Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses the principle of Modeh Bekenas Patur. That is, if a defendant admits in court prior to prosecution by witnesses, he is exempt from fines. Such as, the thief who normally would be fined double payment if convicted, can pre-empt this fine by confessing prior to witnesses testifying against him. He then is only obligated to pay the principle and no further punitive damages.
Yismach Moshe (Bereishis 19) uses this principle to explain a metaphysical aggadah:
The Gemara (Shabbos 55b) tells us:
מֵיתִיבִי: אָמְרוּ מַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם! מִפְּנֵי מָה קָנַסְתָּ מִיתָה עַל אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן? אָמַר לָהֶם: מִצְוָה קַלָּה צִוִּיתִיו וְעָבַר עָלֶיהָ.
The ministering angels said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: Master of the Universe, why did You penalize Adam, the first man, with the death penalty? He said to them: I gave him a simple mitzva, and he violated it.
There are a number of questions regarding this Aggadah:
- The Gemara uses the word “kenas” which connotes a fine and an extra penalty. The teaching could have used the Hebrew term for punishment, “Onesh”. What does this choice of words signify?
- Why are the angels so disturbed? Man had one mitzvah to do and failed at it. He disobeyed God. What should he expect if not severe punishment?
- Furthermore, God warned man explicitly, that he would become mortal on the day he ate from the Tree of Knowledge (Bereishis 2:17), so what can be more fair than that?
- And finally, God answers it was a simple mitzvah. Is that really a good answer? In a sense,all mitzvos are simple. The problem is that we have a Yetzer Hara that makes us crazy. So Adam was compelled by the all-too-human desire and curiosity to have what is right in front of his face but denied to him. This is one of the greatest temptations in life, and no small matter at all!
To answer this list of questions, Yismach Moshe explains that the angels’ question was indeed not about punishment but about an extra fine. Bereishis Rabbah (21:6) tells us that in fact, Adam repented. This is why the angels asked of God how come He found it necessary to exact extra punishment of mortality on Man after he repented, that is, why penalize Man with an extra penalty. If anything, the Torah exempts a person from a fine if he confesses.
God answers the angels, in fact death was not a fine, but actually a kindness. The Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 9:7) tells us that when the verse states “Behold it was very good”, this refers to death. How is death a good thing? Once Man had become intimately associated with Good and Evil from the inside, that is once he developed physical desires, he lost his objectivity and no longer could see good and evil for what it was, truth or falsehood. Rambam in the Moreh Nevukhim (I:2) explains that “eating from the Tree of Knowledge” was a metaphor for a deep existential decision that Adam was confronted with. If Adam (meaning all humans) kept himself above physical lusts and temptations, his ability to evaluate good and evil would be about objective truths. However, once Man submits to physical desires, his objectivity is compromised.
Yismach Moshe explains that once Man becomes subject to his desires, his soul no longer can ascend back to God. He became physical and earth bound and attached to his body in every way. Man only could finally transcend with death, which in the end, is the gift. God was responding to the angels, “Correct, it is only a small violation and therefore Man does not deserve a punishment nor a fine. Death must ultimately come so that he can allow his soul to recover its highest purpose.”
Mysticism aside, psychologically we know this is true. Our mortality and the stark finality of life is what helps us enjoy life. As much as we say we want to live forever, we would abuse the privilege and fritter away the time. The sweetness of almost anything in life comes from knowing it has to be hard earned, and will only last for a period of time. We enjoy vacation because we usually work. If we had vacation all year round, it is the human condition to become bored, restless and eventually, depressed.
I hate getting older in many ways. I do not like the weakness in my body, the aches and pains, as well as the looming reminders of more debilitating illness that almost inevitably will come with age, as my father and grandfathers faced — if they were lucky enough to live long enough! Yet, with age comes perspective and, as Cephalus said to Socrates (In Plato’s Republic, beginning of Book I) “Sophocles says, when we grow older and the passions start to fade, we are freed from the grasp not of one mad master only, but of many.”
As it says in Tehilim (90):
יְמֵֽי־שְׁנוֹתֵ֨ינוּ בָהֶ֥ם שִׁבְעִ֪ים שָׁנָ֡ה וְאִ֤ם בִּגְבוּרֹ֨ת ׀ שְׁמ֘וֹנִ֤ים שָׁנָ֗ה וְ֭רׇהְבָּם עָמָ֣ל וָאָ֑וֶן כִּי־גָ֥ז חִ֝֗ישׁ וַנָּעֻֽפָה׃
The span of our life is seventy years,
or, given the strength, eighty years;
but the best of them are trouble and sorrow.
They pass by speedily, and we care in darkness.-
לִמְנ֣וֹת יָ֭מֵינוּ כֵּ֣ן הוֹדַ֑ע וְ֝נָבִ֗א לְבַ֣ב חׇכְמָֽה׃
Teach us to count our days rightly,
Rav Saadiah Gaon, in his introduction to his commentary on Iyov makes the following observation:
When an infant is in the womb and suddenly thrust out of his Edenic circumstances he cries in anguish upon feeling the cold air and harsh world. He believes he has lost paradise. Yet, in time he realizes that his violent expulsion from paradise was actually the opening of new horizons for enjoying life in this world. Likewise, when he is weaned, he grieves the loss of his mother’s sweet milk. Only later on does he come to appreciate the delicious qualities of solid food. So too, we dread death, assuming it will be a loss of all that is good. Yet, we do not understand that it is merely a transition to a new and higher plane of existence.
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