Reward and Punishment/2

Reward and Punishment

Exegetical Approaches

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Individuals Rewarded in this World

Individuals are compensated for their actions already in this world, and not only in the next world.

Sources:perhaps Rambam in his Commentary on Mishna PeahCommentary on the Mishna Peah 1:1About R. Moshe b. Maimon, ?ibn Kaspi, Sefer HaIkkarim4:104:114:294:304:33About R. Yosef Albo, NetzivVayikra 26:3Devarim 5:29Devarim 6:24Devarim 22:7About R. Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, R. David Zvi HoffmannShemot 20:11Devarim 6:25About R. David Zvi Hoffmann

Total or partial compensation?

Individuals Not Rewarded in this World

Individuals do not receive true retribution in this world, getting their just desserts only in the next world.

Sources:R. Yaakov in Bavli KiddushinKiddushin 39bKiddushin 40bAbout the Bavli and Bavli ChulinChulin 142aAbout the Bavli, ?R. Saadia GaonCommentary Bereshit 6:7HaEmunot VeHaDeiot 6:5HaEmunot VeHaDeiot 8:2HaEmunot VeHaDeiot 9:1About R. Saadia Gaon, RambamCommentary on the Mishna Peah 1:1Commentary on the Mishna Sanhedrin 10:1Commentary on the Mishna Avot 1:3Hilkhot Teshuvah 8:1-3Hilkhot Teshuvah 8:5-8Hilkhot Teshuvah 9Hilkhot Teshuvah 10:1-2Hilkhot Teshuvah 10:4-5Moreh Nevukhim 3:18Moreh Nevukhim 3:27Moreh Nevukhim 3:28Moreh Nevukhim 3:51About R. Moshe b. Maimon, R. YonahAvot 4:2About R. Yonah b. Avraham Gerondi, ?R. BachyaVayikra 26:9About R. Bachya b. Asher, RalbagVayikra 26:4-5Devarim 5:29Devarim 6:24-25Devarim 22:7Shemot Beur HaParashah 20:11Shemot Toalot 23:25Vayikra Toalot 26:3Devarim Toalot 6:24Milchamot Hashem 4:4Milchamot Hashem 4:6About R. Levi b. Gershom, RanDerashot HaRan 8About R. Nissim Gerondi, R. Chasdai CrescasOr Hashem 2:2:4About R. Chasdai Crescas,

Biblical blessings – The Torah's many promises of reward and punishment, especially those which are physical in nature and thus appear to refer to compensation in this world,¹ present a difficulty for this position:

• Collective recompense – R. Crescas² responds that the retribution spoken about in the verses is for the collective, and refers to national rather than individual rewards. As the vast majority of these blessings and curses, such as war/peace, rain/drought, prosperity/famine,³ are indeed collective in nature, this would seem to be the simple sense of the text. In addition, many verses are worded in the plural, and others, despite being worded in singular, explicitly mention the nation.⁴  The collective context further implies that even surrounding verses which could theoretically be explained to refer only to the individual refer to the group as well.⁵
• Enablers – Rambam,⁶ in contrast, suggests that even individuals might in fact benefit from the promises of Torah, but that these do not constitute rewards but rather enablers. A life free of troubles, sickness, and war will make it easier for people to observe Hashem's commandments,⁷ paving the way for one to earn real reward in the next world.⁸
• Rewards of next world – R. Yaakov suggests that other promises such as "לְמַעַן יִיטַב לָךְ / לְמַעַן יַאֲרִכוּן יָמֶיךָ" in Shemot 20:11/Devarim 5:15 and Devarim 22:7⁹ refer to the next world.¹⁰  This, though, is somewhat difficult in light of the verse's ending, "עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר י״י אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ".

Rewards for individual observance – Certain verses speak of rewards for individual observance of specific mitzvot, such as honoring parents or sending away the mother bird. At first glance, and in contrast to this approach, these seem to imply that there is individual reward in this world as well.  This position can explain such verses in one of two ways:

• Collective reward – Ibn EzraShemot Second Commentary 20:11About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, RalbagVayikra 26:4-5Devarim 5:29Devarim 6:24-25Devarim 22:7Shemot Beur HaParashah 20:11Shemot Toalot 23:25Vayikra Toalot 26:3Devarim Toalot 6:24Milchamot Hashem 4:4Milchamot Hashem 4:6About R. Levi b. Gershom, ShadalShemot 20:11Devarim 6:24About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto and Hoil Moshe all suggest that the blessing for honoring one's parents, "לְמַעַן יַאֲרִכוּן יָמֶיךָ עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר י״י אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ" is a national one.  Ralbag notes that a society in which people revere their parents is one in which people have respect for their elders, which in turn leads to general Torah observance, meriting them to live in Israel and not be exiled.¹¹
• Reward in next world –  R. Yaakov. instead  

"וְשַׂמְתִּי אֲנִי אֶת פָּנַי בָּאִישׁ הַהוּא"

Physical Blessings

Why not reward the individual in this world?

Philosophical motivations

Nature of עולם הבא

Why isn't עולם הבא mentioned in the Torah?

Purpose of rewards / punishments

Is it problematic to hope for reward?

Changing Rewards

Hashem's modes of providence have changed over time.  Though immediate reward and punishment is manifest in the Biblical and First Temple periods, it disappeared thereafter as Hashem's initial overt providence gradually became covert.

"עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר י״י אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ"

¹ See, for instance the rewards and punishments promised in Shemot 15:26,  Vayikra 26, Devarim 7:11-16, Devarim 11:13-25,Devarim 28 or Devarim 29:21-27.  As these include agricultural blessings, promises of victory over enemies, abundance of children, and health, they would seem to relate to this world rather than the next.

² See also R. Elazar in Kiddushin 40bKiddushin 40bAbout the Bavli who notes that "the world is judged by the majority". This is also R. Shemuel EidelsMaharsha Chidushei Aggadot Kiddushin 39bAbout R. Shemuel Eidels (Maharsha)' understanding of R. Yaakov's position in Kiddushin, "די״ל לרבי יעקב דמודה דזכות הרבים ומעשיהם הטובים מביאים להם כל הברכות והטובות שנזכרו בתורה גם בעוה״ז וכן בהיפך בחטא הרבים אבל ר״י לא אמר כן אלא ביחיד".

³ See, for instance, Shemot 23:27, Vayikra 26:3-12 / Vayikra 26:14-21, Devarim 7:16, Devarim 11:13-17, Devarim 28:1-13, 21-25, 49-63, and Devarim 29:21-27.

⁴ See Devarim 7:14 ("בָּרוּךְ תִּהְיֶה מִכׇּל הָעַמִּים"), Devarim 28:9 ("יְקִימְךָ י״י לוֹ לְעַם קָדוֹשׁ") and Devarim 28:52 ("וְהֵצַר לְךָ בְּכׇל שְׁעָרֶיךָ בְּכׇל אַרְצְךָ"). Other verses () foretell how outsiders will view the fate of the country when the blessings / curses come to fruition, further supporting the idea that Biblical rewards are aimed at the group rather than the individual.

⁵ Thus, though the blessings of Devarim 28:3-8 are all worded in the singular ("בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה") and could easily refer only to individuals, the fact that they are followed by a discussion of how the nation will perceived after these have been bestowed, suggests that even the initial blessings of the list speak of the collective.  Similarly, though Shemot 23:26 refers to the removal of barrenness, a promise which might be understood to refer to an individual, the verse's addition of "in your land" ("לֹא תִהְיֶה מְשַׁכֵּלָה וַעֲקָרָה בְּאַרְצֶךָ") suggests that it is referring to a nation-wide phenomenon.

⁶ See also R. Yonah.

⁷ Rambam notes that this is the reason that all yearn for the Messianic age as well.  The peace that will mark the era will enable all to engage in torah and mitzvot, meriting all with the rewards of the next world.

⁸ The same is true for sinners.  Once someone has embarked on a path of evil, he is cursed with travails, making observance more difficult and paving the way for his true punishment in the next world.

⁹ These verses refer to honoring one's parents and sending away the mother bird.  Similar blessings are mentioned for honesty in business dealings in Devarim 25:15, and for general observance of mitzvot in Devarim 5:25, Devarim 5:29, Devarim 6:24, Devarim 12:28 and Devarim 32:47.  Presumably, these verses, too, which speak of general good (and not specific physical rewards) could be understood to refer to the next world.

¹⁰ As

¹¹ They could explain the other rewards in similar ways, that the verses are speaking on a societal level.  When the nation is such that its members care for the mother bird and are honest in business, it will merit goodness and long life in the Land of Israel.