Pensée juive sur Avot 5:2

There were ten generations between Adam and Noach, to demonstrate the long-wearing patience of G-d. All those generations had angered G-d, until He brought on the deluge (Avot 5,2).

Coming back to the opening statement of our chapter, we now have a better understanding of the argument of the sun and the moon. We do not merely regard this as a parable, but just like our sages, we conceive of the celestial bodies as equipped with intelligence of their own, since they are described as inhabiting the sphere called zevul. They did not tell G'd that they would refuse to function, but that if ben Amram is not vindicated the institution of prophecy would be undermined, i.e. a fundamental pillar of Torah would be missing. If there will be no Torah, the raison d'etre of the entire universe will disappear, the world would revert to tohu, to the anarchy that had preceded the six days of creation. (see details about the Torah/universe relationship in chapter twelve) G'd flinging arrows at the sun and moon, expresses His rejection of their argument that the action of a few fools like Korach and his assembly would be allowed to bring about the undoing of G'ds entire handiwork. Since sun and moon must have been well aware of the fact that the world had not come to an end in spite of millions of people having worshipped them, (instead of G'd) why would they suddenly be concerned about the consequences of the actions of a Korach! It had not seemed to bother them that by having become objects of worship without their withdrawing their services, they themselves had in fact undermined the Honour and Glory of their Master! The reason the universe had been kept going then was for the sake of the true believers. There may have been an additional reason for this dialogue reported by Rava. The sun and moon were indignant about the challenge to the prophecy of Moses and Joshua respectively. The sun, possessing light of its own, was jealous of the honour of Moses, since the latter's kind of prophecy was similarly perceived as an emanation. (His face emitted rays of light) The moon, being merely the source of reflected light, was jealous on behalf of Joshua, who likewise seemed to reflect the inspirations he had received. G'd was angry since He perceived that both sun and moon had failed to understand that in challenging the authority of Moses, Korach had in fact challenged the authority of G'd Himself. Since G'd did comply with the request of the sun and the moon, why was He so angry? The answer may be that G'd did not use celestial bodies to orchestrate the punishment of Korach, but He used the earth. This showed the sun and moon that they had been guilty of a serious error. The insurrection of Korach would normally have elicited visible protests both from below and from above. Due, however, to the attitude displayed by the celestial bodies, the latter were not fit to become the instruments of Korach's punishment, seeing they were not free from guilt themselves. Although we are still plagued with Korach "types," the reason no supernatural events occur to punish those types, is the one quoted by Rava, namely that G'd decreed for the sun and the moon to carry on business as usual. All the foregoing underlines how right our sages were when they taught in Avot 5,2, that G'ds patience is so great, that He waited for ten long generations before bringing on the deluge in retribution for man's corruption.

A husband is obliged to provide his wife with three basics. They are food, clothing, and conjugal rights. We therefore read in that passage first about G'd fulfilling His "duties," i.e. the duties of a husband. (6,10-11) At the same time, in keeping with the dictum that "indolence leads to immorality" (Ketuvot.5 9), the love relationship between husband and wife notwithstanding, the spouse's duties do not cease. "You shall revere the Lord your G'd, fear Him and serve Him." The need to accord glory to the beloved is not diminished by the intimacy of their relationship. Familiarity must not be allowed to breed contempt. Since it is in the nature of a woman to test her husband's love from time to time, in order to receive psychological reassurance, the Torah tells us "do not test the Lord your G'd." We must not conduct ourselves in such immature fashion. When the sages describe the passage commencing with the words "when your son will ask you," (6,20) as the question of a clever son who wants to understand the rationale of Torah observances, they did so with good reason. We have explained this in detail, in chapter thirty eight. (6+7) After having concluded the instructions how to insure our loyalty to G'd after we have taken possession of the land of Israel, the last part of our Parshah deals with ensuring that also our children will remain loyal to the covenant. At first glance, the demand for isolation from gentile society may sound harsh. Therefore, the Torah explains 1) the need to remain a holy nation. 2) The reminder that if G'd had wanted us to be similar to other nations, He would have chosen a numerically much stronger nation for His pilot project. (8) When the Torah threatens prompt retaliation to the wicked person, the switch from the singular to the plural may mean that when the wicked become numerous, G'd may have to delay application of retributive acts in order to demonstrate His patience, as discussed in chapter three. However, as long as the number of the wicked is few, of no sociological consequence, immediate retribution is in order. This is necessary to prevent sinners from relying on the patience of G'd and the delay of retribution. The correct meaning of the whole verse (7,9) then is as follows: "when there are many enemies, He will pay them back to their face, to result in the sinners' destruction. When there are only a few individual sinners however, He will not delay before paying him back." It is clear from Jeremiah chapter twelve and Psalms chapter seventy three as well as from Chabakuk chapter one, that the conduct of G'd towards a group of people is not necessarily subject to our evaluation and comprehension. (since we lack too many facts in the total equation.) Psalms ninety two, states so explicitly. (6) The fact that our duties in the marriage contract are spelled out, does not mean that we are entitled to a reward because we have lived up to our undertaking. If the Torah nonetheless begins the next paragraph with a list of promises based on our fulfilling our contractural duties, this is an act of kindness on the part of G'd, not something that we could claim as a right. Just as Abraham considered G'ds promise to grant him children and to give the land of Canaan to them as an act of kindness by G'd, (Genesis 15,6 and our discussion of this in chapter seventeen) so it remains for all time. The answer that the clever son receives may be divided into two parts. Up to the end of Parshat va-etchanan, he is told about the chukkim and eydot the laws that seem to lack rationale and the laws that demonstrate our testifying to the Torah's and G'ds historic truth. In Parshat eykev, he is told about the mishpatim, the social laws of the Torah. Since mishpatim are universally accepted phenomena and no special Torah is needed to assure a nation's establishing standards of social behaviour, the Torah explains the superiority of its legislation to the clever son.