All About 310

310 Worlds

Uktzin (3:12) 

The last Mishnah in Shas Mishnayos (3:12) teaches:

R’ Yehoshua ben Levi says, in the future HaKadosh Baruch Hu will bestow on each and every tzaddik 310 worlds as it states (Mishlei 8:21): “I have what (yesh) to bequeath to those who love me, and I shall fill their store houses.”

Hashem will endow each righteous person (כל צדיק וצדיק) with 310 worlds[1] as it says להנחיל אהבי יש ואצרתיהם אמלא.[2] These worlds are hinted at  in the word בראשית, where everything is hinted to,[3] as when it is rearranged it spells בראת שי, He created 310 (Gematria of ש,י) [worlds]. This is also alluded to in the name יששכר which is a contraction of יש שכר, there is reward, as יש has a Gematria of 310.[4]The derivation is based on the word yesh (spelled yud-shin) which has the numerical value of 310. What is R’ Yehoshua ben Levi trying to teach us and why is this Mishnah brought now?

The Bartenura explains, having reached the end of the six volumes, the Mishnah teaches us about the great reward waiting for those who learn and keep all that is contained within it. The Tifferet Yisrael explains that this reward is 310 times all the benefits of this world which they had to forgo for the toil in Torah.

The Rambam adds that this “measure” of the reward is really only hit’orerut – an attention grabbing motion of encouragement – for there is no comparison between the reward in this world and the next one. Indeed this is hinted to in the word yesh, meaning existence. For the tzadikim will inherit the great reward of eternal true existence. But what then is the significance of the 310? The Rashbatz explains we know that Shabbat is referred to as me’ein olam ha’bah – a hint of the world come. If we then subtract from the solar year the Shabbatot and Regalim we are left with the 310 days of toil. The tzadikim will therefore be rewarded with the promise of a time that is entirely Shabbat (see Rosh Hashanah 31a).

The Tifferet Yisrael explains that there are a total of 620 mitzvot – 613 biblical and 7 rabbinic. However since Hashem assists one in fulfilling the mitzvot, it is only fitting that that the tzaddik receive half of the work. The Torat Chayim however explains that the tzaddik receives half the reward as it is shared with the tzaddik’s eizer k’negdo. It is noteworthy that at a time that one might bask in the glory of making a Siyum HaShas, we are humbled by the recognition of our dependence on Hashem and others for our success in learning.

Another point that gets attention is the R’ Yehoshua ben Levi’s reference to each and every tzaddik – “kol tzaddik ve’tzaddik”. The Tosfot Yom Tov explains that the Mishnah is referring to both the tzaddik that ruled assur (forbidden) and the tzaddik that ruled mutar (permitted). He adds that this is indeed an appropriate close to the Mishnayot that appear to be full of debates. Since their sole intention was for the sake of heaven, both are considered loved. Indeed the Baal Shem Tov explains that this is the reference to “those that love Me” for a debate between the Tana’im, a machloket le’shem shamayim, is characterised by each parties pursuit of truth in their love of Hashem and their counterpart, but not of themselves.

The Emet L’Yaakov asks that if the Mishnah was referring to the Tana’im of the Mishnah the term Chacham would have been more appropriate. Tzaddik usually refers to one that performs acts kindness for people. Yet we find that tzaddik is used in the Torah when dealing with false witnesses: “...and you shall vindicate the tzaddik and find the wicked one guilty.” The Emet L’Yaakov explains that in this context the tzaddik refers to the party with which the truth is found. Consequently this is an appropriate term given to Tana’im and an encouraging end to the Mishnah. The unique thing about the debates of the Tana’im is that the truth can be found in both the one that is oser and the one that is matir – “elu v’elu divrei Elokim chayim”.

Perhaps an appropriate close to this cycle is the explanation of the Tifferet Yisrael for “each and every tzaddik.” He explains that the Mishnah teaches that even a tzaddik that is not a complete one, if he goes over and over Mishnayot again, he is considered a yirei Hashem and his reward will be with him in the next world.

 

Where does 310 come from? Many explanations are given. The Sefer Hamaor Hagadol[5] cites seven distinct approaches from the Gra. R’ Yitzchak Isaac Chaver has a 40-page discussion of the topic.[6] The Kuntres Melachim Shai[7] has a collection of 155 interpretations, many of them Kabbalistic. Let us cite some of the explanations.   

 

1) There are 613 Mitzvos in the Torah and Sheva Mitzvos Bnei Noach, giving a total of 620.[8] 620 worlds divided into two is 310—for the division of rewards between the Yissachar and the Zevulun, where Yissachar learns Torah and Zevulun supports him.[9]

 

2) The Toras Chaim says [10] that although each Mitzva corresponds to an entire world, one person can’t take all 620 worlds since man was created as a pair, as it says זכר ונקבה ברא אתם, Hashem created אדם (man) male and female.[11] When a man and woman join together and observe all of the Mitzvos, they then merit all 620 worlds and divide the worlds among them—each one receives 310 worlds.[12]

 

3) The Birchas Yitzchak Al HaTorah: 310 is two times 155. The two times 155 correspond to the two words קנה in קנה חכמה קנה בינה, acquire wisdom, acquire understanding.[13] The 310 worlds correspond to two acquisitions that one acquires through Torah and Mitzvos, Chochma and Binah.

 

4) Tosafos Yom Tov[14] writes that in this world, the Jewish people were given a land of seven nations, but in the World to Come, the entire world—all seventy nations—will be subservient, ten times the number of nations which the Jewish people inherited in this world. If, in this world, the Jewish people received the land of seven nations and conquered 31 kings (when we were given Eretz Yisrael), then in the World to Come when all seventy nations become subservient to the Jewish people, they will conquer 310 kings—ten times as much. This is why it says להנחיל, to inherit—a reference to inheriting the land.    

 

5) The Gra[15] offers an incredible calculation: There are 613 Mitzvos plus the

 seven Rabbinical Mitzvos, a total of 620. From each Mitzva we perform we

 create a Malach [16] One who does all 620 mitzvos creates 620

 Malachim. Each Malach is 2,000 Parsaos.[17] So,  one who does all the

 Mitzvos creates 1,240,000 Parsaos of Malachim (620 multiplied by 2,000). Since the

 world is 4,000 Parsaos,[18] to contain all these Malachim we need 310 worlds

 (1,240,000 divided by 4,000 is 310)!

[1] The Bartenura (s.v. עתיד) explains, having reached the end of the six volumes of Shas, the Mishna teaches us about the great reward waiting for those who learn and fulfill all that is contained within it. 

[2] Uktzin 3:12. Mishlei 8:21. This teaching is placed at the end of Mishnayos. When we rearrange the word משניות, it reads ש"י מנות, 310 portions. One who has merited to study and fulfill the Mishna will be granted 310 worlds (Pri Eitz Hadar, p. 26). 

[3] Pri Tzadik, Breishis, 1. This idea being in the last Mishna in Shas is also hinted in the word בראשית as when we arrange It, we get בתרא ש,י, the last Mishna (בתרא means last as in the Mesachta בבא בתרא) speaks of the 310 worlds (Gematria of ש,י). 

[4] Bnei Yissaschar, Kislev Teves 5:9. In the name יששכר, the first ש is pronounced while the second one ש is silent. Why is the second one silent? Yissachar and Zevulun made a pact where Yissachar would study Torah all day and Zevulun would conduct business and split his profits equally with Yissachar. Reciprocally, half of the merits of Yissachar’s Torah study would be transferred to Zevulun. In order for one to be able to engage in full-time Torah study, there must be those who support Torah learning. So the first ש in Yissachar—representing the active partner, Yissachar—is pronounced. But the second ש—representing the silent partner, Zevulun—remains silent. Another explanation of the two שs is that the pronounced one refers to the revealed part of Torah—תורת הנגלה (Gemara and the like)—while the silent ש refers to the concealed part—תורת הנסתר (Kabbala).

[5] Volume 2, pp. 834-839.

[6] Siach Yitzchak, pp. 58-98. When R’ Yitzchak Isaac Chaver (1789-1853) was 14, R’ Menachem Mendel of Shklov began to teach him the Kabbala secrets of his teacher, the Gra. Through R’ Menachem Mendel, R’ Yitzchak Isaac came into possession of rare manuscripts of the Gra’s teachings. Leading Mekubalim of the generation would come to R’ Yitzchak Isaac to study those manuscripts. His younger contemporary, R’ Yitzchak Elchanan Spector (1817-1896), Rav of Kovno, called him the greatest Kabbalist of his time. Aside from his knowledge of Kabbala, he was renowned as a genius in Toras Hanigla as well, with fluency in Shas and Poskim. At the age of 60, he finished Shas for the 60th time. He held a number of Rabbinic posts and published numerous Sefarim, including שו"ת בנין עולם.

[7] Printed at the end of Otzar Hadranim, volume 2.

[8] These correspond to the 620 letters in the Ten Commandments (Baal Haturim, Shemos 20:14).

[9] See Yoreh Deah 246:1. In this way we could understand the wording כל צדיק וצדיק receives 310 worlds, hinting to Yissachar and Zevulun.

[10] To Sanhedrin 100a.

[11] Bereishis 1:27.

[12] This is why it says כל צדיק וצדיק, alluding to two different Tzadikim, the man and woman, who each receive 310 worlds.

[13] Mishlei 4:5. 

[14] S.v. שלש מאות. By R’ Yom Tov Lippman Heller (1579-1654). He was raised by his grandfather and became a disciple of the Maharal and the Kli Yakar. In 1597, when he was barely 18 years old, he received semicha to be a Dayan. He was the chief rabbi of Krakow during the Chmielnicki uprising of 1648. The Chmielnicki Massacres of “Tach V’Tat” (1648-1649) produced many Agunos, women whose husbands were missing with none to testify as to the actual death. R’ Heller did all that he could to find ways that they could remarry. In the summer of 1629, he was arrested at the order of the imperial court of Emperor Ferdinand the Second in which he was accused of insulting Christianity and imprisoned in Vienna. The commission's verdict was that he be sentenced to hard labor in prison. An influential court Jew appeared before the emperor to plead the rabbi's cause. He paid 12,000 thalers for his release on the condition that R’ Heller resign the post of chief rabbi of Prague and leave the country. After spending more than a month in prison, he was released. Among R’ Heller’s descendants, was the Ketzos Hachoshen (1745-1812). R’ Heller’s brother, R’ Yehuda (1743-1819), is the author of Kuntres Ha'Sfeikos, which often appears with the Ketzos Hachoshen. R’ Heller was a Kabbalist, and even wrote a Kabbalistic work, a commentary on Rabbeinu Bechaya Ben Asher, based on the Kabbalistic views of R’ Moshe Cordovero. His commentary to the Mishna is called Tosafos Yom Tov, after his name, with the incorporation of “Tosafos,” because he viewed the role of his commentary to the Mishna as analogous to the role of the Baalei HaTosafos in relation to Rashi and the Talmud. Among rabbis of his generation, he was exceptionally well versed in the secular sciences. His Talmudic works and his sermons show that he was interested in questions of arithmetic, astronomy, and natural science.  

[15] Hamaor Hagadol, p. 834.

[16] Avos 4:13.

[17] Chullin 91b. A Parsah is 8,000 Amos.

[18] That is, excluding the desert (see Pesachim 94a and Tosafos there s.v. כל הישוב), since a desert is unnecessary for a Tzadik as he has no gain from it. The desert, a place of snakes and scorpions (See Devarim 1:19, Rashi), represents the Nachash, the Satan, the side of death and evil. It is a place that lacks water and life.