ViewPoint

Dialogue Between G-d and the Nations PART 2

Ein Yaakov, Avoda Zara 3a continued from last month

When G-d Will Laugh

[The Gemara resumes the narrative:] Instantly, everyone will get busy and build his sukkah on top of his roof. The Holy One, blessed be He, [will test them] by making the sun blaze full force as in the sweltering heat of summer, 1 whereupon every one of them will kick down his sukkah and go away [in disgust], as it says, "Let us break the cord of their yokes, shake off their ropes from us, [the yoke of the mitzvah of sukkah]" (Psalms 2:3). [The Gemara asks:] But haven't you just said that God does not deal unfairly with His creatures? [Why does He give them such a rigorous test?] [The Gemara answers:] You are right. But with the Jews it also happens occasionally (3b) that the summer lasts until Sukkot, and they, too, are distressed by the heat, [so the test the nations are given is not unfair]. But did not Rava say: If you are distressed, you are exempt from dwelling in the sukkah. 2 [So why are the nations condemned for leaving the sukkah?] [The Gemara answers:] Granted, the nations would be exempt [because of the heat], but would Jews scornfully kick down the sukkah [as the nations did? Certainly not].

The Holy One, blessed be He, then will laugh at [the nations], as it says, "He Who is enthroned in heaven laughs, God mocks at them" (Psalms 2:4). R. Yitzchak said: Only on that day is there laughter for the Holy One, blessed be He.

Some connect this comment of R. Yitzchak with the following teaching: R. Yose said: In time to come [in the Messianic era] the idol worshippers will come and ask to be converted to Judaism. [The Gemara asks:] But do we then accept converts [in the Messianic era]? Surely we learned in a Baraita: In the days of Mashiach converts will not be accepted, just as converts were not accepted in the days of David and the days of Solomon. 3 [The Gemara answers:] We must therefore say that they will convert by themselves, [but they will not be accepted]. They will put tefillin on their heads and arms, attach tzitzit to the garments, and affix a mezuzah to their doors, but when the war of Gog and Magog will break out 4 they will be asked, "Why have you come?" They will answer, " [To fight] against God and His anointed," as it says, "Why do nations assemble, and regimes talk in vain... to conspire against God and His anointed" (Psalms 2:1).

Right away each convert will throw away his mitzvah objects and go away, saying, "Let us break the cord of their yokes" (ibid. v. 3), and the Holy One, blessed be He, will sit and laugh, as it says, "He Who is enthroned in heaven will laugh" (ibid. v. 4). [This is what R. Yitzchak was referring to when he said that only on that day is there laughter for the Holy One, blessed be He.]

Is that so? Didn't Rav Yehudah say in the name of Rav: There are twelve hours in a day. During first three hours God is busy studying the Torah; during the second three He judges the whole world, and when He sees that the world is guilty [and deserves to be destroyed] He rises from the Throne of Justice and sits down on the Throne of Mercy, [and mercifully He decides to spare the world and treat it with leniency]; during the third three hours He feeds the whole world, from the mighty re'em [rhinoceros or wild ox] to the smallest insect; during the fourth three hours He plays [and laughs] with the leviathan, 5 as it says, "This leviathan You fashioned to play with" (Psalms 104:26)? [So you see, God does engage in playful laughter every day, not just on "that day"!] Said R. Nachman b. Yitzchak: True, He plays and laughs with with His creatures [every day], but He does not laugh at them, except on that day. [Only on that day God will laugh at their sinful behavior (Rashi).]

R. Acha said to R. Nachman b. Yitzchak: Since the day the Bet Hamikdash was destroyed, there is no laughter for the Holy One, blessed be He. How do we know this? Shall we say from the verse, "My Lord God, Master of Legions, declared that day to be for crying and lament" (Isaiah 22:12)? But this refers only to the day [of the destruction of the Bet Hamikdash]. But we know it from the verse, "I have long kept silent, I have been still, I have restrained myself, but now I will cry" (ibid. 42:14).

[The Gemara asks: R. Nachman b. Yitzchak said above that during the fourth three hours God plays and laughs with the leviathan. Now that the Bet Hamikdash is destroyed and there is no laughter before God,] what does God do during the fourth three hours? [The Gemara answers:] He sits and teaches Torah to the schoolchildren [who died in infancy (Rashi)], for it says, "To whom would He give instruction? To whom would He expound a message? To those newly weaned from milk, just taken away from the breast" (Isaiah 28:9). And before the destruction of the Bet Hamikdash, when there was laughter before God, who taught the schoolchildren? If you prefer, say that Metatron 6 taught them, or you could say that God did both [play and laugh with the leviathan and teach schoolchildren].

And what does God do during the night? If you prefer, say that He does the same as in the daytime, or you could say that He rides upon a light cherub and glides through eighteen thousand worlds, as it says, "God's entourage is twice ten thousand, thousands shin'an" (Psalms 68:18). Do not read shin'an [repeated], but she'einan, "that are not there." 7 Or, if you prefer, say: God sits and listens to the songs of the Chayot [angels], as it says, "In the day God will command His lovingkindness, even by night His song is with me" (ibid. 42:9).

What's your opinion? Write us and share your thoughts with us... the preceding link will automatically include the words "March 2002 ViewPoint Opinion" in the subject line of your e-mail.