Tree of Souls
Page 85
Sources:
Exodus Rabbah 21:6; Sefer ha-Yashar.
491. CROSSING THE RED SEA
When the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, God saw to it that everything they needed was to be found in the waters. The women followed their husbands, carrying their infants in their arms, and when the children cried, they plucked apples and pomegranates from the sea, and gave them to the crying children, and they ceased to weep.
This is a delightful myth that assures us that God supplied everything the people needed while they were crossing the Red Sea, including food for hungry children. This is part of a series of myths about God’s concern with the people during the Exodus. Not only did God supply manna, which tasted like whatever food they wanted most, but a wandering well that followed them, and clouds of glory to protect them from above and below. See “The Manna,” p. 479, “Miriam’s Well,” p. 387, and “The Seven Clouds of Glory,” p. 392.
Sources:
Midrash Avkir; Exodus Rabbah 21:10.
492. MOUNT MORIAH AND THE RED SEA
At the very moment that the children of Israel went into the Red Sea, Mount Moriah began to move from its place, along with the altar for Isaac that had been built upon it. The whole scene had been arranged before the creation of the world. Isaac was bound and placed upon the altar; Abraham’s knife was raised.
Far away, at the Red Sea, God said to Moses, “Moses, Moses, My children are in distress, the sea is blocking their path and the enemy is pursuing them, and you stand so long praying?
Moses said before God, “What should I be doing?”
God said, “Raise up your staff!”
Moses lifted up his staff, the waters of the Red Sea parted, and on Mount Moriah the voice of the angel went forth, “Do not raise your hand against the boy, or do anything to him” (Gen. 22: 12).
This remarkable midrash from Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael is the clearest possible statement about the nature of midrashic time: there is no before or after; past, present, and future exist simultaneously. Thus the Binding of Isaac on Mount Moriah takes place at the same time as the parting of the waters of the Red Sea. But that is not all—the future event affects the past event. The powers of mercy generated by the parting of the Red Sea save Isaac at the very moment Abraham is about to sacrifice him. This is an astonishing view of timeless history, where future events can affect the past.
A similar link between the Akedah, the binding of Isaac, and the parting of the Red Sea is found in Genesis Rabbah. Here, however, the influence is the exact opposite: the merit that Abraham earned from the Akedah is applied at the Red Sea. As a reward for the wood Abraham cleaved for the burnt-offering, he earned that God should cleave the sea before his descendants, as it is said, The waters were split (Exod. 14:21).
For more on the tradition that the Akedah was prepared before the creation of the world, see “Seven Things Created before the Creation,” p. 74.
Thanks to Rabbi Susan Talve for bringing this myth to my attention.
Sources:
Genesis Rabbah 55:8; Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, be-Shalah 4.
Studies:
“Past and Present in Midrashic Literature” by Marc Bregman.
493. GOD’S PRESENCE AT THE RED SEA
After Pharaoh passed a decree condemning all male children born to Israelite mothers, many of the mothers who gave birth to boys abandoned them in an open field, for had they brought them home, not only the infants but all of the members of their family would have been slain. What happened to those babies? They were cared for by God Himself.
When they were grown, they returned to their families. When they were asked who took care of them, they said, “A handsome young man took care of all our needs.” And when the Israelites came to the Red Sea, those children were there, and when they saw God at the sea, they said to their parents, “That is the one who took care of us when we were in Egypt.” That is why it is said that every single one of those who crossed the Red Sea could point with his finger and say, This is my God, and I will glorify Him (Exod. 15:2).
Because of Pharaoh’s decree, most male children born to Israelite mothers were abandoned. Moses, of course, was raised by Pharaoh’s daughter, but what happened to the others? This myth supplies a moving explanation, saying that God, described as “a handsome young man,” took care of them. This offers a view of a nurturing God, much as is found in the myth about “God and the Spirits of the Unborn,” p. 140 or in “The Dew of Resurrection,” p. 504. The boys were able to return to their families once they were grown, since they were no longer infants to be identified by Pharaoh’s henchmen. And they were able to identify that “young man” at the Red Sea, where God was present.
Other myths describe God’s appearance at the Red Sea as a mighty warrior. See “The Warrior God,” p. 29. In commenting on these varying reports of God’s appearance, Rashi quotes God as saying “Since I change in My appearance to the people, do not say that there are two divine beings” (on Exod. 20:2).
Sources:
Exodus Rabbah 23:8, 23:15.
494. PHARAOH’S ARMY LURED TO ITS DEATH
When the Egyptians reached the Red Sea, the waves of the sea took on the likeness of mares, and the wicked Egyptians took on the likeness of lustful stallions. The stallions chased the mares until they sank in the sea. That is the meaning of, Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea (Exod. 15:1).
When the Egyptians were drowning in the Red Sea, the angels wished to sing a hymn in praise of God, but God silenced them, saying: “Do not sing today. How can I listen to singing when the works of My hands are drowning in the sea?”
Some say that the angels sought to sing so loudly that the souls of the Egyptians would take leave of this world through the sweetness of their celestial melodies. But God said, “They have caused My children to perish. Should they die from the sweetness of your singing?”
This is an important talmudic myth, which establishes God’s caring for all his creations, even those who are the enemies of his people, Israel. Here the angels want to celebrate the defeat of Pharaoh’s army, but God rebukes them. Thus God suffers over the suffering of His creations. This myth is based on the much earlier biblical teachings in Proverbs 24:17 that if your enemy fails, do not exult.
Rabbi Shmelke of Nikolsburg (1726-1778) suggests a different interpretation by suggesting that the purpose of the angels in wishing to sing was not to celebrate the deaths of the Egyptians, but to draw out their souls painlessly, and that it is God who objects to this idea, because it does not make them suffer for their sins. This, then, is a good example of how the midrashic method can revise the meaning of a text entirely.
Sources:
B. Megillah 10b; Exodus Rabbah 23:14; Song of Songs Rabbah 1:51; Midrash Avkir; Shemen ha-Tov; Tiferet Shlomo on Exodus 14:20.
495. THE QUARREL OF THE SEA AND THE EARTH
All of Pharaoh’s army drowned in the Red Sea, as it is said, Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea (Exod. 15:1). Yet it is also recorded that The earth swallowed them (Exod. 15:12). How did this happen? The sea and the earth had a quarrel. The sea said to the earth, “Receive your children, as it is said, For dust you are and to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:19). And the earth said to the sea, “Receive your slain.” For the sea did not want to sink them, and the earth did not want to swallow them. The earth was afraid to receive them, lest they testify against it on the Day of Great Judgment in the World to Come—just as Abel’s blood did, as it is said, “Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground” (Gen. 4:10). At that time God inclined His right hand over the earth and swore an oath that the bodies of the dead would not be permitted to testify against the earth in the World to Come. Then earth then opened its mouth and swallowed them.
Still, God did not rejoice in the downfall of the wicked. When Pharaoh’s army was drowning in the Red Sea, the ministering angels wanted to chant their hymns, but God said, “Shall you chant hymns while the work of My hands is being drowned in the se
a?”
This myth about a quarrel between the sea and the earth appears in Targum Pseudo-Yonathan on Exodus 15:12, and has been inserted to precede the verse The earth swallowed them (Exod. 15:12). It explains an apparent contradiction in the text, where Pharaoh’s army drowns in the Red Sea, but the text says that the earth swallowed them (Exod. 15:12). The switch comes about when the sea calls upon the earth to accept the bodies of the drowned, since they were created from the dust of the earth to begin with. Thus, in a legalistic manner, the sea requires the earth to fulfill the obligation inherent in For dust you are and to dust you shall return (Gen. 3:19). The earth’s concern is also legalistic: it fears that the bodies of the dead might testify against it in the World to Come. But when God swears that the bodies will not testify against the earth, the earth “opened its mouth and swallowed them.” For another example of a quarrel between elemental forces, see “The Quarrel of the Sun and the Moon,” p. 112.
There is a related myth about the drowning of Pharaoh’s army in B. Megillah 10b that establishes God’s caring for all his creations, even those who are the enemies of His people Israel. Here the angels want to celebrate the defeat of Pharaoh’s army, but God rebukes them. Thus God suffers over the suffering of His creations. See the preceding myth, “Pharaoh’s Army Lured to Its Death.”
Sources:
Targum Pseudo-Yonathan to Exodus 15:12; B. Megillah 10b.
496. MIRIAM’S WELL
During their forty years of wandering in the wilderness, an enchanted well gave the Israelites fresh water to drink. God gave them this well as a gift because of the merits of Miriam, the sister of Moses. It was there for them every day, whenever they were thirsty. How was this possible? It followed the Israelites everywhere they went. It ascended the high mountains with them, and it descended with them to the deep valleys, going around the entire camp of Israel and giving them drink, each and every one of them at the door of his tent.
The enchanted well accompanied the children of Israel to the court of the Appointed Tent and stopped there. And the princes of the Congregation approached it, and said, “Come, O well, and give of your waters!” And the well gave forth water, and the Congregation and their cattle drank.
Some say that well was created at the beginning of Creation, while others say that the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, dug it. Then it was hidden until it was returned to the children of Israel by Moses and Aaron, who rediscovered it.
Whatever became of Miriam’s well? Some say it disappeared the day that Miriam died; others say it followed the people all the way to the Holy Land. Still others say that the well can still be found traveling from place to place, wherever Jews can be found. Whenever a minyan gathers, it is possible to drink from the well.
The existence of Miriam’s Well—a well that followed the Israelites through the wilderness, to provide them with fresh water—is suggested by Numbers 21:16-29, where the description of a well that God gives to the people is immediately followed by a list of places they traveled to, suggesting that the well traveled with them to these places. The well itself is identified as the one issued from the rock struck in Exodus 17:3-6. The well was said to have been given because of the merits of Miriam. For a folktale recounting a late encounter with Miriam’s well, see “The Wandering Well” in Gabriel’s Palace, pp. 250-251. See too “The Angel of Forgetfulness” in Gabriel’s Palace, pp. 81-83, where the Ari restores the harmony of Hayim Vital by having him drink from Miriam’s well.
The fate of this miraculous well is disputed in various sources. Some say it disappeared after Miriam’s death, others that it was restored after a while because of the merits of Aaron and Moses, but taken away after the death of Moses. And a number of folktales describe it as still existing in the Sea of Galilee.
There is also a metaphorical link in this myth between Miriam’s well and the Torah, which is also seen as an inexhaustible resource to quench a person’s thirst for knowledge.
Sources:
Targum Pseudo-Yonathan on Numbers 21:16-20; Targum Neophyti on Numbers 21:1; Y. Kelim 9:14; B. Pesahim 54a; Midrash Tehillim 24:6; Midrash Tanhuma, Hukot 2:128; B. Shabbat 35a; B. Ta’anit 9a; Tosefta Sukkah 3:11; Seder Olam 9-10; Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, va-Yissa 5; Divrei ha-Yamim le-Moshe Rabbenu; Midrash Aggadah, Korah; Pseudo-Philo, Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum 10:7, 11:15, 20:8.
Studies:
“A Sexual Image in Hekhalot Rabbati and Its Implications” by David J. Halperin.
497. HOW MOSES SURVIVED
How was it possible for Moses to survive on Mount Sinai for forty days and nights without food or water? Moses, and Moses alone, was able to achieve the exalted level of an angel, and therefore, during that period, he required no material sustenance.
In at least one case in Jewish lore, that of the metamorphosis of Enoch into Metatron, a human is transformed into an angel. Here Moses does not exactly become an angel, but rather becomes as exalted as an angel, therefore requiring no food or water, since angels do not eat or drink. See “The Metamorphosis and Enthronement of Enoch,” p. 156.
Sources:
Makhon Siftei Tzaddikim on Genesis 1:16.
498. THE ENTHRONEMENT OF MOSES
God honored Moses and gave him all of the earth and sea, and all the rivers and all the other elements. He gave him all the world as a possession suitable for His heir, for Moses was named God and King of the whole nation. So too did Moses enter into the darkness where God was, perceiving things invisible to mortal nature. There he dwelt in the mysteries until he was crowned with light, wearing a robe of light, his face clothed in a beam of light.
When Moses reached the peak of Mount Sinai he saw a throne so large that it touched the clouds of heaven. On it sat a man of noble bearing, wearing a crown, with a scepter in one hand. With the other hand He beckoned Moses, who approached and stood before the throne. The man on the throne then handed over the scepter to Moses and beckoned for him to mount the throne, and gave Moses a crown of light. Then that man withdrew from the throne. And Moses sat on the great throne and wrote what his Lord had taught him.
Just as there are enthronement myths about Adam, Enoch, Jacob, and King David, this myth describes the enthronement of Moses. For Philo the role attributed to Moses transcended that of a prophet and came closer to that of a messianic or divine figure. In this astonishing myth, Moses is invited to take the place of the enthroned figure who clearly seems to represent God, although this figure might be identified with the Glory of the Lord, which Ezekiel describes as that of a human form seated upon a throne: Above the expanse over their heads was the semblance of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and on top, upon this semblance of a throne, there was the semblance of a human form (Ezek. 1:26-28). A similar enthronement of Adam is described in The Testament of Abraham. See “The Enthronement of Adam,” p. 131.
Here Philo describes Moses in terms that elevate him from a human hero to one who is virtually divine, while Ezekiel the Tragedian describes the actual enthronement of Moses. At the end of the enthronement, it seems as if God turns over His scepter and His throne to Moses and withdraws. The other primary sources for this myth are found in the Samaritan text Memar Markah and Samaritan hymns. The Samaritans, a Palestinian sect closely related to Judaism, regarded Moses as an elevated, near-messianic figure, and it is not surprising that Samaritan texts sometimes stray into the realm of elevating Moses to a godly status.
The surprising description of Moses as God and King echoes Exodus 7:1: “See, I place you in the role of God to Pharaoh.”
Sources:
Philo, Vita Mosis 1:155-158; Ezekiel the Tragedian 68-76; Numbers Rabbah 25:13; Memar Markah 2:12, 3:126, 4:6; first and sixth hymn of the Samaritan Durran cycle by Amram Darah.
Studies:
“Moses as God and King” by Wayne A. Meeks.
499. MOSES TRANSFORMED INTO FIRE
God said to Moses, “I will bring you up to My Throne of Glory, and I will show you the angels of heaven.” Then God commanded Metatr
on, the Prince of the Presence, “Go and bring Moses into heaven.” But Metatron replied, “Master of the Universe, Moses cannot ascend to heaven because the angels consist of fire, but he is only flesh and blood.” God said, “Go and change his body into fire.”
So Metatron went to Moses, and Moses trembled with fear when he saw him. “Who are you?” Moses asked. Metatron replied, “I am Enoch, son of Jared. God has sent me to bring you to His Throne of Glory.” Moses said, “I am only flesh and blood and cannot look upon the angels.”
Then Metatron changed Moses’ tongue into a fiery tongue, and he made his eyes like wheels of the Divine Chariot, and he gave him the powers of the angels and brought him into heaven.
Here the ruling angel Metatron transforms Moses into fire just as Metatron himself was once transformed from being the human Enoch. The implication is that Moses will now take the place of Metatron as the chief among the angels. This myth must be seen in the context of those Jews (and Samaritans) for whom Moses was viewed as a messianic figure. In this myth Moses is raised even higher than that, and therefore this must be regarded as an enthronement myth about Moses, just as such myths are found about Adam, Enoch, Jacob, and King David. See “The Enthronement of Moses,” p. 388 for another example of an enthronement myth about Moses.