Rabbi Beroka of Beit Choza is chatting with Elijah in the market of Beit Lefet and the topic of olam ha'ba comes up. All of the Jews in the market running around with tzizit and black shoes (black shoes? -- anyone heard of that one before) as good Jews do are not destined for the Olam Ha'ba, according to Elijah. The first person that Elijah points out as meriting the Olam Ha'ba is a regularly looking guy who apparently is Jewish but doesn't appear so outwardly. Upon being questioned by R Beroka it is revealed that he is a prison guard who not only keeps the kids from gettin' it on in prison, but also is the real founder of the Mossad -- he gathers information from the non-Jews in the prison and passes it along to the rabbis so they can pray on it (Too much of "The Wire"). He doesn't wear the ceremonial garb so the non-Jewish guards share the information with him.
The only other people in the market who, according to Elijah, have a place in the WTC are the comedians -- didn't see that one coming -- because they cheer people up and make peace between those fighting.
What kind of commentary is this on those who 'do what they are supposed to do'? What happened to if you followed the mitzvot you're set, and if not you're screwed? Why does it seem that it is always the person you least expect is going to make it to the WTC? Is that fair?
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
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4 comments:
Well, first of all, you gotta love that comedians make Olam Haba before anyone else. That seems to me an eminently logical entrance policy. As to the other point: it seems that OHB (better than WTC, which could mean World Trade Center) is more often than not a sort of make-believe land used in the service of moral point the rabbis want to make, and not so much a flesh-and-blood place like, say, Dante's vision of hell. In the Inferno, you can smell the blood and nicely flayed burning flesh, but OHB of the rabbis is entirely bloodless. It is almost a marker, meaning, 'things we approve of' as opposed to a place where certain people go, and certain people do not go. What do you think?
I thought WTC sounded familiar but I just kept going with it -- fair enough. I agree with you description of OHB as a place that represents a reward for good behavior, ie (as you put it) doing the things that the rabbis approve of. So are the frum people in tzizit just a backdrop to emphasize those who go lifnim m'shurat ha-din? If that is the case, why doesn't Elijah say that everyone in the market has a place in the OHB, even the prison guards who does not wear tzizit in the proscribed way? Why does he exclude those who are davka doing what the rabbis approve of?
That's a fair point. I don't know. Maybe the rabbis understand the pedagogical value of "surprise." It's a more effective lesson, perhaps, to say, "all these people you thought were so frum are not going..." than to say "all the people you thought were headed to OHB are, but so are some others." So it could be less about theology and more about how to tell a good moral fable.
My question: why does the prison guard tell the rabbi to "come back tomorrow." Is that like: I want to make sure you are serious in asking that question? Rashi is silent on the matter, but it seems odd.
A bit further on in the sugiya R Beroka asks your question and the prison guard responds that he was on his way to inform the rabbis of a gezayra against the Jews he heard about.
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