Shabbat 55: Inevitability of Death, Righteous & Sinners

Today's daf begins with a discussion of good people, who may have the letter tav inscribed on their foreheads, and evil people.  We learn that the righteous must protest the conduct of the wicked.  Examples are shared of times when this did not occur.  Rav Chisda says that six men mentioned by Ezekiel (9:2) are the six angels of destruction: Fury, Wrath, Rage, Destroyer, Breaker, and Annihilator. 

The rabbis consider possible reasons for the letter tav to be on the forehead's of righteous.  Perhaps it represents the word tiheye, you shall live, directed at the righteous, or tamut, you shall die, directed at sinners.  Perhaps it is the last letter in emet, truth, which is the seal of the Holy One.  Or it is the last letter of the aleph-bet, representing one who has studied all there is to learn.  

The rabbis begin a discussion about sin and its relationship with death.  In Psalms, it is written that suffering is a consequence of iniquity.  The Gemara argues with this statement, suggesting that Adam was not punished with the death penalty.  And in Ecclesiastes (9:2), we learn that death comes to everyone independent of our actions.

The Gemara discusses the possible sins of other patriarchs.  Did Reuven really lie with Bilhah, his father's concubine, or did he simply rearrange his father's bed in protest of his father sleeping with Bilhah and not his mother Leah after Rachel's death?   Perhaps Reuven was saved from the sin of adultery.

While the rabbis are clear about the seriousness about avoiding sin, they are particularly concerned about sexually based transgressions.  The thought that our ancestors might be guilty of such behaviours is distasteful.