sermon forty-one

THE BOOKS OF THE LIVING AND THE DEAD

[] e Argument of the Sermon: it sets a limit1 so as to understand the a saying of our sages of blessed memory, “[the thoroughly righteous are] forthwith inscribed deÞnitively in the book of life” or “[the thoroughly wicked are forthwith inscribed deÞnitively in the book of] death”,bring- ing the shadow of the resistance of the sense backward,2 which calls good [men] evil and evil [men] good3 as far as their end is concerned.4 e subject of “a righteous man who is in adversity and a wicked man who prospers”5 is thus brought up to be discussed. [] In the Þrst chapter of Rosh ha-Shanah we read:6 R. Kruspedai said in the name of R. Johanan: ree books are opened (in heaven) on Rosh ha-Shanah, one for the thoroughly righteous, one for the thoroughly wicked, and one for the intermediate. e thoroughly righteous are forthwith inscribed deÞnitively in the book of life; the thor- oughly wicked are forthwith inscribed deÞnitively in the book of death; the doom of the intermediate is suspended from Rosh ha-Shanah till Yom ha-Kippurim; if they deserve well, they are inscribed in the book of life; if they do not deserve well, they are inscribed in the book of death.

[] I have seen and taken heed of the diculty, pointed out by R. Nissim: b that the senses indicate that many of the righteous are inscribed in [the book of] death, and many of the wicked [are inscribed in the book of] life, etc., as is mentioned in his commentary.7 His answer on that matter,

1 Cf. Psalms : . 2 Cf. Kings : –; Isaiah : . 3 Cf. Isaiah : . 4 Moscato is saying that, although our senses mislead us into thinking that a good man may receive the punishment of an evil one and vice versa, in reality it is not so; rather, the good are inscribed in the book of life, and the evil in the book of death. 5 Cf. Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot a. 6 Babylonian Talmud, Rosh ha-Shana b. 7 Lit., “commentaries”.is is a reference to R. Nissim’s commentary on Isaac Alfasi’s commentary on Babylonian Talmud, Rosh ha-Shanah b. e diculty is that, contrary to the words of the Talmud quoted in s. , a righteous man might be punished and a wicked man might be rewarded. e rest of s.  is repeating R. Nissim’s words.  sermon forty-one in the name of R. Isaiah di Trani the Elder,8 and Nachmanides in Sha#ar ha-Gemul,9 is that righteous, wicked, and intermediate are said with regard to a speciÞc judgment,10 as it is written, justifying the righteous and condemning the wicked,11 meaning: righteous and wicked in that (speciÞc) thing. [] However, I shall judge aer the sight of my eyes:12 if this is the diculty,13 then what is broken can be easily repaired and it is not worth relying on14 for several reasons, speciÞcally due to what (our sages) say aerwards, “there will be three groups on the Day of Judgment” etc.,15 which had to be interpreted (as R. Nissim did there16) as relating to the righteous, wicked and intermediate according to all their deeds.17 [] But in my opinion, this is utterly meaningless,18 because things should be understood literally: the thoroughly righteous, according to all their doings—that is, whose good deeds are numerous—are forthwith inscribed deÞnitively in the book of life; meaning, their a
airs will continue to be successful and prosper during that year and through that they shall enjoy a pleasant and blissful life; that is what life really means, for [our sages] said that “the righteous even in their death are called living”.19 And no one but they are worthy of being called “living” unless [we understand the word “living”] by way of homonymy,20 just like the shape of a man portrayed upon the wall21 is called “man” only by way

8 R. Isaiah di Trani the Elder on Rosh ha-Shanah b (Sefer Tosefet Rid, Lemberg: J.M. Stand, ). 9 Cf. Nachmanides, Sha#ar ha-Gemul (Ferrara: Abraham ben Usque, ), a. 10 R. Nissim, relying on the sources mentioned above, explains that the Talmud’s words “the thoroughly righteous”, quoted in s. , do not relate only to those who are always righteous, but also to those who might be wicked, but who, for a speciÞc good deed, are judged on Rosh ha-Shanah to deserve inscription in the book of life. 11 Deuteronomy : . 12 Cf. Isaiah : . 13 Lit., “if his diculty is indeed a diculty”. 14 On R. Nissim’s answer. 15 Babylonian Talmud, Rosh ha-Shanah b. According to this paragraph, which comes shortly aer the one quoted in s. , the three groups are the thoroughly righteous, the thoroughly wicked, and the intermediate. 16 R. Nissim’s commentary on Isaac Alfasi on Babylonian Talmud, Rosh ha-Shanah b. 17 Since the context is not the beginning of a year, as in s. , but the Þnal Day of Judgment, it cannot be that a man is judged only according to one speciÞc deed. 18 Lit., “the vow is completely nulliÞed”. is refers again to R. Nissim’s answer. 19 Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot a; Yalqut Shim#oni, Ecclesiastes . 20 at is, by using the same word, “living”, for two di
erent meanings. 21 Ezekiel : .