Hello Everyone,
On Sunday we studied one of the more difficult passages in masechet Shabbat and the עין איה.
Here is the suggyah:
תלמוד בבלי מסכת שבת דף נה עמוד א
אמר רב אמי אין מיתה בלא חטא ואין יסורין בלא עון אין מיתה בלא חטא דכתיב הנפש החטאת היא תמות בן לא ישא בעון האב ואב לא ישא בעון הבן צדקת הצדיק עליו תהיה ורשעת הרשע עליו תהיה וגו’ אין יסורין בלא עון דכתיב ופקדתי בשבט פשעם ובנגעים עונם
מיתיבי אמרו מלאכי השרת לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא רבונו של עולם מפני מה קנסת מיתה על אדם הראשון אמר להם מצוה קלה צויתיו ועבר עליה אמרו לו והלא משה ואהרן שקיימו כל התורה כולה ומתו אמר להם מקרה אחד לצדיק ולרשע לטוב וגו’
הוא דאמר כי האי תנא דתניא רבי שמעון בן אלעזר אומר אף משה ואהרן בחטאם מתו שנאמר יען לא האמנתם בי הא האמנתם בי עדיין לא הגיע זמנכם ליפטר מן העולם
Here are Rashi’s comments on the suggyah:
בלא חטא – וחטאו של אדם גורם לו מיתה.
בשבט ובנגעים – היינו יסורים, וקאמר שאין באין אלא משום פקידת עון.
בעטיו של נחש – בעצתו של נחש שהשיא לחוה, ולא בחטא אחר, שלא חטאו, בעטיו – כמו עטא וטעם (דניאל ב).
At first glance it seems that Rav Ami is discussing in the suggyah the fate of individuals. Rav Ami says that an individual dies because of his or her sins. The Gemarah then cites a text in which the angels ask Hashem if death exists because of the sin of Adam and Eve, why then did Moses and Aaron have to die? Hashem replies to the angels with a verse from Kohelet which indicates that everyone faces the same end, regardless of their righteousness.
The Gemarah then answers on Rav Ami’s behalf that even Moses and Aaron sinned and therefore died.
Rav Kook explains that this suggyah is discussing humanity in general and not individuals. Let us look at Rav Ami’s statement:
אמר רב אמי אין מיתה בלא חטא ואין יסורין בלא עון
Like in other texts, Rav Ami’s statement is structured as a couplet. Since it is structured as a couplet it is tempting not see every word as having significance. It would be easy to say that Rav Ami is discussing “why bad things happen to good people.” He discusses death and suffering ( which are the bad things) and says that they occur due to sin (either חטא or עון).
Rav Kook says that Rav Ami is discussing something much more subtle. He is discussing death as a reality in this world. Why is there death? Rav Kook emphasizes that Rav Ami is not coming to explain why sinners die. Rav Ami is coming to explain why death exists at all.
As Rav Kook sees it [1] humanity is on an evolutionary path spiritually. Every generation needs to build on what its predecessors have done. Eventually humanity will achieve a level of spiritual perfection when they won’t sin even accidentally. Rav Ami did not use the word “חטא” as a sort of generic term for “sin.” חטא specifically means sin done without intention to do wrong. This level of perfection will eventually arrive. Until that time, each generation will need to move on to make room for a new generation which will make its own progress to perfection. This why there is a need for death. Death enables the evolutionary process. That is why there will be death until such time as there is no more חטא.
Suffering is something experienced by the individual. It is brought upon a person because of deliberate misdeeds which is the precise definition of עון. They are intended to make a person acknowledge that there is a God whose laws must be followed.
So Rav Ami, far from making a shallow observation about the world and its problems, was explaining to us why things are the way they are. Death is an integral part of human evolution. Suffering is the educational tool which Hashem uses to make us aware of His law.
The Gemarah offers a text to refute Rav Ami’s position. If death is needed for an evolutionary process to take place, why then did Moses and Aaron need to die? Certainly they achieved all that two humans could possibly attain. Death cannot be a necessity for an evolutionary process. Death is simply a part of human existence. Even when people perfect themselves as Moses and Aaron did, there is still an even higher level of perfection which they can reach. But that level of perfection cannot be realized on earth. Everyone, including Moses and Aaron, is bound by the limits of the physical world. The final level of perfection can only be realized in the world of spirit. That is why death is a part of our existence.
Rav Ami certainly does not agree with the text brought by the Gemarah. Rav Ami’s view is supported by a different Tannaitic text. Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar does not simply say that Moses and Aaron died because of what happened at מי מריבה. Rather, he says something more nuanced:
אף משה ואהרן בחטאם מתו שנאמר יען לא האמנתם בי הא האמנתם בי עדיין לא הגיע זמנכם ליפטר מן העולם
What is meant by the words “לא הגיע זמנכם ליפטר מן העולם?” Even in the ideal situation we are not meant to spend an eternity on earth. There is a level of spiritual development that can only be realized in עולם הבא. This existence can in no way be understood as “death.” While death is due to חטא and Moses and Aaron did sin, had they not sinned they still would eventually have departed from this earth for the more perfect existence which is עולם הבא.
This suggyah addresses the most challenging questions concerning what is called “the human condition.” Rav Kook’s interpretation provides a challenging perspective on Rav Ami’s statement and the Gemara’s subsequent analysis. It is a difficult text to understand. It is even more difficult to teach this text. Thanks to everyone who participated in the shiur.
Stuart Fischman
[1] Perhaps I should say, “How Rav Ami sees it according to Rav Kook.”