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 the gemara through the mouth of Elisha b. Avuyah who witnesses an individual sending away the mother bird, a commandment whose stated reward is longevity, and yet 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 (ירושלמי חגיגה ב:א)
Elisha b. Avuyah asks, "where is the good promised to this one", and concludes that there is no justice. We, too, wonder, why does it seem that Hashem promises but does not fulfill?
