Chasidut for Sanhedrin 214:19
ר' נחמיה אומר אלו ואלו אין עומדין בדין שנאמר (תהלים א, ה) על כן לא יקומו
[So] 'The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever.' And <font>he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow</font>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Kings V, 27. The uncensored edition continues: What of R. Joshua b. Perahjah? — When King Jannai slew our Rabbis, R. Joshua b. Perahjah (and Jesus) fled to Alexandria of Egypt. On the resumption of peace, Simeon b. Shetach sent to him: 'From me, (Jerusalem) the holy city, to thee, Alexandria of Egypt (my sister). My husband dwelleth within thee and I am desolate.' He arose, went, and found himself in a certain inn, where great honour was shewn him. 'How beautiful is this Acsania!' (The word denotes both inn and innkeeper. R. Joshua used it in the first sense; the answer assumes the second to be meant.) Thereupon (Jesus) observed, 'Rabbi, her eyes are narrow.' 'Wretch,' he rebuked him, 'dost thou thus engage thyself.' He sounded four hundred trumpets and excommunicated him. He (Jesus) came before him many times pleading, 'Receive me!' But he would pay no heed to him. One day he (R. Joshua) was reciting the Shema', when Jesus came before him. He intended to receive him and made a sign to him. He (Jesus) thinking that it was to repel him, went, put up a brick, and worshipped it. 'Repent,' said he (R. Joshua) to him. He replied, 'I have thus learned from thee: He who sins and causes others to sin is not afforded the means of repentance.' And a Master has said, 'Jesus the Nazarene practised magic and led Israel astray.' For a full discussion of this passage and attempted explanation of this anachronism making Jesus a contemporary of King Jannai (104-78 B.C.E.). v. Herford, op. cit. 51ff. [The tradition of an early Jesus was also known to Epiphanius. Whether he derived this tradition from the Talmud or from an independent source is a moot point hotly contested by Klausner and Guttmann; v. MGWJ. 1931, 250ff. and 1933, 38. In any case there does not appear to be sufficient data available to account for this tradition.] ');"><sup>17</sup></span> And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. VII, 3. ');"><sup>18</sup></span> R. Johanan said: They were Gehazi and his three sons. It was taught, R. Simeon b. Eleazar said: Human nature,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [Heb. yezer, [H], v. Lazarus, Ethics, II, 106ff.] ');"><sup>19</sup></span> a child and a woman — the left hand should repulse them, but the right hand bring them back.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' One must not attempt to subdue his desires altogether, which is unnatural, but to regulate them. In chiding a child and a woman, one must not be too severe, lest they be so disheartened as to be driven away far from repentance altogether. ');"><sup>20</sup></span> Our Rabbis taught: Elisha was ill on three occasions: once when he incited the bears against the children, once when he repulsed Gehazi with both hands, and the third [was the illness] of which he died; as it is written, Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness where of he died.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Kings XIII, 14. 'Was fallen sick' denotes one illness; 'of his sickness' another, and 'whereof he died' a third (Rashi). ');"><sup>21</sup></span> Until Abraham there was no old age:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., old age did not mark a person. ');"><sup>22</sup></span> whoever saw Abraham said, 'This is Isaac;' and whoever saw Isaac said, 'This is Abraham.' Therefore Abraham prayed that there should be old age, as it is written, And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Gen. XXIV, 1. He is the first of whom this is said. ');"><sup>23</sup></span> Until Jacob there was no illness,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' One lived his allotted years in full health and then died suddenly. ');"><sup>24</sup></span> so he prayed and illness came into existence, as it is written, And one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. XLVIII, 1. V. preceding note. ');"><sup>25</sup></span> Until Elisha no sick man ever recovered, but Elisha came and prayed, and he recovered, as it is written, Now Elisha was fallen sick of sickness whereof he died.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This shews that he had been sick on previous occasions too' but recovered. ');"><sup>26</sup></span> <b><i>MISHNAH</i></b>. THE GENERATION OF THE FLOOD HAS NO PORTION IN THE FUTURE WORLD, NOR WILL THEY STAND AT THE [LAST] JUDGMENT, AS IT IS WRITTEN, [AND THE LORD SAID,] MY SPIRIT WILL NOT ALWAYS ENTER INTO JUDGMENT WITH MAN:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Gen. VI, 3. ');"><sup>27</sup></span> THERE WILL BE NEITHER JUDGMENT NOR [MY] SPIRIT FOR THEM.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., they will neither be judged, nor be granted of my spirit to enable them to share in the world to come. ');"><sup>28</sup></span> THE GENERATION OF THE DISPERSION HAVE NO PORTION IN THE FUTURE WORLD, AS IT IS WRITTEN, SO THE LORD SCATTERED THEM ABROAD FROM THENCE UPON THE FACE OF ALL THE EARTH:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. XI, 8. ');"><sup>29</sup></span> 'SO THE LORD SCATTERED THEM ABROAD', REFERS TO THIS WORLD, 'AND FROM THENCE DID THE LORD SCATTER THEM ABROAD',<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 9. ');"><sup>30</sup></span> TO THE WORLD TO COME. THE MEN OF SODOM HAVE NO PORTION IN THE FUTURE WORLD, AS IT IS WRITTEN, BUT THE MEN OF SODOM WERE WICKED AND SINNERS BEFORE THE LORD EXCEEDINGLY:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. XIII, 13. ');"><sup>31</sup></span> 'WICKED IN THIS WORLD, AND 'SINNERS' IN THE WORLD TO COME;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., their claim to a portion therein will not be admitted. ');"><sup>32</sup></span> YET WILL THEY STAND AT JUDGMENT. R. NEHEMIAH SAID: NEITHER [THE GENERATION OF THE FLOOD NOR THE MEN OF SODOM] WILL STAND AT JUDGMENT, AS IT IS WRITTEN, THEREFORE
Kedushat Levi
[If I understand the Talmud correctly, what is meant is that when the Torah had described Adam as having begotten a son in his own image (Genesis 5,3) as opposed to his first two sons, the resemblance between fathers and sons continued unabated until the time when Avraham was described as having aged. Ed.]
The point the Talmud makes is that beneficial largesse provided from the celestial regions for the lower regions of the universe manifests itself in one of two ways. It may be measured in terms familiar to us in this part of the universe, or it may be described in terms of concepts applicable in the celestial regions, seeing that these two domains each have their own set of rules. When this beneficial largesse originates directly in the celestial spheres close to the Creator, it had not become subject to limitations applicable in the parts of the world we live in. [As an example, we may distinguish between nourishment provided by G’d through the earth giving its yield, when such nourishment is subject to limitations that apply on our planet, whereas when G’d fed the Jewish people with manna, such limitations did not apply, as the manna originated directly in one of the seven layers of heaven. Ed.] This latter method of benefiting from G’d’s largesse is reserved exclusively for the Jewish people. The Jewish people have become privy to this (on occasion) due to their having clung to their Creator with such devotion.
The other nations sharing this planet with us, receive whatever largesse G’d provides for them only through “nature,” which “processes” such gifts from G’d before it reaches its recipients. This is what is meant when the Torah wrote in Genesis 25,12-15 ואלה תולדות ישמעאל שנים עשר נשיאים לאומתם, “and this is the line of Ishmael, son of Avraham……12 chieftains, etc.” The word: לאומתם is derived from אמה, “mother;” when a mother measures her son she uses measuring devices used in our parts of the universe. The Torah (Genesis 25,13, and again in verse 16) adds: בשמותם לתולדותם and בחצריהם ובטירותם, “by their names, in the order of their births, and by their villages and their encampments;” these words describe the parameters within which they were privy to G’d’s benevolent largesse. The contrast with which the Torah describes a similar description of the development of the Jewish people can be seen in the words למשפחותם לבית אבותם, “according to their family, their respective father’s house”. The word אבותם in this instance is derived from אבה, as in לא אבה יבמי, “he did not want to perform levirate marriage with me.” (Deuteronomy 25.7) The word אבה is a synonym for רצון, “will, desire.” The widow describes that her brother-in-law does not wish to fulfill the will of heaven in maintaining his deceased brother’s name alive.
Let us illustrate by an example more familiar to all of us. A potter intends to create a vase of a certain shape and colour. Before setting out to shape the clay he has a definite image of the finished product in his mind’s eye. This image is known as מחשבה, or אב הפעולה, “the father of the finished product.” The רצון, the will to create a vase, is called אב, father, as it precedes even the sculptor’s vision of the final shape and colour of the product is about to embark on creating. The eventual product is known as בני בנים, euphemism for “grandchildren.” [In relation to the רצון the initial will to create something. Ed.]
Israel’s drawing down G’d’s largesse to itself is somewhat similar. The process begins with this celestial largesse entering the domain of the physical universe, גבולין. [A domain defined by borders both dimensionally and directionally. Ed.] The various shapes and forms this largesse assumes once it has entered our part of the universe is known as בני בנים, “grandchildren.” The original רצון, G’d’s intention to provide this largesse, is called זקן, “an old man.”
When Solomon in Proverbs 17,6 speaks about עטרת זקנים בני בנים, loosely translated as “grandchildren are the crown of their elders,” the meaning of this line on a deeper level, is: “the largesse that has been received by Israelites as a result of G’d’s benevolence, is rooted in the will of G’d,” i.e. from this רצון to the world known as בני בנים.