Sotah 37a (לז.) — the Talmud in English

jumped

the tribe of Benjamin, and descended into the sea first.

As it is stated [Psalms 68:25]: “

When they saw Your procession, O God, the procession of my God, my King, in holiness. Then the leaders went first, the Israelites went first to recite song, followed by those who play instruments, and after them the angels, among maidens playing timbrels, these are Miriam and her maidens. In assemblies, bless God, the Lord, from the source of Israel; even those still passing through their mother’s womb recited song”]—

There,

on the sea,

Benjamin,

the

youngest,

was made

ruler

the dalet is vocalized with a tzere, and it is equivalent to vocalization with a kamatz, meaning that he ruled over them. Since he jumped into the sea, Benjamin merited that Saul should emerge from him, and he was king over Israel]”.

Do not read

the

word “

ruler,”

but rather “

the sea descended.”

And the princes of Judah

were jealous of them, and

stoned them

with stones,

as it is stated in the continuation of the verse: “

[in the continuation of the verse]: “

The princes of Judah stoned them

they were stoning them; and likewise the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali]”.

Therefore righteous Benjamin merited becoming a host

a lodging place

for the Divine Presence,

since the Holy of Holies was built in his portion,

as it is stated: “And to Benjamin he said: The beloved of the Lord shall dwell securely beside Him; He protects him all day long

and

dwells between his shoulders.”

Rabbi Judah said to

Rabbi Meir:

That is not how the incident occurred!

Rather,

the

one tribe said: “

I will not descend first

into the sea

until it has split,” and

the

tribe

said: “

I will not descend first into the sea.”

Nachshon son of Amminadav jumped in,

from the tribe of Judah,

and descended into the sea first.

As it is stated: “

Ephraim surrounds Me with deceit, and the House of Israel with treachery

Ephraim and the House of Israel surround Me with deceit and treachery, for they were afraid to rely upon the Holy One, blessed be He, and denied their faith in Him],

but Judah

however, Judah

still descends with God

descended into the sea with his trust in God]”.

And concerning him it is explicitly stated in the Writings

Psalms 69:1]: “

For the leader, on the roses, by David.

Save me, God, for the waters have reached my soul.

I have sunk in the mire of the deep, and there is no foothold

there is no place to stand; I have entered the depths of the waters, and the current [the forceful flood of the waters] swept me away,” and it is written there: “

Do not let the current of waters sweep me away, and do not let the deep swallow me;

and do not let the pit close its mouth over me”.

At that moment Moses was prolonging his prayer. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: My beloved ones are drowning in the sea, and you are prolonging your prayer before Me!?

Moses said before Him,

Moses:

Master of the Universe! What can I do!?

He said to him,

the Holy One, blessed be He, to Moses: “[And the Lord said to Moses: Why do you cry out to Me?

Speak to the Children of Israel, and let them journey forth.

And you, raise your staff and extend your hand

over the sea and split it, and the Children of Israel shall come into the midst of the sea on dry land]”.

Therefore Judah merited—

for Nachshon son of Amminadav was from his tribe—

to exercise sovereignty over Israel,

for the dynasty of David emerged from him.

As it is stated: “

When Israel went out of Egypt, the House of Jacob from a people of a foreign tongue.

Judah became His sanctuary, Israel His dominions.

The sea saw and fled; the Jordan turned backward”—

What is the reason that “

Judah became His sanctuary

and” “

Israel His dominions”?

That is, why was Judah sanctified so that Israel would be His dominions?

Because “

the sea saw and fled.”

Here the Gemara returns to the matter of the blessings and curses of the Levites:

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says:

It is impossible to say

that the entire tribe of

Levi was below

between the two mountains, Gerizim and Ebal—

for it was already stated

in Scripture that the tribe of Levi was

above

on Mount Gerizim, as it is stated [Deuteronomy 27:12]: “These shall stand to bless the people on Mount Gerizim when you cross the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin”.

And

also

it is impossible to say

that the entire tribe of Levi was

above

on Mount Gerizim—

for it was already stated

concerning them that they were

below

between the two mountains, as it is stated in the Book of Joshua [8:33]: “And all Israel, its elders, officers, and judges, stood on either side of the Ark, facing the Levitical priests who carried the Ark of the covenant of the Lord, the stranger as well as the citizen; half of them facing Mount Gerizim and half of them facing Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded, to bless the people of Israel first”.

How then

are these two verses to be reconciled?

The elders of the priesthood and the Levites

were

below

between the two mountains,

and the rest

of the tribe of Levi were

above.

Rabbi Yoshiyya says:

Everyone fit to minister

to carry the Ark from the tribe of Levi—that is, from the age of thirty until the age of fifty—was

below, and the rest

of the tribe of Levi were

above.

Rabbi—

who disagrees with what we learned, that six tribes stood on Mount Gerizim and six tribes stood on Mount Ebal—

says:

Both these and those—

all Israel and all the Levites—

stood below

between the two mountains. Rather,

they turned their faces toward Mount Gerizim and began with the blessing.

And they turned their faces

toward Mount Ebal and began with the curse.

And

what does “

These shall stand to bless the people

on Mount Gerizim” mean, and “these shall stand

on

the curse

Mount Ebal”?

Mount Ebal”? "

“On”

means

adjacent to.

And where do we find that “on” means adjacent to?

As it was taught:

It is written concerning the mitzva of the showbread: “You shall take choice flour and bake twelve loaves of it; two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf. You shall place them in two rows, six to a row, on the pure table before the Lord.

And you shall place pure frankincense on the row

and it shall be for the bread as a memorial portion, a fire-offering to the Lord”.

Rabbi says:

“On”

the row does not mean upon it, but

adjacent

to the row—that is, on the table between the two rows.

Can you say that “on” means adjacent, or perhaps it means literally upon?

That is, where do we find that “on” means adjacent?!

When it says

[Exodus 40:3]: “You shall place there [in the Tabernacle] the Ark of the Pact,

and screen the Ark

with the curtain,” it is impossible to explain this according to its simple meaning, that one should place it upon the Ark, since the curtain is a partition between the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies, as it is stated [Exodus 26:33]: “You shall hang the curtain under the clasps, and bring the Ark of the Pact there, behind the curtain; and the curtain shall serve you as a partition between the Holy and the Holy of Holies”.

You must say:

“On”

means

adjacent.

We learned in the Mishna:

They turned their faces toward Mount Gerizim

and began with the blessing: “Blessed is the man who does not make a sculpted image or a molten image,” and both these and those answered: Amen. They turned their faces toward Mount Ebal and began with the curse: “Cursed is the man who makes a sculpted image or a molten image,” and both these and those answered: Amen, until they completed the blessings and curses:

After the curses concerning several mitzvot, which are called “the specific curse,” it is written: “Cursed is the one who does not uphold the words of this Torah to do them.” This is “the general curse,” which includes the entire Torah.

After the curses concerning several commandments, which are called “a specific curse,” it is written: “Cursed is the one who does not uphold the words of this Torah to perform them.” This is “a general curse,” which includes the entire Torah.

The Sages taught:

For every mitzva there was

a general blessing

and

a specific blessing,

and

a general curse

and

a specific curse. For just as they would say: “A general curse and a specific curse,” so too, with regard to the blessing, they would say: “Blessed is the one who upholds the words of this Torah to do them,” in addition to the blessings that they would say for each “specific curse”.

for just as they would say a general curse and a specific curse, so too, with the blessing they would say: “Blessed is the one who upholds the words of this Torah to perform them,” in addition to the blessings they would say for each specific curse.

Every mitzva has several components: 1.

to study; 2.

and

to teach; 3.

and

to safeguard; 4.

and

to perform,

and a covenant was made concerning all of them.