Sukkah, Daf Nun Bet, Part 1

 

Introduction

At the end of the last daf we read a verse from Zechariah 12 talking about a great mourning that will come in the future, eschatological time. This next daf begins by discussing what they were mourning.

 

הא הספידא מאי עבידתיה?

פליגי בה רבי דוסא ורבנן. חד אמר: על משיח בן יוסף שנהרג, וחד אמר: על יצר הרע שנהרג.

 

What is the cause of the mourning [mentioned in the last cited verse]?

R. Dosa and the rabbis differ on this point. One said: Over the slaying of Messiah the son of Joseph, and the other explained, over the slaying of the Evil Inclination.

 

Here we see the core dispute about what they were mourning over the death of the Messiah son of Joseph or the evil inclination. This "messiah" is a figure that appears in Second Temple literature and seems to have been a forerunner to the great redeemer, the Messiah of David, who will usher in the final redemption. We should note that we are dealing with eschatological beliefs, ones that do not have the certainty of the more normative halakhic beliefs. As such, there are often less "definitive" answers in sections of this nature. In any case, we will learn more about these figures as we proceed.

 

בשלמא למאן דאמר על משיח בן יוסף שנהרג – היינו דכתיב +זכריה יב+ והביטו אלי את אשר דקרו וספדו עליו כמספד על היחיד. אלא למאן דאמר על יצר הרע שנהרג – האי הספידא בעי למעבד? שמחה בעי למעבד! אמאי בכו?

 

It goes well according to him who explains that the cause is the slaying of Messiah the son of Joseph, as it is written, "And they shall look upon me because they have thrust him through, and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for his only son," but according to him who explains the cause to be the slaying of the Evil Inclination, was this an occasion for mourning? Is it not rather an occasion for rejoicing? Why then should they weep?

 

It makes sense that the Jews would mourn over the death of the Messiah ben Joseph, and it even may be midrashically alluded to in the verse. But why would they mourn over the end of the evil inclination. After all, shouldn’t the end of evil desires be an opportunity for rejoicing.

 

כדדרש רבי יהודה: לעתיד לבא מביאו הקדוש ברוך הוא ליצר הרע ושוחטו בפני הצדיקים ובפני הרשעים. צדיקים נדמה להם כהר גבוה, ורשעים נדמה להם כחוט השערה. הללו בוכין, והללו בוכין. צדיקים בוכין ואומרים: היאך יכולנו לכבוש הר גבוה כזה! ורשעים בוכין ואומרים: היאך לא יכולנו לכבוש את חוט השערה הזה! ואף הקדוש ברוך הוא תמה עמהם, שנאמר +זכריה ח+ כה אמר ה’ צבאות כי יפלא בעיני שארית העם הזה בימים ההם גם בעיני יפלא.

 

As R. Judah expounded: In the time to come the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring the Evil Inclination and slay it in the presence of the righteous and the wicked. To the righteous it will have the appearance of a towering hill, and to the wicked it will have the appearance of a hair thread. Both the former and the latter will weep; the righteous will weep saying, "How were we able to overcome such a towering hill!" The wicked also will weep saying, "How is it that we were unable to conquer this hair thread!" And the Holy One, blessed be He, will also marvel together with them, as it is said, "Thus says the Lord of Hosts, If it be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, it shall also be marvelous in My eyes" (Zechariah 8:6).

 

In this fascinating midrash, everyone weeps over the slaying of the evil inclination. The righteous weep over how hard they worked to conquer this great mountain. The wicked also weep, for the evil inclination was no more than a hair thread, and yet they couldn’t conquer it. This midrash seems to me to be expressive of how we perceive the difficulty of life. We don’t know how hard something is until we look at it in retrospect. Sometimes tasks that we thought were easy, were actually quite difficult, and we are amazed at the strength we had to surmount those problems (I still don’t know how I finished my doctorate). And sometimes the opposite is true. We fail in our mission, what we are meant to do in life, even though our problems were really miniscule. I think that the wisdom of this saying is that there is no objective reality to our problems, there is really only our apprehension of them.

 

אמר רבי אסי: יצר הרע, בתחילה דומה לחוט של בוכיא, ולבסוף דומה כעבותות העגלה, שנאמר +ישעיהו ה+ הוי מושכי העון בחבלי השוא וכעבות העגלה חטאה.

 

R. Assi stated: The Evil Inclination is at first like the thread of a spider, but ultimately becomes like cart ropes, as it is said, "Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart-rope" (Isaiah 8:18).

 

The point of this saying is that temptation is at first very flimsy, easy to break apart, like the thread of a spider. But as we give in to it more and more, it becomes thicker, the cords become like those used to draw a cart. Once we have adopted bad habits, they become more and more difficult to break.

 

תנו רבנן: משיח בן דוד שעתיד להגלות במהרה בימינו, אומר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא: שאל ממני דבר ואתן לך, שנאמר +תהלים ב+ אספרה אל חוק וגו’ אני היום ילדתיך שאל ממני ואתנה גוים נחלתך. וכיון שראה משיח בן יוסף שנהרג, אומר לפניו: רבונו של עולם, איני מבקש ממך אלא חיים. אומר לו: חיים, עד שלא אמרת – כבר התנבא עליך דוד אביך שנאמר +תהלים כא+ חיים שאל ממך נתתה לו וגו’.

 

 

Our Rabbis taught: The Holy One, blessed be He, will say to the Messiah, the son of David (May he reveal himself speedily in our days!): Ask of me anything, and I will give it to you, as it is said, "I will tell of the decree etc. This day have I given birth to you. Ask of me and I will give the nations as your inheritance" (Psalms 2:7). But when he will see that the Messiah the son of Joseph is slain, he will say to Him, Lord of the Universe, I ask from You only the gift of life." He will answer him: By your life, before you even asked, your father David has already prophesied this concerning you , as it is said, "He asked life of You, You gave it him, [even length of days for ever and ever]" (Psalms 21:5).

 

This midrash presents a dialogue between God and the Messiah, son of David, the Messiah that will usher in the end of days after the slaying of the Messiah son of Joseph. God tells this descendant of David that he can ask anything of him. But the Messiah wisely asks only for his life, which he is granted by God. There may be some Christian overtones/polemics to this midrash, for according to this passage the real Messiah will not be slain.