Reward and Punishment/1
Reward and Punishment
Introduction
A Plethora of Blessings and Curses
Torah is replete with promises of both rewards for obedience and punishment for transgression. These are perhaps most evident in Vayikra 26 and Devarim 28 which each contain a full list of blessings and curses, but many other individual verses, too, similarly promise recompense, including health, rain, peace, longevity, prosperity and more. In the vast majority of cases, retribution is promised in the context of general observance,1 but in other instances, specific mitzvot are singled out as meriting reward or punishment.2
"?היכן טובתו של זה"
Despite the plethora of promises, however, experience suggests that not all who observe Hashem's commands reap the benefits described. The problem is raised in Yerushalmi Chagiga 2:1 through the mouth of Elisha b. Avuyah. He witnesses an individual fulfilling the directive to send away the mother bird, a commandment whose stated reward is longevity, and yet finds that the man dies upon descent:
פעם אחת היה יושב ושונה בבקעת גינוסר וראה אדם אחד עלה לראש הדקל ונטל אם על הבנים וירד משם בשלום למחר ראה אדם אחר שעלה לראש הדקל ונטל את הבנים ושילח את האם וירד משם והכישו נחש ומת אמר כתיב {דברים כב} שלח תשלח את האם ואת הבנים תקח לך למען ייטב לך והארכת ימים איכן היא טובתו של זה איכן היא אריכות ימיו של זה?
Elisha b. Avuyah asks, "Where is the good promised to this one? Where is his longevity?" We, too, wonder, why does it seem that Hashem promises but does not fulfill? The Gemara responds that the verses refer to rewards in the World to Come, but is that the simple sense of the text? If the Torah's blessings all refer to the spiritual world, why are the vast majority physical in nature?3
Collective or Individual
At whom are Torah's blessings targeted – the individual or the collective? Some verses are formulated in the singular, perhaps suggesting the former, but many others are addressed in the plural.· Other verses, such as Vayikra 20:1-5 or Devarim 29:17-20 explicitly target the individual for retribution. Should these be considered the exception or the norm? On the other hand, many other verses speak of recompense such as rain, famine or war,4 which would seem to naturally affect the collective. Are the verses suggesting that these phenomena will behave naturally and thus, by definition, it is the nation rather than the individual who will suffer or be blessed? Or might rewards and punishments be miraculous, so that a righteous individual might benefit from peace and rain, while his wicked neighbors do not?
