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Emor

Who Surpasses Me I Will Pay

People would not be able to give anything to God if He did not first provide them with the wherewithal to do so.

Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said: A divine voice [bat kol] is destined to resonate on the mountain peaks and say: Let anyone who worked in cooperation with the Holy One, blessed be He, come and collect his reward. The divine spirit will proclaim: “Who surpasses Me? I will pay; everything beneath the heavens is Mine” (Job 41:3). Who praised Me before I instilled a soul in him? Who performed a circumcision before Me before I gave him a son? Who prepared fringes before Me before I gave him a garment? Who built a parapet before I gave him a roof? Who built a sukka before I gave him a place to build it? Who separated pe’a before I gave him a field? Who separated teruma and tithes for Me before I gave him a granary? Who presented an offering before Me before I gave him an animal? (Tanĥuma, Emor)