2,711 pages of Talmud. A gem a day.

The Book of Job is one of the strangest books of the Bible. A righteous man tested by Satan with the permission of God! who loses all he has including his family, fortune, and health – all to see if he will blaspheme God.

There is so much to be upset about. Why should his kid’s have to die for his test? Why kill innocent animals? But the first question that many a Jew gets hung up on is: Satan? Isn’t Satan a Christian thing?

So, this is our gem today. Satan is not the enemy of God and goodness in the Hebrew Bible, but something else.

“And the Lord said to the Satan: Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God and turns away from evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you moved Me against him, to destroy him without cause” (Job 2:3). Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Were it not explicitly written in the verse, it would be impossible to say this, as it would be insulting to God’s honor. The verse states: “You moved Me against him,” like a person whom others persuade and allows himself to be persuaded, as if God had not wanted to do anything, but allowed Himself to be persuaded to bring harm to Job.

First point, no one, not even Satan, can make God do something God does not intend to do. But how does Satan work?

It was taught in a baraita with regard to the methods of the Satan: He descends to this world and misleads a person into sinning. He then ascends to Heaven, levels accusations against that very sinner, and inflames God’s anger against him. He then receives permission to act and takes away the sinner’s soul as punishment.

So, Satan temps us into sinning and then is empowered to punish us . . . sounds a lot like our evil inclination, and less like a demigod. The Gemara adds:

Reish Lakish says: Satan, the evil inclination, and the Angel of Death are one, that is, they are three aspects of the same essence. He is the Satan who seduces people and then accuses them, as it is written: “So the Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with vile sores” (Job 2:7). He is also the evil inclination, as it is written there: “The impulse of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continuously” (Genesis 6:5); and it is written here: “Only upon himself do not put forth your hand” (Job 1:12). The verbal analogy between the various uses of the word “only” teaches that the evil inclination is to be identified with the Satan. He is also the Angel of Death, as it is written: “Only spare his life” (Job 2:6); apparently Job’s life depends upon him, the Satan, and accordingly the Satan must also be the Angel of Death.

But does that make Satan evil?

Rabbi Levi says: Both Satan, who brought accusations against Job, and Peninnah, who tormented Hannah, mother of Samuel the prophet, acted with intent that was for the sake of Heaven. As for Satan, when he saw that the Holy One, Blessed be He, inclined to favor Job and praised him, he said: Heaven forbid that He should forget the love of Abraham. With regard to Peninnah, as it is written: “And her rival wife also provoked her sore, to make her fret” (I Samuel 1:6), i.e., Peninnah upset Hannah in order to motivate her to pray. Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov taught this in Paphunya, and Satan came and kissed his feet in gratitude for speaking positively about him.

Wow! Satan kissed the Rabbis feet for saying that what Satan does is ultimately for good! Seems as though Satan agrees with what was said.

While I don’t think that all bad things are ultimately for the good, we do need challenges in life in order to grow. Relationships need to be tested in order to forge stronger bonds. Our muscles need to be pushed in order to gain strength. While murdering his family and covering him boils is WAY too much, perhaps, as we learned yesterday, the story of Job is a parable that is here to teach us that the best relationships are those that are tested and still hold tight.

Today’s daf is fabulous! We have two amazing sections. The first is a chronicling of who wrote what books of the Hebrew Bible, including this little gem:

The Master said above that Joshua wrote his own book and eight verses of the Torah. The Gemara comments: This baraita is taught in accordance with the one who says that it was Joshua who wrote the last eight verses in the Torah. This point is subject to a tannaitic dispute, as it is taught in another baraita: “And Moses the servant of the Lord died there” (Deuteronomy 34:5); is it possible that after Moses died, he himself wrote “And Moses died there”? Rather, Moses wrote the entire Torah until this point, and Joshua wrote from this point forward; this is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda. And some say that Rabbi Neḥemya stated this opinion. Rabbi Shimon said to him: Is it possible that the Torah scroll was missing a single letter? But it is written: “Take this Torah scroll” (Deuteronomy 31:26), indicating that the Torah was complete as is and that nothing further would be added to it. Rather, until this point the Holy One, Blessed be He, dictated and Moses repeated after Him and wrote the text. From this point forward, with respect to Moses’ death, the Holy One, Blessed be He, dictated and Moses wrote with tears.

I love this. Is it that Moses wrote the whole Torah – including the account of his own death?! While some argue Moses wrote it and shed tears, there is a minority opinion that Joshua wrote it!

The rest of the daf is about Job. Was he Jewish? Gentile? When did he live? And this little gem:

The Gemara relates that one of the Sages sat before Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani and he sat and said: Job never existed and was never created; there was never such a person as Job. Rather, his story was a parable. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said to him: In rebuttal to you, the verse states: “There was a man in the Land of Utz whose name was Job” (Job 1:1), which indicates that such a man did indeed exist. The Gemara asks: But if that is so, that the words “there was” prove that Job existed, what shall we say about the parable that Natan the prophet presented to David: “There were two men in one city; the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing except one little lamb, which he had bought and reared” (II Samuel 12:3)? Was there really such a person? Rather, it was merely a parable; here too it is merely a parable. The Gemara answers: If so, that it is a parable, why state his name and the name of his city? Rather, Job was clearly a real person.

As a rabbi, I often get asked if what the Torah is saying is true. Here, we see that the Rabbis of the Talmud also debated is the Torah is true. I like to say that there is a difference between capital T Truth and lower case t truth. We may not know if something factually happened (truth), but all the Torah tells us things that are True. Torah gives us lessons to live by, it tells us of struggles and conflicts and things that are so true – that happen to us. True. Did it happen? Is is a parable? Either way it’s true.

What is holy? When we think about holiness we often think about perfection. Our Torah laws guide us toward being better, improving… don’t makes sense that we view perfection as holy. But in the most holy of spaces, the Ark of the Covenant, you could find not only the tablets with the Ten commandments, but the broken tablets as well. As we learn on today’s daf:

And accordingly, how do I realize the meaning of that which is stated: “There was nothing in the Ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there,” which, according to the opinion of Rabbi Meir, teaches that something else was in the Ark besides the tablets themselves? It serves to include the broken pieces of the first set of tablets, which were placed in the Ark…

Rather, from where does he (another Sage) derive that the broken pieces of the first set of tablets were placed in the Ark? The Gemara expounds: He derives this from that which Rav Yosef taught, as Rav Yosef taught a baraita: The verses state: “At that time the Lord said to me: Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first…and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke, and you shall put them in the Ark” (Deuteronomy 10:1–2). This teaches that both the second set of tablets and the broken pieces of the first set of tablets were placed in the Ark.

What can we learn from the fact that the broken tablets were there as well? Perhaps we can learn that both the broken and the whole are holy.

It’s a Torah day on the daf! Meaning, the daf tells us lots of rules about how one can write a Torah and keep sacred writings. We have been learning about the rules when two owners split property – but what about sacred writings?

But in the case of sacred writings, i.e., a scroll of any of the twenty-four books of the Bible, that were inherited by two people, they may not divide them, even if both of them wish to do so, because it would be a show of disrespect to cut the scroll in half.

So, no splitting scrolls that have already been written, but now we get how more than one book can be included in the same scroll. For those of you who have seen a Torah scroll, you will note that the same rules still apply!

The Gemara now begins a general discussion about sacred writings. The Sages taught: A person may attach the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings together as one scroll; this is the statement of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yehuda says: The Torah should be a scroll by itself, the books of the Prophets a scroll by themselves, and the books of the Writings a scroll by themselves. And the Sages say: Each one of the books of the Prophets and the Writings should be a scroll by itself. And Rabbi Yehuda said: There was an incident involving Baitos ben Zunin, who had eight books of the Prophets attached together as one scroll, and he did this with the approval of Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya. And others say that each and every one of the books was a scroll by itself, in accordance with the opinion of the Sages. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said: There was an incident where they brought before us the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings attached together as one scroll and we ruled in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Meir and deemed them fit. The Gemara states: When different books are included in the same scroll, four empty lines of space should be left between each book of the Torah, and similarly between one book of the Prophets and another. But between each of the books of the Twelve Prophets only three empty lines should be left, because they are considered one book. And the scribe may finish a book at the bottom of one column and begin the next book at the top of the next column without leaving any empty space in between. The Sages taught in a baraita: One who wishes to attach the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings together as one scroll may attach them. He should leave enough empty parchment at the beginning of the scroll for winding around the pole to which the beginning of the scroll is fastened. And at the end of the scroll he should leave enough empty parchment for winding around the entire circumference of the rolled-up scroll. And he may finish a book at the bottom of one column and begin the next book at the top of the next column without leaving any empty space between them.

While we typically don’t have haftarah portions in scrolls anymore (but we do have Esther – hence the name megillat Esther, the scroll of Esther), we still have our Torah as a scroll and we follow the ruling of Rabbi Yehudah and have it on our own. As you can see in the picture below, we still put that gap of four empty lines when we end one book of Torah and begin the next. It’s your daf in action!

What happened to the prophets?

Rabbi Avdimi from Haifa says: From the day that the Temple was destroyed prophecy was taken from the prophets and given to the Sages.

But it’s not just Sages.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: From the day that the Temple was destroyed, prophecy was taken from the prophets and given to imbeciles and children.

What?! We get examples.

In what way was prophecy given to imbeciles? It was like this incident involving Mar bar Rav Ashi, who was standing in the street [beristeka] of Meḥoza when he heard a certain imbecile say: The head of the yeshiva who will be appointed in Mata Meḥasya signs his name Tavyumei. Mar bar Rav Ashi said to himself: Who among the Sages signs his name Tavyumei? Nobody but me. Conclude from the statement by the imbecile that my hour has arrived,and I will reap success in this matter. He arose and went to Mata Meḥasya. By the time he arrived, the Sages had already decided to appoint Rav Aḥa of Difti as the head of the yeshiva. As soon as the Sages heard that Mar bar Rav Ashi had arrived, they determined not to proceed with their appointment without the approval of an important figure such as him. They sent a pair of Sages to him to consult with him, and he detained them. They again sent a pair of Sages to him, and he detained them as well. This continued until they completed a quorum of ten Sages. Once they reached ten men, Mar bar Rav Ashi opened his lecture, taught, and expounded. He did not speak earlier because one should not open a lecture during kalla, the gatherings for Torah study during the months of Elul and Adar, when less than ten men are present. He was then appointed as head of the yeshiva. Understanding that he had been passed over for the position, Rav Aḥa of Difti read about himself the rabbinic aphorism: Anyone who is treated poorly will not soon be treated well; and anyone who is treated well will not soon be treated poorly. Rav Aḥa understood that he had lost the chance to be appointed, whereas Mar bar Rav Ashi had the good fortune to be appointed, and would remain in his position.

So, here a street-side prophet (crazy person) tells this rabbi he will be the next head and then he does the work to make it happen! I love this, not only for the lesson in doing the work to earn what you want; but also the observation that so many things we call rankings and ravings of the insane and homeless are pretty on point! Had they money and power, they might be seen as prophets themselves.

And in what way was prophecy given to children? It was like this incident involving the daughter of Rav Ḥisda, who when she was a child was sitting on her father’s lap while he sat and learned. Rava and Rami bar Ḥama were sitting before him. Rav Ḥisda jokingly said to his daughter: Which of them would you want as a husband? She said: I want both of them. Rava said: And I will be last. And this is what happened; first she married Rami bar Ḥama, and when he died she married Rava. 

She was actually seen as a prophet later in life as well. I love this glimpse at a fascinating woman who, even as a child knew more then the men around her 😉

One final gem about tzedakah before returning to the conversation about splitting land. This one is about a King who gives away all the family’s treasure when the community is hungry.

The Sages taught: There was an incident involving King Munbaz, who liberally gave away his treasures and the treasures of his ancestors in the years of drought, distributing the money to the poor. His brothers and his father’s household joined together against him to protest against his actions, and they said to him: Your ancestors stored upmoney in their treasuries and added to the treasures of their ancestors, and you are liberally distributing it all to the poor. King Munbaz said to them: Not so, my ancestors stored up below, whereas I am storing above, as it is stated: “Truth will spring out of the earth and righteousness will look down from heaven” (Psalms 85:12), meaning that the righteous deeds that one has performed are stored up in heaven. My ancestors stored up treasures in a place where thehuman hand can reach, and so their treasures could have been robbed, whereas I am storing up treasures in a place where the human hand cannot reach, and so they are secure, as it is stated: “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne” (Psalms 89:15). My ancestors stored up something that does not generate profit, as money sitting in a treasury does not increase, whereas I am storing up something that generates profit, as it is stated: “Say of the righteous, that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings” (Isaiah 3:10). My ancestors stored up treasures of money, whereas I am storing up treasures of souls, as it is stated: “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that wins souls is wise” (Proverbs 11:30). My ancestors stored up for others, for their sons and heirs, when they themselves would pass from this world, whereas I am storing up for myself, as it is stated: “And it shall be as righteousness to you” (Deuteronomy 24:13). My ancestors stored up for this world, whereas I am storing up for the World-to-Come, as it is stated: “And your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard” (Isaiah 58:8). 

What a beautiful soul. If only all our leaders could put the needs of the community above all else.

Today’s daf is full of gems which teach us to give charity. One is this beautiful story below which gives us a conflict between two theologies. The first is the “prosperity gospel,” an idea that the rich have God’s favor (which is why they’re wealthy) and the poor are being punished by God. In this view, wealthy may not give to the poor because God wants the wealthy to have their money and the poor to suffer. This is opposed to Judaism where the wealthy are responsible for sustaining the poor.

It is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Meir would say: An opponent may bring an argument against you and say to you: If your God loves the poor, for what reason does He not support them Himself? In such a case, say to him: He commands us to act as His agents in sustaining the poor, so that through them we will be credited with the performance of mitzvot and therefore be saved from the judgment of Gehenna. And this is the question that Turnus Rufus the wicked asked Rabbi Akiva: If your God loves the poor, for what reason does He not support them Himself? Rabbi Akiva said to him: He commands us to sustain the poor, so that through them and the charity we give them we will be saved from the judgment of Gehenna. Turnus Rufus said to Rabbi Akiva: On the contrary, it is this charity which condemns you, the Jewish people, to Gehenna because you give it. I will illustrate this to you with a parable. To what is this matter comparable? It is comparable to a king of flesh and blood who was angry with his slave and put him in prison and ordered that he should not be fed or given to drink. And one person went ahead and fed him and gave him to drink. If the king heard about this, would he not be angry with that person? And you, after all, are called slaves, as it is stated: “For the children of Israel are slaves to Me” (Leviticus 25:55). If God decreed that a certain person should be impoverished, one who gives him charity defies the will of God. Rabbi Akiva said to Turnus Rufus: I will illustrate the opposite to you with a different parable. To what is this matter comparable? It is comparable to a king of flesh and blood who was angry with his son and put him in prison and ordered that he should not be fed or given to drink. And one person went ahead and fed him and gave him to drink. If the king heard about this once his anger abated, would he not react by sending that person a gift?

We are all God’s children, She would never be mad at us for keeping Her child alive.

And a bonus gem from Rabbi Yehuda:

He would say: Ten strong entities were created in the world, one stronger than the other. A mountain is strong, but iron, which is stronger, cleaves it. Iron is strong, but fire melts it. Fire is strong, but water extinguishes it. Water is strong, but clouds bear it. Clouds are strong, but wind disperses them. Wind is strong, but the human body withstands it. The human body is strong, but fear breaks it. Fear is strong, but wine dispels it. Wine is strong, but sleep drives it off. And death is stronger than them all, but charity saves a person from death, as it is written: “And charity delivers from death” (Proverbs 10:2, 11:4).

This reminds me of the story of the Stone Cutter. In the story a poor stone-cutter longs to become a rich man; his wish is granted. He then is hot and wants to become the sun, who is more powerful than he is; then clouds, which block out the sun; then the mountain, which withstands the rain which falls from the clouds. So he is a mountain when a stone-cutter starts chipping away at him. So then he prays to be a stone-cutter.

On today’s daf we read about the merits of giving charity!

Rava said to the people of Meḥoza: I beg of you, strive with each other to perform acts of charity and righteousness, so that you will live in peace with the government, since if you do not act charitably toward each other, you will end up paying fines to the government. And Rabbi Elazar says: When the Temple is standing, a person contributes his shekel for the Temple service and achieves atonement for his sins. Now that the Temple no longer stands, if people act charitably, it will be well for them; but if not, the nations of the world will come and take their money by force…

Love this!! Be the first to give! And now that the Temple does not stand, what you give helps to atone for your failings. But the daf does not stop here. We also read:

Rabbi Elazar said: One who performs acts of charity in secret is greater than Moses, our teacher…

That’s right! Even greater than Moses. And finally, giving not just money, but respect and kind words.

And Rabbi Yitzḥak says: Anyone who gives a peruta to a poor person receives six blessings, and whoever consoles him with words receives eleven blessings. 

I will attach the explanation from verses below. But I want to just uplift that by engaging with someone we bring them close to us. Their story becomes part of our story. This is better than blind giving. (But is never a requirement of giving.). Those who receive are humans and the living face of God.

The Gemara explains: One who gives a peruta to a poor person receives six blessings, as it is written: “Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you shall bring the poor that are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him” (Isaiah 58:7). And the next verses list six blessings: “Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your health shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard. Then, shall you call, and the Lord shall answer; you shall cry, and He shall say: Here I am” (Isaiah 58:8–9). And whoever consoles a poor person with words of comfort and encouragement receives eleven blessings, as it is stated: “And if you draw out your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall your light shine in darkness, and your gloom shall be as the noonday. And the Lord shall guide you continually, and satisfy your thirst in drought… And they that shall be of you shall build the old waste places, you shall raise up the foundations of many generations” (Isaiah 58:10–12).

Today we get a real gem. What does it mean to be part of a community? What are we responsible for? What if we have lived there our whole lives? For just a month? What if we are just passing through?

The daf has been discussing shared costs for construction. Today that is applied to a community building and we get this gem.

If one lives in city for thirty days, he must contribute to the charity platter from which food is distributed to the poor. If he lives there for three months, he must contribute to the charity box. If he lives there for six months, he must contribute to the clothing fund. If he lives there for nine months, he must contribute to the burial fund. If he lives there for twelve months, he must contribute to the columns of the city [lepassei ha’ir], i.e., for the construction of a security fence.

I love the discussion of communal responsibility. We cannot just live in a place and feel no responsibility towards it (well, we can, but the Torah says we shalt not). So, here is to being responsible to more than just ourselves, and to making our communities better.

Miami is a city of gated communities. It’s kind of amazing. Guards, traffic arms. In some neighborhoods, you have two go through not one but two gates for access (usually requiring confirmation from the home you are visiting as well, including producing ID). On our daf today, we get a new Mishna that discusses how members of a community may be forced to contribute to the building of a fence, wall, or gate for the community. But is this what we should be doing? Building walls? The Gemara is not so sure.

GEMARA: The Gemara asks: Is this to say that making a gatehouse is beneficial? But wasn’t there that pious man, with whom the prophet Elijah was accustomed to speak, who built a gatehouse, and after-ward Elijah did not speak with him again?

Here we see that this man was so pious that Elijah would spend time talking with him on a regular basis! But, once he built a gatehouse, Elijah cut off the relationship. Why?

The Gemara answers: This is not difficult: This, the case presented in the mishna, is referring to a gatehouse built on the inside of the courtyard, in which case the poor can at least reach the courtyard’s entrance and be heard inside the courtyard; that, the story of the pious man and Elijah, involves a gatehouse that was built on the outside of the courtyard, completely blocking the poor’s access to the courtyard’s entrance.

Building a gatehouse keeps out, not only criminals (and those just wanting to check out the fancy houses), but the poor, the hungry, the people we are obligated to help. When we cut off their voices from our ears, their faces from our line of sight, we are sinning. So, the question becomes, how do we make sure to continuously hear the call of those in need? Particularly in neighborhoods set up to protect us from seeing anyone who is not in our income bracket?