Sifre Numbers

Sifre Numbers 99:2, 1–2

Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses [because of the Cushite woman he had married] (Numbers 12:1, NJPS).

Now how did Miriam know that Moses had separated from having sexual relations [with his wife Zipporah]? She saw that Zipporah was not adorning herself with women’s ornaments. She inquired, “Why are you not adorning yourself with women’s ornaments?”

She said to her, “Your brother is not meticulous in this matter [i.e., to have sexual relations].” In this way, Miriam understood, and she spoke to her brother [Aaron], and both of them spoke against him [Moses].

R. Nathan says: Miriam was standing next to Zipporah when it was said: And the youth ran [and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!”] (Numbers 11:27). When Zipporah heard the message, she said, “Woe to the wives of these men [who have become prophets, as they will now lose their husbands’ attention]!” In this way, Miriam understood, and she spoke to her brother [Aaron], and both of them spoke to him [Moses].

Now it is an argument a fortiori [qal va-ḥomer]: If Miriam—who intended to speak not to her brother’s detriment but to his credit, and not to decrease procreation but to increase it, and who spoke only in private—was punished, then if someone intends to speak to the detriment of his fellow and not to his credit, to decrease and not to increase procreation, and speaks not in private but in public, how much the more so [will such a one be punished]!

Now it is an argument a fortiori: If Uzziah the king, who had no intention of claiming greatness for his own honor but rather for the honor of his Creator, was punished as he was, then one who claims greatness for his own honor and not for the honor of his Creator—how much more so [will such a one be punished]!

Sifre Numbers 115:2

R. Nathan said: There is no commandment in the Torah, however light, whose reward is not given in this world. Go and learn this from the commandment to wear fringes [tzitzit].

There was a man who was assiduous about following the commandment to wear fringes. He heard that there was a certain prostitute in one of the coastal towns who took four hundred gold coins as her fee. He sent her four hundred gold coins, and she set an appointment for him.

When his time arrived, he came and sat at the entrance to her house. Her maid entered and told her, “That man with whom you set a meeting time is sitting at the entrance of the house.”

She said to her, “Let him come in.”

When he came in, she prepared seven beds for him of silver and one of gold, and she was on the uppermost [bed]. Between each one were silver ladders, and at the top, a gold one. When they arrived at the [sexual] deed, his four fringes came and appeared to him like four witnesses and slapped him in the face. Immediately he stopped and sat on the ground. She too stopped and sat on the ground.

She said to him, “By the capitol of Rome [an oath]! I will not let you go until you tell me what blemish you have found in me.”

He said to her, “By the Temple service [an oath]! I see no blemish in you at all, for there is no beauty like yours in all the world. But the Lord our God has imposed a light commandment on us and concerning [even that light matter] he wrote: I am the Lord your God . . . I am the Lord your God—two times (Numbers 15:41). [The first] I am the Lord your God [means] that in the future I will pay a good reward. [The second] I am the Lord your God [means] that in the future I will exact [punishment].

She said to him, “By the Temple service! I will not let you go until you write down your name, the name of your town, and the name of the school in which you study Torah for me.”

So he wrote down his name, the name of his town, and the name of his master, and the name of the school in which he studied Torah for her.

She arose and distributed all her wealth, a third to the government, a third to the poor, and a third she took with her and came and stood at the school house of R. Ḥiyya. She said to him, “My Master, convert me.” He said to her, “Perhaps you have laid eyes on one of the disciples [and wish to marry him]?” She took out and gave him the paper in her hand.

He said to him [the disciple who had paid the money but had not gone through with the act], “Stand and take possession of what you have purchased. Those beds that she laid out for you illicitly she will now lay out for you with permission.” That is the reward given in this world, and as for the world to come, I do not know the extent [of his reward]!

Sifre Numbers 119:4

There are three crowns: the crown of the Torah, the crown of the priesthood, and the crown of the kingdom. Aaron was worthy of the crown of the priesthood and took it. David was worthy of the crown of the kingdom and took it. Behold, the crown of the Torah remains, so that none of the inhabitants of earth shall have the pretext to say, “If the crown of the priesthood and the crown of the kingdom were available, I would have been worthy of them and would have attained them.” For the crown of the Torah is available for all those who come into the world. For God says, “Regarding the one who proves himself worthy [of that crown], I credit him as if all three were yet available and he had proven himself worthy of them all. And regarding everyone who does not prove himself worthy [of the crown], I credit him as if all three were yet available and he had proven himself worthy of none of them.”

Which is the greatest of the three crowns? R. Simeon b. Eleazar said: Who is greater—he who makes a king or the king? Surely, he who makes a king. Who is greater—he who appoints rulers or the rulers? Surely, he who appoints them. These other two crowns come to be only by the power of the Torah. This is as it says: By me kings reign, by me princes rule (Proverbs 8:15–16).