By the grace of G-d
Copyright © 1997, 2011 Nathaniel Segal
who opened with praise for the Al-mighty and said . . .
Rabbi Nissim reminds us that the human's advantage over the animal kingdom is not just due to the ability to speak. The full superiority of humanity includes intelligence — the ability to understand, to invent, and to distinguish the difference between good and evil.
Given this ability to make intelligent choices, a person becomes obligated to obey commands of the Creator. In fulfilling the Creator's will, a person deserves acknowledgment and reward. Just as a person is rewarded for obedience, similarly he or she should be punished for disobedience.
The question then arises, according to Rabbi Nissim, that if all humans are equally able to distinguish between good and evil, between obedience and disobedience,
. . . then why did the Al-mighty single out the Jewish people by giving them the Torah with its full measure of commandments which no other nation is expected to fulfill? After all, are not all humans equal when it comes to obedience? Why denigrate the rest of humanity? Surely, if the rest of humanity had been given the obligations of the Torah they would fulfill them! Surely, if they had been warned they would obey just like this group [the Israelites]!
We can answer these objections [continues Rabbi Nissim] by stating that all people are equally obliged to obey any and all commandments which depend on reasoning and understanding. This equality of obligation started when G-d created Adam and Eve and continued with their children and continues with every generation since. The entirety of humanity also acquired responsibility to obey commandments which were delivered by word of mouth from G-d's prophets as He in His wisdom saw fit.
In fact, we find that G-d obligated Adam and Eve with commandments to obey, as the sages of the Talmud teach us:
Noah's Children were commanded [to fulfill] seven commandments — a legal system, blasphemy, idolatry, sexual immorality, murder, theft, and eating the limb of a living animal. Where do we find the evidence that these are G-d's commandments [and that they go back to a period before Noah]? From the verse [in Genesis (2:16)]:
The L-rd G-d commanded about the man, saying, "You will surely be eating from all the trees of the garden" (Tosefta and Talmud).
Even though these commandments are associated with a scriptural verse, they are not solely a religious tradition. The [human] mind experiences the need to know G-d and obey and worship Him. Logic dictates the prohibition of innocent bloodshed and stealing.
However, except for Abraham and his family, the generations between Noah and Abraham did not observe even these few commandments. Under such circumstances, it did not make sense to reveal the entire Torah with its multitude of commandments to people who were not obeying the minimum number.
In fact, before the Giving of the Torah at Sinai, G-d had revealed to humanity twenty-eight detailed provisions of the Seven Commandments, according to one scheme [of reckoning], and thirty according to another [scheme].
Rabbeinu (Our Rabbi) Nissim, the son of Rabbi Ya'akov ibn Shahin,* belonged to the first generation of the "Earliest Scholars" of the Talmud (Rishonim *) linking the end of the era of the Babylonian Torah academies with the newly emerging academies of North Africa, Spain, France, and Germany. The title gaon ("head of a great academy") would indicate that he was one of the greatly respected Torah scholars of his time. It would also seem to indicate a strong academic connection with the Babylonian academies since the title gaon belonged to the deans of these academies and ceased to be used regularly with a personal name after Rabbi Nissim's generation.
Rabbi Nissim lived in Kairou'an * (today's Qairouan, Tunisia), the greatest fortified city of the Arab empire in North Africa at that time. He was a disciple of Rabbi Hushiel * (the father of Rabbeinu Hananel),* who in turn was a disciple of the last and most influential Babylonian dean, Rabbi Hai (III) Gaon.* Some Jewish sources consider Rabbi Nissim a disciple of Rabbi Hai Gaon himself. This would make him somewhat a colleague of Rabbi Hushiel, and would explain his title gaon. Rabbi Nissim died in 1050 CE.*
Biographical sources:
Rabbeinu - rah BAY noo
Nissim - NEE sim
Gaon - GAH ohn
Ya'akov - YAH kohv: Jacob
ibn Shahin - a family name in the Arabic style, literally "son of Shahin"
Rishonim - ree SHOH neem
Kairou'an - also spelled Kairawan
Hushiel - khoo SHEE ell
Hananel - khah NAH nell
Hai - HY
Abraham ibn Daud - of Toledo; born in Andalus c. 1110 d. 1181
CE - Common Era or Christian Era; Used by Jews and others instead of AD, which is an abbreviation for the Latin words meaning 'Year of our Lord [Jesus]'.