this, it couldn't live even an hour. A candle burns above its head, and it sees from one end of the world to the other, etc. (Niddah 30b). Rabbi Eliezer said: Why is a fetus in its mother's womb similar to a nut in a cup of water? When a person places a finger on it, it sinks here and there. The Sages taught: In the first three months, the fetus resides in the lower chamber. In the middle months, it resides in the middle chamber. In the final months, it resides in the upper chamber. When the time comes for it to be born, it turns and exits, which is the pain of childbirth. As we've learned, the birth pangs of a female are more intense than those of a male. One comes in the manner of intercourse, and the other in the manner of its intercourse. One turns its face, and the other does not turn its face, etc. (Niddah 31a)."
],
"": [],
"Order of the Creation of the Embryo": []
},
"Midrash on Yirmiyahu": {
"Introduction": [],
"Aggadah from Midrash Eichah Rabbati": [
"Legend from \"Midrash Eicha Rabati\"",
"[From \"Beit Akeid Haggadot\" Part 1, 37]",
"God said to Jeremiah, \"Go to Anathoth,\" for as long as Jeremiah was in the city, no enemies would enter it. Therefore, God sent him to Anathoth, and he departed. As soon as he left, the enemies entered the city, set it on fire, and burned the Holy Temple. When Jeremiah returned and approached Jerusalem, he reached the midpoint of his journey and ascended a hill about three miles from Jerusalem. There, he saw smoke, etc. Immediately, Jeremiah tore his garments, placed ashes on his head, and hastened to the city, crying and shouting, etc. He hurried because many days had passed since Jeremiah, as a young man, walked with Nebuchadnezzar. On that day, Nebuchadnezzar was not a king but a poor and despised man. He would say, \"If only I were the king of the entire world, I would come to Jerusalem, burn the Holy Temple and the city, kill everyone, and take the rest as captives.\" Jeremiah, with his prophetic vision, saw that Nebuchadnezzar's time was approaching and that everything he said would come true. Jeremiah asked him, \"Give me Jerusalem.\" Nebuchadnezzar replied, \"I won't.\" Jeremiah again said, \"Give me the Holy Temple.\" The response was, \"I won't.\" He continued, \"Give me the Sanhedrin.\" The answer was, \"I won't.\" He then asked, \"Give me the young students of the rabbi.\" Again, the answer was, \"I won't.\" Jeremiah asked, \"What will you give me?\" Nebuchadnezzar replied, \"Whatever you can save and remove from the city from midday till evening.\" That's why Jeremiah hurried to Jerusalem. However, he didn't arrive until the evening and couldn't save anyone. This is reflected in the verse, \"Woe unto us! For the day declines, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out\" (Jeremiah 6:4)."
]
},
"Baraita of Yeshua (\"Salvation\")": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Aggadah of Rabbi Yishmael": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Sefer HaYashar": [],
"Midrash Yitbarach ('May He Be Blessed')": {
"Introduction": [],
"": [
[
"Midrash Yitbarach (May He Be Blessed)",
"",
"Blessed be the name of the King of kings, the Holy One blessed be He, who lives and endures forever and ever. As it says \"But as I live\" (Numbers 14:21) and \"The Lord God is truth\" (Jeremiah 10:10). He sees births and knows what will happen in the future, as it says \"Declaring the end from the beginning\" (Isaiah 46:10). And no one can oppose Him, as it says \"There is no one who can stay His hand\" (Daniel 4:32).",
"And it says \"Where the word of a king rules\" (Ecclesiastes 8:4) - God is unsearchable... He hides and conceals Himself from the sight of all living, as it says \"Surely You are a God who hides Himself\" (Isaiah 45:15) and it says \"He sits enthroned out of sight\" (Isaiah 6:1). Yet everything is revealed before Him, as it says \"He reveals deep and hidden things\" (Daniel 2:22).",
"He is sublime, transcendent, majestic, praiseworthy, laudable, and abundantly purposeful in His deeds, as it says \"Great in counsel and mighty in deeds\" (Jeremiah 32:19). And it says \"With Him are strength and sound wisdom\" (Job 12:16). He is powerful in strength, His arm and might are with Him, as it says \"Your arm endued with power\" (Psalms 89:14) and it says \"Who cuts through mountains with His power, girded with might\" (Psalms 65:7).",
"He is revered in the council of the holy, honored by the lowly, exalted by the lofty, elevated in the heights...glorious in His kingdom, His dominion is forever, His victory endures through all generations, His strength is everlasting, His remembrance is from generation to generation, forever and ever.",
"His splendor is in holiness, His counsel immovable - who can relate it? His awesomeness, who can attain? His greatness, who can recount? His deeds, who can understand? His strength, who can tell? His might, who can speak? His thoughts, who can fathom? His achievements, who can dissuade? Who can approach His council and stand the fullness of His miracles and wonders and the multitude of creatures He created in His world?",
"He walked on the sea yet the sea did not see Him. He left a path in the waters yet His footsteps were unknown. He came in fire yet His face was not seen, for no eye ever ruled over Him, to make known to all that He alone is God and there is none aside from Him.",
"When the righteous do His will, they increase His strength and might, as it says \"Now may the power of the Lord be increased\" (Numbers 14:17). What does \"be increased\" mean? That His strength simply increases. And it says \"Proclaim God's mighty acts\" (Psalms 66:3), saying before Him: How goodly are Your works, O Lord... How awesome are Your deeds! Who can save himself on the Day of Great Judgment? As it says \"Who can say 'I have kept my heart pure'\" (Proverbs 20:9). And it says \"Where can I go from Your spirit\" (Psalms 139:7) and it says \"In whose hand is the soul of every living thing\" (Job 12:10).",
"The Holy One blessed be He created His world only for the sake of Israel, so they would fear Him, as it says \"In order that you fear the Lord your God\" (Deuteronomy 14:23) and it says \"And God made them fear before Him\" (Ecclesiastes 3:14). When the righteous do His will, they increase His strength and might... But if not, as it were, \"The Rock who bore you, you neglected\" (Deuteronomy 32:18) and it says \"You have wearied the Lord with your words\" (Malachi 2:17) and it says \"Yet you have not called upon Me, O Jacob\" (Isaiah 43:22).",
"When Israel does the will of the Omnipresent, they make the left into the right, as it says \"Your right hand, O Lord, is adorned with strength.\" And when Israel does not do His will, they make the right into the left, as it says \"He has drawn back His right hand from before the enemy\" (Lamentations 2:3).",
"When Israel does His will, there is no rage before Him, as it says \"I have no [divine] rage\" (Isaiah 27:4). But when Israel does not do His will, as it were there is rage before Him, as it says \"The Lord's wrath flared up.\" When Israel does His will, He does not sleep before Him, as it says \"Behold, He neither slumbers nor sleeps.\" But when Israel does not do His will, as it were \"He awoke as one who had slept\" (Psalms 78:65).",
"When Israel does His will, He fights for them, as it says \"The Lord will fight for you.\" But when they do not do His will, He fights against them, as it says \"He turned to become their enemy, He fought against them\" (Isaiah 63:10).",
"When Israel does His will, the Holy One blessed be He sees any righteous person among the nations and brings him to cling to Israel. So you find Jethro converted through Moses, Rahab through Joshua, and it is written of David \"the Gittites, six hundred men\" (2 Samuel 15:18). So too you find with Solomon that many converts came through him, as it says \"King Solomon numbered all the proselytes\" (2 Chronicles 2:16). And so you find in the days of Mordecai and Esther, many converted, as it says \"And many from the peoples of the land became Jews\" (Esther 8:17).",
"But when Israel does not do His will, He sees any righteous person among Israel and takes him away, as it says \"For the righteous is taken away from before the evil\" (Isaiah 57:1).",
"When Israel does His will, He sees their distress, as it says \"In all their troubles He was troubled\" (Isaiah 63:9).",
"The Holy One blessed be He is not exacting with any nation or tongue but only with Israel, as it says \"You only have I known from all the families of the earth\" (Amos 3:2). Even if, heaven forbid, Israel wants to cast off His yoke from themselves, the Holy One blessed be He does not let them but forcibly imposes His kingship upon them, as it says \"That which comes up into your mind shall never happen\" (Ezekiel 20:32) and it says \"As I live, says the Lord God, surely with a strong hand and an outstretched arm\" (Ezekiel 20:33).",
"The Holy One blessed be He never abandons Israel, but has mercy on them like a father, as it says \"For I have been like a father to Israel...Ephraim is My firstborn\" (Jeremiah 31:9) and it says \"As a father has mercy on his children, so the Omnipresent has mercy on us and all of Israel.\" And say Amen."
]
]
},
"A Tale of Rabbi Kahana": {
"Introduction": [],
"": [
[
"A Tale of Rabbi Kahana",
"[From Batei Midrashot, Volume 4] (Published by S. A. Wetheimer, 1897)",
"A Tale of Rabbi Kahana: Rabbi Kahana and his wife were blessed by God with a (only) son, whom they named Saliq. And when the boy was just five years old, Rabbi Kahana seized him with his hand and wished to take him from their home to the House of Study to learn Torah. The boy's mother spoke up and said to [Rabbi Kahana] \"where are you taking my boy?\" [Rabbi Kahana] replied \"we must entrust him to someone who is able to teach him Torah.\" She responded to him \"it would be far better for both of us to die than for for us to witness our son's departure. He must not leave us, neither to study Torah nor to pursue a trade.\" Her husband replied \"quickly, fetch your marriage contract and I will read it and pay what is stipulated in it per the conditions of a divorce settlement.\" She said to him \"what blemish do you see in me that you wish to divorce me. For is it not written: \"If a man marries a woman and it happens that she does not find favor in his eyes for he has found something indecent about her, and he will write for her a certificate of divorce...\" (Deuteronomy 24:1). Her husband replied and said \"there is no greater blemish than your action, for you preventing my son from drinking the Living Waters (i.e., the words of Torah). And \"water\" is none but Torah. As it is written \"all those who are thirsty, come to the waters\" (Isaiah 55:1). And it is written \"For they are life to those who find them\" (Proverbs 4:22). The wife then said \"let us make a compromise between you and I.\" Says he, \"how so?\" She replied \"go to the marketplace and find us an expert rabbi, and offer an agreement for him to teach our son at home for many days and years, and I will attend to him honorably, and [prepare his meals and launder his clothes].\" Immediately, the husband ran to the marketplace and found a wise man sitting and tying his tzitzit (tassels) in seven loops. [Rabbi Kahana] said to the [Wise Man] \"peace be upon you, Rabbi.\" The [Wise Man] replied \"peace be upon you, my lord.\" [Rabbi Kahana] asked \"what is your name?\" The [Wise Man] replied \"my name is Eliezer the Small One.\" [Rabbi Kahana] then asked \"do you have a wife and children?\" The [Wise Man] replied \"indeed, and they are here with me. My wife is the Torah.\" As it is written \"enjoy happiness with a woman you love all the fleeting days of life that have been granted to you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For that alone is what you can get out of life and out of the means you acquire under the sun\" (Ecclesiastes 9:9). The Wise Man continued \"And the children of my master are my students, they are now men of Torah.\" And indeed, each person is obligated to teach their child Torah once they reach the age of six or seven. As it is written \"This people I formed for Myself so that they will declare My praise.\" (Isaiah 43:21). [The Hebrew word \"this\" (זו) contains the numbers six (ו) and seven (ז)]. Immediately, the woman said to the Wise Man \"you will teach my son at our home and my son Saliq will not leave the entrance of my home.\" The Wise Man replied \"I accept your proposal.\" Immediately, Rabbi Kahana wrote an employer's contract for Rabbi Eliezer. And similarly, Rabbi Eliezer wrote an employee's contract for Rabbi Kahana and taught [Rabbi Kahana's] son Saliq. And so it happened that from the day of his birth from his mother's womb, Saliq never once crossed the doorway of his home. Instead, he remained and studied for twenty-five years, until he reached the age of thirty. And Rabbi Kahana paid Rabbi Eliezer the Small one thousand measurements of gold. ",
"One day, Saliq, now thirty years old, departed from his home dressed in fine clothing. And he went to see the markets. He walked until he grew hungry and thirsty. He heard a water vendor shout and say \"Bottles of rose water mixed with cold water for a parched throat (Proverbs 25:25) for one kaskas (coin).\" And the vendor's family members were there saying \"Happy are those who drink!\" Saliq gestured to the water vendor and when he came over [Saliq] said \"sell one to me.\" [The vendor] said to him \"give me a kaskas (coin) and you may drink the water.\" [Saliq] replied \"but I am a scholar, am I not worthy to be given some water?\" [The vendor] said \"if you are wise, you are wise for yourself\" (Proverbs 9:12). [Saliq] replied \"I am a man of thirty years who has rigorously studied Torah, am I not worthy to be given the water?\" [The vendor] said \"if you have studied much Torah, do not assume any favor for yourself because for this you were created. You have been blessed by God to rigorously study Torah. As for me, God created me to draw water and suffer on my shoulders and sell and support my family.\""
]
]
},
"Midrash Konen ('He Established')": {
"Introduction": [
"\"Midrash Konen\": Named after the verse it begins with - \"The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens.\" It is also called \"Breita deMa'aseh Bereshit\" (Exposition on the Act of Creation) because it discusses the wonders of creation and the mystical \"Ma'aseh Merkavah\" (the Chariot Vision). The author of \"Rav Pe'alim\" speculates that the Midrash Konen was composed by the Amoraic sage Shmuel, a contemporary of Rav, because throughout the entire Midrash, no Tanna or Amora is mentioned except for a statement by Shmuel regarding the \"Ma'aseh Merkavah\" which says, \"Why are these two arms...?\" He suggests this inclusion indicates that Shmuel is the author, much like the sages said regarding Rabbi Huna, \"Who is the Tanna of the measures? It is Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef,\" since he is the only one quoted in a certain tractate, implying he was the compiler. Similarly, in the tractate Chullin, there is a story about someone who invited three guests on Monday in Tzur, and Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef said regarding this incident, \"For this, they were killed...\" implying that Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef organized and compiled that tractate. This approach of revealing the author's name in the middle of a text was adopted by early compilers during the Geonic period. For instance, in the text, there might be a phrase like \"We have seen said by the author so-and-so.\" This is seen in \"Pesikta Rabbati\" where it says, \"Rabbi Mea bar Toviah said...\" to indicate the name of the compiler. The intention of these early authors was noble, so that the sage's lips would continue to \"move in the grave,\" a phrase indicating continued reverence and study of their teachings after their passing (as quoted in \"Rav Pe'alim\" 69).",
"The \"Midrash Konen\" is one of the ancient Midrashic texts, and it is a compilation of several smaller Midrashim that were combined together. The first part discusses the creation of the world during the six days of Genesis and the Torah that preceded creation. The second part delves into the dimensions of the world, the four corners of the earth, the Garden of Eden, and Gehinnom (Hell). The third part is about Israel and the annual cycles. It calculates the earth's dimension as spanning 900 years, drawing an allusion from the verse \"as the days of heaven upon the earth.\" The combined years of the patriarchs amount to 902 years: Abraham lived 175 years, Isaac 180 years, and Jacob 147 years, totaling 502 years, with a slight discrepancy.",
"The \"Midrash Konen\" was printed in the book \"Arezei Levanon\" in Venice in 1611, in Fürth in 1719, in Berlin in 1794, in Shklov in 1783, and also in the compilation \"Beit HaMidrash\" by Ya'elinets, volume 2, \"Netai Ne'emanim\" in Vilna in 1806, under the heading \"The Lord by wisdom founded the earth.\""
],
"": []
},
"Tractate Kallah": [
"Masechet Kallah is one of the minor tractates in the Talmud, in the Order of Damages. It consists of external beraitot and mishnayot that were compiled at the end of the Talmud by the Savoraic sages.",
"In the earliest authorities, there was only one chapter in Masechet Kallah. However, Rabbi Nachman Koronel found a manuscript of mishnayot or beraitot of Masechet Kallah with the Gemara's commentary on it in ten chapters. It was printed in his book Beit Natan which contains five booklets, and it was also printed in the Vilna edition of the Talmud. Wertheimer found a manuscript of Mishnat Masechet Kallah which was missing its beginning and end, and printed it in his book Batei Midrashot vol. 3.",
"Masechet Kallah mostly contains other matters not related to groom and bride. It appears that the meaning of \"Kallah\" here is a discourse or matters of homiletics that they would customarily say in the months of Adar and Elul before the holidays. This was the time of havruta study for students in the yeshivot, who were called \"Bnei Kallah\", to review their studies they had learned from their teacher during the zman (semester). They said one who sees in a dream that he entered a pool of water will become a Rosh Yeshiva, and if a forest, will become a Rosh for Bnei Kallah (Berachot 57a). Rashi explains: A yeshiva is where the great and small gather for a large gathering to hear the lecture from the Rav. Kallah is where the students gather to review the teachings they heard from the Rav after he got up and left, and they have a scholar as head who understands them and explains the Rav's words that they did not fully comprehend.",
"The term \"Kallah\" comes from \"kelulah\" meaning crown, named for the circular arrangement of the rows of students. Already in the times of the Geonim there is mention of the title Rosh Kallah (Aggadat Rasag) and in the prayer Yaaleh VeYavo \"for the Roshei Kallah\".",
"Masechet Kallah includes laws of wedding blessings, since a bride without a blessing is forbidden to her husband like a niddah. This is also mentioned in the Talmud. In the Yerushalmi they said a bride is forbidden to her husband for seven days, and one may not take a blessing cup from her - the words of Rabbi Eliezer (Berachot 2:6). In Masechet Kallah 1:4 it says one who sends a blessing cup to a woman without her husband's knowledge is liable for death. Why? Because his intention (to be with her) overcomes hers. Rabbi says: because the evil inclination overpowers him. Similarly Bnei Chaburah (members of a fellowship) who send a blessing cup to a woman without her husband's knowledge are liable for death. Why? Because their intention overcomes hers. Rabbi says: because the evil inclination overpowers both of them. And there are many other things regarding ethics and morals. And since Masechet Kallah is the smallest tractate and not commonly studied, the Talmud says what is a Torah scholar who is appointed as communal leader? One who they ask halacha from in any place and he answers, even in Masechet Kallah (Shabbat 114a, Taanit 10a, Kidushin 49a). Rashi explains: Even in Masechet Kallah which people don't usually study, and this one set his mind to and learned it. Rabbeinu Chananel (Taanit ibid) and Rabbi Yitzchak Alfasi (Kidushin ibid) explain \"Kallah\" as a discourse, like \"stress of Kallah\" meaning a pressing time, and the idea of Kallah according to them is that every Torah scholar who wants to review it engages in it like a Kallah of Adar (see Maharsha Shabbat ibid)."
],
"Tractate Keilim (Vessels of the Temple)": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Midrash 'As an Apple Tree Among the Trees of the Forest'": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Midrash Livnat HaSaphir": [
"Midrash Levanat HaSapir is a midrash on the Torah in the style of kabbalah, in Aramaic like the Zohar. It is not extant before us today.",
"The Yuhasin mentions it before the Zohar, saying \"In the book Levanat HaSapir and in the Zohar called Holy (authored by Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai) who his father sanctified through circumcision etc.\"",
"The Hizkuni in his book Shtei Yadot on Parshat Chayei Sarah wrote: \"It says in the book Levanat HaSapir: In Kiryat Arba, in the calling of the four, because she said 'Shall I indeed bear a child, though I have become old?' therefore 'Sarah died in Kiryat Arba' - these four words, because she mentioned there the four-letter name Yud-Hei-Vav-Hei, do not read 'Kiryat Arba' but 'Kriyat Arba' (Calling of Four).\"",
"And on page 14 he wrote: \"And regarding this we will explain a wondrous statement from an obscure midrash in the book Levanat HaSapir. On the portion Bereshit: 'The earth was chaos and confusion' - the generation of the Flood were chaos in the feminine language. God brought the waters upon them in the form of a woman. 'Confusion' was the generation of the Tower. 'Darkness' was the people of Sodom. 'The spirit of God hovered' - this is the holy spirit, the spirit of kindness, which is Aaron the High Priest. 'God said let there be light' - this is King David. 'God separated between the light and darkness' - this was Korach and his congregation, as it says 'Separate yourselves from the congregation.'\"",
"This is also brought in the book Shoresh Yishai authored by Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz on the verse \"And also Ruth the Moabite.\" And it is brought in the book Beit Neman authored by Rabbi Yitzchak Bigau page 50a: \"And so I saw in the book Levanat HaSapir: 'After delaying the conception of Jacob in the house of Laban, corresponding to the exile in Egypt, with the intention to complete the populace who would be fit to receive the End, and in the manner here when he came on the way, Esau came upon him, a sign that when they would be on the way, Amalek would come upon them, who cooled you off on the way.' And similarly the man who was with him, Esau's strength weakened. So too there, 'and Yehoshua became weakened and did not kill them.'\"",
"And so Rabbi Shlomo Luria brought in Parshat Toldot (130b): \"And you already know what is written in Levanat HaSapir on the verse 'Remember what Amalek plotted' etc. from poison to poison.\"",
"And in the book Manot HaLevi (105b): \"And I again found according to my words in the book Levanat HaSapir: 'And it was at the end of seven days' - these were the seven days of Methuselah's mourning that Haman waited for, and from here Haman learned to decree upon Israel on the 13th of Adar, thinking perhaps the days of Moses' mourning would protect them.\"",
"And in the book Avodat HaKodesh of Ben Gavai it says: \"And I saw in the book Levanat HaSapir: A person should arouse himself in Torah and prayer to rest the holy spirit upon him. 'And it was at the end of seven days' - these were the seven days of Methuselah's mourning that he waited for them etc. And from here Haman learned to decree upon Israel on the 13th of Adar, thinking perhaps the days of Moses' mourning would protect them.\""
],
"Feast of Leviathan": [],
"Baraita of The 32 Midot of Aggadah": {
"Introduction": [
"The 32 Principles of Aggadah is a Beraita attributed to Rabbi Eliezer ben Rabbi Yossi Haglili and composed in similar fashion to the 13 principles of Halacha authored by Rabbi Yishmael. Rabbi Eliezer adapted the 13 principles of Rabbi Yishmael for use in Aggadah and began adding more principles until he reached a total of 32. And so he would teach these principles and associated teachings, in addition to his standard teachings. Concerning him the Talmud states: \"Any place where you find the statements of Rabbi Eliezer, son of Rabbi Yosei HaGelili, make your ears like a funnel.\" (Chulin 89a)"
],
"": []
},
"Midrash 'Leolam'": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Midrash Lekach Tov": [],
"A Tale of Rabbi Meir": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Various 'Megilot'": {
"Introduction": [],
"Megillat Beit Hamikdash": [],
"Megillat Samemanin ('Spices')": [],
"Megillah that was found": [],
"Megillat Hasidim": [],
"Megillat Setarim": [],
"Megillat Yuchsin": [],
"Megillat Beit Chashmonai": []
},
"Midot Tovot": [],
"Baraita on Mazalot": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"The Angel Metatron (Chanoch)": {
"Introduction": [],
"": [],
"Seder Ruchot (Spirits)": [],
"Seder Irin (Angels)": [],
"Seder Din (Judgement)": [],
"Seder Machanot (Groups of Angels)": []
},
"Forty Nine Midot": {
"Introduction": [],
"Compilation from Baraita of 49 Midot": []
},
"Midrash Mei HaShiloach": [],
"Mechilta": [],
"Yalkut Machiri": [],
"Baraita of Melechet HaMishkan": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Midrash Minayin": {
"Introduction": [
"\"Midrash Minayin\": It is named this way because most of its statements begin with the word \"Minayin\" (meaning \"From where?\"). They are compilations from the teachings of the sages (Chazal) and some laws.",
"This midrash was transcribed by Wertheimer from a manuscript called \"Lekutei Midrashim\", which was written in Yemen. He gave it this name and printed it in his book \"Otzar Midrashim\" manuscript, Jerusalem, 1873."
],
"": []
},
"Maayan HaChochmah": {
"Introduction": [],
"Maayan HaChochmah (Version 1)": [
"The Book of the Wellspring of Wisdom",
"",
"When Moses ascended on high, a cloud came up against him, and Moses our teacher did not know if one rides it or holds it. Immediately, the cloud opened its mouth and Moses entered it, and he walked into the firmament like a man walking on land, as it is written in the Torah: \"And Moses entered within the cloud\" [Exodus 24:18].He encountered Kemu'el, the guardian angel in charge of the twelve thousand angels of destruction who were standing at the gates of the firmament. He rebuked Moses, saying to him: \"What do you have, son of Amram, that you should come into the place of the Fiery Angels?\" Moses said to him: \"I did not come merely by myself, but only with the permission of the Holy One, Blessed be He, to receive the Torah and bring it down to Israel. Since he would not let him pass, Moses hit him with one hit, and he made him lost from the world. And Moses continued walking in the firmament until he confronted the angel Hadraniel. They said about the angel Hadraniel that he is taller than his kinsman -- six-hundred thousand parasangs [tall] -- and with each and every word that comes out of his mouth, twelve thousand bolts of fire come out of his mouth (all at once). And when he saw Moses he rebuked him, saying, \"What do you have, son of Amram, in the place of the highest holiness?\" When Moses heard his voice, Moses became afraid before him. And his eyes were dripping tears and he wanted to be let down from the cloud. Immediately, the Holy One, Blessed be He's mercy was aroused, and He said to Hadraniel, \"From the day I created you (all), you (all) have been an opponent of theirs [the humans]. In the beginning, when I wanted to created Adam the First, you (all) made their prosecution before me, and you (all) said to me, 'What is man that You are mindful of him?' [Psalms 8:5] And I was upset with you (all), and I burnt from you (all) many bunches with my little finger. And now you (all) are quarreling with my loyal servant, whom I brought up here to receive the Torah and to bring down to my chosen child? If it were not for the Torah that Israel is receiving, you (all) would not have a living space in the firmament!\" When Hadraniel heard this, immediately he hastened himself before the Holy One, Blessed be He, and said before him, \"Master of the Universe, it is revealed and known before you, but I did not know that he [Moses] came with your permission. Now I shall be his emissary and go before him as a student before his teacher.\" At once, Hadraniel ran and lowered himself before Moses as a student before his teacher, until they arrived at Sandalphon's fire. Hadraniel said to Moses, \"You must return, for I am not able to protect myself before Sandalphon's fire that it should not burn me.\" When Moses saw Sandalphon, he was immediately startled and hastened to go down from the cloud, and his eyes were dripping tears, and he asked for mercy before the Holy One, Blessed be He. And He answered him. Out of his great fondness for Israel, the Holy One, Blessed be He, Himself descended from His Throne of Glory and stood before Moses until he passed from Sandalphon's fire. About that time it was written in the Torah: \"And YHWH passed before him\" [Exodus 34:6]. They said about Sandalphon that he was taller than his kinsman, the distance of five-hundred years, and about him it is written: \"One of the Ophanim on the ground, next to the Chayot\" [Ezekiel 1:15] -- this is Sandalphon, who stands behind the Chariot and ties crowns for its owner.Does it cross your mind that the ministering angels know where the Holy One, Blessed be He, dwells, for is it not written, \"Blessed is YHWH's glory from His place [mimkomo]\" [Ezekiel 3:12]? However, it does not say \"in His place\" [bimkomo] but rather \"from His place\" [mekomo], which teaches that the place of the Holy One, Blessed be He, is not known. But Sandalphon completes the crown that crowns the place of the Holy One, Blessed be He, with sanctity. And the crown rises from its own accord and sits on the head of its master. Immediately, all the legions on high are afraid and trembling, and the chayot are silent, and the holy seraphim roar like lions, and the seraphim call out, \"Holy, holy, holy, YHWH of legions, the whole earth is filled with His glory\" [Isaiah 6:3]. And this is its interpretation: holy in the upper [world]; holy in the lower [world]; holy, the eternal YHWH, who is sanctified in the foundations of the legions of Israel. And at the time when the crown reaches the Throne of Glory, immediately the wheels of the chariot start rolling, and the Lord shakes his footstool and all the heavens are shaken. And at the time when the crown passes over the Throne of Glory to sit in its place, all the legions on high open their mouths and they say, \"Blessed is YHWH's glory from His place\" [Ezekiel 3:12]. Come and see the praise of the Holy One, Blessed be He: that when the crown arrives at His head, YHWH holds His head to receive the crown from His servants. And all the chayot and seraphim and the wheels of the chariot and the Throne of Glory and the legions of the heavens and the chashmalim and the cherubim, elevate themselves and unite and give majesty and splendor, and they proclaim, and they say in one voice: \"YHWH is king, YHWH was king, YHWH will be king forever and ever.\" And this is its interpretation: YHWH, the King before the creation of the world; YHWH, the King from the creation of the world; YHWH will reign forever and until the world to come. And the Holy One, Blessed be He, Blessed be His name, consents, and says: \"YHWH shall reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations, hallelujah\" [Psalm 146:10]. And when Moses passed by Sandalphon, he encountered Regyon, which is the river of fire. And in its burnings the ministering angels are immersing and renewing themselves every morning, as it says: \"They are renewed every morning—great is Your faithfulness\" [Lamentations 3:23], and so it is interpreted through Daniel [7:10]: \"A river of fire streamed forth before Him; a thousand thousands served Him; myriads upon myriads attended Him; the court sat and the books were opened.\" And this is its interpretation: \"river of fire\" -- this is called Regyon, which flows with burning embers, and it goes out before the the Throne of Glory of the Holy One, Blessed be He. And it is made with the sweat of the four chayot beneath the Throne of Glory. And they sweat fire in awe of the Holy One, Blessed be He, and from the fiery sweat, that river is made. And the Holy One, Blessed be He, sits on the Throne of Judgement and judges even the ministering angels, as it says: \"If He cannot trust His own servants, and casts reproach on His angels\" [Job 4:18]. And it is written: \"He puts no trust in His holy ones; the heavens are not guiltless in His sight\" [Job 15:15]. And when the ministering angels are brought to judgment, they renew themselves in that river of fire. Therefore, if the ministering angels were immersing in the river of fire, would not humans also be doing so? Immediately, the Holy One, Blessed be He, sent it [the river of fire] away, and he [Moses] came upon Galizur, called Raziel, about whom it is said, \"Is it not at the word of the Most High, that evil and good emanate?\" [Lamentations 3:39] And why is his name Galizur? Because he reveals [gala] the taste of rock [tzur]. And why is his name Raziel? Because he is one who hears behind the curtain [ragod] what is decreed [gazer] to be, and he proclaims it in the world. And Elijah, who should be recalled for good, stands on Mount Horeb, and he hears the voice of the proclamation from His mouth, and he makes heard the voice in the world. As it is written: \"For a bird of the air may carry the utterance\" [Ecclesiastes 10:20] -- this is Raziel; \"and a winged creature may report the word\" [Ecclesiastes 10:20] -- this is Elijah.It is said about Galizur [Raziel] that he stands in front of the throne with his wings spread to receive the noxious breath from the mouth of the chayot, otherwise, all the ministering angels would be burned from the noxious breath of the chayot. And another vocation is said about Galizur: that he takes like an iron pan, which is made of fire, burning embers in the river Regyon, and he stands opposite the kings and ministers, leaders of the world, so that there luster should prevail and their awe befall the world. When Moses saw him, he trembled. Immediately, the Holy One, Blessed be He, took him and removed him from there. He [Moses] encountered a regiment of Angels of Terror, who surround the Throne of Glory, those who are mighty of all the angels. And they wanted to burn him with the noxious breath of their mouths. Immediately, the Holy One, Blessed be He, spread the luster of his glory and said to Moses: \"Give them an answer.\" Moses our teacher said to them: \"It is written in the Torah, 'I am the Lord your God Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage' [Exodus 20:2]; perhaps you were enslaved in Egypt and went forth as free people, that you are in need of the Torah? It is written: 'You shall have no other Gods' [Exodus 20:3]; perhaps there is idol worship amongst you and you are in need the Torah? It is written: 'You shall not swear' [Exodus 20:7]; perhaps there are dealings amongst you that you are in need of the Torah regarding oaths? It is written: 'Remember the Sabbath day and sanctify it' [Exodus 20:8]; perhaps there is activity amongst you that you are in need of the Torah? It is written: 'Honor your father and mother' [Exodus 20:12]; perhaps you have a father and mother that you are in need of the Torah? It is written: 'You shall not murder' [Exodus 20:13]; perhaps there is bloodshed amongst you that you are in need of the Torah? It is written: 'You shall not commit adultery' [Exodus 20:13]; perhaps there are women amongst you that you need the Torah? It is written: 'You shall not steal' [Exodus 20:13]; perhaps there are finances in the firmament that you are in need of the Torah? It is written, \"You shall not bear [false witness]' [Exodus 20:13]; perhaps there are false testimonies amongst you that you are in need of the Torah? It is written: 'You shall not covet' [Exodus 20:14]; perhaps there are houses and fields and vineyards amongst you that you are in need of the Torah?\" Immediately, all the ministering angels retracted [their desire to burn Moses] and they admitted to his words to the Holy One, Blessed be He. And they said: \"YHWH, our Master, 'How majestic is Your name throughout the earth, you who have covered the heavens with Your splendor!'\" [Psalm 8:2] And He, the Holy One, Blessed be He, taught him [Moses] the whole Torah in forty days. And when he [Moses] came to descend [from the firmament] and saw the awesomeness of the angels, and the legions of awesome angels -- trembling [zia] angels, and shuddering [chalchala] angels, and quaking [ratat] angels -- immediately, shuddering [chalchala] took hold of him and he forgot it [the Torah] all at one moment. Immediately, the Holy One, Blessed be He, called to Yefefiah, Minister of Torah, who gave over to him [Moses] the Torah, fully prepared and preserved. And all the ministering angels became his [Moses's] admirer. And each one of them gave him something of healing and the hidden meaning of names that comes out of each and every section of Torah [parsha] and all their uses, as it says, \"You went up to the heights, having taken captives, having received tribute of men\" [Psalm 68:19]. And even the Angel of Death gave him something, as it is written: \"He places the incense and made expiation for the people\" [Numbers 17:12]. And this is the honorable use of that which was taught to him by Yefefiah, the Minister of Torah, and by Metatron, Minister of the Faces. And Moses gave it over to Elazar, and Elazar to his son Pinchas, who is Elijah the great and precious priest, he should be remembered for good. Amen."
],
"Maayan HaChochmah (Version 2)": []
},
"Maaseh Beraishit & Maaseh Merkavah": {
"Introduction": [],
"Seder Rabbah d'Beraishit d'Merkavah": [],
"Zeh Maaseh Beraishit (Work of Creation)": [],
"Baraita of Maaseh Beraishit": []
},
"Maaseh Torah of Our Holy Master (Rabeinu HaKadosh)": [],
"Selection of Various Tales": {
"Translation": [],
"Story of King Jechonya": [
"",
"",
"\"It happened with King Jehoiachin, of whom it is written: 'Thus says the Lord, Write this man childless.' When he fell into the hands of the wicked Nebuchadnezzar, he was imprisoned, and all of Israel was distressed, saying, 'This is what remains of the House of David. Now he will die childless.' They were so distressed that they approached an old woman and gave her a litra of gold to persuade the king's wife on Jehoiachin's behalf. When Nebuchadnezzar desired his wife, she told him, 'Be patient for a moment and know that the King of Israel is imprisoned. Go and see how much he endures, and how he might die without offspring.' Immediately, the king was appeased and ordered a maiden to be brought to Jehoiachin. However, when Jehoiachin approached her, she told him she was menstruating. He immediately refrained from being with her, being cautious about the laws of Niddah (menstruation). God saw this and annulled the decree against him, as it is said, 'As I live, says the Lord, even though Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim, were the signet ring on My right hand.' After the maiden had immersed herself in a mikveh (ritual bath), he was with her, and she bore him a child, as it says, 'And the sons of Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim, were Assir and Shealtiel.' Assir, for he was imprisoned. And it says, 'Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel.' Wasn't his name Nehemiah? Rather, he was conceived in Babylon, and God preserved the seed of David through Jehoiachin because he was cautious about the laws of Niddah. He merited greatness, as it is said, 'In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin.' (See Pesiḳta of Rav Kahana 163a, Buber edition, Leviticus Rabbah Chapters 10 and 19, and the Complete Talmudic Dictionary, page 930).\""
],
"Story of the Man from the Land of Israel": [],
"Story of the Jew Who Went to Land of Kedar": [],
"Story of Two Pious Sages": [],
"Story of Rabbi Eliezer & Rabbi Joshua on Pilgrimage": [],
"Story of a Pious and Humble Sage": [],
"Story of the Wealthy Man": [],
"The Pious Pauper": [],
"Story of the Pious Man with Ten Sons": [],
"Nathan of Tzitzuta": [],
"Story of the Two Bandits": [],
"Story of the Man with Three Daughters": [],
"Story of David and Joab": [],
"Story of Rabbi Reuben": [],
"The Story of Rabbi Shimon of Mainz": [],
"The Jewish Pope": [],
"The Wise and Honest Man of Shinar": [],
"The Poor Woman and the Demon": [],
"Annulling the Decree": [],
"Story of Ben Sabar": [],
"Story of the Traveling Merchant": [],
"Arvas the Philosopher": [],
"Story with Rabbi Judah the Pious": [],
"The Time of Redemption": [],
"Story of the Big Miser": [],
"Story of the Old Man with Only Son": [],
"Story of the Pauper with Many Children": [],
"Story of the Man with the Beloved Son": [],
"The Righteous Man Who Became Wealthy": [],
"The Drunkard and His Sons": [],
"Story of The Righteous and Charitable Man": [],
"Who is the True Son": [],
"The Woman Who Was Stoned": [],
"Story of the Pious Man and His Son Rabbi Yochanan": [],
"The Boiled Egg": [],
"The Rich Man and the Pauper": [],
"The Rich Man with the Beautiful Wife": [],
"The Righteous Man Rescued from Distress": []
},
"The Book of Tales": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Marganita d'Bei Rav": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Mordechai & Esther": [],
"Midrashim on Moses Our Master": {
"Introduction": [],
"Divrei HaYamim of Moses Our Master": [],
"The Death of Moses (Version 1)": [],
"The Death of Moses (Version 2)": [],
"Drash on Petirat Moshe": [],
"Midrash on the Death of Moses": [],
"Aggadah of the Descendants of Moses": []
},
"Midrashim on The Messiah": {
"Introduction": [],
"Aggadah on The Messiah": [],
"Otot Mashiach (Signs of the Messiah)": [],
"Pirkei Mashiach": [],
"Wars of the Messiah": []
},
"Prophecy of the Young Boy": {
"Introduction": [
"The Prophecy of the Child: That Nahman Katufa (or Hatufa) Saw Regarding the Redemption and the Change That Will Occur to Judah and the Nations in the End of Days, and they are five prophecies in alphabetical order in rhymes like the poem \"Hakdamot\" for Shavuot, and they were said in riddles and hints in Aramaic. And the author puts the prophecies in the mouth of the child Nahman Katufa as prophesying when he came out of his mother's womb and as soon as he finished speaking he died. And therefore he is called Katufa (severed) because he was cut off in his youth, or Hatufa (snatched) because he was snatched by death.",
"Rabbi Chida in his bibliography entry \"Prophecy of the Child\" says that it was written by Rabbi Avraham HaLevi, and it is possible it was at the end of the 15th century, as he mentions it in his Travels of Benjamin which was in 1570. And Rabbi Shabtai Bass, author of Siftei Yeshanim, says it was composed by Rabbi Avraham HaLevi the Elder together with a commentary by Rabbi Shmuel HaNagid. And according to the author of Yuchsin (also Seder HaDorot year 1285), Nahman Katufa was born in 1285 in the time of the Savoraim, 1080 years after the destruction of the Second Temple. Rabbi Gadalya ben Yachya in his chain of tradition writes that Rabbi David grandson of Maimonides had two sons, and one of them, Rabbi Avraham HaLevi, was in Jerusalem in 1316, and he composed a commentary on this prophecy that was found in the ruins of Jerusalem, and these are his words: Many important rabbis of Barcelona wrote to Rabbi David son of the son of Maimonides asking him to reveal to them if he had anything on the secret of the end, and he acquiesced to their request and sent them the story of the birth of the pleasant child, the child who plays, and the prophecies that he prophesied, with a brief commentary after each prophecy. And it seems that Rabbi David cursed and excommunicated anyone who would reveal this secret to a gentile, and one should be careful not to be burnt by his ember, and keep secret what contains his curse, in addition to his great piety, enormity of his Judaism, and glory of his greatness.\" And the reason it is forbidden to reveal is because some of those matters contain great danger, and silence is best regarding some of them. You should know that this story was around the year 1285, and around 1080 since the destruction (in short): Rabbi Pinchas was a very pious and holy man, and his wife Rachel was also pious. She was barren and they prayed to God and their prayers were answered and she conceived. In the seventh month of her pregnancy, on Thursday morning at daybreak when Jupiter and Libra were rising in the east, on Rosh Hashana which was the sixth year of the sabbatical year in that year mentioned, this boy was born and they called him Nahman. Immediately when he was born he began to speak wondrous things and mystic visions, and the people called the boy Nahman Katufa of the village of Bra'am. He died at age 12. And at the end of his days he prophesied great prophecies about salvation, and those matters were written down, and they are closed, hidden, very profound things in many languages - Jerusalemite and Babylonian Aramaic mixed up and combined, extremely deep in allegory and riddle, and the commentators despaired of understanding even a small part of it. In the book Havat Yerushalayim, essay \"Sing, O Righteous\", section 13, it is written in the name of the book Galiloth Eretz Yisrael that Mordechai and Esther who were brought from the land of Elam were buried in the village of Bra'am. And in section 80 it writes in the name of Galiloth Eretz Yisrael that Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair's burial place is also in that village. And it also writes in Galiloth Eretz Yisrael that Rabbi Yochanan Hatufa was also buried in that village - and the editor of Seder HaDorot corrects this to \"Nahman Hatufa\".",
"The Prophecy of the Child was first printed at the end of the book Nagid U'metzaveh, Constantinople 1746, and in other editions. The above commentary is not extant by us, and Yitzchak Stanov published it (Berlin 1793) with a new commentary that he claims to have found in manuscript, but in truth he wrote it himself, as is known that he is also the author of Zohar Tinyana under a pseudonym. He also writes, or copies, the introduction about Rabbi Nahman Katufa, and says that Rabbi Pinchas knew the explicit name of God, and when Nahman came into the world he bowed to his mother and said there are above this dome that you see 955 domes, and above them four creatures, and above them a lofty exalted throne, and above the throne consuming fire, and the precious throne and all its servants are fire. And when Rabbi Pinchas his father heard these things, he rebuked him and silenced him and he was mute for 12 years. And his mother would cry and say \"I had a son, and would that I had not had a son\" (meaning, better I had not given birth to a son, rather than having a son who became mute). And the boy Nahman was very beautiful. Once, when Rabbi Pinchas returned from the study hall, his wife Rachel washed his feet as was her custom, and afterwards she brought her son Nahman and placed him in his lap and fell on her face and cried and kissed the soles of his feet. She begged him to allow her son to speak or to take him from the world. At that time Rabbi Pinchas revealed the boy's face and saw that he was very beautiful, and he fell on his face and kissed him three times. When Rachel saw this her spirit was calmed. Rabbi Pinchas said to her \"I know you desire me to allow him to speak, but you should know the boy is wise and understanding, and if I allow him to speak he will say things that shake up people and he will not live long.\" Rachel answered and said \"My master, allow him to speak in private, not in public.\" And Rabbi Pinchas placed his mouth on the mouth of the boy and commanded and adjured him not to speak in public, only in a sealed and hidden manner that no person would understand, even a sage, until the time his words would come. Afterwards, he said to the boy \"You are permitted to speak.\" And the boy opened his mouth and spoke five prophecies in alphabetical order. When he finished speaking, his father said to him \"Be strong and courageous.\" Nahman answered and said \"May your days increase, father, I am your last son (meaning, I am going to die) and father and mother will bury me.\" And when he said this, his father and mother wept from that day until the day of his death, for he passed away shortly afterwards, peace be upon him.",
"The essence of the prophecy is about the wars between the Christian crusaders and the Ishmaelites (Arabs). And because the author lived in Ishmaelite lands, he was afraid to write clearly and chose cunning language and hints to reveal his secrets. According to this we can fix the time of composition as the 11th or 12th century.",
"The Prophecy of the Child is also very difficult to understand even with Stanov's commentary, because in many places he did not grasp the full intention of the author. There are also mistakes in the order of some words in the rhymes, besides printing errors. It deserves to be copied correctly in Hebrew matching the main Aramaic language. As an example, we will copy here a few lines from the first prophecy: A fearful nation comes trembling, creatures are destroyed, the sons of the handmaid. The brother-in-law's world shakes, the exile's sons weaken, they strike the straw. The men strengthen with select force, those who rebel with arrows, likened to the desert, on the thorn that is Esau's house. She winnows carefully, and because of involvement in the fine details, she tramples, oppresses, consumes and threshes. Behold she raged wantonly, the feast is cut off, she flies swiftly, but in the end of days she too will be cut off.",
"The basis of the prophecy is about the wars between the Christian crusaders and the Ishmaelites (Arabs). And because the author lived in Ishmaelite lands, he was afraid to write clearly and chose cunning language and hints to reveal his secrets. According to this we can fix the time of composition as the 11th or 12th century."
],
"": []
},
"Baraita on Tractate Niddah": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Book of Noah": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"R' Nechunya Ben HaKanah": [],
"Nemukei R' Nachman": [],
"Midrash HaNe'elam": [],
"Sod Ha'Ibur": [
"\"The Secret of the Intercalation: On the adjustment of festivals and leap years.",
"In the Talmud: Abba, the father of Rabbi Shmuel, said to Shmuel, 'Does the master know this matter that is taught concerning the secret of the leap, etc.' (Rosh Hashanah 20:), and Rashi explained 'the secret of the leap' in the second braita as hints. It seems from this that the 'secret of the leap' is not the braita of Shmuel, although most authors also refer to the braita of Shmuel by the name 'secret of the leap.'",
"Wertheimer in his book 'Leket Midrashim' (Jerusalem, 1903) printed two sections from an old manuscript from Egypt, which are remnants and survivors of the braita discussing the 'secret of the leap.' Its style is like the language of the braita brought in the Machzor Vitry manuscript from London, and it says: 'The month of the sun is 30 days, 10 hours, and 793 parts. Twelve times it comes to 365 days and 7 hours, i.e., a quarter of a day. The solar year exceeds the lunar year by 10 days, 21 hours, and 204 parts. Therefore, we need to add one month sometimes at the end of three [years] and sometimes at the end of two [years], in order to align the lunar years with the solar years as much as possible (completion to Machzor Vitry page 7). Since only a few words were found in the two sections there, several lines are missing from them and they do not have the correct order, so I did not copy them here.",
"See the 'Braita of Shmuel' in the entry 'Shmuel' below.\""
],
"Sof Davar": [
"In conclusion: Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin (Riv\"l) in his book 'Yehoshafat' (page 59) says in the name of Rigevo that the Yalkut brings teachings on the verse 'All my bones shall say' in the name of 'Midrash Sof Davar' (End of Matter). He wrote about this: 'I have never heard of a Midrash called \"Sof Davar\".' Indeed, this teaching is brought in the name of 'Midrash Sof Davar' in the writings of the Radbaz in his responsa (Part 3, Siman 571) and it says: 'Furthermore, we read in Midrash Sof Davar on the verse 'All my bones,' David said: I praise You with all my limbs and fulfill commandments with them. With my head, I bow and kneel in my prayer. With the hair of my head, I fulfill [the commandment of] 'Do not round off' etc.' End of quote. Without a doubt, this teaching is called this way because of its beginning in the Yalkut Tehillim with the words \"Sof Davar\" (End of Matter), but it is not a special Midrash (Hamelitz, year 1894, issue 218)"
],
"Siphra": [],
"Siphra D'Tzniuta": [],
"Siphrei": [],
"Siphrei Zuta": [],
"Sefer Adinut": [
"\"The Book of Delicacies - Rabbi Aaron the Elder cited it in his book 'Kranim', discourse 13, and he said: 'This is what was written in the Book of Delicacies, \"Flies consumed Job.\"' Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli wrote in his commentary on 'Dan Yadin' and said: 'Behold, the Book of Delicacies was composed by Rabbi Shimon the Great [one of the great ones from Lutir], and it was said in tradition that its origin came from the Men of the Great Assembly from Ezra the Scribe. It is entirely 'holy of holies', wondrous wonders. We have a part of it with us, but not all of it, because I heard that the Gentiles stole it.' End of quote. And see there a wondrous matter regarding the fly (Rav Pe'alim 92).\""
],
"Agadat Uzza and Azael": [],
"Agadat Olam Katan": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Midrash Ezra": [
"\"Midrash Ezra\": Mentioned in the introduction of Rabbi Tam ben Yehiya to the Book of Josippon, and he states there: \"Indeed, Joseph [ben Gurion] the priest, who is the main subject to which we refer, his matter and perfection is already known according to our sages in the Midrash Ezra and in the Midrash of Chronicles, etc. In the 'Book of Passover' and in the list of books by the Rad\"a, he brings a section about the signs that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed to Ezra the priest. Perhaps he is referring to the Midrash Aziri manuscript which Dinehardt listed in the list of books by Judge Zolzberger under the name 'Or Meir'.\""
],
"Sefer HaIyun": [
"\"The Book of Ayun (Insight)\": Secrets in Kabbalah regarding the matters of God's existence.",
"The author of \"Siftei Yeshenim\" attributed it to Rabbi Chamai Gaon, and Rabbi Shem Tov in \"The Book of Beliefs\" (Gate 4, Chapter 7) wrote: \"And in 'The Book of Ayun' by Rabbi Chamai, the head of the matters, the great Kabbalist from the sages of the Mishnah and the Talmud, etc.\" Brecanti, in his commentary on Genesis, on the verse \"And Enoch walked [with God]\", wrote: \"In this language, Rabbi Chamai wrote in his book called 'The Book of Ayun', 'Do not be tempted to focus your heart on it during prayer', end quote. It can be found in the manuscript of the Rad\"a, its beginning was printed in the book 'Lekutim' from Rav Hai Gaon, section 5, and its end is there under the name 'Shaar HaShamayim' by Rabbi Yitzhak Giktillia (Warsaw, 1898).\""
],
"Midrashim of Rabbi Akiba": {
"Aleph Bet of Rabbi Akiba (Version 1)": [],
"Aleph Bet of Rabbi Akiba (Version 2)": [
"Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva (Nusaḥ II)",
"[according to the Krakow and Amsterdam printings]",
"Said Rabbi Aqibha: these are the 22 letters with which the Torah was given to the tribes of Israel, and they were inscribed in a fiery pen upon the awesome and terrific crown of the Holy Blessed One, and when the Holy Blessed One sought to create the world, immediately they all came down and stood before the Holy Blessed One. This one said before Him, \"Through me create the world!\" and that one said before Him, \"Through me create the world!\" First entered ת before the Holy Blessed One and said before Him: \"Master of the world! You should make Your world through me, for through me You give Torah to Israel by the hand of Moshe, as is written (Deut. 33:4) 'Torah Moshe commanded us' etc.\" The Holy Blessed One responded and said to it, \"No.\" It said \"why?\" He said to it: \"Since I will in the future use you as a mark on the foreheads of the men moaning and groaning, the mark of the ת to destroy them from the world to come, as is said (Ezekiel 9:4) 'And the LORD said to me, pass among the city and mark a ת upon the foreheads of the men moaning and groaning for all their abominations they have made among them.'\" And what does \"mark a ת\" mean? It teachers that in the time when the Holy Blessed One set a judgement upon Jerusalem to destroy it, He called to the angel of death and said to the angel, \"Start going over Jerusalem and choose within it the righteous and wicked. Every righteous one within it, write a ת of ink on his forehead, the ת of letting them live that they will be let live. And every wicked one within it, write a ת of blood on their forehead, the ת of letting them die.. What distinguishes the ת from all the other letters? To teach you that the Torah saves humanity from all kinds of danger. At that very moment the attribute of Justice stood before the Holy Blessed One and said, \"Master of the world! Even the righteous within it, write on their forehead a ת of blood, the ת of letting them die, so as to destroy all the wicked.\" Responded the Holy Blessed One and said to it, \"Why?\" It responded before Him: \"Since you did not rebuke your children with words of rebuke, nor tell them not to sin or do ugly things, things that are not decent, things that are not appropriate to do.\" Responded the Holy Blessed One and said to it, \"It is clearly known before Me that if they had been rebuked they would not have heard it.\" The attribute of Justice responded and said before Him, \"Master of the world! Even though they were not recipients of it, they still had to be rebuked.\" Immediately the Holy Blessed One was silent and counted all the righteous who were in that generation in Jerusalem as wicked. At that time, six wounding angels were sent against Jerusalem, and the people inside it wounded it, as is written (Ezekiel 9:2) \"And behold, six men came by the upper gate that faces northwards, and each had a weapon in his hand, and one among them was wearing linen and a writing case at his waist, and they came in and stood by the bronze altar.\" And what differs north from all the directions? It teaches that all evil spirits only every come from the north, as is written (Jeremiah 1:14) \"And he said to me, from the north will evil break upon the inhabitants of the land!\" And these are the six men who were sent against Jerusalem: anger and rage and wrath and destruction and annihilation and extermination, and each one had a double-edged sword in is hand, as written, \"each had a weapon in his hand.\" And as soon as the ת heard this matter from the Holy Blessed One, it immediately left from before His presence with a disappointed soul.",
"After that, entered ש and stood before the Holy Blessed One, and said before Him: \"Master of the world! You should make Your world through me, for through me is called Your Explicit Name, as is written (Exodus 3:15) \"This is My Name forever, and also I am the first letter of the name Shaddai. The Holy Blessed One responded and said to it, \"No.\" It said \"why?\" He said to it: \"Since vanity and falsehood are both called by you, and falsehood has no legs just as you have no legs. How could I create the world on a letter with no legs?\" Immediately it left from before His presence with a disappointed soul.",
"After that, entered ר and said before Him: \"Master of the world! You should make Your world through me, for through me is said (Psalm 119:160) 'The beginning of Your word is truth,' and also I am at the start of Your name called Merciful as well as healing.\" The Holy Blessed One responded and said to it, \"No.\" It said \"why?\" He said to it: \"Since through you Israel will in the future begin to worship idolatry, as is written (Numbers 14:4) 'Let us appoint a head and return to Egypt.'\" And why is idolatry called a \"head?\" As is written (Daniel 2:38) \"The form of the head was of gold.' Also, ר is in evil and the beginning of wickedness. Immediately it left from before His presence with a disappointed soul."
],
"Midrash of Rabbi Akiba": [],
"The Small Letters and their Purposes": [
"The Small Letters and their Purposes",
"",
"The ALEPH in ויקרא And He called (Leviticus 1:1) is small, to teach that the Holy Blessed One is only revealed to the nations of the earth through half speech — the verb of And God happened upon Bil'am (Numbers 23:4) is written ויקר without an aleph — but with the prophets of Israel through full speech, and thus it says ויקרא.",
"The BETH in the first הב in שתי בנות הב הב Two daughters: give, give (Proverbs 30:15) is small, because the house of the LORD was destroyed and the splendor of the Holy Temple was decreased two (ב׳) times.",
"The GIMEL in וגוש עפר and clods of earth (Job 7:5) is small, and it is read as גוש with a VAV but written as גיש with a YOD. The GIMEL of גוש עפר in Job is parallel to the threefold (ג׳) invocation of the son of the woman in Proverbs 31:2 — \"What, my son, and what, son of my womb, and what, son of my vows.\" Three days after death, three days lying in the tomb, thus it is small.",
"The DALET in אדם עשק בדם נפש a man oppressed by the blood of a soul (Proverbs 28:17) is small because the spiller of blood kills four: the victim, and it is as if he killed his wife, and his sons, and his daughters.",
"The HE in בהבראם in His creation of them (Genesis 2:4) is small, because he was decreased and reduced by His hand,1 as written and You set Your hand upon me (Psalm 139:5)",
"The VAV in הנני נותן לו את בריתי שלום Behold I give him My covenant of peace (Numbers 25:12) is small2 because I give him, never to delay, My covenant of peace, a complete covenant.",
"The ZAYIN in ויזתא Vaizatha (Esther 9:9) is small because Haman slandered seven (ז׳) times (Esther 3:8) — There is a certain people, scattered, and dispersed... in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different from any other people, and the king's laws... and it is not in Your Majesty’s interest to tolerate them.",
"The ḤETH in חף אנכי clean am I (Job 33:9) is small. Seven commandments were given before the giving of the Torah, and they are all included in the verse And the LORD Elohim commanded the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat (Genesis 2:17)",
"1) and He commanded — the term צו is only used for idolatry, as said: For he has done gone and followed צו (Hosea 5:11)",
"2) the LORD — this is blessing the LORD, as said: or blaspheming the name of the LORD (Leviticus 24:16)",
"3) Elohim — these are the judges, as said: Do not curse Elohim (Exodus 22:27)",
"4) to the man — this is the spilling of blood, as written,:He who spills the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed (Genesis 9:6)",
"5) to say — forbidden intercourse, as said: to say, if a man sends away his wife (Jeremiah 3:1)",
"6) from all trees of the garden — regarding stealing and what is not stolen, ",
"7) eat it, you may eat it — and not a limb from a living animal.",
"The TETH in יסר מעלי שבטו Would He lift His rod away from me! (Job 9:34) is small2, because none suffered like Job's suffering.",
"The YOD in תשי You neglected (Deuteronomy 32:18) is small — you weakened the power of the Maker.",
"The KAPH in ולבכתה and to weep for her (Genesis 23:2) is small — anyone who doesn't weep over a righteous person, a palm (כף) and a palm and a palm will strike him.",
"The LAMED in לא עליכם Not upon you (Lamentations 1:12) is small because at first Israel was as a head, and now it is as a tail."
],
"The Enlarged Letters": [
"",
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"Tav) (Esther 9:29) \"And Esther wrote (tikhtav)\" - the first tav is big, because she said, \"Write me for [all] the generations.\" (See Megillah 7a; Otzar Yisrael, Large and Small Letters.)"
]
},
"The Ten Exiles": {
"Introduction": [],
"": [],
"The Travails of R' Jacob": []
},
"The Ten Martyrs": {
"Introduction": [],
"Midrash on the Ten Martyrs 'These I recall'": [],
"Midrash on the Ten Martyrs (Version 2)": [],
"Midrash on the Ten Martyrs (Version 3)": [],
"Addendum to Midrash on the Ten Martyrs": []
},
"Midrash on the Ten Commandments": {
"Introduction": [],
"": [
[
"",
"",
"",
"And when he desired to create the world, all the letters came in turn and each said to the Holy One, blessed be He: Lord of the Universe, may it be Your will that the world be created through me. First, tav came before the Holy One, blessed be He, and said to Him: Lord of the Universe, may it be Your will that You create the world through me, since your Torah is named by me. The Holy One, blessed be He, answered her: It shall not be according to your wish, since fraud (trumot, Proverbs 29:4) begins with you. Afterwards shin entered…It shall not be according to your wish, since falseness (shav) and bribery (shohad) begin with you and it is not fitting to create the world on a letter that does not stand firmly on the ground. Afterwards, all the letters entered in turn, until bet entered last and said: Lord of the Universe, may it be Your will to create the world through me, since your sons will bless Your name by me, as it is said Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord (Psalms 118:26), Blessed is the Lord each day (Psalms 68:20), Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel (Psalms 41:14). When aleph saw that the Holy One, blessed be He, desired to create the world through bet, she stood to one side and was silent, until the Holy One, blessed be He, called her and said to her: aleph, why are you silent; why do you not speak as your companions? Aleph answered and said before Him: Lord of the Universe, My companions amount to much, but I am of little value. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to her: No wonder that you are the first and the sovereign, since I am One and you are one. Since you have been humble, I will glorify you by making you a thousand (elef). And He also said to her, Be consoled that when I give the Torah, I will begin with you. Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, began with anokhi when He gave the Torah to Israel."
]
]
},
"Midrash on the Ten Kings": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Midrashim on the Ten Lost Tribes": {
"Introduction": [
"The Ten Tribes: there are various tales told of the Ten Tribes which were exiled from Eretz Yisroel before the exile of the children of the Tribe of Yehudah, part of the Tribe of Binyamin, the Kohanim and the Levi'im. In the days of Pekach, the king of Yisroel, Tiglas-Peleisar, the king of Assyria, came and captured the cities of the Gilead and the land of Naphtali and exiled the people to Assyria (II Kings 15:29). In the days of Hoshea ben Eila, Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, arose and besieged Shomron (Samaria) for three years, he captured it and \"he exiled Yisroel to Assyria and settled them in Chalach, Chavor, the River Gozen and the cities of Modai (Media) [II Kings 17:6].\" 133 years later the exile of Yehudah took place. "
],
"Letter from Peter Guan to Pope in Rome": [],
"Letter from Peter Guan to Roman Caesar": []
},
"Death of Aaron": [],
"Death of Moses": [],
"Midrash Peliah ('Wondrous Midrash')": [],
"Baraita of Rabbi Pinchas Ben Yair": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Panim Acheirim": [],
"Pesikta": {
"Introduction": [],
"Pesikta Chadata": [
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"Rabbi Yehuda said, \"Three books are opened on Rosh Hashanah before the Holy One, Blessed be He: One of wholly righteous people; and they are immediately written and sealed for life. One of middling people; and they are left with their judgment suspended from Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur. If they merit, they are written for life; if they do not merit, they are written for death.\" Rabbi Avin said, \"What is the verse [that alludes to this]? 'Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, but not be written with the righteous' (Psalms 69:29).\" \"One of wholly wicked people; they are immediately written and sealed for death.\" Lest you say, \"Behold we see that [some] wicked people live long lives and [some] righteous people do not live long!\" [Hence] Rabbi Yochanan says, \"[This is talking about] wholly righteous people and wholly wicked people.\" Or perhaps it is speaking about the judgement of the Garden of Eden and Geihinnom after their death. It was learned [about the latter]: Beit Shammai says, \"Three groups will pass by on the Day of Judgment: One of wholly righteous people, one of wholly wicked people, and one of middling people. Wholly righteous people will immediately be written for the Garden of Eden; wholly wicked people immediately for Geihinnom. Middling people will descend to Geihinnom and they will cry out and ascend, as it is stated (Zechariah 13:9), \"And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried.\" And about them, Channah said (I Samuel 2:6), \"The Lord kills, and gives life; he brings down to the grave, and brings up.\" Beit Hillel says, \"'And abundant in kindness' (Exodus 34:6) tilts the scales in favor of kindness [for the middling people]. And about them, David said (Psalms 116:1), 'I love the Lord, Who hears my voice and my supplications.'\" Rava said, \"That which is written, 'I love the Lord, Who hears my voice\" - the Congregation of Israel said before the Holy One, Blessed be He, 'When am I beloved in front of You? When You hear the voice of my supplications. Although 'I am poor' in mitzvot, nevertheless it is fitting to 'save me.'\" A matron asked Rabban Gamliel, \"In your Torah, it is written (Deuteronomy 10:17), '[God...] Who shows no favor nor takes graft'; yet it written (Numbers 6:26), 'The Lord shall show favor to you and give you peace!'\" Rabbi Yose the Priest joined in and said, \"It is not difficult. Here it is about sins between a person and his fellow; but there it is about sins between a person and his Maker.\" [That was] until Rabbi Akiva came and taught, \"Here it is before the sentence is issued; there it is after the sentence has been issued\" (see Bamidbar Rabbah 11). Rav Shmuel bar Oniya said in the name of Rav, \"From where [do we know] that the sentence of a community is never sealed?\" But isn’t it written (Jeremiah 2:22), \"the stain of your iniquity [is before Me]\" (implying that the sentence of a community can be sealed). Rather, \"[From where do we know that] although it is sealed, it can still be torn up?\" As it is stated (Deuteronomy 4:7), \"As is the Lord our God whenever we call out to Him.\" But behold, it is written (Isaiah 55:6), \"Seek the Lord while He may be found!\" There it is about an individual. And when is He close? During the Ten Days of Repentance, which are between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur."
]
},
"Pirkei Rabbi Eliezer": [],
"Pirkei Rabbi Yosi": [],
"Pirkei Ben Azzai": [],
"Perek Tzedakot": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Sefer Tziyoni": [],
"Kedusha": {
"Introduction": [],
"Kedusha for Individual": [],
"Barchu for Individual": []
},
"Sefer HaKaneh": [],
"Midrash HaKatzar": [],
"Keri & K'tiv": {
"Introduction": [],
"Midrash Keri V'lo Ketiv": [
"Midrash Read-but-not-Written",
"",
"I) But [the children of] Benjamin would not yield (Judges 20:13). The word the children of is missing, for they did an abomination, disgrace, and lewd act in Israel, and they deserve to have their descent from the righteous Benjamin retracted, and to separate them from his generations and inclusions, and they did not call them children of Benjamin for they did not yield to listen to their brothers, and in the remainder of places where they are called children of Benjamin it gave them hope and a path of repentance that they may turn from their evil deeds and repent and be called as their brothers' names the children of Benjamin.",
"II) On his way to restore his monument at the River [Euphrates] (II Samuel 8:3). It is written lacking in the book of Samuel, for this verse is mentioned in two places — in Samuel and Chronicles (I Chronicles 18:3), and the verse is said in two times and regarding two occasions (matters). Firstly it says to restore his monument at the river, and secondly to set up his monument at the river Euphrates. Though it is not the business of the first time to make known if it is the Euphrates or the Nile, it was written elsewhere, so Euphrates is read.",
"III) Like when [a man] asks of the word (II Samuel 17:23). The word man is removed from within the verse, for a human is removed from God, and thus it says (Psalms 8:6) You have removed him slightly from God , and his word will not come about like the word of God, thus the word man is removed from within the verse and suspended on the verse from the margin. If he had been meritorious in his deeds and done them for the sake of Heaven, his advice would be as the word of God.",
"IV) Because [thus] the king's son is dead (II Samuel 18:20). The word thus is lacking, because of the evil of his deeds, for he sought to kill his father and cover up the matter, and came to fornicate with his father's concubines. Though Joab said because thus the king's son is dead, the word thus is suspended on the margin, because the king's son was killed for his wrongs, but thus can mean right as in rightly have the daughters of Ẓelopheḥad spoken (Numbers 27:7) or \"what you are saying is right.\" (Genesis 44:10).",
"V) And Adrammelekh and Śaretser [his sons] struck him down with the sword (II Kings 19:37). What is written within, but not read on the margin: And Adrammelekh and Śaretser struck him down. But that does not let us know who had struck him down, whether their sons or others, so his sons is suspended on the margins to let all those on earth know the vengeance of God against him, and to fulfill regarding him Behold I will raise a great evil against you from your own house (II Samuel 12:11).",
"VI) The zeal of the LORD (II Kings 19:31) is written, but a continuation of of Hosts is suspended to it in the margin, for great vengeance the LORD did against him first, but after that by the hands of the hosts of His angels. And thus it says And an angel of God came out and struck the camp of Assyria, a hundred and eighty-five thousand (II Kings 19:35), thus it is suspended outside to make known both of the vengeances that God avenged.",
"VII) Behold days are [coming], declares the LORD (Jeremiah 31:38) It is written lacking: For behold days are, declares the LORD. This is an obscure matter, and we could say that this is tidings for far-off times and many days, just as we read coming from the margin, bringing near the end-times and bringing near the tidings of reading coming in the commandments of the prophet. May the Merciful One accelerate the end-times.",
"VIII) Let there be [for her] no escape (Jeremiah 50:29), it is written wwithin lacking, for Babylon is the seat of sovereignty and the house of royalty, and thus it says (Daniel 4:27) Is that not great Babylon, which I built to be a royal residence? And in it the kingdom of Israel sank and her kingdom was annulled, and Jeremiah told the remnant of Israel that the vengeance of Adonai would be avenged upon it in this world and in the future, so it is written Let there be no escape in this world, and continued on the margins Let there be no escape for her in the future.",
"IX) All that you say [to me] I will do (Ruth 3:5) From the way this is written, it can be determined that Naomi commanded Ruth two times: the first time Ruth said all that you say I will do, and on the second command she said all that you say to me I will do, so it was suspended on the margin.",
"X) For he said [to me], Do not go empty to your mother-in-law (Ruth 3:17) From the way this is written, we can learn that Ruth told Naomi her mother-in-law this matter two times — the first time she did not say to me,, but the second time she did say to me, so it was suspended on the margin."
],
"Midrash Ketiv V'lo Keri": [
"Written but not Read",
" \"For rather Amnon\" (II Samuel 13:33) is written, because at first Jonadab son of Shim'ah said \"for Amnon alone has died,\" for the truth of the matter that Amnon alone had died was not known to him, so when he thought it in his heart he said, \"Let not milord the king put the thought in his head that all the king's sons have died, rather Amnon alone is dead,\" for he was heading the truth of the matter. And the scripture is lacking a word because of the ignominity of his actions and the unnaturalness of his death, so the word \"rather\" is written and not read.",
" \"For rather wherever milord king will be\" (II Samuel 15:21) is written, because Ittai the Gittite spoke with all his heart and all his soul and the force of his words, \"For rather, wherever milord king will be, be it to death, or to life, for there your servant will be,\" and he was righteous in the heart of David as a foreigner. And the verse is missing \"rather,\" because it says \"Go back and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner, and an exile to your country\" (II Samuel 15:19), thus \"rather\" is written but not read.",
"\"May haShem please pardon your servant regarding this matter\" (II Kings 5:18) — the scripture is missing a word, because Naaman spoke these words unreasonably, thus Elisha the prophet responded to his words, as he said \"when my master comes to the house of Rimmon to prostrate there.\" The scripture is missing \"please\" because of the lack of sense and his words, thus it is written and not read.",
"\"As haShem, the one who made this life for us, lives\" (Jeremiah 38:16) — the scripture is missing the word \"the one\" because he had sworn once before and reneged, as it says, \"And against the king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God, he rebelled\" (II Chronicles 36:13). And Ezekiel rebuked, \"See if I don't, for My vow that he disrespected, and My covenant that he overturned\" (Ezekiel 17:19), and Jeremiah said, \"If 'as haShem lives' they say, then for falsehood they swear\" (Jeremiah 5:2). Thus the scripture is lacking, and the oath is lacking, for it has a word that is written and not read.",
"To where the archer will draw, will draw his bow\" (Jeremiah 51:3) is written. This teaches about the two vengeances and the two calamities that haShem will avenge for his people upon the kingdom of the Chaldeans, and it is written twice. The first \"will draw\" being the speedy vengeance of this world, as it says \"Hey, I argue your case and avenge your vengeance\" (Jeremiah 51:36). The second \"will draw\" is written and not read, for it is hidden away and dependent on what is to come.",
"\"I have done as all that You have commanded me\" (Ezekiel 9:11) is written. Learn from this that there is hope and mercy and kindness — but a little from a lot — and it is not a set thing, but there is hope and the possibility of repentance, and when the angel clothed in garb looked out the evil of their deeds was magnified. And thus it says, \"The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is so very very great\" (Ezekiel 9:9) — he put an end to them and said and returned word \"I have done all that You commanded me,\" for \"all\" is a language of finality without escape, and thus it says \"Kill elder and youth and virgin and infant and women in slaughter\" (Ezekiel 9:6).",
"\"And the southern corner, five five hundred and four thousand\" (Ezekiel 48:16) is written. Learn from this that five hundred additional were added in an allusive line, as the scripture said, \"And these are its measurements\" (Ezekiel 48:9), and gave a rule and line and measure for the Third Temple, for its fields and its suburbs and its exteriors and interiors, and set out children to repent. And thus it says, \"You, mortal, tell the house of Israel of the house, and they will be ashamed with their iniquities\" (Ezekiel 43:10), and \"And if they are ashamed from all they did\" (Ezekiel 43:11), then all this honor is due to them, and haShem can give more than this, five by five to a thousand by a thousand. And thus it says, \"A day to build up your fences, that rule is extended\" (Micah 7:11), and it says, \"That day, and to you he will come\" (Micah 7:12). Thus \"five five\" is written — may the Master of Mercies say it, amen!",
"\"And now, though it is true that I maybe a redeemer\" (Ruth 3:12) is written, its reason being that Bo'az, knowing there is another redeemer closer than him, therefore said \"that I may be a redeemer\" — \"may\" being the language of doubt — maybe he will redeem — good! — or maybe he will not redeem. And he was not certain that he would redeem, for he said \"If he does not desire to redeem you, then I myself will redeem you.\" Thus \"that I may be a redeemer\" is written, \"that I be a redeemer\" is read."
]
},
"Aggadat Karnei Re'emim": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Midrash Rabbah": [],
"Pirkei Rabbeinu HaKadosh": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Midrash on Ruth": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Book of Rezial the Angel": [],
"Raaya Mehimna": [],
"She'iltot": [],
"Explanation of the Seven Vowels": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Seventy Names of Metatron": [
"Seventy Names of Metatron: The book \"Seventy Names of Metatron\", which Rabbi Yishmael revealed, 23 of which he received when he ascended on high. The book was brought to print by Rabbi Moshe son of Rabbi Menachem Graf in the year 1678, with the place of printing missing, and it appears to be the Amsterdam printing as written by the author of Rav Pe'alim (p. 93), who further wrote there. The Sages said: Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan: This verse the minister of the world said: \"I have been young, and now am old\" (Psalms 37:25). And see Tosafot s.v. \"This verse etc.\" And concludes: And in the Pesikta of the Seventy Names of Metatron it also enumerates \"Na'ar\" (youth). And in Chullin (60a) Tosafot s.v. \"This verse etc.\" said: Alternatively, that which the liturgist called Metatron \"Na'ar\" was not because of the verse \"I have been young\", but because it is written in the Book of Josephus that Metatron has seventy names, and it enumerates \"Na'ar\". And it is not found in our Book of Josephus, and is certainly a scribal error.",
"In the Book of Seventy Names of Metatron it says:",
"Rabbi Yishmael said: I said to Metatron: Why are you called by the name of your Master with seventy names, and you are greater than all the ministers and loftier than all the angels, and more beloved than all the servants, and more honored than all the hosts in majesty and honor? And why do they call you in the supernal names \"Na'ar\" (Youth)? And he said to me: Because I am Enoch son of Jared. And when the generation of the Flood sinned and said to God \"Depart from us\" etc., then the Holy One Blessed Be He brought me up from among them to be over them in the supernal names forever, so that they should not say - heaven forefend - that the Merciful One is cruel etc. And even if they sinned, their sons and daughters, their possessions and acquisitions, animals and beasts and birds - what did they sin, that they were gathered with them and destroyed by Hashem from the world? Therefore the Holy One Blessed Be He brought me up before their eyes to the supernal realms, to be a witness over them forever in the world to come etc. At that time, when the Holy One Blessed Be He brought me up to the supernal realms, three angels from the angels of Uzza and Azael came and complained about me and them (the people) in the supernal realms. And they said before Him: Master of the Universe! The early ones did not speak well when they said the man should not be created before You. And the Holy One Blessed be He answered them: I made and I will bear and I alone will endure it. And when they saw me, they said before Him: Master of the Universe! What is the nature of this one who ascended on high - of the sons of the sons of those who were destroyed in the days of the Flood he is! (It appears it should say \"that the sons of his sons will be destroyed by the Flood waters\"). And what is his purpose in the firmament? And the Holy One Blessed Be He answered them and said: What is your purpose, that you involve yourselves in a matter that I desired more than all of you - that he should be minister and ruler over you in the supernal realms? Immediately they all arose and said: Fortunate are you, and fortunate are your creators, that your Maker desired you! And because I am small and a youth among them - \"and I am still young\" (Psalms 37:25) - therefore they call me \"Na'ar\".",
"And that which is written in the book Tziyuni, Parshat Bereishit: \"Know that from Enosh onwards, weakness and frailty came to the world. What was their sin? The man of secrets (he refers to the author of the secret mystical work Sefer HaRokeach) revealed that they would walk from end of the world to the other end, and bring silver, gold, precious stones and gems, and make idols from them in the four directions, a thousand parsas in size. And they would bring down the sun, moon, stars and constellations to serve them in the manner they serve the Holy One Blessed Be He. And how did they have this ability? But that Makhaziel and Azazel taught them all the workings of sorcery. And then the angels prosecuted and said 'What is man that you should remember him' - it does not say 'What is Adam', but 'What is man', who was the head of idolatry. And then the Divine Presence ascended, as it says 'God went up with a shout'\" - all this is taken from the Seventy Names of Metatron, see there at greater length. And that which the author of Yalkut Reuveni brings in Parshat Bereishit: \"Rabbi Yishmael said etc. in the name of Sodi Raza and in the name of the Sage of Mysteries\" - you can find all of it in Seventy Names of Metatron. And Tosafot (Yevamot 16b s.v. \"Posak\") called it the Pesikta, and said \"And in the Pesikta of the Seventy Names of Metatron it also enumerates 'Na'ar'\" - and it is known that there are seventy names of the Holy One Blessed Be He, and these are the appellations, and they expounded about this \"seventy shekels corresponding to the seventy names the Holy One Blessed Be He has\" (Bamidbar Rabbah 14). And in the commentary Ba'al HaTurim on the verse \"Gather for Me seventy men\" (Numbers 11:16) he says it corresponds to the seventy nations and the seventy names the Holy One Blessed Be He has, and enumerates them there. And because they said the name Metatron is like the name of his Master (Sanhedrin 38b), therefore they also enumerated seventy names for him. See also Enoch; Metatron."
],
"Midrash Shocher Tov": [],
"Midrash on Song of Songs": [],
"Perek Shirah ('Chapter of Song')": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Midrash Sechel Tov": [],
"Midrashim on King Solomon": {
"Introduction": [],
"Description of Solomon's Throne": [],
"Throne and Hippodrome of King Solomon": [],
"The Marriage of Solomon and Naamah": [],
"Story of the Wealthy Man with the Only Son": [],
"The Unfaithful Wife": [],
"The Unfaithful Wife (2)": [],
"The Three Wise Sayings": [],
"The Jugs of Honey and the Coins": [],
"The Man with Two Heads": [],
"The Story of the Ant and the Sealed Palace": []
},
"Midrash Shelosha v'Arba'ah": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Midrash on Book of Samuel": [],
"Baraita of Samuel HaKatan": {
"Introduction": [],
"": [
[]
]
},
"Shimusha Rabba & Zuta": {
"Introduction": [],
"Shimusha Rabba": []
},
"Shamchazai & Azael": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Aggadat Shema Yisrael": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Midrashim of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai": {
"Introduction": [
"Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai - Tana from the second generation of Tanaim, and the Book of Warning is attributed to him, and he was persecuted by Ein Yaakov Malkhut Rumi, like Rabbi Akiva his rabbi, and he hid in a cave with Rabbi Elazar his son for 13 years (which is not accurate or Shabbetai ben Joseph Bass), and was sent to Rome to cancel the decrees of the kingdom because he was A scholar of miracles (Meilah 17a and 17b) Some midrash are also attributed to him, such as the chapters of Darbi Shimon bar Yochai or the hidden Darbi Shimon bar Yochai and the prayer of Darbi Shimon bar Yochai, which were printed by Ein Yaakov Yealinek in his Beit Midrash."
],
"Prayer of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai": [
"Prayer of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai",
"[Beit HaMidrash 26:4-117]",
"These are the hidden and revealed things that were revealed to Rabbi Shimon, And this is R. Shimon ben Yochai who sent him from Jerusalem to Rome to the emperor, and since he was in the ship he saw in a dream Ashmadai the king of the Shemids (Demons) and said to him, ask what I will do for you? Rabbi Shimon said to him, who are you? And he said to him, I am Ashmadai (in the Gemara it is called Bar Tamalyon) whom the Holy One, blessed be He, sent to do a miracle for you. He said, Lord of the world, to the Hagar the servant of Sharai (Sarah Avraham's wife), you summoned a Heavenly Messenger to her and to me the fluency of the Prince of princes [Demon of Demons?]?! Ashmadai told him, from wherever the miracle comes, either I or an angel will fix your things. And he said to him Ashmadai I am going to go for now and enter Caesar's daughter (and weaken) [as a ghost] her, and I will shout in your name Rabbi Shimon Rabbi Shimon! Until you come, and they ask you to reconcile me to leave this house, and I say I will not leave it until Rabbi Shimon's things and his will are done. And Ashmadai went to Caesar's house and did everything he said to the Rabbi, and Caesar's daughter was standing there and he entered her because when he entered she broke all the dishes that were in her father's plate and was shouting Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai! A few days later a ship came and Rabbi Shimon was in it, they went and told the emperor, and the emperor followed him and said to him what do you want? The Jews in Jerusalem lived a generation for you. He said to him, I do not accept anything from you and I do not want from you except that you take this demon out of my house because I have no one to reign after her because I have no other seed. Rabbi Shimon went and said to him: Ashmadai, get out of here girl! He said, I will not leave until all your wishes are done to you, and he also told him several times I will not leave until your wishes are done. The king went and sent to all his elders and ministers and servants and said to them what do you tell them to do with my house where the demon has already entered and we have decreed for the Jews that they are not to breed their sons and that they are not to observe the Sabbath and that their wives are not to observe the laws of marriage, and it is the custom of our kingdom that when we pass a decree they never go back, and if the king returns in it they transfer him His kingdom is the religion of Media and Persia. One of his advisers stood up and said to him, \"My lord the king, I will tell you something, your daughter will be healed by it and you will carry out all his decrees, because this decree on the Jews is bad for us and for you,\" the counselor told him. He said to him that whoever has an enemy, what will he want from him, be he poor or rich? The king said to him, poor man. The adviser said to him: The Jews have a habit of busying themselves all week and bringing in money, on Friday they spend everything to honor the Sabbath, and now when the Sabbath is decreed for them, they will be left with spending on the Sabbath and they will collect money and rebel against you, and if you return the Sabbath to them, they will spend a lot of money on it and be poor. The king told them, to give them back the Sabbath. The same counselor also told him if a person has enemies what will he want from them, be they many or few? The king told him, few. He said to him, my lord the king, the Jews make their sons circumcise and they are eight days old, when one lives a hundred die. The king said also to return the word to them. The counselor said to him, my lord the king, this is how it is in the matter of nudges, if the women of Israel lay down nudity laws, they will not have multiple seeds because they will keep seven days of blood days and memory of clean days. The king said they put their religion in bonds when he was. Then the king said to Rabbi Shimon, I have fulfilled your request, tell the demon that came out of my house. Rabbi Shimon decreed for Ashmadai and he left the king's daughter, and because restored health of His daughter, the king gave Shimon the gift that he brought him and gave him another large gift and wrote him a letter of approval for the Seridiot (officer, chief) he had in Jerusalem, and Rabbi Shimon went to Jerusalem happy and kind-heated and the decrees were canceled.",
"And this is Rabbi Shimon, who was bound in a cave before from the emperor, and was tortured for forty days and nights and prayed before God, and thus he said in his prayer: Blessed are you, God, our God and the God of our fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the great, mighty and terrible God, who buys heaven and earth alive and subsisting forever Until and forever forever, glory be glorified be glorified be adorned be glorified be unique that you are the King of kings and Lord of lords, one whose name is in you and yours is your name, you disappear from the sight of all living and your name disappears, you are a wonder and the wonder of your name, you are the only one and your name is unique, you are the one who chose Abram and brought him out of the light of the Chaldean's and announced his sorrow from the enslavement of kings Let your sons be enslaved, and now I will ask you, O God, that you will open the gates of prayer for me and send me an angel to inform me when the Messiah son of David will come and how he will gather the waves of Israel from all the places that were scattered there, and how many wars will befall them after they are gathered, and the matter will be explained to me in the goodness of God, and when the wonders will end. ",
"- Rabbi Shimon said immediately the gates of heaven were opened to me and I saw the mirrors of God and I fell on my face and here is a voice speaking to me: Shimon Shimon! And I answered and said to the one speaking to me, what are you saying, Lord? He said to me stand your ground, and at his words, I stood trembling and I said to him what is your name? He told me why it is that you ask my name and it is wonderful, and I told him when the Redeemer of Israel will come, he said to me, and he will see the children of Israel and God knows. He immediately passed the nest in front of me. I asked him, what are these? He said to him, these are the nests. I also saw the kingdom of Ishmael, who will be after the Kenites. I immediately cried a great cry and said to him, Lord, that he has horns and talons to trample Israel with. They told him. While I was talking with him, an angel whose name was Metatron touched me and woke me up like a man waking from his sleep, and when I saw him I stood trembling and my labor turned on me and I did not hold back my labors as labor labors, and he said to me, Shimon! And I say, I am. And he said to me, know that God sent me to you to inform you of your question that you asked before him. Now when you saw the Kenites and the kingdom of Ishmael in his house, you did not want to weep except for the kingdom of Ishmael alone, who at the end of her reign will slay in Israel a great slaughter that has no measure, and you will decree upon Israel severe decrees, and it says that everyone who reads the Torah will be stabbed with the sword and you will return some of Israel to their laws, and the kingdoms of the Kenites will come at that time to Jerusalem and conquer and they killed in it more than three hundred thousand people, and because of the pressure that oppresses Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, sends Ishmaelites among them and make war with them in order to save Israel from them, and a foolish man stands and speaks falsely about God, and he conquers the land, and there will be enmity between them and between the sons of Esau. I answered Metatron and said to him, Lord, and is my son Ishmael salvation for Israel? He said to him, and not so said the prophet Isaiah, and he saw a chariot, a pair of horsemen, a donkey riding a camel (Isaiah 21:7), a chariot - this is the kingdom of Medi and Persia, a chariot - this is the kingdom of Yon, horsemen - this is the kingdom of Edom, a donkey riding - this is the Messiah who is said to be poor And he rides on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9), he rides a camel - this is the kingdom of Ishmael, in whose days the kingdom of the Messiah will arise, that is why a donkey's rider preceded a camel's rider, and a camel's rider will prevail at the coming of the Messiah, and wise men will die, and the power of sons of wickedness shall be increased. And further, he saw the Kenites, and that is what parable did Bileam the wicked see, but because Bileam saw the tribe of Kenites coming to stand and enslave Israel, he began saying \"strengthen is your seat, I see a vision that there is a hunger, but your strong Savior will come from East\"[edit. The gate of King, the Golden gate, is the gate of Messiah, in Ezekiel 10:19] (Meaning of Savior - the instrument of music, And the matter of this comes from the advice of the mocking that Bileam said about Israel)",
"And the second king who will rise from the sons of Ishmael, he loves Israel, and he fences the openings of the temple and makes war with the sons of Esau and kills their soldiers. Peace from all sides, and he would love sheep and die in peace. And another king will stand up under him and hold the kingdom with his sword and bow, and there will be a fight in his days, sometimes in the east and sometimes in the west, sometimes in the north and sometimes in the south, and he will make war with everything, and when the Nirdon in the west falls on the sons of Ishmael in Damascus, the kingdom of Ishmael will fall, and at that time God said, Shabbar, the bed of the wicked. (Isaiah 14:5), and while the mighty sons of Kedar are still with him, a north easterly wind will blow against him and many victims will fall from him, the first on a stag, the second on the Euphrates, and the third between them, and he flees before them, and his sons will capture him and kill him and hang him on the trees. On that day, God will whistle to the fly, and the future of the \"To whistle to the bees who are in the land of Assyria and make war with the Ashkenazim and the first king leads them and finds that he rebelled against their lord, as it is said: Thus said the Lord, the Holy Redeemer of Israel, to the abominable of a heathen, to the servant of governors (Isaiah 39:7), and who is the servant of governors?\" This is what the Canaanites say, that they are detested by all the nations, for a slave of rulers to be a slave of rulers and he rebels against his master and they gather to him and gather with them people who rebelled against their masters and make war with the sons of Ishmael and kill their mighty men and inherit their wealth and property, and they are extremely skinned people and wear black and come from the east and they are Bitter and hasty, as it is said that I raise up the Chaldean's, the Gentiles are bitter and hasty (Habakkuk 1:6), and all of them are horsemen, as it is said, \"Bitter and hasty'' (Nahum 3:3), And they come from a far country to live in a neighborhood that is not his, and they go up to the top of a mountain, and it is a mountain from the top of Israel, and they break into the temple and put out the candles and tear down the doors. And there will be four other kings, two of whom will be born and other years will stand over them, and in their days a son of David will arise, as it is said, and in the days of \"Malachi'a Inun\" (The Sad King) (Daniel 2:4). And the image of the first king is an old man and he does not have much beard, and the king is kneeling, his eyes are beautiful and his hair is beautiful and black, and they fail him (see Daniel's entry). And after him another will stand in dispute, and many soldiers will stand on the river Euphrates, and one day his soldiers in the north and in the south will fall and he will escape and be captured and imprisoned, and all the days he is in prison there will be peace in the land. And the fourth king loves silver and gold, and he is old and tall and has a mole about the size of his right foot, and he makes copper coins and buries them and stores them under a flower with silver and gold, and they are put away to the Messiah King, As it is said, \"And I have given you treasures of darkness and hidden treasures\" (Isaiah 3:3), And in his days a western horn will strike and he will send two recruits and they will kill the people of the east, and he will send others, and at the beginning of the week (Shemita) the first year there will be no rain in it, and in the second there will be half a famine, and in the third, there will be great famine and there will be no rain, and in the fourth, there will be a moderate one, and on the fifth, there will be a great abundance, and on the sixth, one star will rise from the east And he will rule by the scepter of fire like a lance, and they say, Oh, this star is ours, and it is not so, but the parable of Israel, which was said through the star of Jacob, and when it rises in the first watch of the night until two hours, and gathers fifteen days in the east and turns to the west and makes fifteen days, and if more - it is good for Israel.",
"And I rested for my prayer and also for my fasting for a day until it was revealed to me that this was the angel and he said to me and asked me something, I said to him, Lord, what will happen after these? The angel said to him, after all this the people of the West increase with large soldiers and they come mixed up and make war with the people of the East in their country and kill them, and the rest flee before them and come to Alexandria, and they will be chased by the people of the West and come there, and there will be a great war, and the people of the East will flee from there and come as far as Egypt and stay And they will take it from a customer and make it a wasteland, to fulfill what was said Egypt will be a wasteland (Joel 4:9). And they passed through the land of the deer and it was consumed by them, and everyone who was captured will not return until the Messiah comes, and when I heard this I wept very much. The angel said to him, Simon! what are you crying for I told him, Abraham's sons Isaac and Jacob will not have an escape in his days. He said to me, the matter is very difficult, if you put meat on the fire, you will not be able to escape from its smell, so Israel is not saved, and anyone who comes into the room and runs away and hides will be saved. He will fall by the sword (ibid. 13:15), and they will pass through the land of the deer and horses, as it is said, \"And he came through the lands and washed and passed over\" (Daniel 11:30), and they came to the rivers of the valleys and they were in the middle of it, and there will be a great war that all the prophets prophesied about and they will become streams and the waters of the Euphrates to the blood, and the rest will not be able to drink from it, and from there the kingdom of the East will break. And after all these, a bold-faced king will stand and do three and a half years, and at the beginning of his reign, when he stands, he takes the rich and diverts (a missing language, Zephaniah 3:15) from their wealth and kills them, and money will not escape its owners, as it is said that their silver and gold cannot be redeemed (Ezekiel 7 19), and his counsel and his thoughts will not stand on him, and anyone who mentions Shema Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, will be killed, and anyone who says, The God of Abraham will be killed. 7:25), times - they are the times, and religion - is the Torah, as it is said that the fire of religion is for him (Deuteronomy 33), and in his days there will be great trouble for Israel, and everyone who is exiled to the upper Galilee will escape, as it is said that there will be a plague on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem (Joel 3:5) Witness Demati condemns and kills Israel until he reaches Damascus, and when he reaches Damascus, God Almighty gives help and success to Israel, and in his days there will be strife and war in the world, and a city will fight with its friend and a country with a country and a nation against a nation and a nation against a nation, and there will be no peace for those who come and go, as it is said And my troubles came to man, and they went as blind (Zephaniah 1:17). And with the Lord there will be turmoil and trouble upon them for three years, and they will be given in his hand until the end of the three years, as it is said and they will be in his hand [עַד עִדָּן וְעִדָּנִין וּפְלַג עִדָּן] until Iddan and Iddain and peleg Iddan (Daniel 7:25), Iddan - one year, Iddain - two years, peleg Iddan - half a year, It is found that there are three years from the cancellation of the circumcision and prayer, which is said to have taken place at the time of the removal of the tabernacle and to give a glimpse of heaven for one thousand two hundred and ninety days (ibid. 12:11), and they are three and a half years. And there arose a king who put them to the frost, as it was said, and we gave the shadow of the desert (ibid. 11) and he was in front of you for three months, and after that, the sons of Ishmael made war with the Edomites in the valley of Acre, and immediately the Assyrians came upon them and drove them back, as it was said, \"How long shall Assyria rest\" (Numbers 24:22), and the fleet of the Hittites (ibid. 24) - these are Edomites who are destined to stand at the end of days, and when they go out as thieves they go out, as it is said if thieves come to you, etc. (Obadiah 1:5), and make war with the sons of Ishmael and kill A great number of them, and a great number of them gathered at streets of Akko, crushed with the iron and shame, and a water tank was brake with his fingers, and rush, rabble in Suswan (castle), and they joined legions with their people from Edom, and they came and made war in the valley of Acre until the horse was soaked up to its thigh in blood, and the children of Israel fled until they came to the valley of Jericho, and there they stood and said to one of his comrades, \"Here we are fleeing, and let us rest.\" We bowed down and changed, and returned and waged another war in the Valley of Megiddo, and the Edomites fled and got into the ships, and a wind arose and brought them to Assyria, and they tormented the Assyrians and crossed the river. And at the end of nine months, the Assyrians went out and the Israelites and the Romans perished, as it was said, \"How long shall Assyria be troubled\"(Deuteronomy 24:20). And when you see Assyrians coming out and walking in the land of Israel, they are making peace, and Elijah the late comes out and announces peace to them as it was said, and it will be an Assyrian peace because it will come to our land (Micah 5:4), and the sons of Italy want to fight with them and the sons of Ishmael will almost return the kingdom to them, and there are not enough to take out their wives until Assyria captures them, and immediately a voice goes out and proclaims everywhere to the children of Israel: Go out and avenge God's vengeance on Edom, as it is said, I have given my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel (Ezekiel 25:14), and immediately the young men of the Israelites gather and listen and they reign A king from the seed of David reigned over them, and a dispute fell between one and another, and the children of the Land of Israel transgressed against the seed of David to fulfill what was said, and Israel transgressed in the house of David until this day (2 Chronicles 10:19).",
"And these and those come and take hold, and a voice comes out and chirps what has been is what will be (Ecclesiastes 1:9) - He is the Holy One who was before the creation of the world, and He who will be after the loss of the world. And what we do is what he will do (there), and she replies and says that when Joshua did to Jericho and to the queen, so they did with the prohibition and with the allowed, and they say that there is no covenant land with us when he was with Joshua, and he replies that there was nothing in the land but the two tablets of stone and their seal. And these and those come and take hold, and a voice comes out and chirps what has been is what will be (Ecclesiastes 1:9) - He is the Holy One who was before the creation of the world, and He who will be after the loss of the world. And what we do is what he will do (there), and she replies and says that when Joshua did to Jericho and to the queen, so they did with the prohibition and the prohibition, and they say that there is no covenant land with us when he was with Joshua, and she replies that there was nothing in the land but the two tablets of stone and their seal. With great rejoicing and saying Hear Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, they surround Jericho, and immediately the wall falls under it and we enter it and find the young men dead in its streets to fulfill what was said therefore shall fall in its holes in its streets and all the men of war shall bleed on that day (Jeremiah 39:26), And they where killing in it for three days and three nights, and then they gathered all its spoil into its street, and a rumor came from them to the Ai and they were greatly afraid.",
"And again I returned to pray before God with fasting and sackcloth and ashes until I saw, and behold, a hand touched me and set me on my feet and said to me, Ask a righteous man what you will ask, and I asked him and I told him in the last days of God how all Israel will be gathered from the four corners of the earth, and how their exodus will be under the hand of the kings, and if they go out for the portion they are going out, and how will they go and what will they be able to do? I would like you to tell me these things and the like until the end of the whole thing. And clouds appeared from the gates of heaven and he said to me: At the end of the reign of the sons of Ishmael, the Romans will go out against Jerusalem and make war with the sons of Ishmael and the land will be conquered before them, and they will come into it and kill many of the sons of Ishmael in it, and they will make many dead in it, and they will take captives from the daughters of Ishmael, a great captivity, and they will take the brains out of the babies and butcher every day a thousand babies. \"And at that time He created a great deal for Israel, and at that time God will awaken the tribes of Israel and they will come to Jerusalem, the holy city, and they will find in the Torah it is written, \"And God will go before them their day in a pillar of cloud\" (Exodus 13:21). And another scripture says, \"The Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will provide for you\" (Isaiah 12:12), and they will walk in a cloud and a fog, and they will make war with the Edomites, and they will kill a great number of them, and their name will go out in the world where the tribes came. from being a Gentile until that time, and at that time all your people who are found written in the book will flee (Daniel 12:1), and the nations will stand against Israel and kill many of them and many criminals from the peoples of the land, and torture many of the followers in chains to leave the Torah of God, and more that they will be in this tribulation for days For a few, God will bring a great and strong wind and a great and thick black famine, the like of which has not been seen in the world, and from that wind, the Almighty will scatter the tribes in every city and city, and about them, it will be said, Who are these? Bread and the Holy One with his blessing will bring back to Israel the salt for the selet, and at that time it was said that there would be a piece of barley in the land at the top of the mountains (Psalms 15:16), (see Midrash Ecclesiastes 5 what happened). And Nehemiah son of Hoshiel stood up and made letters in the word of God, and a king stood up and disbelieved in the law, and showed himself as a servant of God, and his heart was not right with him. And there came a great thunder in the world, and the whole world was afraid of it, and Israel gathered to Nehemiah son of Hoshiel, and the king of Egypt would make peace with him and kill all the countries around Jerusalem, such as Tiberias, Damascus, and Ashkelon, and they would hear God, and terror and fear would fall upon them. And the sign that will be at that time is that the stars will appear as blood, and at that time it is said that the sun will turn into darkness and the moon into blood (Joel 3:4), and God will send ten plagues in the Holy of Holies as He sent in Egypt, to fulfill what was said, and it was on that day that Joseph will add again His hand is to buy the remnant of his people (Isaiah 11:11). It was said that there is a marble stone in Rome and it is a beautiful girl figure from the six days of Genesis, and from The sons of Belial (The wickedness) are from the nations of the world and you lie between them and you pass, and at the end of nine months it splits and there came forth a male child in the form of a man, twelve cubits long and two cubits wide, and his eyes are crooked red, the hair of his head is red as gold and his legs are green, and he has two talons and they call him Armilus. And he came to Edom and said to them, I am your Messiah, I am your God, and he misled them and immediately they believed in him and they made him their king, and all the sons of Esau and none were with him. They bring a book... and he says to them that I have given before you and I say to them I am the Lord your God and I am your Messiah and your God, and at the same time he sends to Nehemiah and all Israel, and says to them bring me your Torah and testify to me that I am God. And immediately all Israel will tremble and be afraid, and at that hour Nehemiah will stand up and three men with him from the sons of Ephraim and will go with him and sit with them and call before him I will stand and you will not have it, and he says there is nothing of this in your Torah? I (I don't?) leave you until you believe that I am God the way the nations of the world believed in me, and immediately Nehemiah stands against him and tells him you are not God but Satan, and Armilus says to them why did you lie to me, I will order you to be killed and says to his servants take him to Nehemiah, and immediately thirty thousand heroes will arise of Israel and made war with him and killed two hundred thousand from the camp of Armilus, and Armilus also went out and gathered all the soldiers of the nations of the world, and made war with the Israelites and killed a thousand [and] thousand of Israel and more. And I darkened the land with a day of light (Amos 8:9), and the rest of Israel fled to the wilderness of the nations and sat there forty-five days without bread or water because the grass of the field would be their food. (Daniel 11:22), and he returns and sets his sights on Jerusalem to be destroyed a second time, as it is said, and the tents of our deliverance shall fall.",
"Between days the holy deer came to the mountain and came to its end and there was no one to help him (Daniel 11:5). And at that time Michael the great minister will stand and blow the shofar three times, as it was said and it would happen on that day that he would blow a great shofar (Isaiah 27:13), and that shofar is the right horn of Isaac's ram, and God will extend it to a thousand cubits, and he will blow the sound and the Messiah will be revealed Son of David and Elijah, and they both go to Israel, who are in the wilderness of the nations, and Elijah says to them, this is the Messiah, and restores their hearts and strengthens their hands, as it is said, \"Strengthen weak hands and feeble knees, embrace them, say to those who are quick of heart, be strong, do not be afraid\" (Isaiah 35:4). And all the children of Israel heard the sound of the shofar and knew that he had redeemed Israel, as it is said that God redeemed Jacob (there), and the lost came to the land of Assyria. And immediately the fear of God falls on the nations and on all the nations, and Israel returns with the Messiah until they come to the Judean desert and are recorded with all the children of Israel, and they come to Jerusalem and ascend the steps of the House of David that remain from the destruction, and the Messiah sits there. And Armilus heard that there was a king standing for Israel, and he gathered soldiers from all over the world and came to the Messiah and Israel's king, and the Almighty will fight for Israel, and he says to the Messiah, return to my right hand, and the Messiah says to Israel, gather and stand and see the salvation of God, and immediately the Almighty will come out and fight with them, As it is said, \"And the Lord will go forth and fight against these nations\" (Zechariah 14:3), and it is written, \"At that time I will be your father, and at that time I will gather you, for I will give you to his name and to be glorified among all the peoples of the earth\" (Zephaniah 3:20). Amen, the time will come and that time.",
"<rabbi shimon=\"\" ben=\"\" yohai's=\"\" prayer=\"\" is=\"\" over=\"\">"
],
"Chapter of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai": []
},
"Aggada of Shimon Kippa": {
"Introduction": [],
"Aggada of Shimon Kippa (Version 1)": [
"The Legend of Simeon Kefa",
"And it was after these events, and there arose a great strife between the Christians and the Jews. For when a Christian would see a Jew, he would kill him, and the distress kept increasing for thirty years. And the Christians gathered by the thousands and ten thousands, and they prevented Israel from making the pilgrimage festival, and there was great distress in Israel like the day the [golden] calf was made, and they did not know what to do. But their faith strengthened more and more. And twelve men went out and traveled through the twelve kingdoms, and they prophesied false prophecies in the camp, and Israel strayed after them. And they were men of renown, and they strengthened the belief in Jesus, for they said they were his emissaries, and many of the children of Israel gathered after them. And the sages saw this evil thing, and it was very grievous to them. And a man said to his fellow, “Woe to us, for we have sinned, that this evil has come about in Israel in our days, that we and our fathers never heard of. And they were very distressed, and they sat and wept, and they lifted their eyes to heaven. And they said, “Please, Hashem, God of heaven, give us advice what to do, for we do not know what to do, and our eyes are upon You. For innocent blood has been spilled among Your people Israel because of that man. How long will this be a stumbling block for us, that [the belief in] Jesus strengthens the Christians against us, and they kill us - so many, and we remain few? And because of the stumbling blocks of Your people, the House of Israel, this has come about. And for the sake of Your name, give us advice what to do, to be separated from the congregation of Christians.” And it was when they finished speaking, an elder of the elders arose, and his name was Simeon Kefa, and he communicated with a heavenly voice. And he said to them: “Hear me, my brothers and people - if it is good in your eyes, I will separate these men from the congregation of the children of Israel, and they will have no portion or inheritance among Israel. But you must take upon yourselves the sin.” And they all answered and said, “We take upon ourselves the sin, but do as you have spoken.” And Simeon Kefa went inside the Temple, and he wrote the great name and tore his flesh and placed the writing inside it. And he left the Temple and took out the writing and studied the name. And he went to the Christian metropolis and cried out in a loud voice and said, “All who believe in Jesus, come to me, for I am his emissary.” And they said to him, “Give us a sign and miracle.” And he said, “What sign do you request from me?” And they said, “Perform for us the same miracles that Jesus performed in his lifetime.” And Simeon Kefa said, “Bring me a leper.” And they brought him one. And he placed his hands on him, and behold, he was healed. And he said to them, “Bring me a corpse.” And they brought one before him. And he placed his hand on him, and he came to life and stood on his feet. And those men saw and fell on their faces to the ground, and they said to him, “Truly, you are the emissary of Jesus, for he did thus for us in his lifetime.” And Simeon Kefa said to them, “I am the emissary of Jesus, and he commanded me to go to you. Swear to me that you will do everything that I command you.” And they all answered and said, “We will do everything you tell us.” And Simeon Kefa said to them, “Know that Jesus hated Israel and their Torah, as Isaiah prophesied, ‘Your new moons and appointed festivals my soul hates' (Isaiah 1:14). And further know that he does not desire Israel, as Hosea prophesied, ‘For you are not my people' (Hosea 1:9). And even though he has the power to uproot them from the world in an instant, in any case he does not want to destroy them entirely. Rather, he wants to leave them in order that his hanging and stoning will be remembered for all generations. And most of the great affliction that he suffered, all the torments, was in order to redeem you from Gehenna. And now he warns you and commands you not to do any more evil to any Jew. And if a Jew says to a Christian, ‘Come with me a mile,’ he shall go with him two miles. And if a Jew strikes him on the left cheek, he shall turn to him the right cheek as well - so that they will receive their reward in this world, while in the world to come they will be judged to Gehenna. And if you do thus, you will merit to dwell with him in his portion. And behold, he commands you not to celebrate the festival of Matzot anymore. Rather, celebrate the day of his death. And instead of Shavuot, celebrate forty days from when he was stoned and ascended to heaven. And instead of Sukkot, celebrate his birthday. And on the eighth day of his birth, celebrate the day on which he was circumcised. And they all answered and said, “We will do everything you have spoken, if only you stay with us.”And he said, “I will dwell among you, if you do for me as he commanded me - not to eat any food except dry bread and measured water. And you must build me a tower in the city, and I will dwell in it until the day of my death.” And they said, “As you speak, so shall we do.” And they built a tower for him, and he dwelled in the tower as his home. And they provided his daily ration, bread and water, until the day of his death. And he served the God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And he composed very many liturgical poems, and he sent them throughout all the borders of Israel, so it would serve as a memorial for all generations. And all the liturgical poems he composed, he sent to his rabbis. And Simeon dwelled in the tower for six years, and then he died. And they instructed to bury him in the tower, and they did so. Afterwards they built upon it a magnificent building, and this tower still stands in Rome, and they call it Peter, which is a name meaning “stone”, because he dwelled there on a stone until the day of his death."
],
"Aggada of Shimon Kippa (Version 2)": [
"",
"",
"The Legend of Simeon Kefa (Version 2)",
"At that time, there was in Israel one called Simeon Kefa, because he would sit on a stone, as prophesied by Ezekiel the prophet, for it was in the River Kevar. And he was the head of poets, and a voice would emanate for him from the stone, and he had great wisdom. And [the Christians] were jealous of him, for there to be such a man among the Jews. And Rabbi Simeon knew of their jealousy. What did he do? He went up to them on the Mount of Olives on Hoshana Rabbah, during Sukkot. And they began speaking with Rabbi Simeon, and he would defeat them in all areas of wisdom, and they had no ability to respond to him, and they trembled before him. And when they saw that his wisdom was great, they conspired and said, “We will not allow such a wise man to remain among the Jews, and we will take him from them, because soon he will corrupt our religion.” Immediately they seized him and said to him, “We know that among the Jews there is no other wise man like you, and you have the power to add and subtract, to remove what is made and uphold anything, and God has given you favor before Jesus to uphold our religion, and all our wise men are Jews. And when we saw your deeds, we said you are fitting to uphold our religion. And we increase every day, while the Jews dwindle. And there is no man like you whose proper path is to be with them. Rather, come with us, for our Torah is good commandments and statutes, and grants the world to come, and we will make you chief over us, and no one will tell you what to do. All our wise men are Jews, and when we saw your deeds, we said you are fitting to uphold our faith. And we increase every day, while the Jews dwindle. And there is no man like you whose proper path is to be with them. Rather, come with us, for our Torah is good commandments and statutes, and grants the world to come, and we will make you chief over us, and no one will tell you what to do.” He responded, “Your words are good, but I do not wish to forsake my religion.” They said to him, “If you do not join us, we will kill you and all the Jews until not one of them remains alive.” He said to them, “Everything is in the hand of heaven, and Hashem will help us.” They began killing the Jews, and there was fear and turmoil. And they all came pleading before Rabbi Simeon and said to him, “Do as they say and save us from their hand, and we take this sin upon ourselves. And act with your great wisdom.” And the gentiles would steal from and rob the Jews, and sell them for one coin, and three Jews for three coins - for so was Jesus sold. When Rabbi Simeon saw this, he said, “It is better that Simeon and a hundred like him perish and not one soul of Israel be lost.” What did he do? He said he would join them. And behold, the Pope and the Archdeacon came with him. And he said to them, “What do you want from me? If you want to destroy the Jews, I do not want to dwell with you. But if you want to do what Saint Paul commanded in the name of Jesus, whose words endure - this is what you should do: Accept anew and uphold the conditions he stated to you, that you should stop stoning Jews, and allow them to enter into their abominable houses whenever they want, and likewise allow them into our churches, so that they too can come to believe in Jesus. For if you do not do so, the Jews will say you pursue them so that they will not see the vanity and lies of your deeds.” Immediately they accepted the words of Rabbi Simeon, and also the Pope and the Archdeacon. And they said, “We will do everything you instruct us and establish upon us.” And then an enduring law was established that any Jew who wished could enter into their abominations. Further, he said to them, “I command you and take it upon myself to vow that all my life I will not eat meat on Friday, for on that day Jesus was killed. And I will not drink wine all my days, so as not to rejoice for the love of Jesus. And I will be separated from all people, sitting alone in my house, so that my eyes not go astray, and to fulfill 'Distance yourself from falsehood' (Exodus 23:7). And since I have accepted in vow to be separated from every person to establish laws and ordinances for them and reveal to them the secrets of the world, so that you will know and believe the truth - therefore, behold, I command you to build me a high tower for my dwelling all the days of my life, so that you will not disturb me or confuse me from my service and wisdom. For I do not take the faith lightly, but I know that this is the true path. And therefore, from now on, you shall not compel anyone to come to your religion by compulsion and coercion, but he shall come of his good will. For if you do so, you will bring the Jews to your religion, and show them that their religion is not good. Therefore, anyone who wishes to come to the religion shall come of his own free will. And even if he says he comes of his own free will, nonetheless we will not accept him until he dwells with good people for thirty days. And we will not accept a child under nine years old, for a child does not act with understanding.” And immediately the gentiles built a great tower for him to dwell in. And this was the first pope who was in the world, whom the Greeks called Caligula. And everything he did was with great deceit - not to eat their forbidden foods and carcasses, and not to bow to their images. And he dwelled alone in the tower, and instituted many matters. And the gentiles accepted him upon themselves as a vow. And at that very time when he dwelled there, he composed great poems for Israel, and they all exist in his name, about this matter. And he wrote: “Know, O House of Israel who believe in Hashem and His perfect Torah, that it is a Torah of truth, and Israel are called His heritage. I am Simeon Kefa, suffering with His love all the bad and great troubles, for I know the truth and falsehood. Behold, accept from me these poems that I composed, so that Hashem will forgive me and you, for everything I did, I did for your peace and salvation. And accept the writing joyfully, and send it to the Exilarch. And show the poems to the heads of academies and the Sanhedrin.” And they all said that they are good and pleasant, and are fitting for the cantors to recite in their prayers. And still to this day they are accustomed to recite them each Shabbat” (this alludes to Nishmat Kol Chai, which is also attributed to Rabbi Simeon Kefa). And this Simeon Kefa is who the gentiles call Saint Peter."
],
"Aggada of Shimon Kippa (Version 3)": [
"The Legend of Simeon Kefa, Version 3",
"",
"Not long after that time, there was among the sages of Israel an exceedingly great sage named Simeon, and in their language Kefa, based on his end. And that man was great to the Jews and communicated through a heavenly voice, such that due to the greatness of his wisdom the zealots attacked him, for all the sages were jealous of him. And because of the jealousy they did not treat him with proper honor, until he was forced to distance himself from Jerusalem and dwelt opposite. And when the Christians heard of the wisdom of Rabbi Simeon called Kefa, and the great oppression that the sages afflicted upon him, a large group of Christians gathered and suddenly came to Jerusalem with swords drawn in their hands. And they suddenly entered the house where Rabbi Simeon Kefa was, for he had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the festival of Sukkot there. And they said to him, “Are you this wise man, Rabbi Simeon Kefa? How long will you be hated by the sages, who hate you with ultimate hatred, and you are to them a painful thorn? Find rest for yourself if you turn your heart to our successful and thriving faith, day by day, and you will be chieftain and ruler over us according to your soul’s desire. And if you do not listen to us of your own good will, behold, the swords are drawn not to leave a remnant or refugee.” And they brandished their swords at him and said to him, “Answer us a thing, for we will not part from you, except by sword and killing that will separate between us.” And Rabbi Simeon contemplated in his wisdom and righteousness and said, “Far be it from me! I am seventy years old today - how could I profane my old age with a new faith?” And he said to them, “Do what you desire with me, but these sheep, what have they done? The remnant of Israel, what sin have they committed, that you pursue them for naught, with no violence in their hands?” And Rabbi Simeon said in his wisdom and righteousness, “Give me time until I can investigate and inquire into your faith, so that I believe in it and it will not be a forced faith.” And they said, “Behold, we give you one complete day.” And then the entire House of Israel who were in Jerusalem gathered around Rabbi Simeon and fell before him to the ground weeping and pleading. And they said, “The guilt will be upon us if you go with them to give life to the great nation of Israel. Behold, they went out to meet us with the sword, and our hand failed. Our sins caused their hand to prevail. And who can stand before this difficult and heavy people who have swords in their hands? And you, see in your wisdom that you do not disgust yourself with their abominations, and save the surviving remnant.” On the second day, Rabbi Simeon sent to call the elders of the Christians to him. And he said to them, “Behold, I am at your command, for I desire to go with you and do your will. But you too must not change your words that you spoke - to make me leader and ruler over you.” And they answered and said, “So shall we do as we have spoken, and the man who rebels against your mouth shall die. Just come with us and it will go well with you.” And Rabbi Simeon Kefa went with the Christians, and he appeared before them as if he had clung to their faith very much. And every day he would uphold their deceitful faith, and support the failing of faith and strengthen the faltering knees. And he encouraged them and warned them about the Torah and the new service that John and Paul had given them. And he warned them to distance themselves greatly from the congregation of Israel, and not to come to their synagogues and study halls, and not to prevent Israel from their service. And he said to them that by this you bring them down to the pit, for Jesus despised the Torah of Moses and his service is an alien deed. And the Christians listened to all his command, for they believed in him greatly. And he appeared in their eyes as a great believer in their faith, more than all the believers in the false faith. ",
"After many days that Rabbi Simeon strengthened himself among them and was esteemed in their eyes as a great believer, devoted greatly to their faith, Rabbi Simeon commanded to build him a house and a tower of stone, and to hew chambers inside the stone. For he said so Jesus commanded, that I should have a special place where he will meet with me, to instruct through me to his people as he desires. Also he commanded me not to take a wife all my days, lest suddenly he comes to speak with me and I am not purified from a seminal emission. Therefore, no man shall come to this tower. And all the intentions of Rabbi Simeon were to seclude himself there, so as not to be disgusted by their food and drink and so as not to bow to their images, for his heart was faithful to Hashem and the Torah of Moses His servant. And the Christians listened to him for they believed in him greatly. And they built for him the tower, and hewed for him in the clefts of the stone a dwelling place. And Rabbi Simeon dwelled in this tower, and all day he would seclude himself with his Maker in the Torah of Moses, all day and all night. And once a year he would emerge before the gate of the tower, and the Christians would gather before him and prostrate themselves to the earth. And he would proclaim to them new laws and teachings, and would always say that so Jesus commanded to instruct you and teach you laws, commandments and ordinances that are not good. And there was no commandment that was not for the benefit of Israel. And they believed in him greatly, and accepted upon themselves the yoke of his laws and commandments for generations, and he prevented them from all the commandments of the Torah of Moses, its laws and ordinances. But they changed the name of Rabbi Simeon Kefa to Peter, because he exempted them completely from the entire Torah of Moses, for they were many. And he dwelled in the stone tower all his days. And based on the name of the stone upon which he made his nest, the Jews called him Rabbi Simeon Kefa. And while Rabbi Simeon was enclosed and secluded in the stone tower, he served Hashem with all his soul. And he composed several liturgical poems, yotzers, kerovot, ofanim, zulatot for the entire year, like the Kalir did. He also composed some Rosh Hashanah poems in the stone tower, and sent them via a loyal, timely man of his house, and trusted him to deliver them into the hands of the sages of Israel in Babylonia, for the cantors to pray those poems. And the sages transmitted those poems to Rabbi Nathan the Babylonian, who was head of the exile, and from there they spread throughout all the Jewish diaspora and were received with honor. And they established as law for Israel to pray with these poems throughout the exile, and they would protect and intercede on behalf of the composer."
]
},
"Midrash Shnei Ketuvim": {
"Introduction": [],
"": [
[
"Midrash Sheni Ketuvim",
"",
"In the beginning God created etc. - To declare the might of the acts of creation to creatures, and to make it known to them is impossible, so Scripture is vague. From here they said one should not expound on incest before three [people], nor on the acts of creation before two, nor on the Chariot before one individual unless he is wise and understands on his own. Anyone who contemplates four matters, it would be fitting for his innards to spill out over his face, and he did not go out and did not see the world - to know what is above and what is below, what is before and what is behind, and anyone who has no shame for the honor of his Creator, it would be fitting for him not to have come into the wor Why should a person not say what is above? A parable to one who was drinking wine at a feast, water from a jug, and it turns out the wine was suspended in the air. So the Holy One Blessed Be He created the world and suspended it in the wind, as it says \"For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind\" (Amos 4:13). Is it possible the Holy One Blessed Be He created in His world only wind? Behold, He created everything, as it says \"For He who made everything, He is the Lord\" (Jeremiah 10:16). What is the meaning of \"He who forms mountains and creates wind\"? Rather, so said the Holy One Blessed Be He to man: My son, you wish to know how My world stands - learn from your wind and body. For as long as the wind is in the body, the wind bears it up. The wind leaves the body - others bear it, as it says \"His breath departs, he returns to his dust\" (Psalms 146:4). Therefore one should not say what is above. And why should one not say what is below? A parable to a king who had a cesspit for excrement underneath, and built a palace on top of it. If a person were to say to his fellow how beautiful and exalted is this palace, except it stands on a cesspit - would he not be insulting the king's palace? So the Holy One Blessed Be He created His world spread out on the water, as it says \"He spread out the earth on the waters\" (Psalms 136:6). What is below the water you do not know, and something you do not know what it is, you have no right to expound or investigate. Therefore one should not say what is below. And why should one not say what is before? Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel said: A parable to a king who built a palace and perfected it, and the previous place of the palace had been a garbage dump and pile of stones. Now that the king built the palace and perfected it, he does not want the beginning of the palace's previous state mentioned before him. So the world was originally tohu vavohu (without form and void). Now that the Holy One Blessed Be He created the world and perfected it, He does not want the beginning of the world's creation mentioned before Him. Therefore one should not say what is before. And why should one not say what is behind? A parable to a king who contemplates in his heart but does not want to say it with his mouth. If a person were to say to his fellow, \"I know what is in the king's heart\" - does this praise the king? So the Holy One Blessed Be He created the world and put it in His heart, as it says \"For the day of vengeance is in my heart\" (Isaiah 63:4). And if a person were to say to his fellow \"I know when He will judge, when is the end, when the Messiah comes, when the redemption comes\" - his days are shortened. For others sought to know the end-time and had their souls taken away. Therefore one should not say what is behind.",
"The heretics asked Rabbi Shmelai: They said to him, \"How many gods created the world?\" He said to them, \"I and you will be asked for the first days\", as it says \"For ask now regarding the early days\" (Deuteronomy 4:32) etc.",
"One verse says \"The Torah of Hashem is perfect\" (Psalms 19:8) and it is written \"Remember the Torah of Moses My servant\" (Malachi 3:22). You find in every... advantage. Moses gave his soul for three matters which were called by his name: For the Torah, for the laws, and for Israel. He gave his soul for the laws and they were called by his name, as it says \"Judges and officers shall you place for yourself\" (Deuteronomy 16:18). It does not say \"shall you place\" but \"for yourself\", and behold they belong only to the Omnipresent, as it says \"For judgment is God's\" (Deuteronomy 1:17). But Moses gave his soul for them and they were called by his name. He gave his soul for Israel and they were called by his name, as it says \"If this is how You treat me, then kill me now\" (Numbers 11:15). The Omnipresent said to him, \"By your life, you gave your soul for them - I will call them by your name\", as it says \"Go down, for your people whom you brought up from Egypt have corrupted themselves\" (Exodus 32:7). Behold they belong only to the Omnipresent, as it says \"But they are Your people\" (Deuteronomy 9:12). But Moses gave his soul for them and they were called by his name. He gave his soul for the Torah, as it says \"And he was there with Hashem forty days\" (Exodus 34:28). The Omnipresent said, \"By your life, I will not call it except by your name\", as it says \"Remember the Torah of Moses My servant\" (Malachi 3:22). Behold the Torah belongs to the Omnipresent, as it says \"The Torah of Hashem is perfect.\" But Moses gave his soul for it and it was called by his name...",
"One Torah... (Exodus 12:49). And it is written \"You shall not eat any carcass; you shall give it to the stranger in your gates and he shall eat it\" (Deuteronomy 14:21). You find the Holy One Blessed Be He shows affection for converts and commands about them everywhere. And here He says to give the carcass to the stranger? Rabbi Bunai said in the name of Rabbi Nehorai: In forty-eight places the Holy One Blessed Be He warned about converts, and commanded them [correspondingly] in forty-eight places about idolatry... Rabbi Antonikius said in the name of Yehuda ben Simon: The Holy One Blessed Be He said: I take vengeance upon... the idolater, and this one separated from it and came to convert. Therefore I warn about him [to Israel] corresponding to idolatry. Until now... wise Haman \"The stranger\" (that is Abraham, see below) (Psalms 88), and similarly \"I called an eagle from the east\" (Isaiah 46:11). \"You shall not eat any carcass; you shall give it to the stranger in your gates and he shall eat it\" - the verse does not speak about a convert who converted, but about a stranger who is outside... You find that one who is doubtful about converting... Therefore it says \"to the stranger in your gates\" - one who comes and goes through your gates. You find four types of converts: One corresponds to the Levite, \"And you shall give to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan, and to the widow\" (Deuteronomy 26:12). One corresponds to the poor, as it says \"And you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger\" (Leviticus 19:10). And one corresponds to an animal, as it says \"Both your animals and the stranger in your gates\" (Exodus 20:10). And one corresponds to the maidservant, as it says \"so that your manservant and stranger may rest\" (Exodus 23:12). Why? For these four converts convert for the sake of something different each. And therefore He compares each one to that thing he converted for the sake of. The Holy One Blessed Be He said: There is nothing beloved before Me like one who converts for the sake of My holy name. Just as among all the tribes there is nothing as beloved to Me as the tribe of Levi, so among all converts there is nothing as beloved before Me as you. Therefore He compares him to Abraham, as it says \"The stranger shall be like the native\" (Leviticus 24:22).",
"\"Seraphim were standing above Him; each one had six wings\" (Isaiah 6:2) and it is written \"And each one had four faces and four wings\" (Ezekiel 1:6). You find Isaiah saw when the Temple stood and Israel was inside it, and saw them with six wings. But Ezekiel, after it was destroyed and Israel exiled from it, he saw them with four. And why did Isaiah see six for each seraph? With two he covers his face so as not to gaze upon the Divine Presence, as it says \"For man cannot see Me [and live]\" (Exodus 33:20) - even the angels about whom it says \"and the likeness of their faces was human faces\" (Ezekiel 1:10), with two he covers his legs - these are their feet which are like a calf's hoof, so they will not mention the sins of your fathers [with the calf], and with two he flies, for with these they praise the Omnipresent - behold six. But after the Temple was destroyed, they came to praise before the Holy One Blessed Be He. He takes hold of them and says \"My house lies in ruins, My children are exiled - and you seek to praise before me?\" Therefore Ezekiel saw four, and Isaiah saw six.",
"\"He commanded it as a testimony for a thousand generations\" (Psalms 105:8), and it is written \"And He performs kindness for two thousand [generations]\" (Exodus 20:6). You find that one who performs Torah and mitzvot out of self-motivated love, \"performs kindness for two thousand\" - for those who love Him do so out of love. But one who performs out of fear - [it endures only] \"for a thousand generations.\" Therefore it says \"And for those who keep My commandments for a thousand generations\" (Deuteronomy 7:9).",
"\"I said in my haste 'All men are deceitful'\" (Psalms 116:11), and it is written \"My eyes are on the faithful of the earth\" (Psalms 101:6). If there are faithful people on earth, how are all people deceitful? You find the faithful... the rest is missing."
]
]
},
"Shiur Komah": {
"Introduction": [],
"": [
[
"",
"[From the Sefer Raziel]",
"Rabbi Ishmael said, \"I saw the King of Kings sitting on a high and exalted throne, with His legions standing before Him, upon His right and upon His left. The Prince of the Presence, whose name is Metatron, with other names being: 'Ruch Paskonit', 'Paskin', 'Atmon', 'Higron', 'Sigron', 'Sarton', 'Snigron', 'Mikon', 'Haskom', 'Sitim', 'Hashkom', 'Hakirin', 'Dukirin', 'Zin', 'Rav', 'Nantush', 'Zantuf', 'Hakikam'. Rabbi Ishmael continues, \"Regarding the measure of the Holy One, Blessed be He, who is concealed from all creatures: His footstool (or feet) fills the entire world, as it is said, 'The heavens are my throne and the earth is my footstool.' The height of His footstool (or height of each foot) is three ten-thousands of parasangs. The right foot's name is 'Persimia Atrektet' and the left foot is 'Antimon'. From His foot to His ankle is a certain height in parasangs for both the right and left. The right ankle is named 'Tzenemteniah Tesheskus', and the left is 'Astimon'. From His ankle to His knee is a certain height in parasangs for both the right and left. The left shin is named 'Kangni Mehrih Tesskus', and the right is 'Mega and Zuia'. From His knees to His thighs is twelve ten-thousands of parasangs and a thousand and four parasangs in height, and the same for the left. The name of the left thigh is 'Meghavoh Harieh', and the right thigh is 'Shafus Parsub'. His waist is named 'Motnieh Atsensah Yedidiah'. On His heart are written seventy names: 'Tzetz', 'Tzedek', 'Tzahiel', 'Tzur', 'Tzvi', 'Tzadik', 'Saef', 'Seraef', 'Bohan', 'Tzevaot', 'Shaddai', 'Elohim', 'Yah', 'Vav Hey', 'Tzah', 'Dagul', 'Adom', 'Seses', 'Aaa', 'Ia', 'Ahoo', 'Rabiah', 'Heh', 'Hoo', 'Vav', 'Tzatzatz', 'Pefpef', 'Ken', 'Hah', 'Hay', 'Hay', 'Hay', 'Rokev', 'Aravot', 'Yah', 'Heh', 'Vav', 'Memem', 'Nannan', 'Hovav', 'Yah', 'Chafetz', 'Hatztz', 'Iy', 'Za', '[Taa]', '(and Zea)', 'Aaa', 'Kakak', 'Kesher', 'Raz', 'Zak', 'Gibor', 'Ya', 'Ya', 'Yod', 'Han', 'Alef', 'Diman', 'Paf', 'Kuf', 'Rao', 'Yiyi', 'Yia', 'Kavav', 'Tettet', 'Bekah', 'Pallel', 'Siem Otioth', 'BShKMLO'.\"... (ALT. TRANS:) RABBI ISHMAEL said, “I saw the King of kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be he, sitting on a throne, high and exalted, with his soldiers standing before him, on his right and on his left. The Prince of the Countenance, Metatron, spoke to me, \"פסקי\"ן אטמו\"ן היגרו\"ן סיגרו\"ן סרטו\"ן סניגרו\"ן מיקו\"ן הסכו\"ם סתי\"ם השכ\"ם חקירי\"ן נ\"א דוקירי\"ן זינ\"א רב\"א ננטו\"ש זנטו\"ף הכיק\"ם.\" Of Rabbi Ishmael, how much is the measure of God? Conceal it from all human beings. Divide the feet, which fill all the universe. Speak of the heavens as the throne, the Earth as a footstool. Their height is 30 million parasangs. On the right side of the sole, there is the name פרסימי\"א אטרקט\"ט. On the left side, there is the name אנתמ\"ן. From the sole of his foot to his ankle is 10 million parasangs. On the right side, there is the name תצנמתני\"ה טששק\"ס. On the left, אנתמ\"ן. From his ankle to his knees is 190 million parasangs. On the left side of the leg, there is the name קנגנ\"י מהרי\"ח טססקו\"ס. [there's a lot more to this but I'm done for now]",
"The length of His neck is thirteen thousand myriads and eight hundred parsas. The height of His neck is six hundred and eleven. The circumference of His head is three hundred thousand myriads, thirty-three and a third parsas - that which the mouth cannot speak and the ear cannot hear - Aleph Tav Resh Hodari Aleph Tet Samekh Aleph Tetet Aleph, His name. His beard is two hundred one thousand and nine hundred parsas. Hisdak Samech Aleph, His name. The appearance of His face is like the appearance of flames, in the form of wind and the shape of soul - no creature is able to mention. His body is of sapphire, radiating awesomely from within the darkness, cloud and fog surround Him. All the princes of the face and the seraphim are before Him according to the arrangement - we have no measure except the revealed names. His nose: Gibbatei Aleph Aleph, His name. Averagagas Tetefi Aleph, His name. His tongue extends from one end of the world to the other, as it says \"declaring His word to Jacob\" etc. Anyone who does not know how to seal this verse errs. As it says \"declaring His word to Jacob\" - Aleph Samekh Samekh Gimel Aleph Heh Vav, Aleph Yod Aleph, His name. The width of His forehead is from Aleph Samekh Samekh Gimel Aleph Heh Vav, Yod Nun Aleph Aleph, Nun Gimel Samekh, His name. And on His forehead is written - Yod Heh Vav Heh Yod Heh Vav He Yod Heh Aleph Heh Yod Heh Yod Heh Vav Vav Heh Yod Yod Heh Vav Yod Heh Vav Heh Yod Heh Aleph Yod Heh Heh Yod Heh Yod Heh Yod Aleph Vav Heh Vav Yod Heh Yod Aleph Yud Heh Vav Heh Samekh Heh Aleph Hayah Vav Yod Heh.",
"The black part of His right eye is two hundred one thousand and nine hundred parsas, and so too of the left. Of the right: Aleph Zayin Reish Yod Aleph Aleph Tetetitof Samekh, its name. And the minister's name is Rehavael, and upon it is Shavu Aleph Lamed Mem Tet Gimel Refumtzi Aleph, its name. And the rays emanating from it illuminate all creatures. The white of His right eye twenty-two thousand and two parsas, and so too of the left, and its name is Bazakue Aleph. From the right shoulder to the left shoulder sixteen thousand myriads parsas. The right shoulder's name is Metatgrei Aleph Anan Nun. The name of the left is Titmahint Aleph, and it has another name Shalem Aleph Yud Nun Aleph Lamed. From the right arm to the left arm twelve thousand myriads of parsas. His arms are double. The right arm: Gevrahazaz Heh Ayin Kuf Vav, its name. And the left: Metatgatzatz Heh Vav, its name. The fingers of His right hand fifteen thousand myriads parsas in each finger, and so too of the left. Of the right: Tatmetzametz Gagmut Gagshamsh. And of the left: Tav Tzadi Mem Peh, Tatmat, Aganmatz, Agmat, and roses - and so too you count starting from the thumb and going on. The palms of His hands four thousand myriads of parsas, and so too of the left. Of the right: Hehzai Aleph Atgarai Aleph, its name. And of the left: Ashahuazi Heh, its name. And the toes of His right foot ten thousand myriads parsas in each toe, and so too of the left. Of the right: Atermiz Atdiraz Biramin Biritheimi and Ahuvaz. And of the left: Zakai Aleph Kizakai Aleph, Heh Tav Mem Aleph, Ahuvaz - and in the hands you count going on. Therefore He is called the great, mighty and awesome God, as it says \"For the Lord your God, He is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great mighty and awesome God.\" But he said to him: Say over the accounting of all the parsas - what is their measurement? Each parsah is three miles, each mile ten thousand cubits, each cubit two spans of his span, and his span fills the entire world, as it says \"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and set the heavens with a span?\" (Isaiah 40:12).",
"Rabbi Nathan his student said: He even gave me a measure of the nose, from right to left. And so too of the lips and jaws. And even though he gave me the measure of the forehead, he gave me the measure of each cubit and cubit. The width of the forehead is like the height of the neck, and so too the mustache like the length of the nose. The length of the nose like the length of the small finger. The height of the jaws like half the circumference of the head - and so too is the measure of every person. His lips seventy-seven parsas. His upper lip: Gevrah Eleven, its name. And the lower: Hazarag Eleven, its name. His mouth consuming fire when he speaks - Aleph Samekh Dar Aleph its name. And whoever he desires faces his name. The crown on his head four hundred thousand by four hundred thousand and ten, its name. And the precious stone between his horns - ten, its name. With him El Yud - \"My God is with me\" is engraved on it: \"My beloved is pure and red, outstanding among ten thousand\" (Song of Songs 5:10) \"His head is purest gold\" (Song of Songs 5:11) etc. \"His eyes are like doves by streams of water\" (Song of Songs 5:12). \"His cheeks are like a bed of spice\" (Song of Songs 5:13) - two thousand myriads parsas. And anyone who does not seal with this verse errs: \"His cheeks are like a bed of spice, towers of perfume. His lips are lilies, dripping flowing myrrh\" (Song of Songs 5:13). \"His hands rods of gold filled with beryl, His body carved ivory covered with sapphires. His legs pillars of marble set on bases of fine gold. His appearance like Lebanon, choice like cedars\" (Song of Songs 5:14-15) \"His mouth is most sweet; he is altogether lovely\" (Song of Songs 5:16). This is my beloved and this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem\" (Song of Songs 5:16). Antiah Tahen Yaehon Tov Tahor Yod Yod Yod Yihiah Hasin Hasin, Holy Holy Holy, the Lord of Hosts fills the entire land with His glory.",
"His cheeks like the size of his eyes. Of the right: Heh Dalet Vav Lamed, its name. And of the left: Aleph Peh Dalet Heh Tzadik Tzadik Yud Vav, its name. The height of his ears like the height of his forehead. Of the right: Alef Tzet Heh Aleph, its name. And of the left: Menuhahu Tzadik Tzadik Aleph, its name. So the total measure adds up to many tens of thousands myriads of parsas in height, and one thousand myriads parsas in width. Rabbi Yishmael said: When I told this matter before Rabbi Akiva, he said to me: Anyone who knows this measure of our Creator and the praise of the Holy One Blessed Be He, that He is hidden from creatures - he is assured he is a child of the world to come, and it will go well for him in this world with the goodness of the world to come, and he will lengthen his days in this world. Rabbi Yishmael said before his students: I and Rabbi Akiva guarantee that anyone who knows this measure of our Creator and the praise of the Holy One Blessed Be He - he is assured he is a child of the world to come, on condition that he reviews it orally each and every day.",
"[The rest of the passages are not relevant to the measure of height, see there in Sefer Raziel]\n"
]
]
},
"Sefer Tagin ('Crowns')": {
"Introduction": [],
"": []
},
"Midrash Tadshe ('Let There Be Grass')": [],
"Midrash on Psalms": {
"Introduction": [],
"Midrash on Psalm 118": [],
"Addendum to Psalm 118": []
},
"Torat Kohanim": [],
"Midrash on Revival of the Dead": {
"Introduction": [],
"Questions of Rabbi Eliezer Regarding the Revival": [
"",
"",
"These are the ten questions that Rabbi Eliezer asked regarding the resurrection of the dead:",
"The first one is - will God resurrect some of Israel or all of them? The answer is that anyone who repented before their Creator before their death, even if they transgressed all the positive and negative commandments, incurred the death penalty of the court and desecrated God’s name - death atones for all of them together with repentance, as it says \"Behold I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, My people\" (Ezekiel 37:12). This shows that the resurrection of the dead is for all of Israel.",
"The second is - after resurrecting everyone, will they die again? The answer is they will never return to their dust, as it says \"Trouble shall not rise up twice\" (Nahum 1:9). Rather, God will bring them to the life of the World to Come.",
"The third is - after everyone is resurrected, how will the Land of Israel contain them? The answer is that from when Israel went out to the world, there were 425 years and 15 years from the days of Joseph the Righteous when they started reproducing until the Destruction of the Second Temple, which was about 32 generations. Each generation was around 120,000 men and women, and even though they were all righteous repentants, 2000 x 400 cubits plus half a cubit by 2000 x 400 cubits plus half a cubit comes out per couple. And they will have even more, because the Land of Israel is destined to expand and lengthen in settlement, which is a 366 year 8 month walk for an average person, 10 parsas per day. Who would desire more than this amount for a house, field and vineyard? And according to the one who taught that the entire world will expand, each one will have three times as much.",
"The fourth is - will each person recognize their relatives? The answer is that seven shepherds and eight anointed men will each return to their families, as it says \"The boundary with which you shall divide the land for an inheritance for the twelve tribes of Israel\" (Ezekiel 47:13).",
"The fifth is - one who died blind or afflicted with boils, what will become of them? The answer is that they will arise in their defects and afterwards be healed, as it says \"I kill and I bring life, I have wounded and I heal\" (Deut. 32:39), mentioning resurrection before healing. And it says \"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened\" (Isaiah 35:5) and it says \"Then the lame shall leap like a hart\" (Isaiah 35:6).",
"The sixth is - will they eat and drink and marry women? The answer is that just as we find by the son of the Shunamite revived by Elijah and the son of the Zarephite revived by Elisha, that they ate and drank and married, so will it be.",
"The seventh is - after the days of Mashiach, how will they have eternal life of the World to Come without eating, drinking or procreating? The answer is that we find by Moses our teacher that he did not eat for 40 days he was on Mount Sinai yet he lived enjoying the radiance of the Divine Presence, so they too will live thus.",
"The eighth is - the dead who will be resurrected and their children born to them - will they all be righteous or will some be wicked? The answer is that it is revealed and known before the Omnipresent before their resurrection that none of them will be wicked, rather they will all be righteous, as it says \"Your people, they are all righteous, they shall inherit the land forever\" (Isaiah 60:21).",
"The ninth is - regarding those righteous deeds they perform in the Messianic era, will they have reward for their actions? The answer is that just as in this world one who performed charity, their reward is hidden for the Messianic era, so too one who performs charity or a mitzvah in the Messianic era, their reward is hidden and preserved for the World to Come.",
"The tenth is - when salvation comes, those living in those days - what will happen with them? The answer is they will not die, as death will be eliminated forever, as it says \"He has swallowed up death forever\" (Isaiah 25:8). Some say God will kill them and afterwards resurrect them to make them equal to those resurrected in that time. Some say they will live many long years, as long as Adam originally and longer, and afterwards they will die until He brings them to the life of the World to Come, as it says \"For the days of My people will be like the days of a tree\" (Isaiah 65:22), and \"tree\" refers to man, as it says \"For man is the tree of the field\" (Deuteronomy 20:19)."
]
},
"Talmud Torah": [],
"Talpiyot": [],
"Sefer HaTemunah": [],
"Midrash Temurah": {
"Introduction": [
"Midrash Temurah in three chapters, attributed to Rabbi Ishmael and Rabbi Akiva, is a discourse for the holiday of Sukkot based on the verses in Ecclesiastes (3:1-8): 'To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born, etc. A time of war, and a time of peace.' It mentions twenty-eight times or 'seasons'. Rabbi Meiri first mentions it in his book 'Beit HaBechira on Avot' (Introduction page 15b) as 'Midrash Temurot', and Rabbi Abraham Abulafia in his book 'Life of the World to Come' refers to it as 'Sefer Temurah' (see Rav Pe'alim page 123).",
"The main theme of the discourse is to demonstrate that everything has a counterpart or alternate, except for one entity, which is the Holy One, Blessed be He. The Midrash was first printed by the author of 'Shem HaGedolim' at the end of part two (Livorno, 1766), and by R. Meir ben Gedaliah along with 'Aggadah of Genesis' (Vilna, 1802), and in the book 'Yalkut HaRo'im', and by Yellinek in 'Beit HaMidrash' part one. According to his opinion, the Midrash Temurah was composed in the 13th century, and the author made use of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra's works and the book 'Sefer HaNefesh' by Galenus (see 'Otzar Yisrael' page Temurah)."
],
"": [
[
"",
"",
"Chapter 1. Rabbi Yishmael says: How great is the strength of Job, who said this verse: \"Oh that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!\" (Job 31:35) But what can I do, for \"Behold my desire is the decree of the Almighty should answer me\" (Job ibid.). Job said: What does it matter to me if I die and my spirit is taken away? The Holy One Blessed Be He said: Behold, it is written in the Book of the Dead. \"Behold my desire is the decree of the Almighty should answer me\" - and this is what it says \"and you shall place a mark on the foreheads of the people\" (Ezekiel 9:4). \"And a book was written: 'Each man's grievance'\" (Job ibid) - this is the Book of the Generations of Adam, sealed with all the generations of man. \"One fate comes to the righteous and the wicked\" (Ecclesiastes 9:2). All the generations of man go just as words go from the mouth, and just as Adam went - what are the generations of Adam the Second, missing the vav, and the First is full - so the generations do not go to die whole until their body loses the kings (four elements) that are in their body. With His great power, the Omnipresent created the entire world in pairs, pairs. This corresponding to this, and this opposite that, in order to contemplate His wisdom, and to make known to them that everything has a partner and everything has a substitute. Without this, that would not be; why are life called \"life\" and death called \"death\"? Without death, life would not be called \"life\" and it would not be known that it is life. And so too death - without life, death would not exist and death would not be known, and how is this death? Rabbi Yishmael said: In this body there are kings - blood, white phlegm, red bile and black bile. And when a person grows up, his strength weakens, and his blood changes, and his face turns pale, and one of the kings overpowers or weakens. \"You hide Your face, they vanish\" (Psalms 104:29) - to what is this comparable? To an inflated waterskin. When the waterskin is whole, the air remains inside it. When it is punctured or torn, the air departs. So too the body - when the kings remain empowered, the spirit remains inside it like the air in the waterskin. And why is the body compared to a king who has armies and four officers over them, and in his kingdom four states, and the lords of the states are evil. If an officer averts his eyes from them, from his territory or his place, they revolt against him and his entire kingdom becomes confused. So too the body is the king, and the sinews are the armies, and the bones are the states, and the four officers are the four elements of the body, and they are: blood, white phlegm, red bile and black bile. And when one of the officers averts his eyes a little, immediately the body becomes confused and the person becomes ill, and if one of the officers is lacking, the spirit departs and the body expires. Rabbi Akiva said to him: How is it that some people die young, some die old, and some die elderly? He said to him: That's how it is - when one of the elements is lacking, the body dies. And so it corresponds to the four elements in the body - the four kingdoms corresponding to the four directions of the world. White corresponds to the east, where light comes from, and easterners are white. Blood corresponds to the north, and just as the north is open, so too the body is open to the blood, as wherever you make an incision in the body, blood comes out, unlike the other three which don't come out wherever you make an incision. And northerners are all red. Red bile corresponds to the west, as the sun reddens at the western edge, and the faces of the west redden at its setting. Black bile corresponds to the south, which is born from coolness, like shadows. And corresponding to them, the four elements of the world: Black bile corresponds to earth, which is born from coolness and dryness, like the earth. Red bile corresponds to fire, its nature being hot and dry. White corresponds to water, its nature being cold and wet like water. Blood corresponds to air.",
"Chapter 2. Rabbi Akiva opened and said: \"Man is like grass, his days are like a flower of the field\" (Psalms 103:15). It happened with Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Akiva who were walking in the streets of Jerusalem, and there was another man with them. A sick man met them and said to them: \"My teachers, tell me how I can be healed.\" They said to him: \"Do this and this until you are healed.\" He said to them: \"Who struck me?\" They said: \"God.\" He said: \"And you involve yourselves in something that is not yours! He struck me and you heal me - don't you transgress His will?!\" They said: \"What is your occupation?\" He said: \"I am a farmer, here is my sickle in my hand.\" They said: \"Who created the vineyard?\" He said: \"God.\" They said: \"And you involve yourself in something that is not yours! He created it and you cut its fruits from it.\" He said: \"Don't you see the sickle is in my hand? If I did not go out and plow it, fertilize it, weed it - nothing would grow!\" They said: \"You foolish man, from your work you have not heard what is written: 'Man is like grass, his days are like a flower' (Psalms 103:15). Just as a tree will not grow if it is not weeded, fertilized, and plowed, and even if it grew but did not drink water and was not fertilized, it would not live but die - so too the body: the fertilizer is the medicine and the varieties of healing, and the man of the earth is the doctor.\" He said to them: \"Please do not punish me. This body's generations are dependent on each other. Without this, that would not be. And when they separate from each other, the body tends towards death. Just as a house has four sides - if one detaches, the house falls. And everything He created, He created as pairs. Without death there would be no life, and without life there would be no death. Without peace there would be no evil, and without evil there would be no peace. If a person entered a city which was half peace and half evil, he would go in the evil part and recognize the peace. And if there was another city which was all peaceful, if there was no evil there, the peace would not be recognizable. If all people were fools, they would not be recognizable as fools. And if all people were wise, they would not be recognizable as wise. Rather, \"He made one opposite the other\" (Ecclesiastes 7:14). And if all people were rich, they would not be recognizable as rich. And if all were poor, they would not be recognizable as poor. Rather, He created poor and rich so they would be distinguishable from each other. And he created wise and foolish to distinguish one from the other. And He created dead and living to distinguish between fertile and desolate. He created beauty and ugliness, males and females, fire and water, iron and wood, light and darkness, heat and cold, eating and hunger, drinking and thirst, walking and limping, seeing and blindness, hearing and deafness, sea and land, speech and muteness, action and idleness, worry and calm, laughter and crying, healing and illness - with all the opposites that Solomon mentioned in Ecclesiastes: \"A time to give birth and a time to die\", etc. And all this is to make known the might of God, that everything He created He created in pairs, as partners. Could the Omnipresent not have brought forth children without incest and revealing nakedness? Rather, everything is with a partner and opposite. Without male and female joining there is no offspring. A male cannot give birth without a female, nor can a female give birth without a male. And a house is not built by itself, nor does a house build another house, rather it needs a builder to build it. There is no woodchopper without an axe, and without a woodchopper, what is an axe for? Without an axe there is no woodchopper. Without purity there is no impurity, and without impurity there is no purity.\" The pigs and all kinds of impure animals said to the pure animals: \"You want to be grateful to us - if not for us impure ones, you would not be known to be pure!\" The wicked person says to the righteous person: \"You want to be grateful to me - if not for me being wicked, how would you be recognized? If all people were righteous, you would have no advantage.\" So we have said that everything has an opposite except for one thing - to make known to all who come into the world, subtly, that He (God) is One and has no second. And so too the wind, which has no opposite or partner. You cannot grasp it, strike it, burn it or throw it. And if you say you can grasp the wind in a waterskin - no, because if the waterskin is opened and a person comes and says \"What is in it?\" and you say \"Wind\" - he will say \"What is it, black or red, white or green? How is it sold in the marketplace?\" You cannot answer him. And if you open the waterskin's mouth, the wind departs and you cannot see if it is black or red, white or green. Not only that, but it carries people and carries the heavens and earth. How do you know? From what your eyes see: A person enters a house, deeper into the house, or a cave, deeper into the cave, and waves his garment, and the wind comes out, and you do not know from where it came and where it goes. From this you learn that wind fills the world. And so it was that the Queen asked Rabbi Akiva, \"On what does the world stand?\" He said, \"On the wind.\" She said, \"Show me!\" He said, \"Bring me camels laden with salt.\" They walked them around the house. He said, \"What do you see?\" They said, \"Camels laden with salt.\" He said, \"Bring me a rope.\" They brought him a rope and wrapped it around their necks. He gave the rope to two men and said, \"This one should pull from here and this one should pull from here\" until they strangled them. After they strangled them, he said, \"Stand them up.\" She said, \"You are the wise Jew - after you strangled them you say stand them up?!\" He said, \"What is missing from them except the wind? From this you learn that the world stands on nothing but the wind, which is supreme and exalted.\" \"And it was from the beginning, as it says 'and the wind of God hovered over the surface of the waters' (Genesis 1:2). There are two things that we do not find created - the wind and the water - and they preexisted, as it says 'and the wind of God hovered over the surface of the waters.' The entire world and all within it we find created in the six days of creation, except for the water, the wind and the darkness, as it says 'and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the wind of God hovered over the surface of the waters' (Genesis 1:2), until Isaiah came and said 'He forms light and creates darkness' (Isaiah 45:7).\"... GERMAN: Einst gingen Rabbi Akiva und Rabbi Ischmael auf den Straßen von Jerusalem. Ein Kranker begegnete ihnen und fragte sie: „Meine Herren, wie kann ich geheilt werden?“. Sie antworteten ihm: „Tue dies und das bis du gesund wirst“. Er fragte: „Wer machte mich krank?“. Sie sagten: „Gott“. Er sagte: „Und ihr mischt euch ein, in eine Sache, die nicht euch gehört? Er machte mich krank und ihr wollt heilen? Handelt ihr nicht gegen seinen Willen?“. Sie fragen: „Was ist dein Beruf?“. Er sagte: „Ich bin ein Landarbeiter“. Sie fragten: „Wer hat den Weinberg erschaffen?“. Er sagte: „Gott“. Sie fragten: „Du mischst dich in eine Sache ein, die nicht dir gehört? Gott erschuf ihn und du schneidest seine Früchte ab?“. Er sagte: „Würde ich den Weinberg nicht pflügen, nicht, jäten, nicht düngen, käme doch keine Frucht von ihm.“ Sie sagten: „Du Dummkopf, hast du nicht den Vers gehört `Des Menschen Tage sind wie Gras, er blüht wie eine Blume des Feldes´(Ps. 103:15). Genau wie das Gewächs, wenn es nicht gejätet und gedüngt wird, wächst nichts und wenn es wächst und nichts trinkt, dann stirbt es. Genauso ist der Körper des Menschen, sein Dünger ist das Medikament und die Arten der Heilung und der Landarbeiter, der sich darum kümmert, ist der Arzt.“",
"Rabbi Yishmael says, the One has no opposite or second corresponding to Him. This is the way of counting, one after one, so too the Holy One Blessed Be He has no second, one that has no second. But the Holy One Blessed Be He is One that has no second, and man does not know where His place is. The living creatures do not know where His place is, nor do the angels who praise His Name know where His place is, as it says \"Blessed be the glory of God from His place\", and neither the heavens nor the earth praise from the place where He is there. For the men of the Chamber of Hewn Stone call Him \"the place of the world\" and not the world His place. But we do not find that the wind is dependent except on the Holy One Blessed Be He, as it says \"and the wind of God hovered\", \"The spirit of God has made me\" (Job 33:4), \"By the breath of God they perish\" (Job 37:10), \"And now the Lord God has sent me and His spirit\" (Isaiah 48:16), \"The spirit of God spoke in me\" (2 Samuel 23:2), \"You send forth Your spirit, they are created\" (Psalms 104:30). \"Give to the wise, and he will become wiser\" (Proverbs 9:9). Every mention of \"gathering\" in the Torah is an expression of gathering, except for two: \"You hide Your face, they vanish\" (Psalms 104:29) - if it was an expression of gathering, why does it say \"they vanish\"? Rather, it is an expression of dispersal - He dispersed them and afterwards \"they vanish and return to dust.\" \"I will surely gather all of you\" (Zephaniah 1:3) - and how do we know this is an expression of destruction? From what Solomon said, \"A time to give birth and a time to die.\" Solomon enumerated 28 opposites corresponding to the 28 verses of the Great Hallel, with 2 opposites remaining corresponding to the 2 Tablets of the Covenant.",
"...Chapter 3)",
"Opposition 1) A time to give birth - corresponding to Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for when a person is born, his father and mother give great thanks to the Holy One Blessed Be He, that he emerged from the sinews and bones and all the limbs, and enters and goes through the vertebrae until arriving at the spine, and from the spine to the male organ and from the male organ to his mother's womb, and he is formed there for forty days and stays there for nine months, and afterwards emerges with trembling and sweat and the distress and pangs of childbirth, and comes out in peace. Therefore it is fitting to give thanks to God as it says \"Give thanks to the Lord etc.\" He brought him into His kindness and created him in His kindness; in His kindness He brought him out, in His kindness He sustained him, and were it not for His kindness the world would not have been built, as it says \"For I said, the world is built with kindness\" (Psalms 89:3).",
"Opposition 2) And a time to die - corresponding to Give thanks to the God of gods, for He puts to death and gives life, and He is the God of gods, and not like the nations who say there are two authorities in the world - one who puts to death and one who gives life - rather He is the God of gods, who puts to death and gives life, as it says \"I put to death and I bring life\" (Deut. 32:39). And with His kindness He returns the soul to the body, for His kindness endures forever.",
"Opposition 3) A time to plant - corresponding to Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for if a person plants a sapling or orchard, he should not say \"my orchard\" or \"my sapling\", for if the Holy One Blessed Be He does not rain down to water the sapling and orchard, where is his sapling? Rather the Holy One Blessed Be He is Master of all, as it says \"The ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over\" (Joshua 3:11), here the Omnipresent is called \"Lord\" of the ark. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for with His kindness He raises and waters the sapling, and with His kindness He produces its fruits, for His kindness endures forever.",
"[Opposition 4 is missing here]",
"Opposition 5) A time to kill - corresponding to To Him who made the heavens with understanding, for just as the heavens do not move but rather stand still, so too the judgment of one who is killed does not move forever until he demands justice and casts down his mazal from above him, for we find when the Holy One Blessed Be He exacts punishment from a nation, He first punishes its minister, as it says \"And it shall come to pass on that day, that the Lord will punish the host of heaven on high\" (Isaiah 24:21), and with His kindness He will resurrect them with justice and judge them.",
"Opposition 6) And a time to heal - corresponding to To Him who spread out the earth above the waters, for His kindness endures forever, just as the earth is spread out above the water, one opposite the other, the two corresponding, so too illness and cure are opposites, and with His kindness He heals all who come into the world, Who spread out the earth above the waters, for His kindness endures forever.",
"Opposition 7) A time to break down - corresponding to To Him who made the great luminaries, etc. Just as these luminaries burst forth and travel in the firmament but do not go from west to east, so too anyone who breaks through the boundary of the world or the fence of the Sages or the fence of the Torah has no forgiveness or pardon, and his light is extinguished like the luminaries which are extinguished in the west at the boundary of the sphere and are not seen, and with His kindness He illuminates them with His light, and He guides the world, for His kindness endures forever.",
"Opposition 8) And a time to build - The sun to rule by day, just as the sun goes forth with strength, as it says \"It rejoices like a mighty man to run it's course\" (Psalms 19:6), and so too a building is only seen by day when the sun comes out. And just as the sun - even though it knows it will rise and set and be extinguished from the world, nonetheless it goes forth and illuminates the world - so too man knows he is going to die and be covered from the world, nonetheless he does not refrain from building, and the sun likewise does not refrain from illuminating the world, for His kindness endures forever.",
"Opposition 9) A time to weep - corresponding to The moon and stars to rule at night, for weeping comes only from distress and anguish, so too the moon and stars rule at night, for night brings distress to creatures from its darkness and gloom, but light brings joy to the world, as it says \"Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart\" (Psalms 97:11).",
"Opposition 10) And a time to laugh - corresponding to Who struck the firstborns of Egypt, for Israel laughed and rejoiced and plundered their money, while they [the Egyptians] died.",
"Opposition 11) A time to mourn - corresponding to And He took Israel from their midst, where they [Egyptians] were silent while these [Israel] mourned, these plundered while those were silent, and with His kindness He will redeem them again in the future, as it says \"And it shall come to pass on that day, the Lord will apply His hand yet a second time [to recover the remnant of His people]\" (Isaiah 11:11) - for His kindness endures forever.",
"Opposition 12) And a time to dance - corresponding to With a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, teaching that Israel were happy and dancing, as it says \"And He led out His people with joy\" (Psalms 105:43), and so too in the future they will only be redeemed with joy and gladness, as it says \"And the redeemed of the Lord shall return\" etc. (Isaiah 51:11), for His kindness endures forever.",
"Opposition 13) A time to cast stones - corresponding to Who split the Sea of Reeds into parts, He made the sea like a building of stones and made 12 paths and the water stood like walls, and when Israel passed through it, He led them over them like stones and drowned the Egyptians, and they acknowledged the kindnesses of the Omnipresent - for His kindness endures forever.",
"Opposition 14) And a time to gather stones - corresponding to And He led Israel through its midst, and He brought them to Mount Sinai and gathered them and stationed them around Mount Sinai, as it says \"And you shall set bounds for the people round about\" (Exodus 19:12), and Israel are called \"stones\" as it says \"From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel\" (Genesis 49:24), \"The stone despised by the builders\" (Psalms 118:22), and they received the Torah which is life forever - for His kindness endures forever.",
"Opposition 15) A time to embrace - corresponding to And shook off Pharaoh and his host in the Sea of Reeds, like a person running to embrace his fellow, so the Egyptians ran after Israel to seize them in battle, and Israel distanced themselves from them and the Egyptians drowned in the sea, while Israel escaped - for His kindness endures forever.",
"Opposition 16) And a time to refrain from embracing - corresponding to Who leads His people through the wilderness, for He separated Israel from the servitude of Egypt and the \"embrace\" of Egypt and their troubles - for His kindness endures forever.",
"Opposition 17) A time to seek - corresponding to Who struck great kings, for Israel sought the inheritance that the Omnipresent gave them, and the kings of those lands were killed. And do not say they were minor kings, they were not minor kings but great kings - for His kindness endures forever.",
"Opposition 18) And a time to lose - corresponding to And He killed mighty kings, that He destroyed them before Israel and empowered Israel over them. And who killed them? The Holy One Blessed Be He, as it says \"And He killed mighty kings\" (Joshua 12:24), and it doesn't say \"and they killed\", for if not for the help of the Holy One Blessed Be He they could not have defeated them - for His kindness endures forever.",
"Opposition 19) A time to guard - corresponding to Sihon king of the Amorites, that He guarded Israel and they did not fall into Sihon's hands or his people's, rather He delivered them into Moses' hand with His kindness - for His kindness endures forever.",
"Opposition 20) And a time to cast away - corresponding to And Og king of Bashan, that the Holy One Blessed Be He cast a mountain on top of him, that [Og] had intended to cast [the mountain] on Israel and cast it on his own neck and it split him, and with His great kindness He delivered him into Moses' hands, as it says \"For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants\" - for His kindness endures forever.",
"Opposition 21) A time to tear - corresponding to And He gave their land as an inheritance, like a person wearing a garment, and afterwards tears it from himself and removes it from himself and takes it by force, so Israel took their land from them by force - for His kindness endures forever.",
"Opposition 22) And a time to sew - corresponding to An inheritance for Israel His servant, for the land was sewn up and established in Israel's hand. Just as this sewer first tears and then sews, so the land of Israel was torn into pieces in the hands of 31 kings and Israel took it from their hands and it adhered and He bequeathed it to them in His kindness - for His kindness endures forever.",
"Opposition 23) A time to be silent - corresponding to When we were laid low, He remembered us, that we are now in a lowly state, and when we praise the name of the Holy One Blessed Be He, the nations of the world silence us and tell us \"Hush, do not mention the name of the Lord\" (Amos 6:10). And there was an incident that the kingdom decreed in the days of Rabbi Akiva that you shall not be involved with Torah. What did Rabbi Akiva do? He took a Torah scroll and sat in the marketplace. They said to him: Our teacher, you are the greatest of Israel - do not obligate us to kill you! Have you not heard that the kingdom decreed not to be involved with Torah? He said: You fools! Regarding the Torah in which it is written \"For it is your life and the length of your days\" (Deut. 30:20), if we are involved with it, and even so they seek to kill us, if we abandoned it all the more so we would deserve destruction! And Rabbi Akiva did not listen to them and was killed. Even though they humiliate us, He sees our troubles and remembers the covenant for us, this is the meaning of \"When we were laid low, He remembered us\" - for His kindness endures forever.",
"Opposition 24) And a time to speak - corresponding to And He redeemed us from our adversaries, and at the time when He broke the arm of the nations we seek to recite song, as it says \"Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has performed wonders\" (Psalms 98:1), and it is written after this \"The Lord has made known His salvation, He has revealed His righteousness before the eyes of the nations. He has remembered His kindness and faithfulness to the House of Israel\" - for His kindness endures forever.",
"Opposition 25) A time to love - corresponding to Who gives food to all flesh, when Israel loves the Holy One Blessed Be He, as it says \"And the land will give its produce and the tree of the field will give its fruit\" (Leviticus 26:4).",
"Opposition 26) And a time to hate - corresponding to Give thanks to the God of Heaven, for Israel seeks to give great thanks to the Holy One Blessed Be He, for He placed hatred and competition between them and the nations of the world, for if not, they would intermix and learn from their deeds, as it says \"And they mingled with the nations and learned their deeds\" (Psalms 106:35), therefore Give thanks to the God of Heaven, for His kindness endures forever.",
"Two opposites remain: A time for war and a time for peace, corresponding to the two Tablets of the Covenant. War - as it says \"Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord\" (Numbers 21:14). If one merits and is involved with Torah he will make peace like the angels of peace, as it says \"Behold, their valiant ones cry outside, the angels of peace weep bitterly\" (Isaiah 33:7), and it is written \"He makes peace in His heights\" (Job 25:2). You have learned that everything in the world has a corresponding concept in the higher and lower realms, first and last, east and west, north and south, and all the other opposites we have mentioned to you. And He is One and there is none besides Him, He is first and last, Almighty King, Ruler of all, Eternal Dweller, Holy is His Name, for nothing was created in His world uniquely without a second thing as its opposite, as we mentioned at the beginning of the book, to make known to all who come into the world subtly that He is One and He created His world. And there was an incident where a heretic came and said to Rabbi Akiva, \"Who created this world?\" He said, \"The Holy One Blessed Be He.\" He said, \"Show me clear proof.\" He said, \"Come back tomorrow.\" The next day he came back. He said \"What are you wearing?\" He said, \"A garment.\" He said, \"Who made it?\" He said, \"The weaver.\" He said, \"I don't believe you, show me clear proof.\" He said, \"What can I show you? Don't you know the weaver made it?\" He said, \"And don't you know the Holy One Blessed Be He created His world?\" The heretic left. His students said, \"What was the clear proof?\" He said, \"My children, just as the house testifies about the builder, the garment about the weaver, the door about the carpenter, so the world testifies about the Holy One Blessed Be He that He created it. May His name be praised and exalted forever and for all eternity, amen and amen eternally selah.\"",
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"Once an unbeliever came to Rabbi Akiva and asked him: \"This world, who created it?\" Rabbi Akiva said: \"The Holy Blessed One.\" The other said: \"Show me a clear indication.\" Rabbi Akiva said: \"Come to me again tomorrow.\" The unbeliever came again the next day. Rabbi Akiva said to him: \"What are you wearing?\" The other replied: \"A garment.\" Rabbi Akiva asked: \"Who made it?\" The other answered: \"The weaver.\" Rabbi Akiva said: \"I don't believe you. Show me a clear indication.\" The other said: \"What can I show you? Don't you know that a weaver makes clothes?\" Rabbi Akiva said: \"And don't you know that The Holy Blessed One created the world?\" The unbeliever departed, and Rabbi Akiva's students asked him: \"Is the indication so clear?\" He said to them: \"My children, just as the house makes known its builder, and the garment makes known its weaver, and the door makes known its carpenter, so to the world makes known God as the one who created it.\""
]
]
},
"Midrash Tanchuma": [],
"Prayer of Rabbi Hamnuna Saba": [],
"Aggada on Shemona Esrei Prayer": [],
"Tekiata d'Bei Rav": [],
"Targumim": []
},
"schema": {
"heTitle": "אוצר מדרשים",
"enTitle": "Otzar Midrashim",
"key": "Otzar Midrashim",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "אבא גוריון",
"enTitle": "Midrash Abba Gorion"
},
{
"heTitle": "פרקי אבות",
"enTitle": "Ethics of the Fathers"
},
{
"heTitle": "אבות דרבי נתן",
"enTitle": "Ethics of The Fathers of Rabbi Nathan"
},
{
"heTitle": "אבכיר",
"enTitle": "Midrash Avkir"
},
{
"heTitle": "אברהם אבינו",
"enTitle": "Avraham our Father",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה אברהם אבינו ע״ה ממה שאירע לו עם נמרד",
"enTitle": "The Story of Avraham our Father and Nimrod"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה אברהם",
"enTitle": "The Story of Avraham"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש דאברהם אבינו",
"enTitle": "Midrash on Avraham our Forefather"
},
{
"heTitle": "אגדת אברהם",
"enTitle": "The Legend of Avraham"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "אגדה",
"enTitle": "Aggadah"
},
{
"heTitle": "אגדת בראשית",
"enTitle": "Aggadah on Genesis"
},
{
"heTitle": "אגדתא",
"enTitle": "Aggadata"
},
{
"heTitle": "אגור",
"enTitle": "Agur"
},
{
"heTitle": "פרק אדם הראשון",
"enTitle": "Chapter on Adam HaRishon",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "פרק אדם הראשון [נוסחא א]",
"enTitle": "Chapter on the First Man (Version 1)"
},
{
"heTitle": "פרק אדם הראשון [נוסחא ב]",
"enTitle": "Chapter on the First Man (Version 2)"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "אדרא רבא ואדרא זוטא",
"enTitle": "Idra Rabba & Idra Zuta"
},
{
"heTitle": "אהרן",
"enTitle": "Aharon",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "ואלה תולדות אהרן ומשה",
"enTitle": "And These are the Generations of Aharon and Moshe"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש על פטירת אהרן",
"enTitle": "Midrash on the Death of Aharon"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "אותות עליונים",
"enTitle": "Divine Signs"
},
{
"heTitle": "אותיות דרבי אליעזר",
"enTitle": "Otiot D'Rabbi Eliezer"
},
{
"heTitle": "אותיות דרבי עקיבא",
"enTitle": "Otiot D'Rabbi Akiva"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש איוב",
"enTitle": "Midrash on Job"
},
{
"heTitle": "איכה רבה",
"enTitle": "Midrash on Lamentations"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש אל יתהלל",
"enTitle": "Midrash Al Yit'hallel",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "אלדד הדני",
"enTitle": "Eldad HaDani",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "ספר אלדד הדני, ספור א׳",
"enTitle": "The Book of Eldad HaDani, Story 1"
},
{
"heTitle": "ספר אלדד הדני, ספור ב׳",
"enTitle": "The Book of Eldad HaDani, Story 2"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "אלה אזכרה",
"enTitle": "Midrash 'These I Recall' (Eleh Ezkerah)"
},
{
"heTitle": "ספר אליהו",
"enTitle": "Sefer Eliyahu",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרשי רבי אליעזר",
"enTitle": "Midrashim of Rabbi Eliezer",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "ספר ארחות חיים",
"enTitle": "Book of the Ways of Life"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה רבי אליעזר בן הורקנוס",
"enTitle": "The Tale of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hurkanus"
},
{
"heTitle": "פרק דרבי אליעזר בן הורקנוס",
"enTitle": "The Chapter of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hurkanus"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "אלפא ביתא דבן סירא",
"enTitle": "The Aleph Bet of ben Sira",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
},
{
"heTitle": "אלפא ביתא אחרת לבן סירא",
"enTitle": "The Alphabet of ben Sira, (alternative version)"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "אלפא ביתא על מזמור קי\"ט",
"enTitle": "Midrash 'Aleph Bet' on Psalm 119"
},
{
"heTitle": "אלפא ביתא דרבי עקיבא",
"enTitle": "Aleph Bet of Rabbi Akiva"
},
{
"heTitle": "מגילת אנטיוכוס",
"enTitle": "Megilat Antiochus"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש אספה",
"enTitle": "Midrash Esfah"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרשים על מגילת אסתר",
"enTitle": "Midrashim on Megilat Esther",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש מגילת אסתר",
"enTitle": "Midrash on the Book of Esther"
},
{
"heTitle": "דרש לפורים",
"enTitle": "Drash on Purim"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש מגילה",
"enTitle": "Midrash on the Megillah (of Esther)"
},
{
"heTitle": "חלום מרדכי והוספות למגילת אסתר",
"enTitle": "Mordechai's Dream and Additions to the Book of Esther"
},
{
"heTitle": "[תפלת מרדכי ואסתר [ארמית ותרגום עברי",
"enTitle": "The Prayer of Mordechai and Esther (Hebrew and Aramaic)"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מסכת אצילות",
"enTitle": "Tractate of Emanations",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מאמר ארבעה מלכים",
"enTitle": "Midrash on The Four Kings",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "ארחות תושיה",
"enTitle": "'Resourceful Ways'"
},
{
"heTitle": "ארחות חיים",
"enTitle": "Orchot Chaim"
},
{
"heTitle": "סדר ארקים",
"enTitle": "The Order of Arakim",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "בהיר",
"enTitle": "Sefer HaBahir (\"The Book of Brightness\")"
},
{
"heTitle": "בוסתנאי",
"enTitle": "Bustanai",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "מעשה (רבי) בוסתנאי",
"enTitle": "The Tale of Rabbi Bustanai"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "בטחון",
"enTitle": "The Book of Trust"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש ביום השמיני",
"enTitle": "Midrash Bayom HaShmini (\"on the Eighth Day\")",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "בן סירא",
"enTitle": "Ben Sira"
},
{
"heTitle": "בן שוע",
"enTitle": "Ben Shua"
},
{
"heTitle": "דרשות ר' בנאה",
"enTitle": "Drashot of Rabbi Bena'ah",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
},
{
"heTitle": "נוסחא אחרת של דרשת ר' בנאה",
"enTitle": "Drashot of Rabbi Bena'ah (Alternate Version)"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש הגדול",
"enTitle": "Midrash Hagadol"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש גדול וגדולה",
"enTitle": "Midrash Gadol u'Gedolah",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "גיהנם",
"enTitle": "Gehinnom"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש הגלוי",
"enTitle": "Midrash HaGalui"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש גלית הפלשתי",
"enTitle": "Midrash on Goliath the Phillistine",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "גן עדן; גיהנם",
"enTitle": "The Garden of Eden; Gehinnom",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "מסכת גן עדן",
"enTitle": "Tractate of Gan Eden"
},
{
"heTitle": "סדר גן עדן",
"enTitle": "Seder Gan Eden"
},
{
"heTitle": "סדר גן עדן, נוסחא ב",
"enTitle": "Seder Gan Eden, (version 2)"
},
{
"heTitle": "סעודת גן עדן",
"enTitle": "The Feast of the Garden of Eden"
},
{
"heTitle": "סעודת לויתן",
"enTitle": "The Feast of the Leviathan"
},
{
"heTitle": "פרק גן החיים",
"enTitle": "Chapter of the Garden of Life"
},
{
"heTitle": "מסכת גיהנם",
"enTitle": "The Book of Gehinnom"
},
{
"heTitle": "פרק מגיהנם לר׳ יצחק בן פרנך",
"enTitle": "Chapter from Gehinnom, by Rabbi Yitzchak ben Parnach"
},
{
"heTitle": "מסכת חבוט הקבר",
"enTitle": "Tractate 'The Beating in the Grave'"
},
{
"heTitle": "כיצד דין הקבר",
"enTitle": "The Judgment of the Grave"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "דברי הימים של משה",
"enTitle": "Divrei Hayamim of Moshe"
},
{
"heTitle": "דברים זוטא",
"enTitle": "Devarim Zuta"
},
{
"heTitle": "אגדות של דורשי רשומות",
"enTitle": "Agadot of Dorshei Reshumot",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
},
{
"heTitle": "דורשי חמורות",
"enTitle": "Dorshei Chamurot"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה דניאל ע״ה",
"enTitle": "The Story of Daniel",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מסכת דרך ארץ",
"enTitle": "Tractate Derech Eretz"
},
{
"heTitle": "ה׳ בחכמה יסד ארץ",
"enTitle": "The Lord Founded the Earth by Wisdom",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "הגדה",
"enTitle": "Haggadah"
},
{
"heTitle": "הגדה של פסח",
"enTitle": "Passover Haggadah"
},
{
"heTitle": "הזהיר",
"enTitle": "Midrash \"Hizhir\""
},
{
"heTitle": "היכלות",
"enTitle": "Hekhalot",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "מסכת היכלות",
"enTitle": "Tractate Hekhalot"
},
{
"heTitle": "היכלות רבתי",
"enTitle": "Hekhalot Rabbati"
},
{
"heTitle": "פרק מפרקי היכלות",
"enTitle": "Chapter from the Chapters of Hekhalot"
},
{
"heTitle": "שבעה היכלות הטומאה",
"enTitle": "The Seven Palaces of Impurity"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש הַלֵל הנקרא ספר המעשים",
"enTitle": "Midrash on Hallel 'Sefer HaMa'asim'",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "הרנינו",
"enTitle": "Midrash Harninu"
},
{
"heTitle": "השכם",
"enTitle": "Hashkem",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש השכם",
"enTitle": "Midrash Hashkem ('Arise Early')"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "ואשה אחת מנשי בני הנביאים",
"enTitle": "A Certain Woman From the Wives of the Sons of the Prophets",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש והוא עבר לפניהם",
"enTitle": "Midrash 'And He Passed Before Them'"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש והזהיר",
"enTitle": "Midrash V'Hizhir ('And He Warned')"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש ויושע",
"enTitle": "Midrash Vayosha ('And He Saved')",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש ויכלו",
"enTitle": "Vayechulu ('And They Were Completed')",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש ויסעו",
"enTitle": "Midrash Vayissu ('And They Journeyed')"
},
{
"heTitle": "זהר",
"enTitle": "Zohar"
},
{
"heTitle": "זהר חדש",
"enTitle": "Zohar Chadash"
},
{
"heTitle": "זוטא",
"enTitle": "Zuta"
},
{
"heTitle": "ספר זרובבל",
"enTitle": "The Book of Zerubavel",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מסכת חיבוט הקבר",
"enTitle": "Tractate Chibut HaKever ('Beating in the Grave')"
},
{
"heTitle": "חולדה ובור",
"enTitle": "The Weasel and the Pit",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "חופת אליהו",
"enTitle": "Chuppah of Eliyahu",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "שבע חופות או חופת אליהו",
"enTitle": "Seven Chupot or Eliyahu's Chuppah"
},
{
"heTitle": "חופת אליהו רבה",
"enTitle": "Chuppat Eliyahu Rabbah"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש חָזִיתָ",
"enTitle": "Midrash Chazita"
},
{
"heTitle": "ענין חירם מלך צור",
"enTitle": "The Incident of Chiram, King of Tsur",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "חכם הרזים",
"enTitle": "The Wise One of Secrets"
},
{
"heTitle": "ספר חנוך",
"enTitle": "The Book of Chanoch",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "חיי חנוך",
"enTitle": "The Life of Chanoch"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרשים על חנוכה",
"enTitle": "Chanukah",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "מגלת אנטיוכס הנקראת מגלה יונית",
"enTitle": "Megilat Antiochus, Called \"The Greek Scroll\""
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש מעשה חנוכה",
"enTitle": "Midrash The Tale of Chanukah"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה חנוכה נוסח ב׳",
"enTitle": "The Tale of Chanukah, (Version 2)"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש לחנוכה",
"enTitle": "Midrash for Chanukah"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרשי חסר ויתר",
"enTitle": "Midrashim on Missing and Extra Letters",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "חרב של משה",
"enTitle": "Moshe's Sword"
},
{
"heTitle": "פרק ר' יאשיהו",
"enTitle": "Chapter of Rabbi Yoshiahu",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "יהודית",
"enTitle": "Yehudit",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה יהודית 1",
"enTitle": "The Tale of Yehudit (Version 1)"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה יהודית 2",
"enTitle": "The Tale of Yehudit (Version 2)"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "ספור יהושע בן נון",
"enTitle": "Tale of Yehoshua Bin Nun",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "אגרת יהושע בן נון",
"enTitle": "Letter of Yehoshua bin Nun"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה דר׳ יהושע בן לוי",
"enTitle": "A Tale of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levy",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
},
{
"heTitle": "אגרת ר׳ יהושע בן לוי",
"enTitle": "Letter of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levy"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "יואב",
"enTitle": "Yoav",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש רבותינו על הפסוק והוא עבר לפניהם",
"enTitle": "Midrash on the Verse \"And He Passed Before Them\""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מכתב ר׳ יוחנן בן זכאי מירושלם",
"enTitle": "Letter of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai from Jerusalem",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרשים על ספר יונה",
"enTitle": "Midrashim on Sefer Yonah",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "(מדרש יונה (מפרקי דר\"א",
"enTitle": "Midrash Yonah (From Pirkei d'Rabi Eliezer)"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש יונה נוסחא א׳",
"enTitle": "Midrash Yonah (version 1)"
},
{
"heTitle": "'מדרש יונה נוסחא ב",
"enTitle": "Midrash Yonah (Version 2)"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "ילמדנו",
"enTitle": "Midrash Yelamdeinu",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "קונדריס אחרון ממדרש ילמדנו",
"enTitle": "Last Composition from Midrash Yelamdenu"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "ילקוט",
"enTitle": "Yalkut"
},
{
"heTitle": "ספר יסוד",
"enTitle": "Sefer Yesod (\"Foundation\") of Rabbi Moshe HaDarshan"
},
{
"heTitle": "יעקב אבינו",
"enTitle": "Yaakov Our Father",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "ברכת יעקב אבינו לבניו",
"enTitle": "Yaakov Our Father's Blessing to His Sons"
},
{
"heTitle": "לקח טוב על ברכת יעקב אבינו ע״ה",
"enTitle": "Lekach Tov on the Blessings of Yaakov Our Father"
},
{
"heTitle": "צוואת נפתלי בן יעקב",
"enTitle": "The Testament of Naftali ben Yaakov"
},
{
"heTitle": "אגדה בבני יעקב",
"enTitle": "Aggadah of the Sons of Yaakov"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "ספר יצירה",
"enTitle": "Sefer Yetzirah",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "יצירת הולד",
"enTitle": "The Creation of the Embryo",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
},
{
"heTitle": "סדר יצירת הולד",
"enTitle": "Order of the Creation of the Embryo"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש ירמיה",
"enTitle": "Midrash on Yirmiyahu",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "אגדה ממדרש איכה רבתי",
"enTitle": "Aggadah from Midrash Eichah Rabbati"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "ברייתא דישועה",
"enTitle": "Baraita of Yeshua (\"Salvation\")",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "אגדת רבי ישמעאל",
"enTitle": "Aggadah of Rabbi Yishmael",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "ספר הישר",
"enTitle": "Sefer HaYashar"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש יתברך",
"enTitle": "Midrash Yitbarach ('May He Be Blessed')",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה ברב כהנא",
"enTitle": "A Tale of Rabbi Kahana",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש כונן",
"enTitle": "Midrash Konen ('He Established')",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מסכת כלה",
"enTitle": "Tractate Kallah"
},
{
"heTitle": "(מסכת כלים (של בית המקדש",
"enTitle": "Tractate Keilim (Vessels of the Temple)",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש כתפוח בעצי היער",
"enTitle": "Midrash 'As an Apple Tree Among the Trees of the Forest'",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש לבנת הספיר",
"enTitle": "Midrash Livnat HaSaphir"
},
{
"heTitle": "סעודת לויתן",
"enTitle": "Feast of Leviathan"
},
{
"heTitle": "ל\"ב מדות באגדה",
"enTitle": "Baraita of The 32 Midot of Aggadah",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש לעולם",
"enTitle": "Midrash 'Leolam'",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש לקח טוב",
"enTitle": "Midrash Lekach Tov"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה בר' מאיר",
"enTitle": "A Tale of Rabbi Meir",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מגילות שונות",
"enTitle": "Various 'Megilot'",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "מגילת בית במקדש",
"enTitle": "Megillat Beit Hamikdash"
},
{
"heTitle": "מגילת סממנין",
"enTitle": "Megillat Samemanin ('Spices')"
},
{
"heTitle": "מגילה שמצא אדם אחד",
"enTitle": "Megillah that was found"
},
{
"heTitle": "מגילת חסידים",
"enTitle": "Megillat Hasidim"
},
{
"heTitle": "מגילת סתרים",
"enTitle": "Megillat Setarim"
},
{
"heTitle": "מגילת יוחסין",
"enTitle": "Megillat Yuchsin"
},
{
"heTitle": "מגילת בית חשמונאי",
"enTitle": "Megillat Beit Chashmonai"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדות טובות",
"enTitle": "Midot Tovot"
},
{
"heTitle": "ברייתא דמזלות",
"enTitle": "Baraita on Mazalot",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מטטרון - חנוך",
"enTitle": "The Angel Metatron (Chanoch)",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
},
{
"heTitle": "סדר רוחות",
"enTitle": "Seder Ruchot (Spirits)"
},
{
"heTitle": "סדר עירין",
"enTitle": "Seder Irin (Angels)"
},
{
"heTitle": "סדר דין",
"enTitle": "Seder Din (Judgement)"
},
{
"heTitle": "סדר מחנות",
"enTitle": "Seder Machanot (Groups of Angels)"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מ\"ט מדות",
"enTitle": "Forty Nine Midot",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "לקוטים מברייתא דמ\"ט מדות",
"enTitle": "Compilation from Baraita of 49 Midot"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מי השילוח",
"enTitle": "Midrash Mei HaShiloach"
},
{
"heTitle": "מכילתא",
"enTitle": "Mechilta"
},
{
"heTitle": "ילקוט המכירי",
"enTitle": "Yalkut Machiri"
},
{
"heTitle": "ברייתא דמלאכת המשכן",
"enTitle": "Baraita of Melechet HaMishkan",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש מִנַיִן",
"enTitle": "Midrash Minayin",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מעין החכמה",
"enTitle": "Maayan HaChochmah",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "'מעין החכמה נוסחא א",
"enTitle": "Maayan HaChochmah (Version 1)"
},
{
"heTitle": "'מעין החכמה נוסחא ב",
"enTitle": "Maayan HaChochmah (Version 2)"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה בראשית ומעשה מרכבה",
"enTitle": "Maaseh Beraishit & Maaseh Merkavah",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "סדר רבה דבראשית דמרכבה דר\"י כ\"ג",
"enTitle": "Seder Rabbah d'Beraishit d'Merkavah"
},
{
"heTitle": "זה מעשה בראשית",
"enTitle": "Zeh Maaseh Beraishit (Work of Creation)"
},
{
"heTitle": "ברייתא דמעשה בראשית",
"enTitle": "Baraita of Maaseh Beraishit"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה תורה דרבינו הקדוש",
"enTitle": "Maaseh Torah of Our Holy Master (Rabeinu HaKadosh)"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשיות שונות",
"enTitle": "Selection of Various Tales",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Translation"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה ביכניהו המלך",
"enTitle": "Story of King Jechonya"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה באחד מארץ ישראל",
"enTitle": "Story of the Man from the Land of Israel"
},
{
"heTitle": "עובדא דיהודאה דאזל לארעא דקדר",
"enTitle": "Story of the Jew Who Went to Land of Kedar"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה בשני תלמידי חכמים חסידים",
"enTitle": "Story of Two Pious Sages"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה ברבי אליעזר ורבי יהושע שעלו לרגל",
"enTitle": "Story of Rabbi Eliezer & Rabbi Joshua on Pilgrimage"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה באיש תלמיד חכם חסיד ועניו",
"enTitle": "Story of a Pious and Humble Sage"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה באיש אחד עשיר גדול מאד",
"enTitle": "Story of the Wealthy Man"
},
{
"heTitle": "איש חסיד היה",
"enTitle": "The Pious Pauper"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה בחסיד אחד שהיה לו עשרה בנים",
"enTitle": "Story of the Pious Man with Ten Sons"
},
{
"heTitle": "נתן דציצותא",
"enTitle": "Nathan of Tzitzuta"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה בשני בני אדם לסטים",
"enTitle": "Story of the Two Bandits"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה באדם אחד שהיו לו שלש בנות",
"enTitle": "Story of the Man with Three Daughters"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה בימי דוד מלך ישראל שהלך יואב",
"enTitle": "Story of David and Joab"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה ברבי ראובן",
"enTitle": "Story of Rabbi Reuben"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה ברבי שמעון הגדול בעיר מגנצא",
"enTitle": "The Story of Rabbi Shimon of Mainz"
},
{
"heTitle": "האפיפיור היהודי",
"enTitle": "The Jewish Pope"
},
{
"heTitle": "איש תם ומשכיל בארץ שנער",
"enTitle": "The Wise and Honest Man of Shinar"
},
{
"heTitle": "אשה העניה והשידה",
"enTitle": "The Poor Woman and the Demon"
},
{
"heTitle": "ביטול הגזירות",
"enTitle": "Annulling the Decree"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה בבן סבר",
"enTitle": "Story of Ben Sabar"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה באדם אחד שהלך בדרך בסחורה",
"enTitle": "Story of the Traveling Merchant"
},
{
"heTitle": "ארווש הפילוסוף",
"enTitle": "Arvas the Philosopher"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה בימי ר' יהודה החסיד",
"enTitle": "Story with Rabbi Judah the Pious"
},
{
"heTitle": "זמן הגאולה",
"enTitle": "The Time of Redemption"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה בקמצן גדול שאין כמוהו בכל העולם",
"enTitle": "Story of the Big Miser"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה באיש זקן עשיר גדול שהיה לו בן יחיד",
"enTitle": "Story of the Old Man with Only Son"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה באדם אחד עני מאד",
"enTitle": "Story of the Pauper with Many Children"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה באדם שהיה לו בן והיה אוהב אותו",
"enTitle": "Story of the Man with the Beloved Son"
},
{
"heTitle": "החסיד שהתעשר",
"enTitle": "The Righteous Man Who Became Wealthy"
},
{
"heTitle": "השיכור ובניו",
"enTitle": "The Drunkard and His Sons"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה בחסיד אחד שהיה רגיל ליתן צדקה",
"enTitle": "Story of The Righteous and Charitable Man"
},
{
"heTitle": "מי הבן האמיתי",
"enTitle": "Who is the True Son"
},
{
"heTitle": "האשה שנסקלה",
"enTitle": "The Woman Who Was Stoned"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה בחסיד אחד שהיה לו בן אחד ושמו ר' יוחנן",
"enTitle": "Story of the Pious Man and His Son Rabbi Yochanan"
},
{
"heTitle": "הביצה השלוקה",
"enTitle": "The Boiled Egg"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה בשני אחים אחד עשיר ואחד עני",
"enTitle": "The Rich Man and the Pauper"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה באדם אחד עשיר גדול ולו אשה יפה",
"enTitle": "The Rich Man with the Beautiful Wife"
},
{
"heTitle": "צדיק מצרה נחלץ",
"enTitle": "The Righteous Man Rescued from Distress"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "ספר המעשים",
"enTitle": "The Book of Tales",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מרגניתא דבי רב",
"enTitle": "Marganita d'Bei Rav",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מרדכי דאסתר",
"enTitle": "Mordechai & Esther"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרשים על משה רבינו",
"enTitle": "Midrashim on Moses Our Master",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "דברי הימים למשה רבינו",
"enTitle": "Divrei HaYamim of Moses Our Master"
},
{
"heTitle": "פטירת משה רבינו ע״ה נוסחא א",
"enTitle": "The Death of Moses (Version 1)"
},
{
"heTitle": "פטירת משה רבינו ע״ה נוסחא ב",
"enTitle": "The Death of Moses (Version 2)"
},
{
"heTitle": "דרש לפטירת מרע״ה",
"enTitle": "Drash on Petirat Moshe"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש פטירת משה רבינו ע״ה",
"enTitle": "Midrash on the Death of Moses"
},
{
"heTitle": "אגדתא דבני משה",
"enTitle": "Aggadah of the Descendants of Moses"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "משיח",
"enTitle": "Midrashim on The Messiah",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "אגדת משיח",
"enTitle": "Aggadah on The Messiah"
},
{
"heTitle": "אותות המשיח",
"enTitle": "Otot Mashiach (Signs of the Messiah)"
},
{
"heTitle": "פרקי משיח",
"enTitle": "Pirkei Mashiach"
},
{
"heTitle": "מלחמות מלך המשיח",
"enTitle": "Wars of the Messiah"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "נבואת הילד",
"enTitle": "Prophecy of the Young Boy",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "ברייתא דמס׳ נדה",
"enTitle": "Baraita on Tractate Niddah",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "ספר נח",
"enTitle": "Book of Noah",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "ר' נחוניא בן הקנה",
"enTitle": "R' Nechunya Ben HaKanah"
},
{
"heTitle": "נמוקי רב נחמן",
"enTitle": "Nemukei R' Nachman"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש הנעלם",
"enTitle": "Midrash HaNe'elam"
},
{
"heTitle": "סוד העבור",
"enTitle": "Sod Ha'Ibur"
},
{
"heTitle": "סוף דבר",
"enTitle": "Sof Davar"
},
{
"heTitle": "ספרא",
"enTitle": "Siphra"
},
{
"heTitle": "ספרא דצניעותא",
"enTitle": "Siphra D'Tzniuta"
},
{
"heTitle": "ספרי",
"enTitle": "Siphrei"
},
{
"heTitle": "ספרי זוטא",
"enTitle": "Siphrei Zuta"
},
{
"heTitle": "ע׳ שמות למט״ט",
"enTitle": "Seventy Names of Metatron"
},
{
"heTitle": "ספר עדינות",
"enTitle": "Sefer Adinut"
},
{
"heTitle": "אגדת עוזא ועזאל",
"enTitle": "Agadat Uzza and Azael"
},
{
"heTitle": "אגדת עולם קטן",
"enTitle": "Agadat Olam Katan",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש עזרא",
"enTitle": "Midrash Ezra"
},
{
"heTitle": "ספר העיון",
"enTitle": "Sefer HaIyun"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרשי רבי עקיבא",
"enTitle": "Midrashim of Rabbi Akiba",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "אלפא ביתא דרבי עקיבא נוסחא א׳",
"enTitle": "Aleph Bet of Rabbi Akiba (Version 1)"
},
{
"heTitle": "'אלפא ביתא דרבי עקיבא נוסחא ב",
"enTitle": "Aleph Bet of Rabbi Akiba (Version 2)"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש רבי עקיבא בן יוסף",
"enTitle": "Midrash of Rabbi Akiba"
},
{
"heTitle": "אותיות קטנות וטעמיהן",
"enTitle": "The Small Letters and their Purposes"
},
{
"heTitle": "אותיות גדולות",
"enTitle": "The Enlarged Letters"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש עשר גליות",
"enTitle": "The Ten Exiles",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
},
{
"heTitle": "עקטאן דמר יעקב",
"enTitle": "The Travails of R' Jacob"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "עשרה הרוגי מלכות",
"enTitle": "The Ten Martyrs",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש אלה אזכרה",
"enTitle": "Midrash on the Ten Martyrs 'These I recall'"
},
{
"heTitle": "עשרה הרוגי מלכות נוסחא ב׳",
"enTitle": "Midrash on the Ten Martyrs (Version 2)"
},
{
"heTitle": "עשרה הרוגי מלכות נוסחא ג׳",
"enTitle": "Midrash on the Ten Martyrs (Version 3)"
},
{
"heTitle": "הוספה למדרש עשרה הרוגי מלכות",
"enTitle": "Addendum to Midrash on the Ten Martyrs"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש עשרת הדברות",
"enTitle": "Midrash on the Ten Commandments",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש עשרת מלכים",
"enTitle": "Midrash on the Ten Kings",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרשים על עשרת השבטים",
"enTitle": "Midrashim on the Ten Lost Tribes",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "טופס הכתב ששלח פרישטי יואן לאפיפיור ברומאה",
"enTitle": "Letter from Peter Guan to Pope in Rome"
},
{
"heTitle": "טופס האגרת ששלח פיטרי גואן אל פרדליק קיסר של רומאה",
"enTitle": "Letter from Peter Guan to Roman Caesar"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "פטירת אהרן",
"enTitle": "Death of Aaron"
},
{
"heTitle": "פטירת משה",
"enTitle": "Death of Moses"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש פליאה",
"enTitle": "Midrash Peliah ('Wondrous Midrash')"
},
{
"heTitle": "ברייתא דר׳ פנחס בן יאיר",
"enTitle": "Baraita of Rabbi Pinchas Ben Yair",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "פנים אחרים",
"enTitle": "Panim Acheirim"
},
{
"heTitle": "פסיקתא",
"enTitle": "Pesikta",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "פסיקתא חדתא",
"enTitle": "Pesikta Chadata"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "פרקי ר' אליעזר",
"enTitle": "Pirkei Rabbi Eliezer"
},
{
"heTitle": "פרקי ר׳ יוסי",
"enTitle": "Pirkei Rabbi Yosi"
},
{
"heTitle": "פרקי בן עזאי",
"enTitle": "Pirkei Ben Azzai"
},
{
"heTitle": "פרק צדקות",
"enTitle": "Perek Tzedakot",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "ספר ציוני",
"enTitle": "Sefer Tziyoni"
},
{
"heTitle": "קדושא",
"enTitle": "Kedusha",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "קדושא ליחיד",
"enTitle": "Kedusha for Individual"
},
{
"heTitle": "קדושת ברכו ליחיד",
"enTitle": "Barchu for Individual"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "ספר הקנה",
"enTitle": "Sefer HaKaneh"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש הקצר",
"enTitle": "Midrash HaKatzar"
},
{
"heTitle": "קרי וכתיב",
"enTitle": "Keri & K'tiv",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש קרי ולא כתיב",
"enTitle": "Midrash Keri V'lo Ketiv"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש כתיב ולא קרי",
"enTitle": "Midrash Ketiv V'lo Keri"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "אגדת קרני ראמים",
"enTitle": "Aggadat Karnei Re'emim",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש רבה",
"enTitle": "Midrash Rabbah"
},
{
"heTitle": "פרקי רבינו הקדוש",
"enTitle": "Pirkei Rabbeinu HaKadosh",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש רות",
"enTitle": "Midrash on Ruth",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "רזיאל המלאך",
"enTitle": "Book of Rezial the Angel"
},
{
"heTitle": "רעיא מהימנא",
"enTitle": "Raaya Mehimna"
},
{
"heTitle": "שאילתות",
"enTitle": "She'iltot"
},
{
"heTitle": "טעם שבע נקודות",
"enTitle": "Explanation of the Seven Vowels",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "שבעים שמות למט״ט",
"enTitle": "Seventy Names of Metatron"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש שוחר טוב",
"enTitle": "Midrash Shocher Tov"
},
{
"heTitle": "שיר השירים רבה",
"enTitle": "Midrash on Song of Songs"
},
{
"heTitle": "פרק שירה",
"enTitle": "Perek Shirah ('Chapter of Song')",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש שכל טוב",
"enTitle": "Midrash Sechel Tov"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרשים על שלמה המלך",
"enTitle": "Midrashim on King Solomon",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "דמות כסא של שלמה המלך ע״ה",
"enTitle": "Description of Solomon's Throne"
},
{
"heTitle": "כסא ואיפודרומין של שלמה המלך",
"enTitle": "Throne and Hippodrome of King Solomon"
},
{
"heTitle": "שלמה המלך ונעמה העמונית",
"enTitle": "The Marriage of Solomon and Naamah"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה בעשיר שהיה לו בן יחיד",
"enTitle": "Story of the Wealthy Man with the Only Son"
},
{
"heTitle": "האשה שבגדה",
"enTitle": "The Unfaithful Wife"
},
{
"heTitle": "ואשה בכל אלה לא מצאתי",
"enTitle": "The Unfaithful Wife (2)"
},
{
"heTitle": "שלושה דברי חכמה",
"enTitle": "The Three Wise Sayings"
},
{
"heTitle": "כדי הדבש והזהב",
"enTitle": "The Jugs of Honey and the Coins"
},
{
"heTitle": "האיש בעל שני הראשים",
"enTitle": "The Man with Two Heads"
},
{
"heTitle": "מעשה הנמלה וההיכל הסגור",
"enTitle": "The Story of the Ant and the Sealed Palace"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש שלשה וארבעה",
"enTitle": "Midrash Shelosha v'Arba'ah",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש שמואל",
"enTitle": "Midrash on Book of Samuel"
},
{
"heTitle": "ברייתא דשמואל הקטן",
"enTitle": "Baraita of Samuel HaKatan",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "שמושא רבא וזוטא",
"enTitle": "Shimusha Rabba & Zuta",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "סדרי דשמושא רבא וסדרי היכלות",
"enTitle": "Shimusha Rabba"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "שמחזי ועזאל",
"enTitle": "Shamchazai & Azael",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "אגדת שמע ישראל",
"enTitle": "Aggadat Shema Yisrael",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרשי רבי שמעון בן יוחאי",
"enTitle": "Midrashim of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "תפלת רבי שמעון בן יוחאי",
"enTitle": "Prayer of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai"
},
{
"heTitle": "פרק ר' שמעון בן יוחי",
"enTitle": "Chapter of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "אגדתא דשמעון כיפא",
"enTitle": "Aggada of Shimon Kippa",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "אגדתא דשמעון כיפא נוסחא א",
"enTitle": "Aggada of Shimon Kippa (Version 1)"
},
{
"heTitle": "אגדתא דשמעון כיפא נוסחא ב",
"enTitle": "Aggada of Shimon Kippa (Version 2)"
},
{
"heTitle": "אגדתא דשמעון כיפא נוסחא ג",
"enTitle": "Aggada of Shimon Kippa (Version 3)"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש שני כתובים",
"enTitle": "Midrash Shnei Ketuvim",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "שעור קומה",
"enTitle": "Shiur Komah",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "ספר תגין",
"enTitle": "Sefer Tagin ('Crowns')",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש תדשא",
"enTitle": "Midrash Tadshe ('Let There Be Grass')"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש תהלים",
"enTitle": "Midrash on Psalms",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "אשרי תמימי דרך",
"enTitle": "Midrash on Psalm 118"
},
{
"heTitle": "הוספה למזמור קי״ט",
"enTitle": "Addendum to Psalm 118"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "תורת כהנים",
"enTitle": "Torat Kohanim"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש תחיית המתים",
"enTitle": "Midrash on Revival of the Dead",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "שאלות ר׳ אליעזר בענין התחיה",
"enTitle": "Questions of Rabbi Eliezer Regarding the Revival"
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "תלמוד תורה",
"enTitle": "Talmud Torah"
},
{
"heTitle": "תלפיות",
"enTitle": "Talpiyot"
},
{
"heTitle": "ספר התמונה",
"enTitle": "Sefer HaTemunah"
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש תמורה",
"enTitle": "Midrash Temurah",
"nodes": [
{
"heTitle": "הקדמה",
"enTitle": "Introduction"
},
{
"heTitle": "",
"enTitle": ""
}
]
},
{
"heTitle": "מדרש תנחומא",
"enTitle": "Midrash Tanchuma"
},
{
"heTitle": "תפלת רב המנונא סבא",
"enTitle": "Prayer of Rabbi Hamnuna Saba"
},
{
"heTitle": "אגדה על תפלת שמונה עשרה",
"enTitle": "Aggada on Shemona Esrei Prayer"
},
{
"heTitle": "תקיעתא דבי רב",
"enTitle": "Tekiata d'Bei Rav"
},
{
"heTitle": "תרגומים",
"enTitle": "Targumim"
}
]
}
}