Reward and Punishment/2

Reward and Punishment

Exegetical Approaches

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Individual Recompense in Both Worlds

Individuals are compensated for their actions both in this world and the next world.

Total or partial compensation?

Individual Reward only in Next World

Individuals do not receive full retribution in this world, getting their just desserts only in the next world.  The rewards of this world are meted out only to the collective.

Sources:R. Yaakov in Bavli KiddushinKiddushin 39bKiddushin 40bAbout the Bavli (as understood by R. Shemuel EidelsMaharsha Chidushei Aggadot Kiddushin 39bAbout R. Shemuel Eidels (Maharsha)),

Collective nature of Biblical blessings – According to this approach, the Torah's promises of physical, this worldly retribution apply only on the national level. As the vast majority of these blessings and curses, such as war/peace, rain/drought, prosperity/famine,¹ are indeed collective in nature, this would seem to be the simple sense of the text. Some verses even explicitly mention the nation,² while others foretell how outsiders will view the fate of the country when the blessings / curses come to fruition,³ further supporting the idea that Biblical rewards are aimed at the group rather than the individual.⁴

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.⁵
• Reward in next world –  R. Yaakov

"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.  As the nation gradually moved from a miraculous to natural existence, Hashem's overt providence became covert. Immediate reward and punishment, thus, slowly disappeared over the First Temple period.

"עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר י״י אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ"

No Rewards

The blessings promised in the Torah should be viewed as enablers or natural consequences rather than rewards.

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

² 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).

³ See Devarim 28:10 or Devarim 29:21-24.

⁴ This explicit context of the collective suggests that surrounding verses which could theoretically be explained to refer only to the individual (such as promises of health or sickness, bareness or fruitfulness) refer to the group as well.  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 promises referring to the nation as a whole (and the promise that when others observe these blessings they will come to fear the nation) suggests that even the initial blessings of the list speak of the collective.  Similarly, though Shemot 23:26 refers to teh 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.

⁵ 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.