Avodah Zarah, Daf Nun Heh, Part 3

 

Introduction

Today s section is similar to yesterday s except in this case the efficacy of idolatry cannot be explained by the placebo effect. At best we might say that correlation is not causation.

 

א"ל רבא בר רב יצחק לרב יהודה האיכא בית עבודת כוכבים באתרין דכי מצטריך עלמא למטרא מתחזי להו בחלמא ואמר להו שחטו לי גברא ואייתי מטרא שחטו לה גברא ואתי מטרא

Rava son of R. Yitzchak said to R. Judah: There is an idolatrous shrine in our region, and whenever the world is in need of rain, [the idol] appears to them in a dream, saying, Slay a human being to me and I will send rain. They slay a human being to it and rain does come!

 

It seems that slaying a human being to an idol does bring rain (don t try this one at home either).

א"ל השתא אי הוי שכיבנא לא אמרי לכו הא מלתא דאמר רב מאי דכתיב (דברים ד, יט) אשר חלק ה’ אלהיך אותם לכל העמים מלמד שהחליקן בדברים כדי לטורדן מן העולם

 

He replied, Now were I dead, nobody could have told you that which Rav said, What is it that is written, Which the Lord your God has alloted [halak] to all the nations under the whole heaven (Deuteronomy 4:19). This teaches that He misled [hehelik] them with matters to banish [idolaters] from the world.

 

The whole verse that Rav cites reads as follows, And lest you lift up your eyes to the heavens, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of heavens, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which the Lord your God has allotted [ḥalak] to all the nations under the whole heaven. God has allotted the sun, moon and stars to the nations so that they may worship them. God, according to Rav, allows idolatry to be effective, at least at times, so that idolaters should believe in the efficacy of idolatry, and thereby lose their portion in the world to come.

This is a fascinating argument, one that in a sense acknowledges the efficacy of idolatry, and that it is even sanctioned by God. Idolaters are punished, or to put this in another way, are mistaken in their beliefs, not because they believe in idols that do not work. They are mistaken because they do not see the deeper, underlying cause. They are misled by seeing a correlation that is not a true causation. Ultimately, it looks like the sun is a god, it looks like slaughtering a human being to an idol brings rain, but this is just what we see. It is not the true cause. Confusing the visible cause with the ultimate cause is probably something we should all be wary of.

 

והיינו דאמר ריש לקיש מאי דכתיב (משלי ג, לד) אם ללצים הוא יליץ ולענוים יתן חן בא לטמא פותחין לו בא לטהר מסייעין אותו:

 

This is similar to what Resh Lakish said: What is it that is written, If it concerns the scornful, He scorns them, but to the humble He gives grace (Proverbs 3:34). If one comes to defile they provide him with an opening to do so, and if he comes to purify himself they support him.

 

The Talmud brings the above statement of Rav in line with a statement by Resh Lakish. Resh Lakish says that Heaven (God, or some other power, he does not say) helps a person follow the path they have chosen. If they have chosen the dark side, the side of idolatry, then they are provided with help to continue down that path. In the case above, God created the heavenly bodies to give people the illusion that they are gods. But the converse is also true if people choose the Force, the side of good, they too are aided on their path. So choose wisely.