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midrash session 13
Anyway, we are now going to talk about the ram that's caught in the thicket.
(1) R' Eliezer said: from the hills he [the ram] came, that he was grazing [1] there. (2) R' Y'hoshua said: an angel caused him to come from Gan Eden and under the tree of life he was grazing, and he was drinking from the waters that pass under it, and the scent of the ram was wafing in all the world. (3) And when was he given in the garden? (4) At twilight [2] for the sixth day of creation.
(5) All that (the) day Avraham was seeing the ram, caught in this thicket and released and freed, caught in this bush and released and freed, caught in this thicket and released and freed. (6) The Holy One blessed be He said: Avraham, such are the futures of your sons[,] caught in their sins and "thicketed" [3] in kingdoms, from Bavel [Babylon] to Madai [Media], from Madai to Yavan [Greece], and from Yavan to Edom [4]. (7) He [Avraham] said before him: Master of the worlds! It will be thus forever? (8) He said to him: [in] the end they will be redeemed by the horn for this ram -- "Adonai, Adonai [5] in the shofar he will blow and he will walk in the storms of Teman". [6]
[1] The root for "graze" is the same as for "shepherd", but I can't parse out the reflexion in the grammar.
[2] "bein-hashmashot", literally "between suns".
[3] Alternatives welcome. :-)
[4] Allegorically Edom is Rome, but there was also a historical Edom closer to home. I think the rabbis writing this mean Rome.
[5] I had not seen this before. The first of the two words here is literally "Adonai" (lord); the second is the four-letter name of God, with the vowels from the word "Elohim" (another name for God) written in instead. If I understand correctly, this has something to do with not repeating the name of God? The Masorites are apparently responsible.
[6] I went looking for the proof-text, searching "Teman" in all of Nevi'im (prophets), but didn't turn it up. (I did find other uses of Teman, though, so I'm pretty sure I'm not dealing with a spelling-in-transliteration problem.)
We're now at the second paragraph on the second image.
(9) R' Z'charyah said: [oto?] [7] the ram that was created at twilight was running and coming [8] to be sacrificed instead of Yitzchak, and Samuel (?) was standing and "sataning" in order to cancel Avraham Avinu's sacrifice, and two horns were caught between the trees. [We are to infer a causal relationship, I believe. Also, at least one interpretation says this was really the satan, but it says Samuel.] (10) What did the ram do [oto?]? (11) He extended his hand to the outer garment of Avraham. (12) Avraham looked? behind him and he saw the ram, and he extricated [9] him and he offered him instead of Yitzchak his son.
[7] I have a leftover word and don't know what to do with it.
[8] The rabbi translated this "to and fro", I think. Idiom?
[9] I'm taking someone's word for that.
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The word for shepherd is the present (participle?) for the verb resh-ayin-heh which involves herding/pasturing/grazing, so it's used to refer to someone who is currently or routinely does herding/pasturing/grazing.
[5] names of god: y-h-v-h was originally written w/o any vowels (since no words were written with vowels). When the written symbols for vowels were put in (by the Masorites), they put the vowels for "adonai" with the letters for y-h-v-h as a reminder of the word we say instead (I think this is where the idea that the word is pronounced "Jehovah" comes from, but I can't remember a source offhand; in any case, these are definitely not the original vowels). When the word before y-h-v-h is actually adonai, pronouncing y-h-v-h the same way would be confusing and grammatically bizarre, so it's gets pronounced elohim instead and the vowels for elohim are put there as a reminder.
no number, after [8] Samuel is the transliteration for Shmuel (shin-mem-vav-alef-lamed) - the name here is samach-mem-alef-lamed so it's not the same. Also, satan originally meant (roughly) prosecutor or presenter-of-evidence-against-someone (see above re shepherd - same sense of verb used as noun) and only later picked up the fallen angel story.
[9] (see morning brachot) "matir asurim" = frees the bound, so "freed him [from thicket]" = "extricated" makes sense.
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[5] Oh, so when reading I should pronounce it per the hint from the vowels? Interesting. I knew about the "Adonai" vowels and I "know" but can't cite the same thing about "Jehovah", but I hadn't thought to extend it to these vowels. Makes sense!
Samael -- oops. Thanks. That was just sloppy. :-(
[9] I didn't recognize "matir" without its mem. Since the mem isn't part of the root, I shouldn't have become so dependent on it. Fixed now, I think; now we see if it generalizes. :-)
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