Wouldn't you know it, our sages wrestled with it too, finding fascinating answers hidden in the verses of Torah.
Our journey begins with the story of Noah and the flood. (Genesis 8:1) tells us, "God remembered Noah, and all the beasts, and all the animals that were with him in the ark; God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided." But what does it mean that God "remembered?" It's not like He forgot. The verse is immediately followed by a quote from (Psalms 36:7): "Your righteousness is like mighty mountains [keharerei el]; Your judgments are a great deep. Lord, You save man and animal." This juxtaposition is where the fun begins!
The Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, delves deep into this connection. Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Akiva, two towering figures of Jewish thought, offer contrasting views. Rabbi Yishmael suggests that God deals with the righteous "up to the mighty mountains" – meaning, He is exceedingly generous with them because they accepted the Torah, which was given from the "mountains of God." But the wicked, who rejected the Torah? God is exacting with them "down to great depths."
Rabbi Akiva, ever the nuanced thinker, disagrees. He argues that God is exacting with everyone "down to great depths." With the righteous, He collects His due for the few bad deeds they performed in this world, ensuring they receive a better reward in the World to Come. And the wicked? He showers them with tranquility and reward for the few good deeds they did in this world, only to exact a fuller retribution from them in the World to Come. It's like God is settling accounts, making sure everyone gets what they deserve, eventually.
Rabbi Levi adds another layer, suggesting the verse is a metaphor comparing the reward of the righteous to their abode and the punishment of the wicked to their abode. The righteous are promised pasture on the "mountains of the height of Israel" (Ezekiel 34:14), while the wicked descend to the "netherworld" (Ezekiel 31:15), covered in darkness.
Rabbi Yehuda bar Rabbi even plays with the Hebrew word he'evalti, meaning "I caused mourning," in (Ezekiel 31:15). He cleverly suggests reading it as hovalti, "I led him [to the netherworld]." He uses the analogy of a vat, noting that you don't cover a vat made of clay with silver or gold; you use more clay. Similarly, the wicked, who are darkness themselves, are led to Gehenna (hell), and covered with the depths of the earth – darkness covering darkness.
Rabbi Yonatan, citing Rabbi Yoshiya, gives a brilliant twist, transposing the words of the verse to read, "Your righteousness is upon Your judgments; like mighty mountains are upon the great depths." He explains that just as mountains weigh down the water of the deep, preventing it from flooding the world, so too do the righteous suppress God's strict judgments, preventing them from incinerating the world. And just as mountains are endless, so is the reward of the righteous. Just as mountains are sown and produce fruit, so do the actions of the righteous produce fruit, as (Isaiah 3:10) says, "Say of the righteous man that it shall be well with him, for they will eat the fruit of their actions." Conversely, the punishment of the wicked is as unmeasurable as the depths of the earth, and their actions bear no fruit.
The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) then shares a story about Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi visiting Rome. Seeing opulent pillars draped in tapestries to protect them from the elements, and then witnessing a poor man shivering in rags, he recited the verse: "Your righteousness is like mighty mountains" for the pillars – to the one to whom You give, You give abundantly. And for the poor man, "Your judgments are great depths" – to the one whom You hit, You hit powerfully.
Another anecdote features Alexander the Great visiting a king who, when asked why he doesn't need Alexander's money, replies he only wants to know how Alexander administers justice. The king then resolves a complex property dispute by having the claimants' children marry each other and share the treasure found on the land. Alexander, astonished, admits he would have simply killed both claimants and seized the treasure. The king rebukes him, saying that the rain and sunshine aren't for Alexander's sake, but for the sake of the animals, echoing (Psalms 36:7): "Lord, You save man and animal" – the Lord saves man for the sake of the animals.
Finally, Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon returns us to Noah, explaining that God's righteousness toward Noah was performed through the "mighty mountains" upon which the ark rested (Genesis 8:4). The suffering imposed on Noah's generation was through the "great depths" of the floodwaters (Genesis 7:11). And when God remembered Noah, He remembered not just Noah himself, but everything that was in the ark with him – "God remembered Noah and all the beasts…"
So, what does all this mean for us? Perhaps it's a reminder that the world isn't always fair in the short term. Sometimes, the righteous suffer, and the wicked prosper. But the Bereshit Rabbah suggests a deeper, more complex accounting at play. A system where actions have consequences, where even small acts of goodness are recognized, and where, ultimately, everyone receives their due. Maybe that's a comforting thought in a world that often feels chaotic and unjust. It reminds us that even when we don't understand the "why," there's a grander design at work, a cosmic balance being maintained.
“God remembered Noah, and all the beasts, and all the animals that were with him in the ark; God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided” (Genesis 8:1). “God remembered Noah, and all the beasts…” – and it is written: “Your righteousness is like mighty mountains [keharerei el]; Your judgments are great depths. Lord, You save man and animal” (Psalms 36:7). Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Akiva: Rabbi Yishmael says: The righteous, who accepted the Torah that was given from the mountains of God [meharerei el], You perform righteousness with them [to the greatest extent,] up to the mighty mountains. But the wicked, who did not accept the Torah that was given from the mountains of God, You are exacting with them [to the greatest extent,] down to great depths. Rabbi Akiva says: With both these and those He is exacting down to great depths. He is exacting with the righteous by collecting His due from them for the few bad deeds that they performed in this world, in order to shower them with tranquility and give them a better reward in the World to Come. And He showers the wicked with tranquility and gives them reward for the few good deeds that they performed in this world in order to exact [a fuller] retribution from them in the World to Come. Rabbi Levi said: The verse metaphorically compares [the reward of] the righteous to their abode and [the reward of] the wicked to their abode. The [reward of the] righteous to their abode, as it is stated: “In a good grazing land I will herd them, and on the mountains of the height of Israel will be their pasture” (Ezekiel 34:14). And the [reward of the] wicked to their abode: “So said the Lord God: On the day that he descended to the netherworld I caused mourning [he’evalti]; I covered him in the depths” (Ezekiel 31:15). Rabbi Yehuda bar Rabbi said: Hovalti is written.1With a vav instead of an alef, meaning “I led him [to the netherworld].” (In our text of the Bible it is in fact written with an alef.) One does not craft a cover for a vat out of silver or gold, but rather out of earthenware, which is of the same material [as the vat itself]. So too, the wicked themselves are darkness, Gehenna is darkness, the depths of the earth are darkness. I led [hovalti] the wicked to Gehenna and covered them over with the depths of the earth, darkness covering darkness. Rabbi Yonatan in the name of Rabbi Yoshiya transposes the [words of the] verse: “Your righteousness is upon Your judgments”; “like mighty mountains are upon the great depths.”2See Psalms 36:7. Just as the mountains weigh down the water of the deep so it should not rise and inundate the world, so do the righteous suppress [God’s strict judgments and] punishments so they should not emerge and incinerate the world. Just as the mountains are endless, so is the reward of the righteous endless.3This is an exposition on the straightforward reading of the verse: “Your righteousness is like mighty mountains.” We have transposed the order of sentences in our translation, in accordance with the commentators. Just as the mountains are sown and produce fruit, so, the actions of the righteous produce fruit. That is what is written: “Say of the righteous man that it shall be well with him, [for they will eat the fruit of their actions]” (Isaiah 3:10). And just as the depths of the earth are unmeasurable, so is the punishment of the wicked unmeasurable. That is what is written: “Woe to the wicked one who does evil” (Isaiah 3:11). Just as the depths of the earth are not sown and do not produce fruit, so, the actions of the wicked do not produce fruit, as, were they to produce fruit, they would destroy the world. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi once went up to Rome. There he saw pillars covered over with tapestries, so they would not freeze in the cold or split apart in the heat. But when he would walk in the marketplace, he saw a poor man wrapped in a mat, and some say in half a donkey’s saddlecloth. Regarding those pillars, he recited the verse: “Your righteousness is like mighty mountains” (Psalms 36:7) – to the one to whom You give, You give abundantly. Regarding that poor man, he recited the verse: “Your judgments are great depths” (Psalms 36:7) – to the one whom You hit, You hit powerfully. Alexander of Macedonia once went to the king of Katzia, beyond the Mountains of Darkness. He [Alexander] sent for him [to come see him]. He came out and he was carrying a golden loaf on a platter of gold. He said to him: Do I need your money? He said to him: Did you not have what to eat in your land that you came here? He said to him: I came only because I wish to know how you people administer justice. He sat with him. One day, someone came to him with a claim against another person. He said: This man sold me a ruin and I found a hidden treasure in it. The buyer said: I bought [only] a ruin; I did not buy a hidden treasure, [so it belongs to the seller]. The seller said: I sold the ruin and whatever was in it, [so it belongs to the buyer]. He said to one of them: Do you have a son? He said to him: Yes. He said to the other: Do you have a daughter? He said to him: Yes. He said to them: Go marry them off to each other, and the money will belong to both of them. He [the king] saw that he [Alexander] was sitting there in astonishment. He said to him: What, did I not judge well? He said to him: Yes, [you judged well]. He said to him: Had this case come before you, how would you have ruled? He said to him: I would have killed them both, and the royal treasury would have taken the money from both of them. He said to him: Do you have rainfall [in your land]? He said to him: Yes. He said to him: Do you have sunshine? He said to him: Yes. He said to him: Do you have flocks of sheep and goats? He said to him: Yes. He said to him; May the spirit of that man [you, Alexander] depart from his body. It is not for your sake that rain falls on you, and it is not for your sake that the sun shines for you. It is, rather, for the sake of the animals, as it is written: “Lord, You save man and animal” (Psalms 36:7) – the Lord saves man for the sake of the animals. Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon interpreted the verse regarding Noah. The Holy One blessed be He said: The righteousness that I performed with Noah in the ark, I performed specifically through the “mighty mountains” (Psalms 36:7) – “The ark rested during the seventh month…[upon the mountains of Ararat]” (Genesis 8:4). “Your judgments are great depths” (Psalms 36:7) – the suffering that I imposed on his generation, I imposed on them specifically through the great depths, as it is stated: “[All the wellsprings of the great depth] were breached” (Genesis 7:11). [“Lord, You save man and animal”] (Psalms 36:7) – when I remembered him, it was not him alone that I remembered, but rather, him and everything that was in the ark with him. That is what is written: “God remembered Noah and all the beasts…”
