Pt3 Religious Initiative, Prophetic Distillation of Commandments, and the Endurance of Faith in Exile (Makkot 23b-24a)
This is the third and final part of a three-part series. Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here; the outline of the series can be found at Part 1.
Part 3
R’ Yosei b. Ḥanina - Moses issued 4 decrees upon the Jewish people, and 4 prophets came and revoked them
(See footnote).1
אמר רבי יוסי בר חנינא:
ארבע גזירות גזר משה רבינו על ישראל,
באו ארבעה נביאים וביטלום.
§ R’ Yosei b. Ḥanina says:
Moses our teacher issued 4 decrees (גזירות) upon the Jewish people,
and 4 prophets came and revoked them (ביטלום).
#1 - Moses decreed Israel’s safety “alone”; Amos revoked it - Deut 33:28 ↔ Amos 7:5–6
משה אמר:
״וישכן ישראל בטח, בדד עין יעקב״,
בא עמוס וביטלה,
[שנאמר]: ״חדל נא, מי יקום יעקב וגו׳״
וכתיב ״נחם ה׳ על זאת״.
Moses said:
“And Israel dwells in safety, the fountain [ein] of Jacob alone” (Deuteronomy 33:28), indicating that the Jewish people will dwell in safety only when they reach a lofty spiritual level similar to [me’ein] that of Jacob our forefather.
Amos came and revoked it,
as it is stated: “Lord God, cease, I beseech You; how shall Jacob stand, as he is small” (Amos 7:5),
and immediately afterward it states: “YHWH regretted this; it too shall not be, says YHWH God” (Amos 7:6).
#2 - Moses decreed no repose in exile; Jeremiah revoked it - Deut 28:65 ↔ Jer 31:1
משה אמר:
״ובגוים ההם לא תרגיע״,
בא ירמיה ואמר:
״הלוך להרגיעו ישראל״.
Moses said:
“And among these nations you shall have no repose” (Deuteronomy 28:65).
Jeremiah came and revoked it, and said:
“Even Israel, when I go to cause him to rest” (Jeremiah 31:1), indicating that the Jewish people will find rest even in exile.
#3 - Moses: visiting fathers’ sin on sons; Ezekiel revoked it - Exod 34:7 ↔ Ezek 18:4
משה אמר:
״פקד עון אבות על בנים״,
בא יחזקאל וביטלה:
״הנפש החטאת — היא תמות״.
Moses said:
“He visits the transgression of the fathers upon the sons” (Exodus 34:7).
Ezekiel came and revoked it:
“The soul that sins, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4), and not the children of that soul.
#4 - Moses: “You shall be lost among the nations”; Isaiah revoked it with the great shofar - Lev 26:38 ↔ Isa 27:13
משה אמר:
״ואבדתם בגוים״,
בא ישעיהו ואמר:
״והיה ביום ההוא, יתקע בשופר גדול״.
[...]
Moses said:
“And you shall be lost among the nations” (Leviticus 26:38).
Isaiah came and revoked it, and said:
“And it shall be on that day the great shofar shall be sounded, and those lost in the land of Assyria shall come” (Isaiah 27:13).
[...]
Anecdote of R’ Akiva and colleagues hearing the sound of the city of Rome
וכבר היה
רבן גמליאל
ורבי אלעזר בן עזריה
ורבי יהושע
ורבי עקיבא
מהלכין בדרך,
§ Apropos tribulations of exile and hope for redemption, the Talmud relates:
And it once was that
Rabban Gamliel,
R’ Elazar ben Azarya,
R’ Yehoshua,
and R’ Akiva
were walking along the road in the Roman Empire,
Hearing Rome’s roar vs the burnt Temple
ושמעו קול המונה של רומי מפלטה [ברחוק] מאה ועשרים מיל,
והתחילו בוכין,
ורבי עקיבא משחק.
אמרו לו: מפני מה אתה משחק?
אמר להם: ואתם מפני מה אתם בוכים?
and they heard the sound of the multitudes (המונה) of Rome from Puteoli at a distance of 120 mil. The city was so large that they were able to hear its tumult from a great distance.
And the other rabbis began weeping
and R’ Akiva was laughing.
They said to him: For what reason are you laughing?
R’ Akiva said to them: And you, for what reason are you weeping?
אמרו לו:
הללו גוים
שמשתחוים לעצבים ומקטרים לעבודה זרה
יושבין בטח והשקט,
ואנו,
בית הדום רגלי אלהינו שרוף באש,
ולא נבכה?!
They said to him:
R’ Akiva - reward now vs greater (future) reward for those who do God’s will
אמר להן:
לכך אני מצחק,
ומה לעוברי רצונו --
כך,
לעושי רצונו --
על אחת כמה וכמה.
R’ Akiva said to them:
That is why I am laughing.
If for those who violate His will, the wicked --
it is so and they are rewarded for the few good deeds they performed,
for those who perform His will --
all the more so will they be rewarded.
Anecdote of of R’ Akiva and colleagues seeing a fox on the Temple Mount
שוב פעם אחת היו עולין לירושלים,
כיון שהגיעו להר הצופים, קרעו בגדיהם,
כיון שהגיעו להר הבית, ראו שועל שיצא מבית קדשי הקדשים,
התחילו הן בוכין
ורבי עקיבא מצחק
אמרו לו: מפני מה אתה מצחק?
אמר להם: מפני מה אתם בוכים?
The Talmud relates another incident involving those rabbis.
On another occasion they were ascending to Jerusalem after the destruction of the Temple.
When they arrived at Mount Scopus and saw the site of the Temple, they rent their garments in mourning, in keeping with halakhic practice.4
When they arrived at the Temple Mount, they saw a fox that emerged from the site of the Holy of Holies.
They began weeping,
and R’ Akiva was laughing.
They said to him: For what reason are you laughing?
R’ Akiva said to them: For what reason are you weeping?
אמרו לו:
מקום שכתוב בו ״והזר הקרב יומת״,
ועכשיו שועלים הלכו בו,
ולא נבכה?!
They said to him:
This is the place concerning which it is written: “And the non-priest who approaches shall die” (Numbers 1:51),
and now foxes walk in it;
and shall we not weep?!
R’ Akiva - truth of the destruction prophecy indicates the truth of the consolation prophecy - Isa 8:2; Mic 3:12; Zech 8:4
אמר להן:
לכך אני מצחק,
דכתיב:
״ואעידה לי עדים נאמנים:
את אוריה הכהן
ואת זכריה בן יברכיהו״ –
R’ Akiva said to them:
That is why I am laughing,
as it is written, when God revealed the future to the prophet Isaiah:
“And I will take to Me faithful witnesses to attest:
and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah” (Isaiah 8:2).
וכי מה ענין אוריה אצל זכריה?
אוריה במקדש ראשון,
וזכריה במקדש שני!
אלא: תלה הכתוב נבואתו של זכריה בנבואתו של אוריה.
Now what is the connection between Uriah and Zechariah?
He clarifies the difficulty: Uriah prophesied during the First Temple period,
and Zechariah prophesied during the Second Temple period, as he was among those who returned to Zion from Babylonia.5
Rather, the verse established that fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah is dependent on fulfillment of the prophecy of Uriah.
באוריה כתיב
״לכן בגללכם ציון שדה תחרש״,
בזכריה כתיב
״עוד ישבו זקנים וזקנות ברחבות ירושלם״.
In the prophecy of Uriah it is written:
“Therefore, for your sake Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become rubble, and the Temple Mount as the high places of a forest” (Micah 3:12), where foxes are found. There is a rabbinic tradition that this was prophesied by Uriah.
In the prophecy of Zechariah it is written:
“There shall yet be elderly men and elderly women sitting in the streets of Jerusalem” (Zechariah 8:4).
עד שלא נתקיימה נבואתו של אוריה --
הייתי מתיירא שלא תתקיים נבואתו של זכריה,
עכשיו שנתקיימה נבואתו של אוריה –
בידוע שנבואתו של זכריה מתקיימת.
Until the prophecy of Uriah with regard to the destruction of the city was fulfilled --
I was afraid that the prophecy of Zechariah would not be fulfilled, as the two prophecies are linked.
Now that the prophecy of Uriah was fulfilled --
it is evident that the prophecy of Zechariah remains valid.
בלשון הזה אמרו לו:
עקיבא ניחמתנו, עקיבא ניחמתנו.
The Talmud adds: The rabbis said to him, employing this formulation:
Akiva, you have comforted us; Akiva, you have comforted us.
Appendix 1 - Actions and Punishments in This World, and Divine Reward and Punishment: Court’s Lashes as Divine Atonement, the Moral Value of Restraint, and the Expansion of Merit (Mishnah Makkot 3:15-16 = Makkot 23a-b)
Mishnah_Makkot.3.15-16 = Makkot.23a.19-23b.3
R’ Ḥananya ben Gamliel - Lashes exempt one from karet; after flogging he is “as your brother” - Deut 25:3
R’ Ḥananya ben Gamliel asserts that lashes (by the court) function as an atonement for offenses ordinarily (divinely) punished with karet. He infers from Deut 25:3 (“your brother”) that once flogged, the offender is restored to communal status.
כל חייבי כריתות שלקו –
נפטרו ידי כריתתם,
שנאמר: ״ונקלה אחיך לעיניך״ –
כשלקה —
הרי הוא כאחיך,
דברי רבי חנניה בן גמליאל.
All those liable to receive karet who were flogged --
are exempted from their punishment of karet,
as it is stated: “And your brother shall be debased before your eyes” (Deuteronomy 25:3),
indicating: Once he is flogged —
he is as your brother, as his sin has been atoned and he is no longer excised from the Jewish people;
this is the statement of R’ Ḥananya ben Gamliel.
R’ Ḥananya ben Gamliel - If one transgression can cost a life, one mitzva all the more so gives life
R’ Ḥananya ben Gamliel then adds a moral inference: if one transgression can cost a person’s life, a single mitzva can all the more so preserve it.
ואמר רבי חנניה בן גמליאל:
מה אם העובר עבירה אחת --
נוטל נפשו עליה,
העושה מצוה אחת --
על אחת כמה וכמה שתנתן לו נפשו.
And R’ Ḥananya ben Gamliel says:
And if for one who performs one transgression --
his soul is taken for it,
as one’s soul can be uprooted from the world for one transgression,
for one who performs a single mitzva --
it is all the more so the case that his soul will be given to him,
as the reward for performing mitzvot is greater than the punishment for performing transgressions.
R’ Shimon - Derived from the Biblical karet unit itself: one who refrains from a transgression receives reward like a positive act - Lev 18:29, 5
R’ Shimon derives a related idea from the karet passage in Lev 18:
Because the chapter frames excision (v. 29) and “live by them” (v. 5) together, he infers that passively refraining from a transgression generates reward comparable to performing a mitzva.
רבי שמעון אומר:
ממקומו הוא למד,
שנאמר: ״ונכרתו הנפשות העשת וגו׳״.
״אשר יעשה אתם האדם וחי בהם״.
הא היושב ולא עבר עבירה --
נותנין לו שכר כעושה מצוה.
R’ Shimon says:
It is derived from its own place in the Torah,
as it is stated at the conclusion of the passage discussing sex with forbidden relatives, which is punishable with karet:
“And the souls that perform them shall be excised” (Leviticus 18:29),
and it states toward the beginning of that chapter: “That a person shall perform and live by them” (Leviticus 18:5).
It is inferred that with regard to one who sits and did not perform a transgression --
God gives him a reward like that received by one who performs a mitzva.
R’ Shimon b. Yehuda HaNasi - If abstaining from blood (which people naturally loathe) yields reward, then abstaining from robbery and forbidden sex (which people desire) yields far greater reward, for oneself and descendants - Deut 12:23, 25
R’ Shimon ben Yehuda HaNasi expands the point with a kal va-chomer from blood consumption (Deut 12:23–25):
If abstaining from blood—which people naturally avoid—earns reward extending to later generations, then abstaining from robbery and forbidden sex—which people desire—yields greater and more enduring merit.
רבי שמעון בר רבי אומר:
הרי הוא אומר
״רק חזק
לבלתי אכל (את) הדם
כי הדם הוא הנפש וגו׳״
ומה אם הדם,
שנפשו של האדם קצה ממנו –
הפורש ממנו מקבל שכר,
גזל ועריות,
שנפשו של אדם מתאוה להן ומחמדתן –
הפורש מהן על אחת כמה וכמה שיזכה
לו
ולדורותיו
ולדורות דורותיו
עד סוף כל הדורות.
R’ Shimon bar R’ Yehuda HaNasi says that
as the verse states:
“Only be steadfast
do not eat the blood,
as the blood is the soul” (Deuteronomy 12:23),
it can be derived a fortiori:
And if with regard to the blood,
which a person’s soul loathes,
one who abstains from its consumption receives a reward for that action, as it is written in a subsequent verse: “You shall not eat it, so that it shall be good for you and for your children after you” (Deuteronomy 12:25);
then concerning robbery and sex with forbidden relatives,
which a person’s soul desires and covets,
one who abstains from their performance and overcomes his inclination, all the more so that will merit a reward
he
and his descendants
and the descendants of his descendants
until the end of all generations
R’ Ḥananya ben Akashya - God increased Torah and mitzvot to grant Israel merit - Isa 42:21
The Mishnah concludes with a general principle from R’ Ḥananya ben Akashya: God increased Torah and mitzvot to provide Israel with expanded opportunities for merit (Isa 42:21).
רבי חנניא בן עקשיא אומר:
רצה הקדוש ברוך הוא לזכות את ישראל,
לפיכך הרבה להם תורה ומצות,
שנאמר
״ה׳ חפץ
למען צדקו
יגדיל תורה ויאדיר״.
R’ Ḥananya ben Akashya says:
God sought to confer merit (לזכות) upon the Jewish people;
therefore, He increased for them Torah and mitzvot, as each mitzva increases merit,
as it is stated:
“It pleased YHWH
for the sake of His righteousness
to make the Torah great and glorious” (Isaiah 42:21).
God sought to make the Torah great and glorious by means of the proliferation of mitzvot.
Appendix 2 - The Obligation to tear clothing in Mourning upon hearing bad news relating to Personal Loss and National Disaster (Moed Katan 25b-26a)
Baraita - The Obligation to tear clothing in Mourning upon hearing bad news relating to Personal Loss and National Disaster: A List of 11 Items
A baraita lists categories of mourning tears6 that may never be fully repaired.
The list combines private losses (parents, one’s Torah-teacher, major communal leaders) with national or religious catastrophes (blasphemy, the burning of a Torah scroll, and the ruined landscapes of Judea, Jerusalem, and the Temple).
תנו רבנן:
ואלו קרעין שאין מתאחין:
הקורע
על אביו
ועל אמו,
ועל רבו שלימדו תורה,
ועל נשיא
ועל אב בית דין,
ועל שמועות הרעות,
ועל ברכת השם,
ועל ספר תורה שנשרף,
ועל ערי יהודה
ועל המקדש
ועל ירושלים
A baraita states:
And these are the rents of mourning that may never be properly mended (מתאחין):
One who rends his garments
for the death his father,
or for his mother,
or for his teacher who taught him Torah,
or for the Nasi,
or for the president of the court (אב בית דין);
or upon hearing evil tidings (שמועות);
or hearing God’s name being blessed (ברכת השם), which is a euphemism for hearing God’s name being cursed;
or when a Torah scroll has been burned;
or upon seeing the cities of Judea that were destroyed
or the destroyed Temple
or Jerusalem in ruins.
Prooftext for the obligation to rend garments upon seeing the destroyed cities of Judea - Jeremiah 41:5
Ibid., Moed_Katan.26a.22-23
The Talmud derives the obligation to rend garments upon seeing the destroyed cities of Judea (ibid., list item # 9) from Jeremiah 41:5, where mourners approaching the ruined Temple appear with torn clothing.
ערי יהודה מנלן —
דכתיב:
״ויבאו אנשים
משכם
משילו
ומשמרון
שמונים איש
מגולחי זקן
וקרועי בגדים
ומתגודדים
ומנחה ולבונה בידם
להביא בית ה׳ וגו׳״.
§ From where do we derive that one must rend his garments upon seeing the cities of Judea in ruin?
As it is written:
“There came certain men
from Shechem,
from Shiloh,
and from Samaria,
80 people,
their beards shaven,
and their clothes rent,
and having cut themselves (מתגודדים),
with offerings and incense in their hand,
to bring to the house of YHWH” (Jeremiah 41:5).
This indicates that they rent their garments upon seeing the destruction.
R’ Ḥelbo, Ulla Bira’a, and R’ Elazar - specific verses to recite before tearing when encountering these ruined sites - Isaiah 64:9–10
A later tradition, attributed to R’ Ḥelbo, Ulla Bira’a, and R’ Elazar, prescribes specific verses to recite before tearing when encountering these ruined sites.
Isaiah 64:9–10 provides the liturgical frame for each location.
אמר רבי חלבו
אמר עולא ביראה
אמר רבי אלעזר:
for Judea: “Your sacred cities are become a wilderness”
הרואה ערי יהודה בחורבנן —
אומר: ״ערי קדשך היו מדבר״,
וקורע.
R’ Ḥelbo said that
Ulla Bira’a said that
R’ Elazar said:
One who sees the cities of Judea in their desolation —
says: “Your sacred cities are become a wilderness” (Isaiah 64:9),
and then rends his garments.
for Jerusalem: “Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation”
ירושלים בחורבנה —
אומר:
״ציון מדבר היתה
ירושלם שממה״,
וקורע.
One who sees Jerusalem in its desolation —
says:
“Zion is a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation” (Isaiah 64:9),
and then rends his garments.
for the Temple: “Our sacred and our beautiful house…is burned with fire”
בית המקדש בחורבנו —
אומר:
״בית קדשנו ותפארתנו
אשר הללוך אבותינו
היה לשריפת אש
וכל מחמדינו היה לחרבה״,
וקורע.
One who sees the Temple in its desolation —
says:
“Our sacred and our beautiful house,
where our fathers praised You,
is burned with fire;
and all our pleasant things are laid waste” (Isaiah 64:10),
and then rends his garments.
The literary formula for each of the following sections is as follows:
משה אמר:
[ פסוק א]
בא [נביא] וביטלה,
[פסוק ב]
Moses said:
[verse in Pentatech]
[X - biblical prophet] came and revoked it (ביטלה - “nullified it, cancelled it”),
[verse in Nevi’im]
A biblical term for “idol”, see for example in Psalms 115:4:-7
עצביהם כסף וזהב
מעשה ידי אדם
פה להם
ולא ידברו
עינים להם
ולא יראו
אזנים להם
ולא ישמעו
אף להם
ולא יריחון
ידיהם
ולא ימישון
רגליהם
ולא יהלכו
לא יהגו בגרונם
Their idols (עצביהם) are silver and gold,
the work of men’s hands.
They have mouths,
but cannot speak,
eyes,
but cannot see;
they have ears,
but cannot hear,
noses,
but cannot smell;
they have hands,
but cannot touch,
feet,
but cannot walk;
they can make no sound in their throats.
עבודה זרה - i.e., the Romans are pagans.
See Moed_Katan.25b.15-26a.1, cited at an appendix at the end of this piece: “Appendix 2 - The Obligation to tear clothing in Mourning upon hearing bad news relating to Personal Loss and National Disaster (Moed Katan 25b-26a)“, section “Baraita - The Obligation to tear clothing in Mourning upon hearing bad news relating to Personal Loss and National Disaster: A List of 11 Items“, especially the final list items - # 9-11.
And see these passages cited in Hebrew Wikipedia at these entries:
Note that according to pshat, the Zechariah b. Jeberechiah here in Isaiah has no relation to the later prophet Zechariah.
See Wikipedia, “List of minor Hebrew Bible figures, L–Z“, section “Zechariah“:
Zechariah was the name of 18 minor biblical individuals.
In addition to the characters named above, there are numerous minor characters in the Bible with the same name:
[…]
The father of Abijah (queen), who was the mother of Hezekiah: 2 Chron 29:1 possibly the same as Isaiah’s supporter Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah Isa 8:2.
See Wikipedia, “Keriah“:
Keriah (Hebrew: קְרִיעָה, lit. ‘tearing’; often translated as ‘rending of garments’) is ritual tearing of one’s clothes as a sign of mourning or grief.
This practice originated in the ancient Near East and continues in various cultures to the present day.
The act of keriah is mentioned numerous times in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), typically performed as an expression of grief upon the death of a close relative, but also occasionally in response to other disastrous or profoundly disturbing news.
In Jewish law (Halakha), keriah is a mandated ritual within the laws of mourning (Dinei Aveilut).
An individual is obligated to perform keriah upon learning of the death of one of the seven close relatives for whom the Shiva (the formal seven-day mourning period) must be observed: father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, or spouse.
Additionally, Halakha requires keriah in other specific circumstances.
Compare also my previous piece on a part of this sugya, with my note there: “Jehoiakim’s Arrogance: Rejecting the Warnings of Lamentations and Burning Its Names of God (Lamentations 1:1-5; Moed Katan 26a)“.