Avodah Zarah 3b — the Talmud in English

And we answer: This is not a complaint,

because Israel

in this world

also, sometimes

it sometimes happens

that the season of Tammuz is prolonged for them

—their season of Tammuz, that is, the days of heat, is prolonged for them—

until the festival

the festival of Sukkot,

and there is for them

dwelling in the sukka

distress

—and nevertheless they fulfill the mitzva of sukka.

And we object: Do Israel indeed fulfill the mitzva of dwelling in the sukka during the days of heat, when the sun is scorching?

But Rava said

that one who is

distressed

is exempt from the sukka.

And do the Children of Israel likewise leave the sukka because of the heat?

And we answer: There is a great distinction between Israel and the nations of the world. For a person of Israel,

although

even though

he is exempt

the one who is distressed from the sukka, and leaves it, nevertheless

do they kick it?!

Do Israel kick, show contempt, and wish to cast off and sever themselves from the mitzvot?! On the contrary, they leave in distress whereas the nations of the world kick the one mitzva given to them, and do not withstand the test even for one hour.

Immediately

when the nations of the world do so,

the Holy One, blessed be He, sits and laughs at them

as though—

as it is stated

[there] in that psalm,

“He who sits in heaven will laugh; the Lord will mock them,”

over Israel’s gaining victory in judgment.

Rabbi Yitzchak said: There is no laughter before the Holy One, blessed be He

except on that day alone.

Thus far is the statement of Rabbi Chanina bar Pappa, and some say Rabbi Shemaya, in the description of the Day of Judgment in the future.

There are

some of the students who

taught

that they taught

this

statement

of Rabbi Yitzchak: “There is no laughter before the Holy One, blessed be He except on that day alone,”

with regard to this

another beraita.

For it was taught: Rabbi Yosei says: In the future, the idolaters will come and convert.

And before Rabbi Yosei completes his words, we object:

But do we accept converts from them?!

Will we accept converts from them in the future?!

But it was taught

we have learned:

We do not accept converts in the days of the Messiah

[and this is expounded from what the prophet Isaiah said [54]: “He who dwells with you, upon you he shall fall.” That is, only one who dwells with Israel during their exile is the one who will fall and join them at the time of their redemption and the redemption of their souls. For the other converts do not convert from recognition of the knowledge of truth, but because of their desire to receive reward among Israel].

Similarly

we find that

they did not accept converts, neither in the days of David nor in the days of Solomon,

when the House of Israel was tranquil on its land, each man under his vine and each man under his fig tree.

And we answer: Indeed, we do not accept them—

but they became dragged-along converts

who convert on their own and come to convert when they see Israel’s greatness.

And Rabbi Yosei continues his statement: In the future, the idolaters will come and convert,

and place phylacteries on their heads, phylacteries on their arms, ritual fringes on their garments, and a mezuzah on their doorways.

When they see the war of Gog and Magog

which the prophet Ezekiel [chapter 38] prophesied about—that they will come to the Land of Israel to conquer it in the future, after Israel settles on its land—

they say

[the version of the Rashash:

they say,

that is, the dragged-along converts]

to them,

to Gog and Magog:

Why have you come?

They say to him

[the version of the Rashash:

to them]

Gog and Magog:

Against the Lord and against His Messiah,

to fight against them!

As it is stated

[there]:

“Why do the nations rage, and the peoples think vanity? The kings of the earth stand up, and rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Messiah.”

And when the dragged-along converts see this, they think that Gog and Magog will defeat Israel, leave Israel, and regret their conversion,

and each one severs his mitzva and goes away.

As it is stated

[there]:

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

and these are the mitzvot, which they had only just begun to fulfill.

And the Holy One, blessed be He, sits and laughs

at their foolishness,

as it is stated

[there]

“He who sits in heaven will laugh; the Lord will mock them.”

And concerning this statement of Rabbi Yosei,

Rabbi Yitzchak said: The Holy One, blessed be He, has laughter only on that day alone.

And the Gemara raises an objection to Rabbi Yitzchak, who said that the Holy One, blessed be He, has no laughter—

Not so,

for is the matter not so—

For

indeed

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: The day consists of twelve hours,

and of them

three

hours

the first—

the Holy One, blessed be He, sits

as though

and engages in Torah.

Three hours

the second—

the Holy One, blessed be He,

sits

on the seat of judgment

and judges the entire world.

When He sees that the world has become deserving of destruction—

He rises from the seat of judgment and sits upon the seat of mercy.

Three hours

the third—

He sits and provides sustenance

He allocates to them the sources of their livelihood

for the entire world, from the horns of the re'em

[a large animal]

to the eggs of lice

[a very small type of creeping creature]. That is, from the greatest to the smallest.

Three hours

the fourth—

He sits and plays with Leviathan, as it is stated

[Psalms 104]:

“This Leviathan You formed to play with.”

So the Holy One, blessed be He, laughs every day?

And we answer:

Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak said: With His creatures,

Leviathan, the Holy One, blessed be He,

plays. But

if

at His creatures,

at the sins of His creatures,

He plays only on that day alone.

Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak answered that the Holy One, blessed be He, plays with His creatures, and Rav Acha asks him: Indeed, this is so while the Temple exists and there is laughter before Him; but from the day the Temple was destroyed, when there is no laughter before Him, what does the Holy One, blessed be He, do during the fourth three-hour period in place of playing with Leviathan?

Rav Acha said to Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak:

Behold,

from the day the Temple was destroyed, there is no laughter for the Holy One, blessed be He—

And before he completes his question, the Gemara discusses it:

And from where do we know

from where do we know

that there is no laughter

before the Holy One, blessed be He, from the day the Temple was destroyed—

If you say

if it is said

from

a verse

as it is written

[Isaiah 22]: The prophet Isaiah, in his prophecy concerning the destruction of the Temple, says:

“And the Lord, God of Hosts, called on that day for weeping and mourning, for baldness and for girding with sackcloth,”

and from this you learn that there is no laughter before the Holy One, blessed be He, from the day of the Temple’s destruction—

There is no proof from this verse, for—

Perhaps

it is possible that only

that day

on the day of the Temple’s destruction, the Holy One, blessed be He, called for weeping and mourning,

and no more,

and afterward there is no more weeping and mourning before Him?

Rather,

lest you say that we should learn it from this verse,

as it is written

[Psalms 137], which the Children of Israel said in their exile to Babylon: “How shall we sing the song of the Lord upon foreign soil?

If I forget you, Jerusalem—

may my right hand forget! May my tongue cleave to my palate—

if I do not remember you!”

Behold, there is also no proof from this verse, for—

Perhaps,

it is possible that only

forgetting is absent,

that Jerusalem is not forgotten, but

laughter, at least, exists

before Him?

Rather

we learn

from here

from this verse [Isaiah 42], in which the Holy One, blessed be He, says:

“I have been silent from of old; I have kept still

[for many days I have been silent and quiet concerning the destruction of the Temple],

I have restrained Myself

[I have strengthened Myself to restrain My anger].” Behold, the Holy One, blessed be He, is angry and silent over the destruction of the Temple, and certainly He does not laugh.

And now, when He does not play with Leviathan, Rav Acha asks:

During

the three hours

of the fourth period—

what does He do?

And we conclude:

He sits and teaches the children of the school of the Children of the House of the Book

the

Torah.

That is, the souls of the Children of Israel who died when they were young, and did not manage to study Torah in this world.

As it is stated [there, 28]:

“Whom shall He teach knowledge, and whom shall He make understand the report?—

Those weaned from milk, removed from the breasts.”

And we expound:

To whom shall He teach

the Holy One, blessed be He,

knowledge, and whom shall He make understand the report?—

Those weaned from milk,

who were weaned from their mother’s milk, that is, who died when they were young,

and those removed from the breasts,

who were removed from their mother’s breasts and sent away to their world.

And the Gemara discusses:

And at first,

before this, while the Temple existed,

who used to teach them Torah, for at that time the Holy One, blessed be He, sat and played with His creatures?

Torah? For at that time the Holy One, blessed be He, was sitting and playing with His creatures.

If you wish, say: Metatron

[whose name is like the name of his Master].

And if you wish, say: He does both.

The Holy One, blessed be He, does both: He teaches the children and also plays with His creatures.

And the Gemara discusses:

Until here we have learned what the Holy One, blessed be He, is occupied with during the hours of the day; but

at night,

during the hours of the night,

what does He do?

If you wish, say

that at night He engages

in something resembling the daytime

as He engages during the day. And the night is likewise divided into four periods, each one three hours.

And if you wish, say:

the Holy One, blessed be He,

rides

at night

upon His light cherub, and sails through eighteen thousand worlds—

as it is stated

[Psalms 68]:

“The chariot of God is myriads—

thousands of shanan.”

And we expound:

Do not read “shanan”—

but “that are not.”

That is, the myriads are lacking two thousand, which makes eighteen thousand.

And if you wish, say:

the Holy One, blessed be He,

sits

at night

and hears song from the mouths of the holy creatures

of the sanctuary—

as it is stated

[Psalms 42]:

“By day the Lord will command His kindness—

and at night His song is with me.”

And we expound: “By day” the Lord will command His kindness, that is, He judges the world, provides sustenance for the creatures, and teaches Torah to the children of the school of the Children of the House of the Book; whereas at night, “His song” is from the creatures, “with me,” with King David, who occupied himself all night with songs and praises and with Torah.

And from one matter to another, the Gemara brings a statement of Rabbi Levi:

Rav Levi said: Whoever interrupts

who stops

from words of Torah and occupies himself with words of idle conversation

idleness—

they feed him burning coals of retem

[a type of tree whose coal is extremely hot]—

as it is stated

[Job 30]

“They pluck saltwort among the shrubs, and the root of retem is their bread.”

And we expound: “They pluck saltwort,” one who removes himself from occupation with words of Torah, which are “moist words” [words of taste, gladdening the heart], “among the shrubs,” in order to converse with idle words—“the root of retem is their bread,” their bread will be the root of retem.

Resh Lakish said: Whoever occupies himself with Torah at night, the Holy One, blessed be He, draws over him a thread of kindness,

giving him grace in the eyes of creatures,

during the day.

As it is stated

[there],

“By day the Lord will command His kindness, and at night

His song is with me.”

And we expound:

Why does the Lord command His kindness by day,

which is the thread of kindness?—

Because at night His song

the song of Torah is

with me.

There are those who say

that someone transmitted this teaching in another formulation:

Resh Lakish said: Whoever occupies himself with Torah in this world, which resembles night, the Holy One, blessed be He, draws over him a thread of kindness in the World to Come, which resembles day. As it is stated: “By day the Lord will command His kindness, and at night His song is with me.”

And the Gemara brings another statement concerning the importance of studying Torah and the disgrace of those who interrupt its study.

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel: What

what is the explanation of this

as it is written

[Habakkuk 1]

“And You make man like the fish of the sea, like creeping things over which there is no ruler”—

Why are human beings compared to the fish of the sea?

To tell you: Just as the fish of the sea, once they rise onto dry land—

immediately they die, so too human beings, once they withdraw from words of Torah and from the mitzvot—

immediately

they die.

Alternatively:

Why are human beings compared to the fish of the sea? To tell you:

Just as the fish of the sea, once the sun scorches them

the heat of the sun—

immediately they die, so too human beings, once the sun scorches them—

immediately they die.

And the explanation is:

If you wish, say

that if you wish, interpret this statement as referring to a natural death

in this world; and if you wish, say: in the World to Come.

And the Gemara explains:

If you wish, say: In this world, as

in the same way

as

said

Rabbi Chanina—

For Rabbi Chanina said: Everything

all events, aches, and pains that come upon a person are

in the hands of Heaven,

by decree from Heaven, and a person cannot distance himself from them—

except chills and fever

cold and heat, that is, illnesses that come through excessive cooling or heating, which a person brings upon himself and from which he could have guarded himself.

As it is stated

[Proverbs 22]:

“Thorns and snares are in the way

of the crooked one; he who guards his soul will distance himself from them,”

thus, it is possible to distance oneself from them.

And this is the explanation of the statement of Rav Yehuda in the name of Shmuel: people, once the sun’s heat has descended upon them, and they were able to protect themselves from it but did not protect themselves—from that moment they die.

And if you wish, say: in the World to Come,

its meaning is

according to Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish.

For Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: There is no Gehinnom in the time to come,

the wicked are not judged in Gehinnom,

but

by this judgment:

the Holy One, blessed is He, brings out the sun from its sheath —

this is a metaphor, as though the sun had a sheath, and on a scorching day the Holy One, blessed is He, brings it out of its sheath—

and makes it scorching,

making the heat of the sun very strong.

The wicked—

are judged by it

by the sun,

and

if

the righteous are healed by it —