Jerry Falwell said, “AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals. . . . AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals. It is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.” Contrast that statement with Immanuel Jakobovits, the former Chief Rabbi of England, who said about AIDS, “. . . from my reading of Jewish sources, it would appear that under no circumstances would we be justified in branding the incidence of the disease . . . as punishment . . . we have not the vision, that would enable us to link, as an assertion of certainty, any form of human travail, grief, bereavement or suffering in general with shortcomings of a moral nature.” The Talmud, in today’s Daf, comes very firmly on the side of Jerry Falwell.

Today’s Daf draws a very direct and troubling line from very particular sins to very particular consequences. I find this ironic, because just yesterday the Talmud quoted Psalm 73:4 (“Death has no pangs for them; their body is healthy”) to discuss the apparent ease of the wicked. Indeed, all of Psalm 73 compares the earthly ease of the wicked with the travails of the good. Today, however, we learn that very specific sins lead to very specific punishments. Recall that at the end of yesterday’s Daf, we learned that women dying in childbirth results from three specific sins: (i) not following the rules for menstrual purity; (ii) not following the rules of setting aside some dough for the priests; and (iii) not lighting Shabbat candles. Today, we learn of many more punishments for sins, such as our children will die if we do not affix a Mezzuzah to our doors or we neglect our Torah study.

Oddly enough, as part of their proof texts the Rabbis cite Job. Of course, the whole theme of Job is why do the righteous suffer, similar to Psalm 73. Indeed, God rebukes Job’s friends for suggesting to Job that his punishment must somehow be justified by his actions. Yet, the Rabbis in today’s Daf can draw a straight line between suffering and particular sins.

Imagine you have a friend who has a young child who dies. If you believe that that your friend deserved to have their child die because your friend did not affix a Mezzuzah to their door, how will you comfort her? Will reminding your friend that her sufferings result from her sins feel good or empathetic? In today’s Daf we are told to tell our sick friends to confess their sins so that they can get well. Indeed, if we ascribe a direct cause to tragedy, then we come to accept it. We cannot feel sad or rage at the loss of innocent life in a natural disaster – we must deserve it. We easily slide into concepts that the poor deserve their lot in life. I find this really hard to understand given so many other places where we are told to care for the poor, to comfort the sick, and, as in Psalm 73 or Job, that we cannot understand God’s treatment of people on earth.

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