על מורים, תלמידים ומסורת

Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai received [the oral tradition] from Hillel and Shammai.He used to say: if you have learned much Torah, do not claim credit for yourself, because for such a purpose were you created. Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai had five disciples and they were these: Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah, Rabbi Yose, the priest, Rabbi Shimon ben Nethaneel and Rabbi Eleazar ben Arach. He [Rabbi Johanan] used to list their outstanding virtues: Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus is a plastered cistern which loses not a drop; Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah happy is the woman that gave birth to him; Rabbi Yose, the priest, is a pious man; Rabbi Simeon ben Nethaneel is one that fears sin, And Rabbi Eleazar ben Arach is like a spring that [ever] gathers force. He [Rabbi Yohanan] used to say: if all the sages of Israel were on one scale of the balance and Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus on the other scale, he would outweigh them all. Abba Shaul said in his name: if all the sages of Israel were on one scale of the balance, and Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus also with them, and Rabbi Eleazar ben Arach on the other scale, he would outweigh them all. He [Rabban Yohanan] said unto them: go forth and observe which is the right way to which a man should cleave? Rabbi Eliezer said, a good eye; Rabbi Joshua said, a good companion; Rabbi Yose said, a good neighbor; Rabbi Shimon said, foresight. Rabbi Elazar said, a good heart. He [Rabban Yohanan] said to them: I prefer the words of Elazar ben Arach, for in his words your words are included. He [Rabban Yohanan] said unto them: go forth and observe which is the evil way which a man should shun? Rabbi Eliezer said, an evil eye; Rabbi Joshua said, an evil companion; Rabbi Yose said, an evil neighbor; Rabbi Shimon said, one who borrows and does not repay for he that borrows from man is as one who borrows from God, blessed be He, as it is said, “the wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous deal graciously and give” (Psalms 37:21). Rabbi Elazar said, an evil heart. He [Rabban Yohanan] said to them: I prefer the words of Elazar ben Arach, for in his words your words are included.

Rabbi Akiva says: Anyone who takes a perutah from charity when he does not need to will not die before he comes to need help from others. He would also say: One who wraps rags around his eyes and around his thighs, and says, Give to this blind man, to this boil-infected man! – in the end his words will come true. He would also say: One who casts bread to the ground, or throws money around in anger, will not die before he comes to need help from others. He would also say: One who tears his clothes in anger, or breaks dishes in anger, in the end he will worship idols. For that is the craftiness of the evil urge: today it says to him, Tear your clothes! and then tomorrow it says to him, Worship idols! He would also say: Someone who looks at his wife and wishes that she will die so that he can inherit [from] her, or that she will die so that he can marry her sister, or someone who looks at his brother and wishes that he will die so that he can marry his [brother’s] wife, in the end he will be buried during their lifetimes. About such a person Scripture says (Ecclesiastes 10:8), “One who digs a pit will fall into it; one who breaks through a fence will be bitten by a snake.” There is a story of a man (who ignored the words of Rabbi Akiva) and pulled off a woman’s head covering in public. She came before Rabbi Akiva and he obligated the man to give her 400 zuz. He replied: Rabbi, give me time. He gave him time. (Then what happened?) His friend said to him: I will give you some advice. Don’t give her even one perutah. Then [the friend] said: Go take an issar’s-worth¹An issar is the equivalent one twenty-fourth of a zuz. of oil, and smash the jar on the woman’s doorstep. What did the woman do? She went out of her house and uncovered her head in public and started collecting oil and rubbing it on her head with her hand. He had witnesses who saw her, so he came before Rabbi Akiva and said to him: I have to give this shameful woman 400 zuz? For an issar’s-worth of oil, she is willing to dishonor herself. She came out of her house and uncovered her hair in public and was collecting oil and rubbing it on her head with her hand! [Rabbi Akiva] said to him: What you’re saying is meaningless. For although one is not allowed to do harm to himself, one is nevertheless free from punishment. But if others do harm to him, they deserve punishment. So she, who harmed herself, is free from punishment. But you, who harmed her – go and give her 400 zuz. Rabbi Dostai son of Rabbi Yannai says: If you decided to plant in the first quarter, go back and plant in the second quarter, for perhaps hail will come down upon the world, and the earlier ones will be destroyed while the later ones will survive. For you do not know which will succeed, this one or that one, or if both will survive (and they both are equally good) (or if both are equally bad); as it says (Ecclesiastes 11:6), “Sow your seed in the morning, and do not hold back your hand in the evening.” If you decided to plant in the first and second quarters, go back and plant in the third quarter, for perhaps a disease will come to the world, and the earlier ones will become diseased while the later ones survive; (as it says [Ecclesiastes 11:6]), “For you do not know which will succeed, this one or that one, or if both are equally good,” as it says, “Sow your seed in the morning.” Rabbi Yishmael son of Rabbi Yosei says: (Study Torah in your old age.) If you studied Torah in your youth, do not say: I don’t have to study in my old age. Rather, study Torah, for you do not know which [period of study] will be most beneficial. If you studied Torah at a time of wealth, do not turn away from it at time of poverty. If you studied Torah at a time of satiation, do not turn away from it at a time of hunger. If you studied Torah at a time of leisure, do not turn away from it at a time of stress. For it is better for a person to have one thing during a crisis than a hundred in the midst of abundance (as it says, “For you do not know if they will both be equally good”), as it says, (Ecclesiastes 11:6), “Sow your seed in the morning, and do not hold back your hand in the evening.”
Rabbi Akiva says: If you studied Torah in your youth (study Torah in your old age), do not say: I don’t have to study in my old age; for you do not know which will be the most beneficial, if both will stay with you, or if both will be equally good, as it says, “Sow your seed in the morning.”
Rabbi Meir says: If you studied with one teacher, do not say: That’s enough for me. Rather, go to another sage and study Torah. But do not go to just anyone. Rather, go to someone who has been close to you from the start, as it says (Proverbs 5:15), “Drink water from your own cistern, that which flows from your own well.”
Every person has an obligation to apprentice with three Torah scholars, such as Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, and Rabbi Akiva, as it says (Proverbs 8:34), “Happy is the person who hears me come early to my doors every day, and waits outside my opening.” Do not read it as “doors,” but “a door and two doors” [a total of three], for you do not know if two of them will work for you, or if two of them will be equally good, as it says (Ecclesiastes 11:6), “Sow your seed in the morning.”
Rabbi Yehoshua says: Marry a woman in your youth, and marry a woman in your old age. Have children in your youth, and have children in your old age. Do not say: I will not marry a woman. Rather, marry a woman and have sons and daughters, and be fruitful and multiply greatly in the world. For you do not know if both of them will work out for you, or if both of them will be equally good, as it says (Ecclesiastes 11:6), “Sow your seed in the morning.” He would also say: If you give a perutah to a poor person in the morning, and then another poor person is standing before you in the evening, give to him as well. For you do not know if both of them will be sustained through you, or if both of them are equally good, as it says (Ecclesiastes 11:6), “Sow your seed in the morning.” There is a story of a certain saint who gave one [silver²Based on commentaries.] dinar to a poor person during a time of famine. His wife derided him. So he went and slept in the graveyard [on the eve of Rosh Hashanah] and heard two spirits [of dead girls] talking to one another. The first one said to the other: My friend, come and fly across the world with me and we will see what disasters are coming upon the world. The second one said: My friend, I cannot go, because I am trapped under a thicket of reeds. So you go, and tell me what you hear. She went and came back, and [her friend] said: My friend, did you hear anything behind the curtain about what disasters are coming upon the world? She said: I heard that hail will strike anyone who plants in the first quarter. [So the saint] went and planted in the second quarter. Hail struck everyone else, but did not strike him. The next year, he went and slept again in the graveyard, and he heard the two spirits talking to one another. The first one said to the other: Come, let us fly across the world and we will see what disasters are coming upon the world. The second one said: My friend, [didn’t I say to you] I cannot go, because I am trapped under a thicket of reeds. So you go, and tell me what you hear. She went and came back, and [her friend] said: My friend, did you hear anything behind the curtain about what disasters are coming upon the world? [She replied:] I heard that crop disease will strike anyone who plants in the second quarter. [So the saint] went and planted in the first quarter. Crop disease came upon the world. Everyone else’s crops became diseased, but his did not become diseased. He told [his wife] the whole story. One day, the saint’s wife got into an argument with the mother of [one of the dead] girls. [The saint’s wife] said to the mother: Come, I will show you your daughter, trapped under a thicket of reeds. The next year, [the saint] went and slept in the graveyard, and he heard the two spirits talking to one another. The first one said: My friend, come and fly across the world with me, and we will hear what they are saying behind the curtain. The second one replied to her: My friend, leave me be. For things that were spoken between us have been overheard by the living. There is a story of a certain saint who would regularly give charity. Once he went and sat on a boat, and a wind came along, and his boat sank into the sea. Rabbi Akiva saw it happen, and came before the court to testify that his wife was free to marry again. Before he had a chance to get up, that very man came in and stood before him. [Rabbi Akiva] said: Are you the one who sank in the sea? He replied: Yes. [Rabbi Akiva continued:] And who brought you up out of the sea? He replied: The charity I gave is what brought me up out of the sea. [Rabbi Akiva said:] How do you know that? He replied: When I went down into the depths of the abyss, I heard a voice coming from the roar of the waves, each one saying to the other, Come, let us crash together and raise this man up from the sea, for he gave charity all of his life. Immediately, Rabbi Akiva opened his mouth and said: Blessed is God, the God of Israel, who chose the words of the Torah and the words of the sages, for the words of the Torah and the words of the sages endure forever and ever! For it says (Ecclesiastes 11:1), “Send your bread forth upon the waters, for after many days, you will find it,” and it also says (Proverbs 10:2), “And charity saves from death.” There is a story of Benjamin the Righteous, who was in charge of the charity box. A woman came before him and said to him: Master, provide for me! He said to her: The fact is, there is nothing at all in the charity box. She said to him: Master, if you do not provide for me, I will surely die, along with my four children. So he provided for her from his own funds. After some time, Benjamin the Righteous became ill, and was in lying in bed in pain. The angels who serve God said before the Holy Blessed One” Master of the World! You said that anyone who sustains even one soul in Israel (Scripture regards them) as if they had sustained the whole world. And Benjamin the Righteous, who sustained a widow and her four children – all the more so! But there he lies in his bed in illness and pain. Immediately, they begged for mercy for him, they ripped up the scroll of his judgment, and they added twenty-two years to his life.

Elisha ben Abuyah said: He who learns when a child, to what is he compared? To ink written upon a new writing sheet. And he who learns when an old man, to what is he compared? To ink written on a rubbed writing sheet. Rabbi Yose ben Judah a man of Kfar Ha-babli said: He who learns from the young, to what is he compared? To one who eats unripe grapes, and drinks wine from his vat; And he who learns from the old, to what is he compared? To one who eats ripe grapes, and drinks old wine. Rabbi said: don’t look at the container but at that which is in it: there is a new container full of old wine, and an old [container] in which there is not even new [wine].

§ Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel and the Rabbis disagreed with regard to this matter. One said: Sinai, i.e., one who is extremely knowledgeable, is preferable; and one said: One who uproots mountains, i.e., one who is extremely incisive, is preferable. The Gemara relates that this is not merely a theoretical dispute; rather, at one point it had practical ramifications. Rav Yosef was Sinai; Rabba was one who uproots mountains. They sent a message from Babylonia to there, Eretz Yisrael: Which takes precedence? They sent in response: Sinai is preferable, as the Master said: Everyone requires the owner of the wheat, i.e., one who is expert in the sources. And even so, Rav Yosef did not accept upon himself the appointment of head of the yeshiva. Rabba reigned for twenty-two years, and then Rav Yosef reigned. The Gemara relates that in all those years that Rabba presided, Rav Yosef did not even call a bloodletter to his home. Rav Yosef did not assume even the slightest air of authority, in deference to Rabba, and would go to seek out the bloodletter rather than expecting that the bloodletter would accommodate him. The Gemara relates: Abaye, Rava, Rabbi Zeira, and Rabba bar Mattana were sitting and studying in a group and were in need of a head for their group. They said: Let anyone who will say a matter that is not refuted be the head. Everyone’s statements were refuted, and the statement of Abaye was not refuted. Rabba saw that Abaye raised his head, i.e., he noticed that his statement was not refuted. Rabba said to him: Naḥmani, calling Abaye by his name rather than by his nickname, begin and say your lecture. A dilemma was raised before the Sages: Between Rabbi Zeira and Rabba bar Rav Mattana, which of them is preferable? Rabbi Zeira is incisive and raises pertinent difficulties, and Rabba bar Rav Mattana is moderate and not so incisive, but ultimately he draws the appropriate conclusions. What is the conclusion? Which is preferable? The Gemara concludes: The dilemma shall stand unresolved.

What was the severity of Shammai the Elder? They say that once a person came before Shammai and asked him: Rabbi, how many Torahs do you have? Two, he replied, the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. [The man] said to him: I believe you with respect to the Written [Torah], but not with respect to the Oral [Torah]. Shammai scolded him and kicked him out angrily. He went before Hillel, and asked him: Rabbi, how many Torahs do you have? Two, he replied, the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. [The man] said to him: I believe you with respect to the Written [Torah], but not with respect to the Oral [Torah]. [Hillel] said: My child, sit down and write for me the alphabet. [Hillel] said: What is this? [The man] said: An aleph. [Hillel] said: No, that’s not an aleph, it’s a beit. Then he said: And what is this? [The man] replied: That’s a beit. No, that’s not a beit, it’s a gimmel, said Hillel. [Hillel continued:] Tell me, from where do you know that this one is an aleph and this one is a beit? [The man replied:] This is what our ancestors passed down, that this is an aleph, and this a beit, and this a gimmel. Hillel said: Just as you have accepted that faithfully, so accept this faithfully.
On another occasion, a foreigner was passing behind a synagogue, when he heard a child reciting the verse (Exodus 28:4), “And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate and an ephod.” So he went before Shammai and said to him: For whom is all this honor? [Shammai answered:] For the high priest, when he is performing his service on the altar. So he said: Convert me, but only on the condition that you make me the high priest. Shammai replied: Do we not have priests in Israel? Do we not already have a high priest who will serve us? Do we need some convert who has come with his staff and his knapsack to serve as the high priest? So he scolded him and kicked him out angrily.
He then went before Hillel, and said: Convert me, but only on the condition that you appoint me the high priest, so I can go up and serve on the altar. Hillel said: Sit down, and I will tell you something. If someone wants to appear before a human king, isn’t it necessary that he learn how to make his entrance and exit? Yes, [the man] replied. [Hillel continued:] So you, who wish to appear before the King of all kings, the Holy Blessed One, how much more necessary for you to learn how to enter the Holy of Holies, how to light the lamps, how to come close to the altar, how to order the table, and how to prepare the fire on the altar! The man then replied: Tell me what you think is the best way to do this. So Hillel wrote for him the alphabet, and he learned it. Then he gave him [the book of] Leviticus, and he continued learning [the rest of the Torah] until he came to the verse (Numbers 1:51), “[The Levites shall set up the Tabernacle,] and any stranger who comes close shall die.” The convert reasoned: If Israel, who are called children of the Omnipresent, and of whom the Shekhinah said (Exodus 19:6), "And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation," and even so they were so warned by this verse that “any stranger who comes close shall die,” then how much more so I, a mere convert, who has come with only his knapsack! And the convert was immediately at peace with this. He came to Hillel the Elder and said: May all the blessings that are contained in the Torah come upon your head. For if you had been like Shammai the Elder, I would not have come into the congregation of Israel. His severity nearly caused me to be lost both in this world and in the World to Come; but the humility of Hillel has brought me to a life in this world and in the World to Come. It was said that this convert had two sons. He named one Hillel and the other Gamliel, and they were called Hillel's converts.

Antigonus, a man of Sokho, received from Shimon the Righteous. He would say: Do not be like servants who attend upon their master only on the condition that they receive a reward. Rather, be like servants who attend upon their master only on the condition that they do not receive a reward. And let the awe of the heavens be upon you so that your compensation will be double in the future. Antigonus, a man of Sokho, had two students who were studying his words. They would then teach them to other students, who would then teach them to yet other students. Those students then questioned what they had learned and said: Why did our fathers say [such a thing]? Is it possible that a worker should labor all day and not receive his compensation in the evening? If our fathers had known that there was [another] world, and that the dead would be revived, they would not have said this. So they decided to separate from the way of the Torah. Two factions emerged from them: the Sadducees and the Baitusees. The Sadducees (Tzadukim) were called that because of Tzadok, and the Baitusees because of Baitus. And they would make a point of always using gold and silver things, not because they were so enamored of them, but because they said: The Pharisees have a tradition that they will deny themselves in this world. Yet in the next world they will have nothing!