Q&A: What Is the Rabbi’s View on the Doctrine of Reward and Punishment?
What Is the Rabbi’s View on the Doctrine of Reward and Punishment?
Question
Hello Rabbi,
What does the Rabbi think about the Jewish doctrine of reward and punishment?
Is there any logic to the belief that a religious person will receive reward after death?
Answer
In my opinion, reward makes sense and punishment does not. Reward is a consequence of what we did, but punishment is understood as deterrence, and after all, no one knows about that deterrence, so it is not effective. It would have been enough for the Holy One, blessed be He, to say that He punishes, without actually doing so.
If you also understand punishment as a metaphysical consequence, then fine.
But as for what you called “the Jewish doctrine of reward and punishment,” I do not know what its source is, or how people know that there is such a thing, and certainly not its details.
Discussion on Answer
What do you mean, punishment does not make sense? Where does the assumption come from that it is meant only for deterrence? There is justice in punishing a person for something bad he did simply because he deserves it, and in fact it is disturbing to think of a reality in which the Holy One, blessed be He, does not really punish.
Shai, I am not familiar with any such treatment, and I do not see what a philosophical discussion could contribute to such a question. Either there is reward and punishment or there is not. Either you observe for the sake of reward and punishment or you do not.
Noam, you are repeating what I said.
Thank you very much for the quick reply. I want to expand my question a bit:
A little background:
I received my religious education in a Lithuanian yeshiva that inherited its educational approach from the Mussar movement in the Slabodka style. There was a very strong emphasis on Torah study and observance of the commandments "not for their own sake," in order to receive eternal reward from the Holy One, blessed be He.
That "did the job," and my faith is rooted in that childhood indoctrination.
True, I do observe a considerable portion of God’s commandments מתוך identification with the act itself ("for its own sake," in the vernacular), but a great deal of the inner strength and motivation for observing the commandments comes from promises like "according to the pain is the reward," and so on.
So my question is whether the Rabbi has ever thought about this issue, or perhaps knows of some philosophical treatment of it?