Yerushalmi Sotah 1:10 ירושלמי סוטה א׳:י׳

MISHNAH: Joseph had the merit to bury his father and none of his brothers was greater than he, as it is said: “Joseph ascended to bury his father.³²⁴Gen. 50:7.” Who would be greater than Joseph? Only Moses could occupy himself with him. Moses had the merit to take Joseph’s bones and no one in Israel was greater than he, as it is said: “Moses took Joseph’s bones with him.³²⁵Ex. 13:19.” Who would be greater than Moses? Only the Holy One, Praise to Him, could occupy himself with him, as it is said: “He buried him in the valley³²⁶Deut. 34:6. Another tradition, Sifry Num. 32, in the name of R. Ismael counts this verse as one of the three instances where אוֹתוֹ does not mean “him” but “himself”..” Not only about Moses was this said but about all the just, as it is said: “Your righteousness will precede you, the glory of the Eternal will gather you in.³²⁷Is. 58:8.”

HALAKHAH: “Joseph had the merit to bury his father and none of his brothers was greater than he,” etc. ³²⁸Gen. rabba 100(7). Rebbi Isaac said: The glory of the Lifegiver of the Worlds³²⁹The Sephardic pronunciation חַי follows Maimonides (Hilkhot Yesode Hatorah 2:9). Ashkenazic pronunciation follows the Biblical חֵי (Dan. 13:7). The Worlds are this world, the World to Come, and all other possible worlds He created. was with them. It is written: “They came to the threshing place of the brambles.³³⁰Gen. 50:10.” ³³¹The same question, in the framework of a different sermon, in the Babli, 13a. Since when does the bramble-bush have a threshing place? Rebbi Samuel ben Naḥman said, we checked in all of Scripture and did not find a place called “brambles”. What are “brambles”? These are the Canaanites who should have been threshed like brambles. By which merit were they saved? By the merit of: “The inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing place of the brambles.³³²Gen. 50:11.” What act of kindness did they do for him? Rebbi Eleazar said, they unbelted³³³As a sign of mourning, to stay in their houses.. Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish said, they undid the knots on their shoulders³³⁴Also a sign of mourning, not to appear in their togas.. The rabbis said, they stood up³³⁵They translate “the inhabitants of the land” as: “those sitting on the earth”.. Rebbi Yudan bar Shalom said, they pointed with their fingers and said, “a heavy mourning is that for Egypt”. ³³⁶The entire paragraph is a sermon in honor of the local burial society. Now these who did no act of kindness with their hands or feet; look what the Holy One, praise to Him, did reward them with; Israel who are used to do acts of kindness with their hands or feet for their great and their little ones, [they deserve] so much more!

³³⁷Line 1 in the editio princeps. This sermon is an appendix to the preceding one; also found in Gen. Rabba 100.Rebbi Abbahu said, these seventy days between letters and letters³⁷⁸Between Haman’s letters on Nisan 13 (Esth. 3:12) and Mordokhai”s letters of Sivan 23 (Esth. 8:9). If the months are alternatingly of 29 and 30 days, there are exactly 70 days between the dates. correspond to the seventy days in which the Egyptians performed kindness with our father Jacob³⁷⁹Gen. 50:3..

It is written³⁸⁰2S. 1:17–18.: “And David sang this elegy”, etc., “and said: To teach the people of Judah archery.” Is it reasonable that he had to teach the people of Judah, who was he³⁸¹Instead of מי היה, the Rome ms. reads נהיה; probably a corruption. The problem is that (1) the mention of Jehudah in a dirge about the slain of Benjamin is somewhat out of place, and (2) that David, who had a magic bow (Ps. 18:35), long ago was a teacher of archery. “He” refers to David.? But David said, when the just have disappeared, the haters come and attack Israel. “Is that not written in the book Yashar?” Two Amoraïm. One says, that is the book of Genesis. But the other said, that is the fifth of Numbers³⁸²In the Babli, Avodah Zarah 25a, R. Joḥanan identifies the book Yashar with Genesis, R. Eleazar with Deuteronomy. In the Babli, the book of Yashar is not a book of wars. “Fifth” is the standard rabbinic name for any one of the five books of the Pentateuch.. The one who said, this is the book of Genesis, is understandable³⁸³Since it records the victory of Abraham over the kings of the East.. But the one who said, that is the fifth of Numbers, what war is reported there? ³⁸⁴From here to the end of the paragraph, the text is also in Yoma 1:1, fol. 38b.“The Children of Israel travelled from the springs of Bene-Ya‘aqon to Mosera; there Aaron died³⁸⁵Deut. 10:6..” Did Aaron die at Mosera? Did he not die on Mount Hor? That is what is written: “Aaron the Cohen ascended Mount Hor and died there.³⁸⁶Num. 33:38.” But when Aaron died and the clouds of glory disappeared, the Canaanites desired to attack Israel. That is what is written: “The Canaanite, the king of Arad, dweller in the Southland, heard that Israel came by the way of the scouts.³⁸⁷Num. 33:40. The same interpretation is in the Babli, Roš Haššanah 3a. Cf. also Num. rabba 19(11), Tanḥuma Buber Ḥuqqat 42, Tanḥuma Ḥuqqat 18; Threni rabbati 1(64); Tosephta 11:1; Sifry Num. 82.” What is “the way of the scouts”? He heard that Aaron died, the great scout, who did scout the way for them³⁸⁸Since Aaron was responsible for the Ark which was the pathfinder (Num. 10:33).. They came and attacked them. Then Israel wanted to return to Egypt and travelled eight stations backward. The tribe of Levi ran after them and killed eight families from them³⁸⁹In the catalog of families in Num. 26, 8 families are missing compared to the enumeration of grandsons of Jacob in Gen. 46: 5 from Benjamin and 1 each from Simeon, Gad, and Asher.. They also killed four of their families. That is what is written: “The Amramite, the Yiṣharite, the Ḥebronite, the Uzielite.³⁹⁰1Chr. 26:23, an isolated verse seemingly without connection to what comes before and after. This is interpreted to mean that David took care to re-establish these families after they had been decimated. The only levitic family missing in the list of Num. 26 is Šim‘î.” When were they re-established? In David’s time. That is what is written: “In his days, the just will blossom³⁹¹Ps. 72:2.”. They said, what caused us all this bloodshed? They said, because we did not perform kindness for that just man. They went and organized a eulogy and performed kindness for that just man. The verse considers it as if he died and was buried there where they performed kindness for that just man.

“With him³²⁵Ex. 13:19.”. Rebbi Crispus in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: You do it for yourself³⁹²Moses brought Joseph’s coffin for himself, that God would do for him what he did for Joseph.. Rebbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina: A parable of a king who was marrying off his son. There came a prefect³⁹³Greek ἔπαρχος. to carry the litter³⁹⁴In which the bride was carried to the wedding ceremony; the organizers thought that being a litter carrier was beneath the dignity of the prefect., and they did not admit him. The king said, let him; tomorrow he will marry off his daughter and I can honor him the way he honored me. As it is written³⁹⁵Gen. 46:4.: “I shall descend with you to Egypt and I shall bring you up, also ascending.” Why does the verse say, “also ascending”? I shall bring you up and the other tribes also I shall bring up. That teaches that every tribe brought the bones of their ancestor with them³⁹⁶A slightly different interpretation in Gen. rabba 94(6)..

³⁹⁷Tosephta 4:8; Babli 13b, Sifry Num. 106. It was stated in the name of Rebbi Jehudah: If it had not been written, it would have been impossible to say: This teaches us that when Moses died, he was lying on the wings of the Shekhina³⁹⁸The Divine presence on Earth. Parallels about the burial of Moses, cf. Sifry Deut. 355,357, Midrash Tannaïm p. 224; Abot dR. Nathan (Schechter) A 12, B 25; Bet ha-Midrasch (Jellinek) vol. 1 p. 115, vol. 6 p. 71. about four miles, from the inheritance of the tribe of Reuben to the inheritance of the tribe of Gad, since he died in the inheritance of the tribe of Reuben and was buried in the inheritance of the tribe of Gad. From where that he died in the inheritance of the tribe of Reuben? Because it was said, “the tribe of Reuben built Ḥešbon, Elaleh, Qiryatayim, and Nebo.³⁹⁹Num. 32:38.” And it is written⁴⁰⁰Deut. 32:49.: “Ascend this ‘Abarim mountain, the Mountain of Nebo, and die on the Mountain up which you will climb.” And from where that he was buried in the inheritance of the tribe of Gad? For it was said⁴⁰¹Deut. 33:20–21.: “To Gad he said, praised be He Who enlarges Gad, etc. For there the part of the lawgiver is hidden.” The Holy One, praise to Him, added: “He came at the head of the people.” The angels of the service said, “he executed the justice of the Eternal”, and Israel were saying, “and His laws with Israel.⁴⁰²Since one cannot assume that Moses praised himself.” All together were saying: “⁴⁰³Is. 57:2. A fitting end of a sermon of consolation of mourners. May he come in peace, may they rest on their couches, he goes in His pleasure.”