Avodah Zarah, Daf Gimmel, Part 5

 

Introduction

This sugya continues the discussion of laughter.

 

א"ל רב אחא לרב נחמן בר יצחק: מיום שחרב בית המקדש אין שחוק להקב"ה. ומנלן דליכא שחוק? אילימא מדכתיב: +ישעיהו כב+ ויקרא ה’ אלהים צבאות ביום ההוא לבכי ולמספד ולקרחה וגו’, דלמא ההוא יומא ותו לא!

 

R. Aha said to R. Nahman b. Isaac: Since the day of the destruction of the Temple, there is no laughter for the Holy Blessed One. How do we know that there is no laughter? If we say from the verse, And on that day the Lord, the God of Hosts, called you to weep and wail (Isaiah 22:12). Perhaps this refers to that day and no more.

 

R. Aha says that once the Temple was destroyed there was no more laughter, i.e. joy, for God. The Talmud will now search for a proof text for this. A verse in Isaiah in which God calls Israel to weep and wail may refer only to the day on which the Temple was destroyed. It does not mean that the weeping and wailing must continue forever.

 

אלא דכתיב: +תהלים קלז+ אם אשכחך ירושלם תשכח ימיני, תדבק לשוני לחכי אם לא אזכרכי, דלמא שכחה הוא דליכא, אבל שחוק מיהא איכא!

 

Rather, as it is written: If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you? (Psalms 137:5). Perhaps this rules out forgetting, but does not rule out laughter.

 

The well-known verse from Psalms means that God will not forget Jerusalem. But it does not mean that God will no longer experience joy or laughter.

 

אלא מהא: +ישעיהו מב+ החשיתי מעולם אחריש אתאפק וגו’.

 

Rather from the verse, I have long time held my peace, I have been still, and refrained myself, now will I cry.

 

The Talmud finally settles on a verse which can be used to prove that from the time the Temple was destroyed there is no more laughter before God.

 

ברביעיות מאי עביד? יושב ומלמד תינוקות של בית רבן תורה, שנאמר: +ישעיהו כח+ את מי יורה דעה ואת מי יבין שמועה גמולי מחלב עתיקי משדים, למי יורה דעה ולמי יבין שמועה? לגמולי מחלב ולעתיקי משדים.

 

What then does God do in the fourth quarter [of each day]? He sits and instructs the school children, as it is said, To whom shall one teach knowledge, and to whom shall one make the message understood? To them that are weaned from the milk, to those just taken from the breast (Isaiah 28:9).

 

Now that laughter has been removed from the world, what does God do during the fourth quarter of each day? He teaches children.

 

ומעיקרא מאן הוה מיגמר להו? איבעית אימא: מיטטרון; ואיבעית אימא: הא והא עביד.

 

Who instructed them before that? If you want, you may say Metatron. Or if you want you may say God did this as well as other things.

 

Since God started teaching children only after the destruction of the Temple, who taught them before. There are two answers. The first is Metatron, one of God s archangels. The other answer is that God educated the children, while he was doing other things. God should be able to multitask, I would think.

 

ובליליא מאי עביד? איבעית אימא: מעין יממא; ואיבעית אימא: רוכב על כרוב קל שלו ושט בשמונה עשר אלף עולמות, שנאמר: +תהלים סח+ רכב אלהים רבותים אלפי שנאן, אל תקרי שנאן אלא שאינן; ואיבעית אימא: יושב ושומע שירה מפי חיות, שנאמר: +תהלים מב+ יומם יצוה ה’ חסדו ובלילה שירו עמי.

 

And what does He do by night? If you want you may say, the kind of thing He does by day. And if you want you may say He rides his light cherub, and floats in eighteen thousand worlds; as it is said, The chariots of God are myriads, even thousands of thousands (shinan) (Psalms 68:18) Do not read shinan, [repeated], but she-enan [that are not quite 20,000]. Or if you want you may say, He sits and listens to the song of the Hayyot, as it is said, By the day the Lord will command His lovingkindness and in the night His song shall be with me (Psalms 42:9).

 

God seems to have fun by night. Either he rides around on his chariot, visiting his 18,000 worlds. Or he listens to his singing angels.