Avodah Zarah 3a (ג.) — the Talmud in English

And we answer:

Mar said: The clarification is not to their benefit, but to their detriment, for the intent of the verse is to say that although they fulfill them, they do not receive reward

as one who performs a mitzva, since from that point onward they are no longer commanded to fulfill them. Therefore, they have no right in the future to request reward for their fulfillment.

And we challenge this:

But

the gentiles

do not

receive reward for the mitzvot that they perform?

But it was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Meir would say: From where

do we learn

that even a gentile who engages in Torah study

is like a High Priest?—

The verse states

Leviticus 18]:

“Which a person shall perform and live through them.”

“

“A person” is stated, but

not Priests, Levites, and Israelites.

Therefore, we cannot say that the words of the verse, “and live through them”—which refers to the reward for engaging in Torah—are intended only for the Children of Israel, but

“a person”

is stated there without qualification, “and live through them,” and it includes gentiles—

You have thus learned that even a gentile who engages in Torah study—

is like a High Priest.

That is, there is no distinction regarding receiving reward for Torah study between different types of people.

If so, it is difficult, for we find that the descendants of Noah do receive reward for their mitzvot.

The Gemara explains: When we answered that they do not receive reward, this does not mean that they receive no reward whatsoever.

Rather, it means to tell you that they do not receive reward for them as

one who is

commanded and performs,

whose reward is greater,

but as one who is not commanded

and performs,

since the Holy One, blessed be He, released them from the command.

And this is like

Rabbi Ḥanina said: Greater is the reward of a person

who is

commanded and performs—

than

the reward of a person

who is not commanded and performs .

Rather,

Rather,

after they are told that they do not receive reward for the seven mitzvot, they come with a new claim—

And

thus

say

the gentiles

before the Holy One, blessed be He:

Master of the Universe! Israel, who accepted

the Torah that rests in His embrace

where did they fulfill it?

After all, they too did not fulfill it!

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: I will testify concerning them that they fulfilled the Torah

in its entirety!

They said before Him: Master of the Universe! Is there any father who testifies on behalf of his son?!

“Israel is My firstborn son.”

a father testifies concerning his son?!

As it is written [Exodus 4], that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses:

Exodus 4], that the Holy One, blessed is He, said to Moses:

“Israel is My firstborn son.”

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: Let the heavens and the earth testify concerning them—

regarding the Children of Israel—

that they fulfilled the entire Torah!

They said before Him: Master of the Universe! The heavens and the earth

are disqualified from testifying because they are

interested parties in their own testimony,

fearing lest they collapse.

The Gemara cites the exposition that the continued existence of the heavens and the earth is in the merit of the Torah that Israel fulfills—

As it is stated [Jeremiah 33], the Holy One, blessed be He, says:

likewise

“Were it not for My covenant day and night

[My Torah, concerning which it is stated: “You shall contemplate it day and night”]—

I would not have established the statutes of heaven and earth.”

And

so

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: What

is the explanation of this

which is written

Genesis 1]:

“And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day,”

with the definite article, whereas regarding the other days of Creation it says “the fifth day” and “the fourth day”—

this teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, stipulated

a condition

with the work of Creation, and

thus

said: If Israel accepts the Torah—

it is good; but if not—

I will return you to chaos and void.

Therefore, at the conclusion of the account of Creation, “the sixth” is alluded to: the work of Creation remained conditional until the known “sixth” day, the sixth of Sivan, which was the day the Torah was accepted at Sinai.

The Gemara cites a similar exposition, and

this is what

Ḥizkiyya said [alternative version: another version

reads “and said”]:

If it feared,

What

is the explanation of this

which is written [Psalms 76]:

Rather, at first,

“From heaven You announced judgment—

the earth feared and was still.”

“You announced judgment” refers to the giving of the Torah.

And this is difficult:

If it feared,

why was it still; and if it was still,

why did it fear?

Rather, at first,

before Israel accepted the Torah,

the earth feared,

fearing that they would not accept the Torah and that it would return to chaos and void;

but in the end,

when they accepted it and said, “We will do and we will hear” —

it was still.

If so, the nations argue, how can the heavens and the earth testify, when they are “interested parties in their own testimony”?

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them:

We do not require other testimony; rather,

from you,

from members of your nations,

let them come and testify concerning Israel that they fulfilled the entire Torah!

Let Nimrod come—

and testify concerning Abraham that he did not worship idols,

for Nimrod cast him into the fiery furnace in Ur of the Chaldees because he refused to worship idols.

Let Laban come—

and testify concerning Jacob that he was not suspected of theft,

as it is stated [Genesis 31]: “He searched but did not find,” and Jacob said to him, “For you searched through all my vessels—what did you find among all the vessels of your household?” Even small utensils, which a groom living in his father-in-law’s house ordinarily takes with him [especially over a long period of twenty years]—even inadvertently.

Let Potiphar’s wife come—

and testify concerning Joseph that he was not suspected of the transgression

of adultery.

This refers thus far to our forefathers before the giving of the Torah, who did not transgress the prohibitions against idolatry, theft, and sexual immorality, which are among the mitzvot of the descendants of Noah.

Let Nebuchadnezzar come,

king of Babylonia—

and testify concerning Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah that they did not bow to the image.

Let Darius come—

and testify concerning Daniel that he did not abolish

prayer.

Let Bildad the Shuhite, Zophar the Naamathite, and Eliphaz the Temanite come

[and Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite],

Job’s friends—

and let them testify concerning Israel that they fulfilled the entire Torah.

As it is stated

in that same verse:

“Let them present their witnesses, that they may be vindicated,”

and the author of the statement understands its meaning to be that the gentiles themselves will testify concerning Israel. See the previous page. The verse concludes: “Let them hear and say: It is true!”

But now the nations come with a new claim.

They said,

the nations,

before Him: Master of the Universe! Give us

the Torah

from the beginning,

now—

and we will perform it.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: Fools of the world! One who made preparations on the eve of Shabbat will eat on Shabbat.

This is a parable: One who fulfilled Torah and mitzvot in this world eats his reward in the World-to-Come. But

one who did not make preparations on the eve of Shabbat, from where will he eat on Shabbat?!—

Nevertheless,

although you do not deserve reward,

I have one easy mitzva, and its name is sukkah,

[the reason it is called “an easy mitzva” will be explained below]

go and perform it,

and we shall see whether you fulfill it.

And we challenge this:

But can you really say that?

How can you say that it is possible to perform mitzvot in the World-to-Come?—

But

surely

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said:

It is stated in the Torah [Deuteronomy 7]: “And you shall know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, Who keeps the covenant and the kindness with those who love Him and those who keep His mitzvot, to a thousand generations. And He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them; He will not delay in repaying one who hates Him to his face. And you shall keep the mitzva, the statutes, and the ordinances

that I command you today to perform.”

And we expound:

“Today,”

in this world, is the place and time

“to perform them,”

for performing the mitzvot is what brings reward.

“But not tomorrow,”

in the World-to-Come,

“to perform them.”

through accusation or coercion,

“Today” is for performing them—

but not today for receiving their reward.

The reward for the mitzvot is given in the World-to-Come, and not here.

If so, it is difficult: How can the mitzva of sukkah be given to them in the World-to-Come?

And we answer:

Rather,

although it is impossible to perform mitzvot in the World-to-Come, nevertheless God tests them with the mitzva of sukkah, because

the Holy One, blessed be He, does not deal harshly

through accusation and force

with His creatures

[that is, although the Holy One, blessed be He, has defeated them and they have no right to receive reward, nevertheless, so that they will not say that they were wronged, He tests them].

And why does He call

the mitzva of sukkah

“an easy mitzva”?—

Because there is no

lack of

financial loss in it,

there is no monetary expense involved in its performance.

Immediately,

when the Holy One, blessed be He, says this to them,

each and every one

of the nations

takes

wood,

goes and makes a sukkah on the roof of his house,

for that was their custom.

And the Holy One, blessed be He, causes the sun

to shine upon them with

the heat,

that is, with intense heat, like the heat of the sun

during the season of Tammuz,

which is the hot season.

And each and every one kicks his sukkah and leaves it,

it.

And this is expounded from what

is stated [Psalms 2]: “Why do the nations rage and the peoples contemplate futility? The kings of the earth stand and the rulers conspire together against the Lord and against His anointed.” This psalm was stated regarding the future day of judgment.

Psalms 2]: “Why do the nations rage and the peoples contemplate vanity? The kings of the earth stand firm, and rulers conspire together against the Lord and against His anointed.” And this psalm was said about the Day of Judgment in the future.

It is stated there that the gentiles and the nations say:

“Let us sever their bonds and cast off their ropes from us”—

the “bonds” and “ropes” that the nations sever and cast off are the mitzva of sukkah, which they kick away and leave on the day of judgment.

And we ask: Does the Holy One, blessed be He, really cause the sun to shine upon them with such heat?!—

But

surely

you said that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not deal harshly with His creatures,

so why does He now act toward them with accusation and force?