Avodah Zarah, Daf Gimmel, Part 4

 

Introduction

This section relates loosely to yesterday s section in that it too quotes the statement of R. Yitzchak.

 

איכא דמתני להא דרבי יצחק אהא, דתניא, רבי יוסי אומר: לעתיד לבא באין עובדי כוכבים ומתגיירין.

 

There are those who teach the comment of R. Yitzchak in connection with the following teaching, as it was taught: R. Yosi says: In the time to come non-Jews will come and convert.

 

According to this passage, at the end of days the non-Jews will come and convert.

 

ומי מקבלינן מינייהו? והתניא: אין מקבלין גרים לימות המשיח, כיוצא בו לא קבלו גרים לא בימי דוד ולא בימי שלמה!

 

But will they be accepted? Has it not been taught: In the days of the Messiah converts will not be accepted; likewise they did not accept converts in the days of David or of Solomon?

 

According to this counter tradition, when things are going well for the Jews, either because it is the end of days and God has made it clear that He desires the Jews, or when Jewish kings ruled, converts are not accepted. The underlying idea is that non-Jews should convert purely out of love, without any ulterior motive such as justification in the eyes of God or power/money. To be sure that this is so, non-Jews are not accepted as converts during times when it seems that they may have ulterior motives.

 

אלא שנעשו גרים גרורים, ומניחין תפילין בראשיהן, תפילין בזרועותיהם, ציצית בבגדיהם, מזוזה בפתחיהם כיון שרואין מלחמת גוג ומגוג, אומר להן: על מה באתם? אומרים לו: על ה’ ועל משיחו, שנאמר: +תהלים ב+ למה רגשו גוים ולאומים יהגו ריק [וגו’], וכל אחד מנתק מצותו והולך, שנאמר: +תהלים ב+ ננתקה את מוסרותימו [וגו’], והקב"ה יושב ומשחק, שנאמר: יושב בשמים ישחק [וגו’]. א"ר יצחק: אין לו להקב"ה שחוק אלא אותו היום בלבד.

 

Rather, they will be self-made converts, and they will place tefillin on their heads and on their arms, fringes on their garments, and a mezuzah on their doorposts, but when they see the battle of Gog and Magog, he will ask them, For what purpose have you come? And they will reply: Against God and His Messiah as it is said, Why are the nations in an uproar, and why do the peoples mutter in vain (Psalms 2:1). Then each of them will throw aside his mitzvah and go away, as it is said, Let us break their bands, and cast away their cords from us (Psalms 2:3), And the Holy Blessed One will laugh at them, as it is said, He that sits in heaven will laugh (Psalms 2:4). R. Yitzchak said: Only on that day is there laughter before the Holy Blessed One.

 

While the Jewish community will not accept these converts, they will simply begin to act as Jews, in an attempt to save themselves at the time of the Messiah. However, when they see the destruction of Gog and Magog they will take flight in fear. It is at this point that God will laugh at the non-Jews who do not trust in God s protection. This is the only day on which God will laugh.

 

איני? והא אמר רב יהודה אמר רב: שתים עשרה שעות הוי היום, שלש הראשונות הקדוש ברוך הוא יושב ועוסק בתורה, שניות – יושב ודן את כל העולם כולו, כיון שרואה שנתחייב עולם כלייה, עומד מכסא הדין ויושב על כסא רחמים, שלישיות – יושב וזן את כל העולם כולו מקרני ראמים עד ביצי כנים, רביעיות – יושב ומשחק עם לויתן, שנאמר: +תהלים קד+ לויתן זה יצרת לשחק בו!

 

But is this so? Has Rav Judah not said in the name of Rav: There are twelve hours in a day; during the first three hours the Holy Blessed One occupies Himself with the Torah, during the second three He sits in judgment of the whole world, and when He sees that the world deserves destruction, He transfers Himself from the seat of Justice to the seat of Mercy; during the third quarter, He feeds the whole world from the horned ram to the eggs of vermin; during the fourth quarter He is sporting with the leviathan, as it is said, There is leviathan, whom You have formed to laugh (or play) with (Psalms 104: 26)?

 

The notion that God laughs only at the end of days is countered by a tradition in which God laughs, playing with the leviathan, every day.

 

אמר רב נחמן בר יצחק: עם בריותיו משחק, ועל בריותיו אינו משחק אלא אותו היום בלבד.

 

R. Nahman b. Yitzchakh said: With His creatures he does laugh, but he does not laugh at His creatures except on that day.

 

There is a difference, as we know, between laughing with someone, and laughing at someone. God laughs at his creatures in mockery only at the end of days. Until then, his laughter is not of scorn but of joy.