Theologically Provocative Sugyot from the Talmud - Lesson 1
Rosh Hashanah 16a
Mishnah
The opening Mishnah is the second Mishnah of the Masechet. It distinguishes four distinctive periods of the year when the world is judged. It associated four different festivals of the year with judgments: the three pilgrimage festivals are linked to three distinctive agricultural periods and Rosh HaShanah, Yom HaDin, is appointed the Day ofJudgment for human beings.
Read the Mishnah through a first time!
First of all notice that this particular Mishnah is anonymous. We call this phenomenon "סתם משנה".
Note that each of these days is a festival and a special prayer day.
Sources
משנה.
1. בארבעה פרקים העולם נידון:
2. בפסח על התבואה,
3. בעצרת על פירות האילן,
4. בראש השנה – כל באי עולם עוברין לפניו כבני מרון,
5. שנאמר (תהלים לג:טו) היצר יחד לבם המבין אל כל מעשיהם,
6. ובחג נידונין על המים.
גמרא.
סוגיא א
1. [שאלה]
הי תבואה?
2. [תשובה שנדחית]
אילימא הא תבואה דקיימה – כל הני הרפתקי דעדו עלה אימת איתדון?
3. [תשובה]
אלא: תבואה דמזדרעא.
סוגיא ב
1. [קושיא]
למימרא דחד דינא מתדנא?
והתניא: תבואה שאירע בה קרי או אונס קודם הפסח – נידונית לשעבר, לאחר הפסח – נידונית להבא. אדם שאירע בו קרי או אונס קודם יום הכפורים – נידון לשעבר, לאחר יום הכפורים – נידון להבא!
2. [מסקנה מן הקושיא - מימרא]
אמר רבא: שמע מינה תרי דיני מתדנא.
3. [מימרא]
אמר אביי: הלכך, כי חזי אינש דמצלח זרעא אפלא – ליקדים וליזרע חרפא, דעד דמטי למדייניה – קדים סליק.
סוגיא ג
1. [שאלה]
מני מתניתין?
לא רבי מאיר, ולא רבי יהודה, ולא רבי יוסי,ולא רבי נתן.
דתניא:
– הכל נידונים בראש השנה, וגזר דין שלהם נחתם ביום הכפורים, דברי רבי מאיר.
– רבי יהודה אומר: הכל נידונין בראש השנה וגזר דין שלהם נחתם כל אחד ואחד בזמנו;
בפסח על התבואה, בעצרת על פירות האילן,בחג נידונין על המים, ואדם נידון בראש השנה וגזר דין שלו נחתם ביום הכפורים.
– רבי יוסי אומר: אדם נידון בכל יום, שנאמר (איוב ז:יח) ותפקדנו לבקרים.
– רבי נתן אומר: אדם נידון בכל שעה, שנאמר (שם שם שם) לרגעים תבחננו.
2. [תשובה שנדחית]
וכי תימא לעולם רבי יהודה היא,
וכי קתני מתניתין אגזר דין – אי הכי, קשיא אדם!
3. [תשובה]
אמר רבא: האי תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל היא.
דתנא דבי רבי ישמעאל: בארבעה פרקים העולם נידון: בפסח על התבואה, בעצרת על פירות האילן, בחג נידונין על המים, ואדם נידון בראש השנה וגזר דין שלו נחתם ביום הכפורים.
וכי קתני מתניתין – אתחלת דין.
MISHNAH.
1. AT FOUR SEASONS [DIVINE] JUDGMENT IS PASSED ON THE WORLD:
2. AT PASSOVER IN RESPECT OF PRODUCE;
3. AT SHAVUOT IN RESPECT OF FRUIT;
4. AT NEW YEAR ALL CREATURES PASS BEFORE HIM [GOD] LIKE CHILDREN OF MARON (Bnai Maron),
5. AS IT SAYS, "HE THAT FASHIONS THE HEART OF THEM ALL, THAT CONSIDERS ALL THEIR DOINGS" (PSALM 33:15);
6. AND ON TABERNACLES JUDGMENT IS PASSED IN RESPECT OF RAIN.
GEMARA.
1. [Shealah]
Which produce is referred to?
2. [Teshuvah which is rejected]
Shall I say, the produce which is already grown?
If so, then when were the hardships decreed which it had already suffered?
3. [Teshuvah]
Rather, it must be then the produce which is to be sown later.
1. [Kushiyah]
You assume then that only one judgment is passed.
But it has been taught (in a baraita): "If some calamity or misfortune happens to produce before Passover, it is by virtue of a judgment passed on the previous Passover; if after Passover, of a judgment passed at the Passover which has just gone.
If a calamity or misfortune happens to a man before the Day of Atonement, it is by virtue of a judgment passed on the last Day of Atonement, if just after the Day of Atonement, of a judgment passed on the one just gone"!
2. [Meimra - conclusion to the kushiyah]
Raba replied: This shows that two judgments are passed on the produce.
3. [Meimra]
Abaye remarked: Therefore if a man sees that the slow-maturing seed is doing well he should sow the quick-maturing seed quickly, so that it may be well grown before the time comes to judge it.
1. [Shealah]
Who authored the above Mishnah?
Our Mishnah does not agree with R. Meir,nor with R. Judah, nor with R. Jose, nor with R. Nathan.
For it has been taught (in a baraita):
– All are judged on New Year and their sentences are sealed on the Day or Atonement", so according to Rabbi Meir.
– R. Judah says: All are judged on New Year and their separate sentence are sealed each in its time; on Passover with respect to produce, on Shavuot with respect of fruit, on Sukkot judgment is passed with respect to rain, and man is judged on New Year and his sentence is sealed on the Day of Atonement.
– R. Jose says: Man is judged every day, as it says: "And thou dost visit him every morning". (Job 7:18)
– R. Nathan says: Man is judged every moment, as it says: You try him every moment. (Ibid.)
2. [Teshuva which is rejected]
And if you should maintain that it is after all in accordance with Rabbi Judah,
When the Mishnah refers to the final judgment, [we may retort that] if so there is a difficulty with the case of man!
3. [Teshuva]
Raba replied: This Tanna [of our Mishnah] follows the Tanna of the school of R. Ishmael, since it has been taught in (a baraita of) the school of R. Ishmael:
"At four seasons judgment is passed on the world, on Passover in respect of produce, on Shavuot with respect to fruit, on Sukkot, judgment is passed with respect to rain, and man is judged on New Year and his sentence is sealed on the Day of Atonement".
The statements of the Mishnah must then be taken to refer to the preliminary judgment.
Guide Questions and Issues
1. What prompts the association between each day of judgment and the particular festival?
2. Does this approach make sense? Why?
3. Do you notice any days that you would have added to the Mishnah's list?
4. What issues would you raise with this Mishnah?
5. Are there religious questions you would raise regarding this Mishnah?
I just want to note that the agricultural links are roughly related to the seasons of the holidays but we will spend more time on that later when we get to the Talmud; Pesach: grain; Shavuot: fruit; Sukkot: water. I just want to plant the seeds (bad pun intended!) now.
I do want to spend some time on the Rosh Hashanah reference in the Mishnah not so much for the issues that the Talmud will bring up in order to get at its basic meaning.
Rosh Hashanah is described by the Mishnah as the day when "all of those who come to the world pass before Him like "'bnai maron'". This term is not easily understood and its meaning will be taken up in the Talmud. We will deal with the Talmud's explanations when we come to them. I want to say a word or two about the "plain meaning” of this term. Its meaning is difficult because it was probably a Greek loan word whose meaning was lost. This led sages to conjecture meanings. In good manuscripts of the Mishnah,the word reads: "כבנו מרון", which scholars today conjecture to be "like a numerous". A "numerous" in Greek means “a military unit”. This makes sense of the verse(s) quoted in the Mishnah.
The verse quoted in the Mishnah is Psalm 33:15 but we really need both verses 14 and 15 to understand the Mishnah. (It is not unusual for rabbinic sources to quote Scripture in an abbreviated fashion.
משמים הביט ה' ראה את כל בני האדם :
ממכון שבתו השגיח אל כל ישבי הארץ :
From His dwelling place He gazes on all the inhabitants of the earth;
He who fashions the hearts of them all, who discerns all their doings.
As you can see this interpretation works nicely!
Talmud
Sugya 1
This small sugya is dealing with the first part of the Mishnah, namely, that the grain harvest is judged on Pesach. It asks what seems to be a simple question: What are we praying for? If you pray for grain that is already growing, then what about what has already grown. [You can't influence that, so the prayers would be in vain.] Therefore we must conclude that our prayer would have to be over what has not happened yet; namely, that which will be planted after Pesach.
Notice how this sugya is built: An informational question, an answer introduced by the word "אילימא" which indicates that the answer will not stand, then an explanation why this answer is not reasonable and finally what appears to be a reasonable answer.
1. We learn from this discussion that the Mishnah does not specify over what we should be praying.The Talmud makes us realize that the Mishnah's praying seasons do not exactly mesh with the growing seasons.
2. It also raises the issue of what one can and what cannot pray for.
Elaborate.
Sugya 2
This sugya is a continuation of the previous one. It challenges the premise of the whole discussion.
1. The challenge is based on a baraita (another Tanaitic teaching) which attempts to contend with a very real problem in the analysis found in the first sugya.
a. What is the problem?
b. How does it contradict the analysis of the Mishnah found in the previous sugya?
2. See if you answer in b agrees with that of Rava in step 2. Rava sums up the contradiction derived from the baraita.
a. Is there a larger theological question looming in this challenge?
b. The Talmud seemingly accepts the crux of this challenge. What do you think?
3. Abaye and Rava are contemporaries and usually are in debate mode, but not here. Here, Abaye, draws practical conclusions from the points raised in 1 and 2.
How do I know Abaye is not contradicting Rava. Aside from the content of his words, the Talmud gives us a clue. If Abaye was contradicting Rava the word "אמר" would follow his name. Here, it precedes his name, indicating that he concurs.
What is Abaye's practical advice? Does it have any application for us?
Sugya 3
1. Remember, we noted above that this Mishnah is a סתם משנה. Well, our current sugya seeks to rectify that situation by trying to figure out who might be the author of the opinion found in the Mishnah. This will take some detective work. The Talmud will look for other sources which might give us a clue as to who might hold the same opinion as the Mishnah.
I would just like to note that this search is not empirical. The Talmud is using reason (סברא) to try to deduce who might be the author.
In this step,the Talmud will try to determine who the author of the Mishnah is. It brings a baraita which brings has a slew of sages chiming in with their opinions on when and how the world is judged. From this collection, the Talmud will try to determine which matches that in the Mishnah.
The baraita brings 4 different opinions:
1. Rabbi Meir: All judgment on Rosh Hashanah; All sentencing on Yom Kippur.
2. Rabbi Judah: All judgment on Rosh Hashanah; All sentences each at its appropriate time, including sentencing for people on Yom Kippur.
3. Rabbi Yossi: People are judged every day.
4. Rabbi Natan: People are judged every moment.
1. Describe the innovation in each of the opinions and whether any of them mesh with the opinion of the Mishnah.
2. Who’s opinion played a crucial role in our ritual life during the month of Tishrei?
3. Do any of these opinions pose a problem for the structure of our ritual lives?
4. Which opinion seems to you most reasonable and why?
I want to focus for a moment on opinions 3 and 4 since these two opinions bring proof verses from Scripture.
Look up the verse being used (Job 7:18). What does it mean in context? How is it being used here.
2. This step is introduced by the term "כי תימא" which means "if you should say". This term indicates an answer which will be rejected. In this case the Talmud wants to test a match between Rabbi Judah, from the baraita and the opinion in our Mishnah.
On the face of it, Rabbi Judah's opinion looks closest to that of the Mishnah of all of the opinions in the baraita.
a. When does judgment and sentencing occur according to the Mishnah.
b. What about in the baraita?
c. Does Rabbi Judah seem to be the author of the Mishnah?
3. The Amora , Rava offers us another baraita which is meant to settle our question. This baraita is brought in the name of the school of Rabbi Ishmael.
Note here that Rava's comments are in Aramaic but the baraita which he brings is in Hebrew. After he brings the baraita, Rabbi makes a comment on the baraita which is again in Aramaic.
a. Review this baraita. Does it mesh with the opinion of the Mishnah?
b. How about after Rava modifies the baraita's meaning?
General Questions to Consider
1. The material that we studied this week offers a number of different opinions regarding the question of when the world is judged during the year. The Mishnah offered an opinion which sited specific times for God's judgment on specific things.
Is the Talmud content with the Mishnah's assessment?
2. The Talmud brings a baraita with opinions which totally contradict the Mishnah. What are the theological advantages and disadvantages of each different opinion?
3. Which assessment plays a role in our lives as Jews?
4. Which one is right?