Sanhedrin 100 - 106
A Trilogy of Justice
3 people were consulted by Pharaoh when he planned the decree that all male born children of the Hebrews be thrown into the river; Bilaam, Iyov and Yisro.
Bilaam who advocated murder, was eventually slain by a Hebrew army.
Iyov who remained silent, was afflicted by terrible suffering.
Yisro who protested and had to flee for his life, merited that his descendants sat with the Sanhedrin in the Beis Hamikdash.
Heaven rewards and punishes with the poetic justice of measure for measure. The advocate of death by violence ends up the victim of it while the courageous defender of a people is rewarded with grandchildren who rise to that people's highest ranks. But what is the relationship between the silence of Iyov and the pains he suffered?
Iyov was a righteous man and his failure to protest against Egyptian genocide was certainly based on his conviction that Pharaoh had already made up his mind and that his outcry would be futile. Heaven inflicted pain upon him and he cried out. Does crying out bring the pain to an end? Yet one cries because it hurts. In similar fashion Iyov was held accountable for failing to cry out because it hurt to hear such a cruel decree even if he could not change it.
- Sanhedrin 106a
Where Envy Ends
A man is envious of everyone Proof of the first is seen in the blessing which Bnayahu except his son ben Yehoyada gave to King David that the throne of his and his disciple. son Shlomo should be more exalted than his own. If a father was capable of envying his son it would have been disrespectful to utter such a wish. Two proofs are offered for the master-disciple relationship. One is that the Prophet Eliyahu granted his disciple Elisha his wish to attain double his master's spiritual power. The other is Moshe Rabbeinu placing both hands on his disciple Yehoshua when he passed on the mantle of leadership even though Hashem only commanded him to place one hand upon him.
- Sanhedrin 105b
