## Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Re'eh

###### Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Re'eh 9:1
[Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Re'eh 9:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Midrash%20Tanchuma%20Buber/s/Re%27eh/r/9:1)

כבד את ה' מהונך ומראשית כל תבואתך (משלי ג ט), שאם היית נאה, אל תהי פרוץ בעריות, שלא יהו הבריות אומרים איש פלוני נאה ואינו כגדור מן הערוה, על שם כבד את ה' מהונך.

**Midrash Tanhuma, S. Buber Recension; trans. by John T. Townsend, 1989.:**
(Prov. 3:9:) HONOR THE LORD WITH YOUR SUBSTANCE AND WITH THE FIRST FRUITS OF ALL YOUR PRODUCE. Thus if you are handsome, do not be shameless in sexual matters, lest people say: So and so is handsome but not restrained in sexual matters. For that reason, HONOR THE LORD WITH YOUR SUBSTANCE.¹⁹., Deut. 4:12; *PRK* 10:3; *PR* 25:2.

footnotes:
¹⁹ Tanh


###### Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Re'eh 9:2
[Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Re'eh 9:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Midrash%20Tanchuma%20Buber/s/Re%27eh/r/9:2)

ד"א [כבד את ה' מהונך], אם היה קולך ערב, הוי פורס על שמע, ועובר לפני התיבה, על שם כבד את ה' מהונך [ממה שחננך].

**Midrash Tanhuma, S. Buber Recension; trans. by John T. Townsend, 1989.:**
Another interpretation (of Prov. 3:9): [HONOR THE LORD WITH YOUR SUBSTANCE.] If your voice is pleasant, recite the *Shema*', and cross over before the Ark (to lead in the recitation), because of the teaching, HONOR THE LORD WITH YOUR SUBSTANCE, [with whatever he has endowed you].


###### Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Re'eh 9:3
[Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Re'eh 9:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Midrash%20Tanchuma%20Buber/s/Re%27eh/r/9:3)

[חייא בר אדא, בר אחתיה דבר קפרא, היה קולו ערב, והיה בר קפרא אומר לו, בני פרוס על שמע, ועובר לפני התיבה, על שם כבד את ה' מהונך, ממה שחננך. ד"א כבד את ה' מהונך, עבוד בהונך, עד דלא תעבוד בלא הונך].

**Midrash Tanhuma, S. Buber Recension; trans. by John T. Townsend, 1989.:**
[Hiyya bar Adda, the son of bar Qappara's sister, had a pleasant voice; so bar Qappara said to him: My son, recite the *Shema*', and cross over before the Ark (to lead in the recitation), because of the teaching, HONOR THE LORD WITH YOUR SUBSTANCE, with whatever he has endowed you. Another interpretation (of Prov. 3:9): HONOR THE LORD WITH YOUR SUBSTANCE. Serve him with your substance, before you are serving him without substance (i.e., in poverty).]²⁰ (Philadelphia: JPSA, 1975), p. 189, n. 12. They find a wordplay in the Hebrew word for “substance” and translate the last sentence thus: “Honor Him while you have your wits, before you are led to do foolish things after you have lost your wits.”

footnotes:
²⁰ For another interpretation of the section, see William G. Braude and Israel J. Kapstein, Pesikta de-Rav Kahana


###### Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Re'eh 9:4
[Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Re'eh 9:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Midrash%20Tanchuma%20Buber/s/Re%27eh/r/9:4)

מעשה באחד שהיה כונס יין ושמן, ולא היה מוציא מעשרותיו כראוי, מה עשה לו הקב"ה, הכניס בו רוח תזזית (פי' רוח רעה), ונטל את המקל, והתחיל משבר את החביות, גער בו בן ביתו, מה עשה לו, נטל המקל ופצעו על ראשו, א"ל תחות מסייעתי את אנא גער בך, א"ל תן לי המקל ואני משבר, נתן לו את המקל, הוה מתב ראיהו חדא, הוה מתב ראיהו תרתי, מי גרם לו על ידי שלא (הוא) הוציא מעשרותיו כראוי.

**Midrash Tanhuma, S. Buber Recension; trans. by John T. Townsend, 1989.:**
There is a story about a person who amassed wine and oil but did not take out his tithes properly. What did the Holy One do to him? He put a squally windy {i.e., an evil spirit} in him, so that he took a staff and began to smash the wine and oil jars. His steward rebuked him. What did he do to him? He took the staff and cracked him on his head. He said to him: Instead of helping me, you—. I am rebuking you.²¹ 10:2; *Yalqut Shim‘one*, *Re’eh,* 892; ibid., Prov., 932; and *Tanh*., Deut. 4:12 (most editions), all of which read: “Instead of helping me, you have rebuked me”; however, the first edition of the traditional Tanhuma (Constantinople, 1520–22) has a reading not unlike the Buber text. He said to him: Give me the staff, and I shall smash away. He gave him the staff. While the one was smashing one jar, the other was smashing two. What made this happen to him? It was because he had not taken out his tithes properly.

footnotes:
²¹ Cf. PRK


###### Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Re'eh 9:5
[Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Re'eh 9:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Midrash%20Tanchuma%20Buber/s/Re%27eh/r/9:5)

אמר ר' לוי מעשה באחד שהוציא מעשרותיו כראוי, והיה לו שדה אחחת, ונתן לו הקב"ה בלבו, ועשאה חצייה זרע, וחציה בית מקוה מים, ובאה שנת בצורת, והיה מזבין סאה חטין בסלע, וסאה מים בתלת סלעין, מי גרם לו על שהוציא מעשרותיו כראוי, לכך משה היה מזהיר את ישראל עשר תעשר.

**Midrash Tanhuma, S. Buber Recension; trans. by John T. Townsend, 1989.:**
R. Levi said: There is a story about a person who took out his tithes properly. Now he had a certain field, and the Holy One gave him a mind to prepare half of it for sowing and half as storage place for water. So when a year of drought came, he sold a *sea'h* of wheat for a *sela*' and a *se'ahs* of water for three *sela's.* What made this happen to him? It was because he had taken out his tithes properly. For that reason Moses warned Israel (in Deut. 14:22): YOU SHALL SURELY TITHE.