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Avodah Zarah 3b

עבודה זרה ג׳ ע״ב

Learn Avodah Zarah 3b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

God's laughter and daily schedule, converts in the future, and the value of Torah study

Overview

The גמרא finishes explaining why the nations' failure at the סוכה test is fair: even someone exempt because of suffering should not kick the סוכה. God then laughs at them, and רבי יצחק says God laughs only on that day. A second version attaches רבי יצחק's teaching to רבי יוסי's ברייתא about nations who attach themselves as converts in the future and then abandon their מצוות at the war of גוג ומגוג. The גמרא challenges רבי יצחק from רב's description of God's day, which includes playing with the לויתן, and answers that God plays 'with' His creations but laughs 'at' them only on that day. רב אחא adds that God has had no שחוק since the חורבן, and the גמרא searches for a פסוק to prove it. It then asks what God now does in the fourth part of the day and what He does at night. The amud closes with sayings on Torah study: warnings against idle talk, reward for learning at night, and people compared to fish. The last of these leads into ריש לקיש's teaching that in the future the sun will punish the wicked and heal the righteous, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

דְּמָשְׁכָא לְהוּ תְּקוּפַת תַּמּוּז עַד חַגָּא,

that the summer season of Tammuz stretches for them until the festival,

וְהָוֵי לְהוּ צַעֲרָא.

and it is painful for them.

וְהָאָמַר רָבָא:

But didn't Rava say:

מִצְטַעֵר פָּטוּר מִן הַסּוּכָּה!

one who is suffering is exempt from the sukka!

The steps (35)

  1. ResolutionJews also sometimes suffer heat on סוכות
  2. ChallengeBut someone suffering is exempt from the סוכה
  3. ResolutionExempt, yes — but kicking is not allowed
  4. StatementGod laughs at the nations
  5. StatementGod laughs only on that day
  6. StatementAnother version: רבי יוסי on the nations converting
  7. ChallengeBut converts are not accepted in the days of משיח
  8. ResolutionThey become 'dragged-along' converts
  9. StatementThe converts abandon their מצוות at the war of גוג ומגוג
  10. StatementGod laughs, and רבי יצחק limits it to that day
  11. ChallengeChallenge: God plays with the לויתן every day
  12. ResolutionPlaying with creations versus laughing at them
  13. StatementSince the בית המקדש was destroyed, God has no laughter
  14. QuestionWhat is the source that there is no laughter?
  15. ProofFirst suggested source: God called for weeping
  16. RejectionRejected: maybe only that one day
  17. ProofSecond suggested source: If I forget you, Jerusalem
  18. RejectionRejected: no forgetting does not mean no laughing
  19. ResponseThe accepted source: I have long held My peace
  20. QuestionSo what does God do in the fourth part of the day?
  21. ResponseGod teaches Torah to young schoolchildren
  22. QuestionWho taught the children before the destruction?
  23. ResponseTwo answers: מטטרון, or God did both
  24. QuestionWhat does God do at night?
  25. ResponseFirst answer: the night is like the day
  26. ResponseSecond answer: God rides through 18,000 worlds
  27. ResponseThird answer: God listens to the angels' song
  28. StatementStopping Torah for idle talk
  29. StatementLearning at night brings kindness by day
  30. StatementAnother version: this world is night, the next world is day
  31. StatementPeople are like fish: without Torah they die
  32. StatementAnother lesson: like fish under a hot sun
  33. StatementTwo possible worlds for the sun's harm
  34. ProofThis world: heat and cold are harms a person must avoid
  35. ProofWorld-to-Come: the sun will judge the wicked and heal the righteous