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Avodah Zarah 5a

עבודה זרה ה׳ ע״א

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Topic

תשובה, the sin of the עגל and whether ישראל could have been free of death, and ה׳'s plea that ישראל keep the תורה

Overview

This amud finishes the teaching that דוד's sin and the sin of the עגל came to show that תשובה works: an individual looks to דוד, and a community looks to the generation of the עגל. It then teaches that one מצוה walks ahead of a person into עולם הבא, while one עבירה clings to him like a dog. ריש לקיש says we should thank our ancestors for sinning, because otherwise they would have stayed like angels. The גמרא challenges this with many פסוקים. In the end it reads his words as 'it would be as if we had not come into the world', and it explains that the laws about death were written on condition. A ברייתא says death could never have been removed, but ריש לקיש follows רבי יוסי, who says the תורה would have freed ישראל from death. Along the way, the גמרא teaches that four people are considered like dead: a poor person, a blind person, a מצורע, and one without children. The amud closes with ברייתות that the 'if' of 'אם בחקתי' is ה׳ pleading, and that משה called ישראל ingrates for not answering 'You give it!' The proof from the מן continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

לוֹמַר לָךְ,

To say to you,

שֶׁאִם חָטָא יָחִיד —

that if an individual sinned —

אוֹמְרִים לוֹ: כְּלָךְ אֵצֶל יָחִיד,

we say to him: Go over to the individual,

וְאִם חָטְאוּ צִבּוּר —

and if the community sinned —

The steps (34)

  1. StatementAn individual learns from דוד, a community learns from the עגל
  2. StatementWhy both examples are needed
  3. Proofדוד raised up the yoke of תשובה
  4. StatementA מצוה walks before you and an עבירה wraps around you
  5. Statementרבי אלעזר: A sin is tied to a person like a dog
  6. Statementריש לקיש: Thank our ancestors for sinning
  7. ChallengeChallenge: But there was already a command to have children
  8. ResolutionAnswer: That command lasted only until Sinai
  9. ChallengeChallenge: At Sinai they were told to go back to their tents
  10. ResolutionAnswer: Returning to their wives was for joy, not for children
  11. ChallengeChallenge: The Torah speaks of good for their children
  12. ResolutionAnswer: Those are the children who stood at Sinai
  13. Challengeאדם הראשון was shown all future generations
  14. Challengeמשיח comes only after all souls are born
  15. ResolutionNot 'we would not exist,' but 'as if we did not exist'
  16. ChallengeWould people never have died? The תורה has laws about death
  17. ResolutionThese sections were written on condition
  18. ChallengeDoes the תורה write פסוקים on condition?
  19. ProofAll of Creation depended on accepting the תורה
  20. ChallengeA ברייתא says death could never have been removed
  21. Resolutionריש לקיש follows רבי יוסי
  22. ChallengeHow does רבי יוסי read 'so that it will be good'?
  23. ResolutionNo death is the greatest good
  24. ChallengeChallenging the first opinion from 'You shall die like a man'
  25. ResolutionDeath here means poverty
  26. ProofFour people are considered like dead
  27. ProofThe source for a poor person: דתן and אבירם
  28. ChallengeBut דתן and אבירם were still alive
  29. ResolutionThey lost their property
  30. ProofSources for the blind person, the מצורע, and the childless
  31. Statement'If' in 'If you walk in My laws' is a plea
  32. ProofTwo more פסוקים showing ה׳'s plea
  33. Statementמשה calls ישראל ingrates for not saying 'You give it'
  34. ProofSource that ישראל were ingrates: complaining about the מן