תהלים לט-מג: "צָמְאָה נַפְשִׁי" עיון בפרק מב

For the Leader; Maschil of the sons of Korah. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: 'When shall I come and appear before God?' My tears have been my food day and night, while they say unto me all the day: 'Where is Thy God?' These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me, how I passed on with the throng, and led them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping holyday. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why moanest thou within me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise Him for the salvation of His countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me; therefore do I remember Thee from the land of Jordan, and the Hermons, from the hill Mizar. Deep calleth unto deep at the voice of Thy cataracts; all Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over me. By day the LORD will command His lovingkindness, and in the night His song shall be with me, even a prayer unto the God of my life. I will say unto God my Rock: 'Why hast Thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning under the oppression of the enemy?' As with a crushing in my bones, mine adversaries taunt me; while they say unto me all the day: 'Where is Thy God?' Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why moanest thou within me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the salvation of my countenance, and my God.

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, Thou art my God, earnestly will I seek Thee; My soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee, In a dry and weary land, where no water is.

Yet now hear, O Jacob My servant, And Israel, whom I have chosen; Thus saith the LORD that made thee, And formed thee from the womb, who will help thee: Fear not, O Jacob My servant, And thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water upon the thirsty land, And streams upon the dry ground; I will pour My spirit upon thy seed, And My blessing upon thine offspring;

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, That I will send a famine in the land, Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the LORD. And they shall wander from sea to sea, And from the north even to the east; They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, And shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins And the young men faint for thirst. They that swear by the sin of Samaria, And say: ‘As thy God, O Dan, liveth’; And: ‘As the way of Beer-sheba liveth’; Even they shall fall, and never rise up again.

"The angel who has redeemed me from all harm[...]" (Genesis 48:16) Rabbi Yosei son of Chalafta said, sustenance is doubly difficult, like birth. Of birth it is written (Genesis 3:16) "In pain [עצב] shall you bear children", and of sustenance it is written (Genesis 3:17) "By toil [עצבון] shall you eat of it [the ground] all the days of your life." Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shmuel son of Nachman, Rabbi Elazar said, redemption is deduced from sustenance and sustenance from redemption. Just as redemption is doubled, so too is sustenance doubled. Just as sustenance is daily, so too is sustenance daily. Rabbi Shmuel son of Nachman said, and [sustenance] is greater than redemption, for redemption comes at the hand of an angel and sustenance at the hand of the Holy Blessed One. Redemption by the hand of an angel, "the angel who redeemed me" (Genesis 48:16), and sustenance by the hand of the Holy Blessed One, "open Your hand and satisfy all that lives" (Psalms 145:16). Rabbi Yehoshua son of Levi said, the victuals of man are as difficult as the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, as it says "to the One Who split the Sea of Reeds asunder" (Psalms 136:13) and it is written later "Who gives food to all flesh" (Psalms 145:25). "Bless the lads" (Genesis 48:16), these are Yehoshua and Gidon, for there it says "And it was when Yehoshua was in Yericho, and he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, a man stood over him... and he [the man] said 'No, but I am captain of the LORD's host and have just arrived...'" (Joshua 5:13-14). Rabbi Yehoshua in the name of Rabbi Chanina son of Yitzchak, he cried out from within his toenails, as it says "And he said, 'I am a captain of the LORD's host'" (ibid.) - a captain of the Lofty Ones am I, and every place that I am seen, the Holy Blessed One is seen. This is a sign that in every place that Rabbi Yosei was set[?], so too Rabbi would appear. "Now I have come" (ibid.) -- with Moshe your teacher I have come, rather that he was praying and said "Unless You go in the lead..." (Exodus 33:15) - I was unable to ascend above, but now that I have not done my mission, I was not able to descend below, that now I pray and say "Unless You go in the lead." Rather, be warned that you should not do as Moshe your teacher did with me, and I was swayed. "And may they be teeming multitudes [וידגו לרב] on the earth..." (Genesis 48:16). Just as the eye does not penetrate/rule over to see these fish [דגים], so your sons will not be seen/ruled over by the [evil] eye. So it is written, "The sons of Yosef spoke to Yehoshua... [saying, 'Why have you assigned as our portion a single allotment and a single district, seeing that we are a numerous people...']" (Joshua 17:14). He said to them, 'Are you not afraid of the [evil] eye?' [i.e. how can you boast of your numbers?]. They responded, 'This was our father's blessing for us, "they shall be teeming multitudes on the earth" (Genesis 48:16).' Just as these fish are only caught in the throat, so your sons will only be caught in the throat. "And they said to him, please say 'shibolet,' and he said 'sibolet'." (Judges 12:6). Just as these fish grow in water, and when one drop descends from above they accept it with thirst like one who had never tasted water in their life, so too Israel grow in the water of Torah, and when they hear one new word of Torah they accept it with thirst as one who had never heard a word of Torah in their life. Rabbi Levi said, the women of Israel became impregnated with sixty thousand foetuses in one night, and all were sent to the Nile, and they ascended [out of the Nile?] in the merit of Moshe, since Moshe said "Six hundred thousand are my feet of the people that I am within" (Numbers 11:21) -- they all went up to my feet. Rabbi Zacai....

The Gemara discusses the second of Ezra’s ordinances: And that they should read the Torah on every Monday and Thursday. The Gemara asks: Did Ezra institute this practice? But it was instituted from the beginning, i.e., long before his time. As it is taught in a baraita with regard to the verse: “And Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water” (Exodus 15:22). Those who interpret verses metaphorically said that water here is referring to nothing other than Torah, as it is stated metaphorically, concerning those who desire wisdom: “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come for water” (Isaiah 55:1).

And Rabbi Ḥanina bar Idi said: Why are matters of Torah likened to water, as it is written: “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come for water” (Isaiah 55:1)? This verse comes to tell you: Just as water leaves a high place and flows to a low place, so too, Torah matters are retained only by one whose spirit is lowly, i.e., a humble person.