Jerusalem Water Yoel 4 midrashim

(6) "And if I return in peace to my father's house..." (Bereshit 28:21) R' Yehoshua of Sachnin said in the name of R' Levi: the Holy One took the words of the forefathers and made them the key to the redemption of the children. The Holy One said to him "you said 'and the Lord will be my God.' By your life! All the goodness, blessings and consolations that I give to your children, I will do so only with this language, as it says "And it will be on that day that living water shall come forth from Jerusalem..." (Zechariah 14:8) and "And it will be that on that day, the Lord shall continue to apply His hand a second time to acquire the rest of His people..." (Isaiah 11:11) and "And it will be on that day that the mountains shall drip with wine..." (Yoel 4:18) and "And it will be on that day, that a great shofar shall be sounded..." (Isaiah 27:13)

(5) … they said to him: we said ours, now you say yours! He said to them: everywhere that it uses the phrase ‘and it will be’ indicates joy. "And it will be on that day that the mountains shall drip with wine..." (Yoel 4:18) “And it will be on that day that living water shall come forth from Jerusalem..." (Zechariah 14:8) "And it will be that on that day, the Lord shall continue…” (Isaiah 11:11) “And it shall come to pass on that day, a man shall keep alive a heifer of the herd…” (Isaiah 7:21) "And it will be on that day, that a great shofar shall be sounded..." (Isaiah 27:13) “And it will be that every survivor shall be in Zion…” (Isaiah 4:3) But it is also written “…and he was when Jerusalem was taken.” (Jeremiah 38:28) He replied to them: this also is joy and not sorrow, because on that very day the comforter was born and on that very day Israel took full recompense for all of their sins. As R’ Shmuel bar Nachman said: Israel took their full recompense for their sins on the day that the Holy Temple was destroyed, as it says “Your iniquity is complete, O daughter of Zion; He will no longer send you into exile…” (Lamentations 4:22)

(22) “And Israel abode in Shittim…” (Bamidbar 25:1) This is the law. Israel was redeemed from Egypt in the merit of many things. Our Rabbis taught: Israel was redeemed from Egypt in the merit of four things. They did not change their names, they did not change their language, they did not reveal their secrets. Moshe said to them “…and every woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her that live in her house, vessels of silver and vessels of gold…” (Shemot 3:22) They kept this command hidden between them for twelve months and not one of them revealed it to the Egyptians. They did not breakdown into forbidden sexual relationships, as it is written “A locked up garden is my sister, my bride…” this refers to the men, “…a locked up spring, a sealed fountain,” (Shir HaShirim 4:12) and this refers to the virgins. You should know this, because there was one who transgressed and the Torah publicized it “Now, the son of an Israelite woman and he was the son of an Egyptian man went out among the children of Israel…” (Vayikra 24:1) All the forty years in the wilderness they did not go astray until they came to Shittim. Therefore it says “And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit harlotry…” (Bamidbar 25:1) It was called Shittim because there they did foolishness (shtut), “He who commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding…” (Mishle 6:32) ‘the people began to commit harlotry’ There are springs which raise mighty people and there are those that raise weaklings, those that raise beautiful people and those that raise ugly ones, those that raise modest people and those that raise people steeped in licentiousness. The spring of Shittim was one of harlotry, and it watered Sodom. You find that they said “Where are the men who came in to you? Bring them out to us…” (Bereshit 19:5) Since that spring was accursed, in the future the Holy One will dry it out, as it says “…and a spring will issue from the house of the Lord and will water the valley of Shittim…” (Yoel 4:18) From the days of Avraham no one had broken out in harlotry. Once they arrived at Shittim and drank from its waters, they burst forth.

(9) …R’ Berachia said in the name of R’ Yitzchak the last redeemer will be just as the first. Just as it says of the first redeemer “So Moses took his wife and his sons, mounted them upon the donkey…” (Shemot 4:20) so too the last redeemer, as it says “…humble, and riding a donkey…” (Zechariah 9:9) Just as the first redeemer brought down the manna, as it says “Behold! I am going to rain down for you bread from heaven…” (Shemot 16:4) so too the last redeemer will bring down manna, as it says “May there be an abundance of grain in the land…” (Tehillim 72:16) Just as the first redeemer brought up the well, so too the last redeemer will bring up the water, as it says “…and a spring will issue from the house of the Lord and will water the valley of Shittim…” (Yoel 4:18)

(12) The Holy One created twenty-two good attributes in His world. All of them were nullified and in the future the Holy One will return them to Israel in the time to come. They are: four for the first man, four for the generation of the flood, one for the generation of the dispersion, two for Sodom, six in the wilderness, six for Jerusalem, on for the ten tribes…Six for Jerusalem. First, the Gihon spring comes out from Jerusalem and waters the land of Israel. Hezekiah stood up and saw with his holy spirit and said: I know that Israel will be exiled from their land and the House will be destroyed, and if the Gihon remains in its place all the nations will come to here. He rose up and sealed it off, as it says "And he-Hezekiah-stopped up the source of the waters of the upper Gihon…" (Chronicles II 32:30) In the future the Holy One will return it to Israel and water their land, as it says "…and a spring shall emanate from the house of the Lord…" (Joel 4:18) Second, prophecy was given to them and then hidden away. In the future the Holy One will return it to Israel, to make every member of Israel a prophet, as it says "And it shall come to pass afterwards that I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh…" (Joel 3:1) Third, the priesthood was given to them and then hidden away. In the future the Holy One will return the high priesthood to Israel, as it says "And you shall be called the priests of the Lord…" (Isaiah 61:6) Fourth, the Sanhedrin and advisers were given to them and when a case came before them they would write the judgment on a piece of paper and place it in the ark, and an angel would descend in the night to absolve the innocent and convict the guilty. In the morning they would look at the paper and declare the judgment. In the future the Holy One will return them to Israel, as it says "And I will restore your judges as at first and your counsellors as in the beginning…" (Isaiah 1:26) Fifth, the Messiah was born and then hidden away. In the future the Holy One will console Israel with the Messiah, as it says "There I shall cause David's horn to sprout…" (Psalms 132:17) Sixth, Jerusalem was given to them and when they became corrupt it was destroyed. In the future the Holy One will rebuild it and gather Israel back in, as it says "The Lord is the builder of Jerusalem; He will gather the outcasts of Israel." (Psalms 147:2)