Theologically Provocative Sugyot from the Talmud - Lesson 5
Rosh Hashanah 16b - Bottom
Sources
חלק א
1. [ברייתא]
תניא,
– בית שמאי אומרים:
שלש כתות הן ליום הדין: אחת של צדיקים גמורין,ואחת של רשעים גמורין, ואחת של בינוניים.
צדיקים גמורין – נכתבין ונחתמין לאלתר לחיי עולם,
רשעים גמורין – נכתבין ונחתמין לאלתר לגיהנם,
שנאמר (דניאל יב:ב) ורבים מישני אדמת עפר יקיצו אלה לחיי עולם ואלה לחרפות לדראון עולם,
בינוניים – יורדין לגיהנם ומצפצפין ועולין,
שנאמר (זכריה יג:ט) והבאתי את השלשית באש וצרפתים כצרף את הכסף ובחנתים כבחן את הזהב הוא יקרא בשמי ואני אענה אתו,
ועליהם אמרה חנה: (שמואל א ב:ו) ה’ ממית ומחיה מוריד שאול ויעל.
– בית הלל אומרים:
ורב חסד מטה כלפי חסד,
ועליהם אמר דוד (תהלים קטז:א) אהבתי כיישמע ה’ את קולי,
ועליהם אמר דוד כל הפרשה כולה: דלתי ולי יהושיע.
חלק ב
1. [המשך הברייתא]
– פושעי ישראל בגופן, ופושעי אומות העולם בגופן – יורדין לגיהנם, ונידונין בה שנים עשר חדש, לאחר שנים עשר חדש גופן כלה, ונשמתן נשרפת, ורוח מפזרתן תחת כפות רגלי צדיקים,
שנאמר (מלאכי ג:כא) ועסותם רשעים כי יהיו אפר תחת כפות רגליכם.
– אבל המינין, והמסורות, והמשומדים והאפיקורסים, שכפרו בתורה, ושכפרו בתחיית המתים, ושפירשו מדרכי צבור, ושנתנו חיתיתם בארץ חיים, ושחטאו והחטיאו את הרבים, כגון ירבעם בן נבט וחביריו – יורדין לגיהנם, ונידונין בה לדורי דורות,
שנאמר (ישעיהו סו:כד) ויצאו וראו בפגריהאנשים הפשעים בי וגו’
גיהנם כלה והן אינן כלין,
שנאמר (תהלים מט:טו) וצורם לבלות שאול(מזבל לו).
וכל כך למה – מפני שפשטו ידיהם בזבול,
שנאמר (שם שם שם) מזבל לו,
ואין זבול אלא בית המקדש,
שנאמר (מלכים א ח:יג) בנה בניתי בית זבללך,
ועליהם אמרה חנה (שמואל א ב:י) ה’ יחתו מריבו.
חלק ג
1. [מימרא]
אמר רבי יצחק בר אבין: ופניהם דומין לשולי קדירה.
2. [מימרא]
ואמר רבא: ואינהו משפירי שפירי בני מחוזא,ומקריין בני גיהנם.
חלק ד
1. [ציטוט מן הברייתא למעלה]
אמר מר: בית הלל אומרים: ורב חסד, מטה כלפי חסד.
2. [קושיא]
והכתיב: (זכריה יג:ט) והבאתי את השלשית באש.
3. [תירוץ]
התם בפושעי ישראל בגופן.
4. [קושיא]
פושעי ישראל בגופן?
והא אמרת לית להו תקנתא!
5. [תירוץ]
כי לית להו תקנה ברוב עונות,
הכא – מחצה עונות ומחצה זכיות, ואית בהונמי עון דפושעי ישראל בגופן, לא סגיא ליה דלאו והבאתי את השלישית באש, ואם לאו – ורבחסד מטה כלפי חסד,
חלק ה
1. [המשך הברייתא]
ועליהן אמר דוד (תהלים קטז:א) אהבתי כיישמע ה’.
2. [מימרא - דרשה לפסוק]
דרש רבא: מאי דכתיב אהבתי כי ישמע ה’,
אמרה כנסת ישראל לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא: רבונו של עולם, אימתי אני אהובה לפניך
בזמן שאתה שומע קול תחנוני.
דלתי ולי יהושיע,
אף על פי שדלה אני מן המצות – לי נאה להושיע.
חלק ו
1. [שאלה על הברייתא]
פושעי ישראל בגופן מאי ניהו?
2. [תשובה - מימרא]
אמר רב: קרקפתא דלא מנח תפילין.
3. [שאלה]
פושעי אומות העולם בגופן
4. [תשובה – מימרא]
אמר רב: בעבירה.
Part 1
1. [Baraita]
It has been taught [in a baraita]:
– Beth Shammai say,
There will be three groups at the Day of Judgment: one of thoroughly righteous, one of thoroughly wicked, and one of the intermediate.
The thoroughly righteous will forthwith be inscribed definitively as entitled to everlasting life;
The thoroughly wicked will forthwith be inscribed definitively as doomed to Gehinnom, as it says: "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to reproaches and everlasting abhorrence." (Daniel 12:2)
The intermediate will go down to Gehinnom and squeal and rise again, as it says: "And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name and I will answer them." (Zechariah 13:9)
Of them, too, Hannah said: "The Lord kills and revives; he brings down to the grave and brings up." (1 Samuel 2:6)
– Beth Hillel, however, say: "He that abounds in grace" (Exodus 34:6) inclines [the scales] towards grace, and of them David said: "I love that the Lord should hear my voice and my supplication," (Psalm 116:1) and on their behalf, David composed the whole of the passage: "I was brought low and He saved me." (Ibid. 6)
Part 2
1. [Continuation of the baraita]
– Wrongdoers of Israel who sin with their body (b'gufan) and wrongdoers of the Gentiles who sin with their body go down to Gehinnom and are punished there for twelve months. After twelve months their body is consumed and their soul is burnt and the wind scatters them under the soles of the feet of the righteous as it says: "And You shall tread down the wicked, and they shall be as ashes under the soles of your feet." (Malachi 3:21)
– But as for the minim and the informers and the scoffers, who rejected the Torah and denied the resurrection of the dead, and those who abandoned the ways of the community, and those who "spread their terror in the land of the living" (See Ezekiel 32:23), and who sinned and made the masses sin, like Jeroboam the son of Nebat and his fellows (See 1Kings 12:20); these will go down to Gehinnom and be punished there for all generations, as it says: "And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have rebelled against me etc." (Isaiah 66:24)
Gehinnom will be consumed but they will not be consumed, as it says: "and their form shall wear away the nether world." (Psalms 49:15)
Why all this? Because they laid hands on the habitation [zebul], as it says: "that there be no habitation [zebul] for Him" (Ibid.), and zebul signifies the Temple, as it says: "I have surely built You a house of habitation [zebul]." (1 Kings 8:13)
Of them Hannah said: "They that strive with the Lord shall be broken topieces." (Samuel 2:10)
Part 3
1. [Meimra]
Said R. Isaac b.Abin: And their faces shall be black like the sides of a pot.
2. [Meimra]
Said Raba: And they are among the most handsome of the inhabitants of Mahuza, and they shall be called "sons of Gehinnom".
Part 4
1. [Quotation from the baraita above]
The Master said [above]: "Beth Hillel say, He that abounds in grace inclines [the scales] towards grace".
2. [Kushiya]
[How can this be], seeing that it is written: "And I shall bring the third part through the fire?" (Zechariah 13:9)
3. [Teirutz]
That refers to wrongdoers of Israel who sin with their body.
4. [Kushiyah]
Wrongdoers of Israel who sin with their body!
But you said that there is no remedy for them?
5. [Teirutz]
There is no remedy for them when their iniquities are more numerous [than their good deeds].
[We now speak] here of those whose iniquities and good deeds are evenly balanced, but whose iniquities include that which is committed by sinners of Israel with their body.
In that case they cannot escape the doom of "I shall bring the third through the fire", but otherwise, [in regard to them], "He that is abundant in grace inclines towards grace".
Part 5
1. [Continuation of the baraita]
And of them David said, "I love that the Lord should hear." (Psalms 116:1)
2. [Meimra - drasha on the verse]
[On this verse] Raba discoursed [as follows]: What is meant by the words, "I love that the Lord should hear"?
The Community of Israel exclaimed before the Holy One, blessed be He:
"Sovereign of the Universe, when am I beloved before You?"
At the time when You hear the voice of my supplications.
"I was brought low [dalothi] and he saved me" (Ibid. 6)
although I am poor (dallah) in the performance of religious duties, yet it is fitting to save me.
Part 6
1. [Shealah on the baraita]
What is meant by "wrongdoers of Israel who sin with their body"?
2. [Teshuva Meimra]
Rab said: This refers to the head which does not put on the tefillin.
3. [Shealah]
Who are "the wrongdoers of the Gentiles who sin with their body"?
4. [Teshuva Meimra]
Rab said: This refers to sin (likely means "sexual sins").
Guide Questions and Issues
Part 1
Last week, we dealt with a Meimra which spoke of three types of people who would be inscribed in three different books on Rosh HaShana in which there fate for the coming year (according to most interpreters) would be determined. This week's lesson opens with a Baraita, which discusses three types of people whose fates will be determined on the Day of Judgment (at the time of the resurrection from the dead).
In this Baraita, we have a Makhloket (dispute) between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel.
Beit Shammai's focus is on the three groups and their fates. Each group will receive with its just deserts. He bases his views on a number of Biblical verses. It would be interesting to know whether his eschatological picture was built from these verses or whether the verses were added to add voracity to the picture he paints. We will assume here that he derives his views from the verses he quotes.
Their teaching seems to be based on a verse from the book of Daniel (12:2 ):
ורבים מישני אדמת עפר יקיצו אלה לחיי עולם ואלה לחרפות לדראון עולם: ס
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproaches and everlasting abhorrence.
1. What does Beit Shammai tease out of this verse?
The second verse he quotes is from Zechariah (13:9):
והבאתי את השלשית באש וצרפתים כצרף את הכסף ו בחנתים כבחן את הזהב הוא יקרא בשמי ואני אענה אתו אמרתי עמי הוא והוא יאמר ה' א – להי: ס
And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried; they shall call on My name, and I will answer them; I will say: ‘It is My people’, and they shall say: ‘The LORD is my God.’
1. What is the plain meaning of this verse in its biblical context?
2. How is it being used here?
3. For those in the "intermediate" category, what is the purpose of the described fate?
4. What seems to be the purpose of punishment according to Beit Shammai?
5. Beit Shammai also brings a verse from 1 Samuel (2:6). Look up this verse and describe how it is used here?
Beit Hillel's approach has a different focus.
1. How is it different from that of Beit Shammai?
2. Who is its teaching aimed at?
3. Beit Hillel's teaching here is based largely on Psalm 116. Look it up! What is the focus of this psalm? What is it used to illustrate in this teaching?
Part 2
The baraita now focuses on the punishment of sinners (and a colorful punishment it is). Let us immediately say the the term "b'gufan" is not easily understood. The Talmud will return to explicate this term. There seems to be particular anger expressed here in this description. One wonders from this description and the verse quoted if the author had a specific group in mind.(Just an observation.)
Check out the verse in Malachi (3:21).
1. What does it mean in its context?
2. How is it used here?
Incidentally, here you see an example of the idea that the wicked are punished for 12 months after death. This idea prompted the custom of reciting Kaddish for parents for only 11 months so as not to consider parents as being wicked.
Next, this baraita moves on to the subject of the punishment of others who considered wicked: "minim", "heretic", "mosrot", "those who abetted the enemy", "apikorsim", "those who insult sages", those who deny Torah, those who deny bodily resurrection, those who prompted fear and those who both sin and cause others to sin. (These definitions are according to Rashi but they are not necessarily historically definitive.)
1. What do these sinners have in common?
2. Why do you think the authors of this baraita assign them such a harsh punishment?
3. Take note of the verses used to design their punishment.
4. What tragedy are these sinners associated with?
Part 3
The meimra of Rabbi Isaac bar Abin is problematic. Who is he talking about? If he is talking about those whom we have just mentioned, fine, but there are those who say he is talking about "beinonim", intermediates. If so,it is not such a cheerful statement.
1. If it is indeed talking about beinonim, what might its message be?
2. Rava's remark is even harsher. He seems to be talking about good upper middle class or upper class people. What is he trying to say?
Part 4
1. In this section, we return to Beit Hillel's opinion in the baraita found above. According to their opinion, the "beinonim" do not descend to Gehinnom as punishment because Divine mercy protects them. This mercy is attributed to the divine quality of "rav hesed", "great mercy" in the 13 attributes of God.
2. This kushiyah is playing off a proof verse from Beit Shammai's proof with that of Beit Hillel. Beit Hillel says "beinonim" do not go down to Gehinnom and according to this verse they do. We have here a "stira", "contradiction".
3. We resolve this contradiction with a "חילוק ", "a distinction". The verse that says that "beinonim" go down to Gehinnom refers to those who sin with their bodies. According to this resolution even Beit Hillel would agree inthis instance.
4. This solution, however, leads to another contradiction since we said previously that those who sin with their bodies have no recourse even through a process of severe purification. Here you say they do have recourse through this purifying process.
5. Here, too, we resolve the contradiction with a "חילוק". Who are those who do not recourse but will be eternally punished - those for whom the majority of their actions are sins that include "sins with their bodies" (which we still have not defined).
On the other hand, those who actions are 50/50, according to Beit Hillel, will be saved through Divine grace.
Part 5
The baraita above quoted a verse from Psalms (116:1):
(א) אהבתי כי ישמע ה' את קולי תחנוני:
I love that the LORD should hear my voice and my supplications.
The Talmud brings here a drasha in the name of the Babylonian Amora Rava which interprets this verse. His interpretation is not according to the plain sense of the verse. He turns the verse into an if-then statement. He also understands "אהבתי" not to mean "I love" but rather "I am loved". The verse then becomes: When do I know that I am loved by You (God)"? When you hear my prayers.
He then moves onto the end of verse 6:
דלותיולי יהושיע:
I was brought low, and He saved me.
Here,too, Ravah is playful in his reinterpretation of this verse. The word "דלותי" means "I was brought low", but the word "דל" can also mean "poor". Ravah, therefore, Interprets the verse to mean "I was poor [in my performance of mitzvot] but still it is nice that you save me."
Things to Consider
1. Note here that there is a trend to try to find
a way for all those fall short to find themselves under the redemptive umbrella (It is raining in Jerusalem so I could not resist the metaphor.) The Talmud works its way from the strict justice of Beit Shammai through to the mercy of Beit Hillel. Then challenges and modifies the mercy of Beit Hillel only to end with the opening of Ravah.
2. Follow through the process. What do you think the ultimate message of the sages is as this process unfolds?
Part 6
We finally get around to answering the question: Who are the "sinners with their bodies"?
Rav, a Babylonian Amora from the first generation after the Mishnah, provides his answer. Among the Jews, it is a person who scorns the mitzvah of tefillin. Among the non-Jews, it is someone who behavior is licentious.
1. What do you think is Rav's purpose in defining the sin in this way?