Why the Righteous Suffer Near Peace and Iron Is Banned From Temple

Ginzberg reads the satan's challenge to the righteous near peace and the exclusion of iron from the Temple as twin pictures of cosmic timing and exclusion.

Louis Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, the early-twentieth-century compilation of midrashic and aggadic narrative, holds two passages on how the cosmic system applies structural timing and structural exclusion to the lives of the righteous and the materials of the sanctuary. One passage explains why the righteous often face trials just when peace seems near, with the satan arguing before God that those destined for the rewards of Olam Ha-Ba should not also enjoy the pleasures of this world. The other passage explains why iron was forbidden in the Temple and Tabernacle, with the structural exclusion tracing to Edom as the empire whose destruction of the Temple was uniquely ferocious.

Both passages share one structural claim. The cosmic system applies specific structural rules to specific cases. Some rules govern when the righteous can experience peace. Other rules govern what materials can be present in the sanctuary.

What it means for the satan to argue against the righteous enjoying peace

Ginzberg's account of the righteous suffering opens with the structural framing. The fleeting power of Edom is contrasted with the eternal reign of Israel, symbolized by the coming of the Messiah. The standard of the Messiah shall wave forever and ever. The midrashic tradition that Ginzberg compiles uses this contrast to frame earthly suffering as temporary when viewed against eternity.

The structural mechanism is then named. Whenever a truly pious person anticipates a period of peace, the satan steps in. He appears before God and argues that the righteous are already destined for the rewards of Olam Ha-Ba. Why should they also enjoy the pleasures of this world? The Ginzberg tradition records this argument as the structural reason why peace is interrupted just when it seems near.

How Jacob's experience exemplifies the structural pattern

The midrash applies the structural pattern to Jacob specifically. He had endured the deception of Laban, the wrestling with the angel, the constant sibling rivalry. Just when he thought he could finally relax, tragedy struck again with the loss of Joseph. Jacob himself lamented, few and evil have been the days of the years of my pilgrimage.

The midrash emphasizes the structural detail. Jacob only truly valued the time he spent in the holy land, occupied with the sacred work of drawing others closer to God, following the examples of Isaac and Abraham. Even this fulfilling period was cut short when Joseph was taken from him. Only eight years had passed since his return. The structural reason was the satan's argument that the cosmic system accepted.

Why the structural pattern teaches about valuing different kinds of joy

The midrash teaches that the structural pattern is not punishment. It is the cosmic system enforcing the distinction between earthly and eternal rewards. The righteous who suffer near peace are being kept from receiving their reward in the wrong currency. They will receive the proper currency in Olam Ha-Ba.

The reader is shown that true fulfillment is not about avoiding hardship but about finding meaning and purpose within it. Jacob's suffering did not negate his righteousness. It highlighted the contrast between the fleeting nature of earthly joys and the enduring value of spiritual pursuits like the work he did in the holy land. The structural pattern asks the reader to consider what they value and to build something that will last.

What it means for iron to be excluded from the Temple

Ginzberg's account of forbidden iron takes up the parallel structural exclusion at the level of building materials. The Tabernacle and the Temple used gold, silver, and brass. Iron was conspicuously absent. The midrashic tradition that Ginzberg compiles records this not as accidental. God was sending a message through the exclusion.

Iron represented the destructive power of nations that would threaten Israel. Gold, silver, and brass symbolize Babylon, Media, and Greece, empires that would offer gifts to the rebuilt Temple in the Messianic era. Iron was Edom. The structural distinction matters. Babylon destroyed the Temple too, but a crucial difference existed. Edom's destruction was characterized by a uniquely ferocious and unrelenting hatred. They cried, raze it, raze it, even to the foundations thereof. Their animosity ran deeper.

The midrash extends the structural picture into the Messianic future. All nations will bring gifts to the Messiah. Egypt will come bearing offerings. God will say, the Egyptians granted my children an abode in their land, do not repulse them. The Messiah will accept. Ethiopia will follow. Kingdom after kingdom will approach. All will be accepted except Edom. Edom's expectation of preferential treatment through Esau's descent from Abraham will be denied. God will call to the Messiah: roar at this monster that devours the fat of nations, justifies its claims through being a descendant of Abraham by Esau, forgives all for money, kept Israel from Torah, and tempted them to satan's deeds.

The two passages converge on the same kind of structural rule-application. The cosmic system applies specific rules to specific cases that produce outcomes the surface reading might not anticipate. The righteous receive their reward in the proper currency rather than in mixed earthly and eternal payments. The Temple receives offerings from nations whose destruction was not uniquely ferocious. The structural rules are operational rather than vague.

The Ginzberg tradition teaches the reader to expect this kind of structural rule-application in their own life. Their experiences of suffering near peace may be the operational expression of the satan's argument that the cosmic system accepted. Their evaluations of communities and their offerings may need to consider the structural distinctions that the midrash documents about Edom's unique ferocity versus other destroyers.

What the two passages leave for the reader to hold

Ginzberg trusts the reader to feel both kinds of structural rule-application. The timing rule that interrupts peace for the righteous. The exclusion rule that forbids iron in the sanctuary. The two passages close with a composite image. A Jacob lamenting his few and evil days because the satan argued before God that the righteous should not enjoy both worlds. A Temple built of gold, silver, and brass with iron forbidden because Edom's destruction was uniquely ferocious. A reader, situated within their own experiences of interrupted peace and within their own communities receiving or excluding contributions, recognizing that the cosmic system's structural rules operate around them in the ways the midrash documents.