The Oral Talmud with Benay Lappe and Dan Libenson Episode 89

There was a certain man who desired to show another's straw to the authorities, who would seize it. He came before Rav, who said to him: Do not show and do not show. He said to him: I will show and I will show.

Rav Kahana was sitting before Rav. He dislodged his neck from him. Rav read about him: “Your sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as an antelope in a net” (Isaiah 51:20). Just as with regard to this antelope, once it falls into the net, the hunter does not have mercy upon it, so too with regard to the money of a Jew, once it falls into the hand of gentiles, they do not have mercy upon him.

Rav said to him: Kahana, until now there were Persian rulers who were not particular about bloodshed. But now there are Greeks who are particular about bloodshed, and they will say: Murder [meradin], murder. Therefore, get up and ascend to Eretz Yisrael, and accept upon yourself that you will not raise any difficulties to the statements of Rabbi Yoḥanan for seven years.

Rav Kahana went to Eretz Yisrael and found Reish Lakish, who was sitting and reviewing Rabbi Yoḥanan’s daily lecture in the academy for the Rabbis. Rav Kahana said to the students: Where is Reish Lakish? They said to him: Why do you ask? Rav Kahana said to them: I have this difficulty and that difficulty with his review of Rabbi Yoḥanan’s lecture, and this resolution and that resolution to the questions he raised. They told this to Reish Lakish.

Reish Lakish then went and said to Rabbi Yoḥanan: A lion has ascended from Babylonia, and the Master ought to examine him in the academy tomorrow. The next day, they seated Rav Kahana in the first row, in front of Rabbi Yoḥanan. Rabbi Yoḥanan stated a halakha and Rav Kahana did not raise a difficulty, stated a halakha and did not raise a difficulty. They placed Rav Kahana further back seven rows, until he was seated in the last row. Rabbi Yoḥanan said to Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish: The lion you mentioned has turned into a fox.

Rav Kahana said to himself: May it be God’s will that these seven rows should replace the seven years that Rav told me to wait before raising difficulties to the statements of Rabbi Yoḥanan. He stood up on his feet and said to Rabbi Yoḥanan: Let the Master go back to the beginning. Rabbi Yoḥanan stated a halakha and Rav Kahana raised a difficulty. They placed him in the first row, and again, Rav Yoḥanan stated a halakha, and he raised a difficulty. Rabbi Yoḥanan was sitting upon seven cushions [bistarkei], and he removed one cushion from under himself. He then stated another halakha and Rav Kahana raised another difficulty. This happened repeatedly until Rabbi Yoḥanan removed all the cushions from underneath himself until he was sitting on the ground.

Rabbi Yoḥanan was an old man and his eyebrows drooped. He said to his students: Uncover my eyes for me and I will see Rav Kahana, so they uncovered his eyes for him with a silver eye brush. Once his eyes were uncovered, Rabbi Yoḥanan saw that Rav Kahana’s lips were split and thought that Rav Kahana was smirking at him. As a result, Rabbi Yoḥanan was offended, and Rav Kahana died.

The next day, Rabbi Yoḥanan said to the Rabbis, his students: Did you see how that Babylonian behaved? They said to him: His manner of appearance is such.

Rabbi Yoḥanan went up to Rav Kahana’s burial cave and saw that it was

encircled by a serpent [akhna]. Rabbi Yoḥanan said to it: Serpent, serpent, open your mouth and allow the teacher to enter and be near the disciple, but the serpent did not open. He then said: Allow a colleague to enter and be near his colleague, but still the serpent did not open. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Allow the disciple to enter and be near the teacher. The snake opened for him.

Rabbi Yoḥanan requested divine mercy and raised him. Rabbi Yoḥanan said to Rav Kahana: Had I known that this was the Master’s manner of appearance, I would not have been offended. Now let the Master come with me. Rav Kahana said to him: If you are able to request divine mercy so that I will not die again, I will go with you, and if not, I will not go. Since the time decreed for his death had passed, it had passed. Rabbi Yoḥanan then completely awakened him and stood him up.

Thereafter, he asked him about every uncertainty that he had, and Rav Kahana resolved each of them for him. And this is the background to that which Rabbi Yoḥanan says to his students on several occasions: What I said was yours is in fact theirs, i.e., I thought that the Torah scholars in Eretz Yisrael were the most advanced, but in fact the scholars of Babylonia are the most advanced, as evidenced by Rav Kahana’s knowledge.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: What is the meaning of that which is written:

“A tithe shall you tithe [te’aser]” (Deuteronomy 14:22)? This phrase can be interpreted homiletically: Take a tithe [asser] so that you will become wealthy [titasher], in the merit of the mitzva.

Rabbi Yoḥanan found the young son of Reish Lakish. He said to him: Recite to me your verse! He said to him: “A tithe shall you tithe.” He said to him: And what is “A tithe shall you tithe”? He said to him: Take a tithe so that you will become wealthy. He said to him: From where do you have this? He said to him: Go and test it. He said to him: And is it permitted to test the Holy Blessed One? But isn’t it written: “You shall not test the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 6:16)? He said to him: Thus says Rabbi Hoshaya: Except in this (the case of tithes), as it is stated: “Bring the whole tithe into the storeroom, that there may be food in My house, and test Me now by this, said Adonai Tzevaot, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing that there shall be more than sufficiency” (Malachi 3:10).

What is the meaning of: “That there shall be more than sufficiency [ad beli dai]”? Rami bar Ḥama said that Rav said: It means that the abundance will be so great that your lips will be worn out [yivlu], similar to the word beli, from saying enough [dai].

He said to him: If I had arrived there (at that verse), I would not have needed you or Hoshaya your teacher.

And on another occasion, Rabbi Yoḥanan found the young son of Reish Lakish, when he was sitting and studying and he was reciting the verse: “The foolishness of man perverts his way, and his heart frets against the Lord” (Proverbs 19:3). Rabbi Yoḥanan sat down and wondered, saying: Is there anything else that is written in the Writings that is not alluded to in the Torah? He said to him: Is that to say that this is not alluded to in the Torah? But isn’t it written, with regard to Joseph’s brothers: “And their heart failed them and they turned trembling to one to another, saying: What is this that God has done to us?” (Genesis 42:28).

He raised his eyes and stared at the boy. His mother came and took him away, saying to him: Come away from him so that he does not do to you as he did to your father.

(22) You shall set aside every year a tenth part of all the yield of your sowing that is brought from the field. (23) You shall consume the tithes of your new grain and wine and oil, and the firstlings of your herds and flocks, in the presence of your God יהוה, in the place where [God] will choose to establish the divine name, so that you may learn to revere your God יהוה forever. (24) Should the distance be too great for you, should you be unable to transport them, because the place where your God יהוה has chosen to establish the divine name is far from you and because your God יהוה has blessed you, (25) you may convert them into money. Wrap up the money and take it with you to the place that your God יהוה has chosen, (26) and spend the money on anything you want—cattle, sheep, wine, or other intoxicant, or anything you may desire. And you shall feast there, in the presence of your God יהוה, and rejoice with your household. (27) But do not neglect the [family of the] Levite in your community, for he has no hereditary portion as you have. (28) Every third year you shall bring out the full tithe of your yield of that year, but leave it within your settlements. (29) Then the [family of the] Levite, who has no hereditary portion as you have, and the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow in your settlements shall come and eat their fill, so that your God יהוה may bless you in all the enterprises you undertake.

(13) Revere only your God יהוה and worship [God] alone, and swear only by God’s name. (14) Do not follow other gods, any gods of the peoples about you— (15) for your God יהוה in your midst is an impassioned God—lest the anger of your God יהוה blaze forth against you, wiping you off the face of the earth. (16) Do not try your God יהוה, as you did at Massah. (17) Be sure to keep the commandments, decrees, and laws that your God יהוה has enjoined upon you. (18) Do what is right and good in the sight of יהוה, that it may go well with you and that you may be able to possess the good land that your God יהוה promised on oath to your fathers, (19) and that all your enemies may be driven out before you, as יהוה has spoken.

(7) From the very days of your fathers you have turned away from My laws and have not observed them. Turn back to Me, and I will turn back to you—said the LORD of Hosts. But you ask, “How shall we turn back?” (8) Ought man to defraud God? Yet you are defrauding Me. And you ask, “How have we been defrauding You?” In tithe and contribution. (9) You are suffering under a curse, yet you go on defrauding Me—the whole nation of you. (10) Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, and let there be food in My House, and thus put Me to the test—said the LORD of Hosts. I will surely open the floodgates of the sky for you and pour down blessings on you; (11) and I will banish the locusts from you, so that they will not destroy the yield of your soil; and your vines in the field shall no longer miscarry—said the LORD of Hosts. (12) And all the nations shall account you happy, for you shall be the most desired of lands—said the LORD of Hosts.

(3) The foolishness of man perverts his way, and his heart frets against the Lord.

(25) Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, return each one’s money to his sack, and give them provisions for the journey; and this was done for them. (26) So they loaded their asses with the rations and departed from there. (27) As one of them was opening his sack to give feed to his ass at the night encampment, he saw his money right there at the mouth of his bag. (28) And he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned! It is here in my bag!” Their hearts sank; and, trembling, they turned to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”

One day, Rabbi Yoḥanan was bathing in the Jordan River. Reish Lakish saw him and jumped into the Jordan after him. He said to him: Your strength for Torah. He said to him: Your beauty for women. He said to him: If you return yourself, I will give you my sister, who is more beautiful than I am. He accepted it upon himself. He wanted to jump back to bring his clothes, but he was unable to return.

He Torah-ed him, and he Mishna-ed him, and turned him into a great man.

One day the study hall was engaging in a dispute: the sword, the knife, the dagger, the spear, the hand sickle, and the harvest sickle--from when are they susceptible to ritual impurity? From the time of the completion of their making. And when is the completion of their making? Rabbi Yoḥanan said: From when one fires them in the furnace. Reish Lakish said: From when one douses them in water. He said to him: A bandit knows his banditry.

He said to him: What good did you do me? There they called me master, and here they call me master. He said to him: I did do you good, for I brought you close under the wings of the Divine Presence.

Rabbi Yoḥanan's mind weakened and Reish Lakish fell ill. His sister came crying, saying to him: Do it for the sake of my children! He said to her: “Leave your fatherless children, I will rear them” (Jeremiah 49:11). Do it for the sake of my widowhood! He said to her: “And let your widows trust in Me.”

The soul of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish [Reish Lakish] rested. Rabbi Yoḥanan was grieved greatly over him. The Rabbis said: Whom shall we send to ease his mind? Let's send Rabbi Elazar ben Pedat, for his learnings are sharp.

He went and sat before him. Every matter that Rabbi Yoḥanan would say, he would say to him: There is a teaching that supports you. He said: Are you the son of Lakish? The son of Lakish--when I would state a matter, he would raise twenty-four challenges against me, and I would answer him with twenty-four resolutions, and from this, the tradition became wider. And you! You say: "A teaching supports you." Don't I know that what I say is right?

He went around, rending his clothing, weeping and saying: Where are you, son of Lakish? Where are you, son of Lakish? He cried out until he lost his mind. The Rabbis begged for mercy on him and his soul rested.