The vine, or rather the vineyard, has served since time immemorial as
the image of Israel (see Isa 5:1ff.; 27:2ff.; Jer 2:21; 12:10ff.; Ezek 17:5ff.;
Ps 89:9ff.). The individual can also be compared with the vine (see Gen 49:22
and Ps 128:3).
The most detailed comparison of Israel with a vine is contained in the
tastes of a later era in Lev. Rab. 36 (133A): “I will remember my covenant with
Jacob” (Lev 26:42). This is what is written in Ps 80:9: “You brought a vine out
of Egypt.” Just as one does not plant a vine on a place with many rocks, but
examines the place under it and then plants it, so also “you have driven out
nations and planted it” (Ps 80:9). Like a vine, the more one removes under it
(clearing the ground and planting it), the more excellent it becomes, so it was
with the Israelites: “You cleared away” every king before them, and after that
“it put down its roots and filled the land” (Ps 80:10). Just as the vine is not
planted in disorder, but in rows, so also the Israelites also formed individual
banners; see Num 2:2, “Each one by his banner, by the signs of his fathers’
house.” As the vine is the lowest of all trees, and yet becomes master of all,
so also the Israelites appear as low in this world, but in the future (i.e., in
the messianic age) they will gain possession from one end of the world to the
other. Just as the best shoots grow up from the vine and conquer who knows how
many trees, so also a righteous man comes up from Israel and rules from one end
of the world to the other; see Gen 42:6, “Joseph was the ruler of the land”;
Josh 6:27, “Yahweh was with Joshua, such that the rumor of him went through the
whole land”; 1 Chr 14:17, “The name of David went out into all the lands”; 1
Kgs 5:1, “Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms”; Esther 9:4, “For Mordecai was
great in the king’s house.” Just as the leaves of the vine cover the grapes, so
also those ignorant of the law (the ‘amme
ha-areṣ) among the Israelites cover the scholars. Just as there are large
and small grapes on the vine, and the larger seem to be lower than the others,
so also in Israel every one of them who wrestles with the Torah and is greater
in the Torah than the other seems to be lower (humbler) than the other. As the
vine is obligated to three praises, so also the Israelites are blessed daily
with three blessings: “May Yahweh bless you and keep you!”; “May Yahweh make
his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you!”; “May Yahweh turn his
face toward you and grant you peace!” Just as there are grapes and raisins on
the vine, so there are scribes, those who recount the Mishnah, those who
recount the Talmud, and those who recount the Haggadah among the Israelites.
Just as there is wine and vinegar on the vine, and the one requires praise,
while the other does not require praise, so the Israelites must praise the good
and praise the bad. About the good, they say, “Praise be to the good and the
benevolent הטוב
והמטיב!” And about the bad, they
say, “Blessed by the true judge דײן האמת!”
Just as the face of everyone who drinks from it lights up when wine is drunk,
while the teeth of everyone who does not drink from it (but enjoys it in the
grapes) become dull, so everyone who comes and gets involved מזדווג with Israel finally takes what is his from
their hands. As the vine is trodden under foot in the beginning (as a grape in
the wine press) and after that comes to the table of the kings, the Israelites
also appear as despised in this world; as it says in Lam 3:14, “I have been a
mockery to all my people, the laughingstock of their taunts all day,” but in
the future age “Yahweh will make you the highest of all the nations” (Deut
28:1). See further at Isa 49:23, “Kings will be your keepers and their princesses
your nurses. As the vine rises (wins) with every transfer (to better soil), so
also the Israelites become more numerous than any kingdom. (The rendering of
the words here is doubtful.) As the vine is pulled over great cedars, so it is
with the Israelites; see Ps 80:11, “The mountains were covered with his shadow
and the vines with the cedars of God.” As the vine leans on a reed (a pole), so
the Israelites lean on the merit of the Torah, which is written with a reed. As
the keeper of the vine stands on an elevated place, so also the keeper of
Israel is above; see Ps 121:4f., “Behold, the keeper of Israel does not sleep,”
neither does the keeper of the vine. Just as the vine rests on dry wooden
sticks while it itself is fresh, so the Israelites rely on the merit of their
fathers, even though they are asleep. This is what is written in Lev 26:42, “I
will remember my covenant with Jacob.”—A parallel passage can be found in Midr.
Sam. 16, at the beginning (Hermann L. Strack and Paul Billerbeck, A
Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Midrash, ed. Jacob N.
Cerone, 4 vols. [trans. Andrew Bowden and Joseph Longarino; Bellingham, Wash.:
Lexham Press, 2022], 2:648-49)
