(Fol. 54b) Our Rabbis were taught: The philosophers once questioned the elders at Rome: "If your God is displeased with the idol-worship, why does he not destroy the idols?" And they replied: "If the heathens worshipped but things not needful to the world, He would surely annihilate them; but they worship the sun, moon, stars and the planets; shall He destroy the entire world because of the fools? But the world is allowed its natural course, and as to these fools [who spoil it] they will have to give an accounting for their acts." In other words, when some one steals wheat and sows it, should the seed not bear fruit because it has been stolen? But nay, God lets nature take its course, while these fools will have to give an accounting [for their acts]. In like manner, adultery is not barren on its own account, but the culprit is not spared. And this is meant by Resh Lakish who said: "The Holy One, praised be He! says: 'Not only do the wicked of this earth forfeit My coin, but they force Me yet to put My stamp thereon.' "
A philosopher once asked Raban Gamaliel: "It is written in your Torah (Deut. 4, 24) For the Lord thy God is a devouring fire, a jealous God. Why is He jealous to the worshipped and not to the idol itself?" Said Raban Gamaliel: "I will answer your question by a parable: This may be likened unto a frail king who had a son and that son raised a dog which he named after his father, and whenever he swore he did it by the life of this dog. His father, upon being informed about this, at whom would he be angry; at the son or the dog? Naturally enough, at the son." Said the philosopher: "You call the idol dog; but this is not feasible, since the idol has certain qualities." "But what are the qualities which you have seen in it," asked Rabban Gamaliel? "Why," replied he, "once a conflagration consumed all our city, and the idol temple remained intact." Whereupon Rabban Gamaliel said: "I shall use again a parable: This may be likened unto a frail king against whom his province once revolted; against whom do you suppose he used his weapons, against the living or against the dead? Naturally enough, against the former." "You style our gods dogs and dead," again exclaimed the philosopher; "well, then, when they really are so worthless why does not God annihilate them altogether?" "Yea, he would surely do it," was the reply, "were they not of objects useful to the preservation of the world, such as are the sun, moon, stars, planets, mountains and valleys. Shall He destroy the world because of the fools? But the world goes on its natural course, and as to these fools [who spoil it] they will have to give an accounting for their deeds. So also says the verse (Fol. 55) (Zeph. 1, 2-3) I will utterly consume all things from off the face of the earth, saith the Lord. I will consume man and beast! I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks of the wicked. This means: [The Lord wonders] Shall I consume man because the heathens worship man, too? I should have then to consume the whole universe!"
Agrippas, the general of Rome, said to Rabban Gamaliel: "It is written in your Torah, Thy God is a devouring fire, a jealous God. In our everyday life we find it to be the rule that a potentate is but jealous of his equal, a sage of another sage, a hero of another hero, a rich man of another rich man; now, then, if God is jealous of an idol, the idol must be of some power!" R. Gamaliel explained it to him with the following reasoning: "If one who has a wife takes yet another one, the former will not be jealous if the new one is superior to her, but if she be superior to the new wife, she will be jealous." An Israelite named Zunin said to R. Akiba: "I know just as well as you do that the idols are nothing, yet I should like to know, how is it that so many cripples are cured by the idols in their temples?" Replied R. Akiba: "Listen to the following parable: There once lived in a town a pious man who enjoyed the unlimited confidence of his fellow townsmen so that they would deposit money with him without any witnesses, with the exception, however, of one who would leave nothing with him without witness. It once happened, however, that this man left something in the hands of the pious man without any security; thereupon said the wife of the latter: 'Now we shall take revenge for his mistrust of us, let us deny hat he has a deposit with us.' Whereupon her husband answered: 'Because of the short-comings of his understanding shall I put my reputed name at stake?' The same is the case with inability, disease and pains visited upon man; they are under oath assigned a certain time, no more, no less, during which to torture a man; it is further predestined by what man or what medicine the disease be eliminated. Now, when its time is come, the afflicted goes to the idol-temple the disease protests, saying, 'Because the man takes recourse to the idol, I ought not abandon him.' But again they say, 'Since we are bound by oath to depart, why should we break it just on account of this foolishman.' Thus the disease leaves the sick, and he believes that it was the work of the idol." And this is what R. Jochanan said, "What is the meaning of the passage (Deut. 28, 59) Then the Lord will make thy plagues … and sore sicknesses and ne'emonim (literally trustful)? Sore, in their visit; and trustful, in their oath [for it never breaks its oath]"
Raba b. R. Isaac said to R. Juda: "There is an idol in our town, and whenever there is drought with us, it comes in a dram to the priests, saying: 'Sacrifice a human being to me and you shall have rain;' and when they sacrifice a human being, it in reality begins to rain." Thereupon said R. Juda: "You may esteem yourselves fortunate that I am yet among the living, for were I dead, I should not be in a position to communicate to you what Rab said thereabout — viz.: 'What is the meaning of the passage (Ib. 4, 19) And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon and the stars, even all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them … which the Lord thy God alloted unto all the peoples; from this it may be inferred that God has given some power to some worshipped objects for the purpose of barring their worshippers from the world to come.' " And this is what Resh Lakish said elsewhere: "What is the meaning of the passage (Pr. 3, 34) If it concerneth the scorner, He scorneth them, but unto the humble He giveth grace? This means that when one comes to defile himself, the door is opened to him, while when one comes to cleanse himself, he is supported."
END OF ABODA ZARA.