Pisqa’ 319¹

1

“You neglected² the Rock, Who spawned you” (Dt.32:18)—

Said to them the Blessed Holy One:

You treated Me like a male longing to give birth!

Now, were a woman in the midst of birthing,

straining on her birthing-stool,

wouldn’t she be in real pain?

As it is said:

“For the infants are ready for birthing,

but there is no strength left to give birth” (2Ki.19:3).

Now, were a woman in labor,

giving birth to her First-born,

wouldn’t she be in real pain?

And, accordingly, it is said:

“For I have heard a voice like that of a laboring woman

suffering through the birth of her First-born” (Jer.4:13).

Were there two in her belly,

wouldn’t she be in real pain?

Accordingly it is said:

“And the infants struggled within her” (Gn.25:22).

Now, [imagine] if this were a man—

who could not give birth, but longed to give birth—

wouldn’t his pain be doubled and re-doubled?

And, accordingly, it states:

“Go, now, ask and see: does a male give birth?” (Jer.30:6)

“You neglected the Rock, Who spawned you” (Dt.32:18)—

You forgot Me, [in your reliance] upon the merits of your Patriarchs.³

As it is said:

“Look to the Rock from which you were hewn. . .

Look back to Abraham, your father” (Is.51:1-2).

2

Another word:

“You neglected the Rock, Who spawned you” (Dt.32:18)—

whenever I desire to show you favor,

you disparage⁴ the Supernal Power:

When you stood at the Sea of Reeds, saying:

“This is my God, Whom I adore” (Gn.15:2),

and I desired to show you favor—

you changed your minds, saying:

“Let us appoint a leader to return us to Egypt” (Nu.14:4);

When you stood at Mount Sinai, saying:

“Whatever HASHEM says, we will obediently perform” (Ex.24:7),

and I desired to show you favor—

you changed your minds, saying to the Calf:

“This is your god, Israel!” (Ex.32:4)

So you see—

whenever I desire to show you favor,

you disparage the Supernal Power!

3

“And you forgot the God Who bore you”⁵ (Dt.32:18)—

R. Meir says:

The God Who bore you—

this is the God Who suffered over you.

Accordingly, is it said:

“Pain, like a woman in labor” (Ps.48:7).

R. Judah says:

Who made you full of aches and pains.

 

Another word:

“And you forgot the God Who bore you” (Dt.32:18)—

the God Who made His Name rest upon you,

as He has never done for any nation or kingdom.

And so He says:

“I am HASHEM . . . Who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Ex.20:2).

R. Nehemiah says:

The God Who weakens you

before the World’s inhabitants when you fail to observe the Torah.

And, similarly, He says:

“The voice of HASHEM is upon the waters” . . .
“The voice of HASHEM births the ewes (Ps.29:3-10).

Another word:

“And you forgot the God Who bore you” (Dt.32:18)—

The God Who forgives (mokhel)⁶ all your transgressions.

1. H:328-329;JN2:349-350.
2. Heb: teshi. From shayah, “to forget, abandon.” (BDB: p. 1009). Cf. the root, n-sh-h. “to forget” (BDB:674).
3. According to some translators, the syntax permits something like the following meaning: “would you have me forget the merits of your ancestors?” (so Basser, p. 128). See also, H:328: “You forgot me through the merits of the fathers” (and note, H:499, Pisqa’ 319, n. 2).
4. Heb: matish; from the same semantic field as teshi/shayah/nasheh. The assonance is deliberately cultivated.
5. Heb: mekholelekha; from the root, kh-w-l or kh`-y-l. Its transformations yield numerous senses, one of which (“to anguish, writhe, give birth, take ill”) appears prominently in the present word-play at 319.3.
6. Mokhel, formed from the root, m-kh-l, is related to words with the root, kh-w-l, by assonance alone.