Midrash: The Remix

(14) God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate day from night; they shall serve as signs for the set times—the days and the years; (15) and they serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth.” And it was so. (16) God made the two great lights, the greater light to dominate the day and the lesser light to dominate the night, and the stars. (17) And God set them in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth, (18) to dominate the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that this was good. (19) And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

(20) The LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up. (21) The LORD said to Moses, “Go down, warn the people not to break through to the LORD to gaze, lest many of them perish. (22) The priests also, who come near the LORD, must stay pure, lest the LORD break out against them.” (23) But Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us saying, ‘Set bounds about the mountain and sanctify it.’” (24) So the LORD said to him, “Go down, and come back together with Aaron; but let not the priests or the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest He break out against them.” (25) And Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.

(1) God spoke all these words, saying: (2) I the LORD am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage: (3) You shall have no other gods besides Me. (4) You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image, or any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. (5) You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I the LORD your God am an impassioned God, visiting the guilt of the parents upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generations of those who reject Me, (6) but showing kindness to the thousandth generation of those who love Me and keep My commandments. (7) You shall not swear falsely by the name of the LORD your God; for the LORD will not clear one who swears falsely by His name. (8) Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. (9) Six days you shall labor and do all your work, (10) but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God: you shall not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your settlements...

"I am the Lord your God." And from 'aleph' in "Anochi" (I am the Lord) until the 'kaf' in "l'reacha" (your neighbor), there are 613 letters corresponding to the 613 mitzvot.

Rabbi Simlai taught: There were 613 mitzvot stated to Moses in the Torah, consisting of 365 prohibitions corresponding to the number of days in the solar year, and 248 positive mitzvot corresponding to the number of a person’s limbs. Rav Hamnuna said: What is the verse that alludes to this? It is written: “Moses commanded to us the Torah, an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob” (Deuteronomy 34:4). The word Torah, in terms of its numerical value [gimatriyya], is 611, the number of mitzvot that were received and taught by Moses our teacher. In addition, there are two mitzvot: “I am the Lord your God” and: “You shall have no other gods” (Exodus 20:2, 3), the first two of the Ten Commandments, that we heard from the mouth of the Almighty, for a total of 613.

Rabbi Yonah said in the name of Rabbi Levi: Why was the world created with a "bet"? Just as a bet is closed on all sides and open in the front, so you are not permitted to say, "What is beneath? What is above? What came before? What will come after?" Rather from the day the world was created and after. Bar Kappara said: "You have but to inquire about bygone ages that came before you [ever since G-d created humanity on earth]" (Deuteronomy 4:32). "Ever since G-d created them" you may speculate, however you may not speculate on what was before that. ["From one end of Heaven to the other"] on this you may speculate and investigate, but you may not speculate and investigate what was before. Rabbi Yehudah ben Pazzi explained the Creation story according to Bar Kappara. Why was the world created with a "bet"? To teach you there are two worlds: this world and the world-to-come.

Another explanation: Why with a "bet"? Because it is the language of "blessing" ('beracha'). And why not with an "aleph"? Because it is the language of "cursing" ('arera').

Another explanation: So that it not give the heretics an argument to say "how can the world be sustained when it was created with the language of 'curse?' Rather, the Holy One Blessed be He said, "Behold! I am creating the world with the language of 'blessing,' and if only it will continue to be sustained!"

Another thing: The letter bet has two pointy things/thorns. One faces upward and one faces downward. They say to the bet "who created you?" and he shows his upward-facing pointy and says, "That which is above created me". "And what's his name?" And he shows them his downward pointy on his back, and says, "HaShem is his name."

Rabbie Elazar bar Chanina in the name of Rabbi Acha said, "For 26 generations the Aleph lodged a complaint before the throne of the Holy One Blessed be He, and said before him, "Master of the Universe, I am the first letter, but you did not create the world with me." The Holy One Blessed be He said, "The world and its entirety was created only for the merit of Torah, as it says, "The Lord founded the earth by wisdom (chochma)." Tomorrow, I am going to give the Torah at Sinai and I will open only with you, as it says, "Anochi" ('I am the Lord your God').

Rabbi Hoshaya says, "Why is its name 'aleph'? Because God agreed one-thousand ('eleph') generations before Sinai to give the Torah beginning with that letter as it says, "the promise he gave for a thousand generations" ('elef dor').

(7) “And Cain spoke to Abel his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field…” (Genesis 4:8)

What were they arguing about?

They said: come let’s divide up the world, one will take the land and one will take the moveable property. This one said: the ground you are standing on is mine. The other one said: what you are wearing is mine. This one said: take it off! The other one said: fly! Because of this “…Cain rose against his brother Abel and killed him.” (ibid.)

R’ Yehoshua of Sakhnin said in the name of R’ Levi: they both took the land and the moveable property. What were they arguing about? One said: the Holy Temple will be built in my boundary. The other said: the Holy Temple will be built in my boundary. As it says “…when they were in the field…” (ibid.) and the field only refers to the Holy Temple. This is what it says “…Zion shall be plowed as a field…” (Micah 3:12) Because of this “…Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him.”

Yehudah bar Ami said: they were arguing about the first Eve. R’ Ibo said: the first Eve returned to the dust.

Then what were they arguing about? R’ Huna said: an extra twin sister was born with Abel. This one said: I will take her because I am the first born. The other one said: I will take her because she was born with me. Because of this “…Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him.”

(7) Rabbi Tanchuma said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Menachem in the name of Rav said... Ben Azzai said: “These are the generations of Adam" is a great principle in the Torah. Rabbi Akiva said: This is a great principle of the Torah: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev. 19:18). Thus, one should not say, “Since I am scorned, I should scorn my fellow as well; since I have been cursed, I will curse my fellow as well.” Rabbi Tanchumah said, if you act thus, realize who it is that you are willing to have humiliated - "the one who was made in the likeness of God." Rabbi Tanchuma says, “If you do so, you should know who are you scorning — ‘in the likeness of God He created him.’”

(2) (2) "Adonai said to Avram." (Gen. 12:1) R' B'rechia opened: "Your ointments yield a sweet fragrance, Your name is like finest oil," (Song 1:3). Said R' B'rechia, "To what was Avraham analogized? To a flask of balsam liquid with a closely fitting lid, resting in a corner, and whose aroma was not wafted; once it was moved, its aroma was wafted. Thus said the Holy One, Blessed be He, to Avraham: Move yourself from one place to another, and your name will be enlarged in the world. "

Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Isaac our father was infertile, as it is stated: “And Isaac entreated the Lord concerning [lenokhaḥ] his wife because she was barren” (Genesis 25:21). It is not stated that he entreated the Lord for [al] his wife, but lenokhaḥ, which can mean opposite, against, or corresponding to; this teaches that they were both infertile. The Gemara asks: If so, why does the verse continue: “And the Lord let Himself be entreated of him”? The verse should say: And the Lord let Himself be entreated of them. The Gemara answers that their prayers were answered due to Isaac, because the prayer of a righteous individual who is the son of a righteous individual is not similar to the prayer of a righteous individual who is the son of a wicked individual, and Rebekah’s father was the wicked Laban.

Do you know of any goods, where the merchant is sold along with the merchandise?! But
the Holy One said to Israel: I have sold you my Torah and, as it were, I'm sold to
you with it. As it says, “Take me a contribution.”
Its like a king who had but one daughter. A royal suitor came and picked her up. He
wanted to go with back to his home country and take her as his wife. The king said
to him: My daughter, who I have given to you, she is my only. To part from her, I
cannot. To tell you not to take her, this too I cannot, for she is your wife. So instead,
do me this kindness: Wherever you, make one small room for me, so that I can stay
there with you. For I cannot just let my daughter part.
So did the Holy One say to Israel: I have given you the Torah. To part from her, I
cannot. To tell you not to take her, this too I cannot. But wherever it is you go, make
one home for me, so that I can stay in it. As it says, “And make for me a sanctuary,
so that I may dwell amongst you.” (translation: Rabbi Ben Greenfield)

The Holy One said to Avraham: Shouldn't the servant be like his master?
Avraham said before Him: But who shall circumcise me?
He said: You yourself.
Immediately, Avraham took the knife in his hand. He was holding on to his
foreskin and about to slice when he became afraid because of his old age.
What did the Holy One do? He sent His hand and held onto it with him, while
Avraham sliced.
As it is written, “You are the God who selected Avraham ... and cut with him a
covenant” (Neh 9). It does not say “cut him a covenant” but “cut with him”, to
teach that God was holding on to it. (translation: Rabbi Ben Greenfield)