Maor VaShemesh

In the midrash: "I have set My bow (keshet) in the cloud" — "et keshiyoti," meaning something that is "muksheh" (comparable/equated) to Me — is that possible? Rather, it means "kashin de-peira," the stalks/straw of the produce. End of the words of the midrash; see Matnat Kehunah.

This midrash is very puzzling. It seems the simple explanation is as follows. It is stated in the midrash: "Ein ka-Eloheinu" — "mi ka-Eloheinu," meaning: there is none like our G-d. But the tzaddik (righteous person) is called "mi" — "who is like our G-d" — in that the Holy One, blessed be He, decrees, and the tzaddik (righteous person) nullifies the decree, as is explained in all the sefarim (books). Now, the essential purpose of the rainbow in the cloud is a sign of the nullification of decree. But when there is a tzaddik (righteous person) in the generation, the rainbow is not needed, as is explained in the Gemara, Ketubot, in the story of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, in whose days no rainbow was seen, for they nullified evil decrees and had no need for the rainbow. This is what the midrash means: "I have set My bow (keshet) in the cloud" — "et keshiyoti" — this refers to the tzaddik (righteous person), who is equated, as it were, with the Holy One, blessed be He, in that he nullifies evil decrees just as the Holy One, blessed be He, does. This is the meaning of "muksheh li" — he resembles Me, so to speak, in nullifying evil decrees just as We do.

The midrash then asks: "Is that possible?" — meaning, is it possible that the tzaddik (righteous person) is truly comparable to the Holy One, blessed be He? And it answers: "Rather, kashin de-peira" — meaning, just as the stalk of the produce is secondary to the produce, so too the tzaddik (righteous person) is secondary to the Holy One, blessed be He. Nevertheless, in this matter he resembles the Holy One, blessed be He — in nullifying evil decrees — and there is no need for the rainbow in his days.

And this is readily understood.