תנו רבנן שתי שנים ומחצה נחלקו בית שמאי ובית הלל הללו אומרים נוח לו לאדם שלא נברא יותר משנברא והללו אומרים נוח לו לאדם שנברא יותר משלא נברא נמנו וגמרו נוח לו לאדם שלא נברא יותר משנברא עכשיו שנברא יפשפש במעשיו ואמרי לה ימשמש במעשיו
The Sages taught: For two and a half years, the School of Shammai and the School of Hillel disagreed. One said: It would have been preferable had humans not been created rather than been created. And the other said: It is preferable for humans to have been created rather than not been created. Ultimately, they were counted and concluded: It would have been preferable had humans not been created rather than been created. However, now that they have been created, they should examine their actions. And some say: They should investigate their actions.
Questions for guidance, consideration and reflection:
- Why do you think the Schools of Hillel and Shammai were even discussing the question in the first place?
- Note that it says it would have been “preferable” (noach) rather than, say, “good” (tov) that humans were or were not created. What is the difference?
- When the text says “they were counted and concluded,” there are two understandings of what this might mean. The first is that they simply counted up the rabbis and their opinions and there were a majority who believed humans should not have been created. Another, more accepted reading, is that they counted up the number of negative commandments (“thou shall not…”) and positive commandments (“Thou shall…”) in the Torah. And since there are more negative commandments, in other words, more prohibitions and checks on human behavior, then that means humans should not have been created. Is this fair? Do we need more rules telling us what not to do rather than what to do?
- Once they decide humans should not have been created, there are two opinions as to what we should do. We should “examine” (y’pashpesh) our deeds and we should “investigate” (y’mashmesh) our deeds. One understanding of this is the first refers to past actions and the other to future actions. What does it mean to examine and investigate our deeds in light of the conclusion that humans should not have been created?
- How does this text impact your own sense of self? Of humanity as a whole? Of Yom Kippur?