סנהדרין קו

The רבונו של עולם created the חמור and said to him: “You will work hard from sunrise to sunset, carrying heavy loads, eating grass, and having a lifespan of 50 years.”  The חמור responded: “רבונו של עולם, I’m prepared to be a חמור, but 50 years is too much. Can you make it 20?”  השם agreed.  He created the dog and said to him: “You will be man’s friend, guarding him, eating his leftovers, and having a lifespan of 25 years.”  The dog responded: “רבונו של עולם, I’m prepared to be a dog, but 25 years is too much. Can you make it 10?”   השם agreed.  He created the monkey and said to him: “You will jump from place to place, make people laugh, and have a lifespan of 20 years.”  The monkey responded: “רבונו של עולם, I’m prepared to be a monkey, but 20 years is too much.  Can you make it 10?”  השם agreed.  Finally, השם created אדם and said to him: “You will rule over all of the creatures on the face of the earth and have a lifespan of 20 years.”  אדם responded:  “רבונו של עולם, I’m prepared to be a man, but 20 years is too short.  Can you add for me the 30 years that the חמור didn’t want, the 15 years that the dog gave up, and the 10 years that the monkey rejected?”   השם agreed.  Since then, a man’s first 20 years are כאדם.  When he marries, has children, takes on a mortgage and other obligations, his next 30 years are like those of a חמור.  When the children grow up and leave the house, he is alone like a dog for 15 years.  Finally, when he retires, for the next 10 years he jumps from the home of one child to another like a monkey and makes a fool of himself in order to make the grandchildren laugh.”

06/10/2021