Our Gemara on Amud Aleph records an important theological discussion about the nature of God and Man, and why God leaves certain aspects of civilization in the hands of man to correct and protect;

תניא: היה רבי מאיר אומר, יש לו לבעל הדין להשיבך ולומר לך: אם אלהיכם אוהב עניים הוא, מפני מה אינו מפרנסן? אמור לו: כדי שניצול אנו בהן מדינה של גיהנם. וזו שאלה שאל טורנוסרופוס הרשע את רבי עקיבא: אם אלהיכם אוהב עניים הוא, מפני מה אינו מפרנסם? אמר לו: כדי שניצול אנו בהן מדינה של גיהנם.

Rabbi Meir would say: An “opponent” (Baal Din) may bring an argument against you and say to you: If your God loves the poor, for what reason does He not support them Himself? In such a case, say to him: He commands us to act as His agents in sustaining the poor, so that through them we will be credited with the performance of mitzvos and therefore be saved from the judgment of Gehenna. 

And this is the question that Turnus Rufus the wicked asked Rabbi Akiva: If your God loves the poor, for what reason does He not support them Himself? Rabbi Akiva said to him: He commands us to sustain the poor, so that through them and the charity we give them we will be saved from the judgment of Gehenna.

אמר לו: [אדרבה], זו שמחייבתן לגיהנם! אמשול לך משל, למה הדבר דומה? למלך בשר ודם שכעס על עבדו, וחבשו בבית האסורין, וצוה עליו שלא להאכילו ושלא להשקותו. והלך אדם אחד והאכילו והשקהו. כששמע המלך, לא כועס עליו? ואתם קרוין עבדים, שנאמר: ״כי לי בני ישראל עבדים״!

Turnus Rufus said to Rabbi Akiva: On the contrary, it is this charity which condemns you, the Jewish people, to Gehenna because you give it. I will illustrate this to you with a parable. To what is this matter comparable? It is comparable to a king of flesh and blood who was angry with his slave and put him in prison and ordered that he should not be fed or given to drink. And one person went ahead and fed him and gave him to drink. If the king heard about this, would he not be angry with that person? And you, after all, are called slaves, as it is stated: “For the children of Israel are slaves to Me” (Leviticus 25:55). If God decreed that a certain person should be impoverished, one who gives him charity defies the will of God.

אמר לו רבי עקיבא, אמשול לך משל: למה הדבר דומה? למלך בשר ודם שכעס על בנו וחבשו בבית האסורין, וצוה עליו שלא להאכילו ושלא להשקותו. והלך אדם אחד והאכילו והשקהו. כששמע המלך, לא דורון משגר לו?! ואנן קרוין בנים, דכתיב: ״בנים אתם לה׳ אלהיכם״!

Rabbi Akiva said to Turnus Rufus: I will illustrate the opposite to you with a different parable. To what is this matter comparable? It is comparable to a king of flesh and blood who was angry with his son and put him in prison and ordered that he should not be fed or given to drink. And one person went ahead and fed him and gave him to drink. If the king heard about this once his anger abated, would he not react by sending that person a gift? And we are called sons, as it is written: “You are sons of the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 14:1)

Ben Yehoyada notes the interesting term that is used to refer to the adversary in the dispute: The “opponent” (Baal Din). I would like to suggest the following explanation:

The usage of Baal Din, which really connotes a legal litigant, speaks of a deeper concept behind this theological discussion. There is a necessity for the world to function with an integration of Middas Hadin and Middas HaRachamim (divine attributes of strict letter of the law and mercy.) Bereishis Rabbah (12:15): 

“The Lord God” – this is analogous to a king who had empty cups [of very thin glass]. The king said: If I pour hot water into them, they will shatter; [if I pour very] cold water, they will crack. What did the king do? He mixed hot and cold water and placed it in them, and they endured. So, the Holy One blessed be He said: If I create the world with [just] the attribute of mercy, there will be many sinners; if [just] with the attribute of strict justice, how will the world endure? Rather, I will create it with [both] the attribute of justice and the attribute of mercy, would that it will endure.

Likkutei Halachos (Laws of Morning Blessings 5) tells us that the human act of voluntarily giving tzedakah and therefore showing mercy arouses and channels God’s mercy. We can understand Middas Hadin as the strict logical path. If we followed logic, an omnipotent God would surely have no use for us, and once we were created, certainly not tolerate any deviance. It is our engagement with the poor and other acts of extraordinary kindness, which counter strict logic and fairness, and allow us to become receptive and draw down God’s kindness. When we go beyond human rationality, we first can tap into an unlimited amount of benevolence that flows from God. 

Why does God wait for us to take the first step? Morality, by definition, requires contrast and the ability to choose. The kindest and most benevolent stance an omnipotent power can have is to make room for another entity’s autonomy and agency, just as a good parent knows when to let a child experiment and explore. If God stepped into worldly affairs to directly control human morality, then the world would be in order but the morality would only come from a lack of sin, not from a free-will decision. God’s greatest kindness is to allow us to discover and find our own sense of mercy and kindness, so that it ultimately our full acquisition (similar to what is stated in Derech Hashem, part one, “The Purpose of Creation.”)  God cannot give us the quality of morality, instead we must discover and develop it. Otherwise, it cannot be truly moral. 

We will see more about the power of tzedakah and kindness in our next blogpost, Psychology of the Daf, Bava Basra 11.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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