רבי אלעזר בן ערך

§ The Gemara returns to the topic of the Design of the Divine Chariot. The Sages taught: An incident occurred involving Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai, who was riding on a donkey and was traveling along the way, and his student, Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh, was riding a donkey behind him. Rabbi Elazar said to him: My teacher, teach me one chapter in the Design of the Divine Chariot. He said to him: Have I not taught you: And one may not expound the Design of the Divine Chariot to an individual, unless he is a Sage who understands on his own accord? Rabbi Elazar said to him: My teacher, allow me to say before you one thing that you taught me. In other words, he humbly requested to recite before him his own understanding of this issue. He said to him: Speak. Immediately, Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai alighted from the donkey, and wrapped his head in his cloak in a manner of reverence, and sat on a stone under an olive tree. Rabbi Elazar said to him: My teacher, for what reason did you alight from the donkey? He said: Is it possible that while you are expounding the Design of the Divine Chariot, and the Divine Presence is with us, and the ministering angels are accompanying us, that I should ride on a donkey? Immediately, Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh began to discuss the Design of the Divine Chariot and expounded, and fire descended from heaven and encircled all the trees in the field, and all the trees began reciting song. What song did they recite? “Praise the Lord from the earth, sea monsters and all depths…fruit trees and all cedars…praise the Lord” (Psalms 148:7–14). An angel responded from the fire, saying: This is the very Design of the Divine Chariot, just as you expounded. Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai stood and kissed Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh on his head, and said: Blessed be God, Lord of Israel, who gave our father Abraham a son like you, who knows how to understand, investigate, and expound the Design of the Divine Chariot. There are some who expound the Torah’s verses well but do not fulfill its imperatives well, and there are some who fulfill its imperatives well but do not expound its verses well, whereas you expound its verses well and fulfill its imperatives well. Happy are you, our father Abraham, that Elazar ben Arakh came from your loins. The Gemara relates: And when these matters, this story involving his colleague Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh, were recounted before Rabbi Yehoshua, he was walking along the way with Rabbi Yosei the Priest. They said: We too shall expound the Design of the Divine Chariot. Rabbi Yehoshua began expounding. And that was the day of the summer solstice, when there are no clouds in the sky. Yet the heavens became filled with clouds, and there was the appearance of a kind of rainbow in a cloud. And ministering angels gathered and came to listen, like people gathering and coming to see the rejoicing of a bridegroom and bride. Rabbi Yosei the Priest went and recited these matters before Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai, who said to him: Happy are all of you, and happy are the mothers who gave birth to you; happy are my eyes that saw this, students such as these. As for you and I, I saw in my dream that we were seated at Mount Sinai, and a Divine Voice came to us from heaven: Ascend here, ascend here, for large halls [teraklin] and pleasant couches are made up for you. You, your students, and the students of your students are invited to the third group, those who will merit to welcome the Divine Presence. The Gemara poses a question: Is that so? But isn’t it taught in a baraita: Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Yehuda, says: There are three lectures. In other words, there are three Sages with regard to whom it states that they delivered lectures on the mystical tradition: Rabbi Yehoshua lectured on these matters before Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai; Rabbi Akiva lectured before Rabbi Yehoshua; and Ḥananya ben Ḥakhinai lectured before Rabbi Akiva. However, Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh was not included in the list, despite the testimony that he lectured before Rabban Yoḥanan. The Gemara explains: Those who lectured and were also lectured to were included; but those who lectured and were not lectured to were not included. The Gemara asks: But wasn’t there Ḥananya ben Ḥakhinai, who was not lectured to, and yet he is included? The Gemara answers: Ḥananya ben Ḥakhinai actually lectured before one who lectured in front of his own rabbi, so he was also included in this list.

Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Zakkai had five disciples. As long as he was alive, they would sit before him. When he died, they went to Yavne, but Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh went to his wife in Emmaus, a place with good water and a beautiful view. He waited for them to come to him, but they did not come. When they did not come, he sought to go to them, but his wife did not allow him to do so. She said: ‘Who is in need of whom?’ He said to her: ‘They are in need of me.’ She said to him: ‘A leather container [of food] and mice, which typically goes to which; the mice to the container, or the container to the mice?’ He heeded her and remained until he forgot his learning. Sometime later they came to him and asked him: ‘A wheat loaf or a barley loaf, which can be eaten faster with a relish?’ He did not know how to respond to them, or the meaning of “with relish [liftan].” Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yosei say: It is two food items joined [lefutin] together.
Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] would appoint two appointees each year. If they were worthy, they would endure; if not, they would die. As Rabbi’s death neared, he said to his son: ‘Do not do so, but rather, appoint them all at once, and appoint Rabbi Ḥanina as leader [of them all].’ Why had [Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi himself] not appointed him? Rabbi Yosei bar Zevid said: It is because the residents of Tzippori denounced him. Did [Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi decide how to] act based on their denunciations? They denounce many in this way; if we heed them in his regard, we must heed them regarding others as well. Rabbi Bon said: [Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi] said to [Rabbi Ḥanina]: ‘Before whom did you learn that reading?’ He said to him: ‘Before Rav Hamnuna, the Bible expert of Babylon.’ He said to him: ‘When you go there, tell him that I appointed you to serve as an elder.’ [Rabbi Ḥanina] knew that he would not be appointed in [Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi’s] days. When [Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi] died, his son sought to appoint [Rabbi Ḥanina], but he did not accept it upon himself. He said: ‘I do not accept, but rather defer to Rabbi Afes of the south.’ There was one elder there who said: ‘If Rabbi Ḥanina is first, I am second. If Rabbi Afes is first, I am second.’ Rabbi Ḥanina accepted upon himself to be appointed third, and he was privileged to live a very long life. He said: ‘I do not know why I was privileged to live a very long life, whether it was because of this matter, or whether it was because when I would ascend from Tiberias to Tzippori I would take a detour to visit Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta. I do not know which of these two [is the reason.]’
Another matter: “For exploitation disconcerts a wise man” – the exploitation of Datan and Aviram, exploiting Moses their master, caused his wisdom to be lost from him. “And destroys the gift of [matana] understanding” – [the word matana] is written [in such a way that it can also be vocalized] metuna, patience. Had Moses been patient, he would have been spared. However, because they provoked him and caused him to become upset, and they said to him: “May the Lord look upon you [and judge, for you have made us loathsome in the eyes of Pharaoh]” (Exodus 5:21), he could not tolerate it, and, as a result, he became upset in his anger and said [to God]: “Since I came [to Pharaoh to speak in Your name…You have not rescued Your people]” (Exodus 5:23). The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘I wrote about you that you are wise, and you become upset and say this to me? By your life, you should know and inform others that the ultimate fate of My children will be better than the beginning that I provided them in Egypt,’ as it is written: “Now you will see [what I will do to Pharaoh, as with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them from his land]” (Exodus 5:24). At that moment, the Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Woe for those who are lost and cannot be found. I lost Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who never doubted Me, and I have not found anyone who is their equal.’ At that moment, the attribute of justice sought to harm [Moses], as it is stated: “God [Elohim] spoke [to Moses]” (Exodus 6:2), and Elohim [indicates] nothing other than the attribute of justice. And it is stated: “And He said to him: I am the Lord” (Exodus 6:2). He said to [Moses]: ‘You are flesh and blood and unable to bear them. I am the Lord, merciful, the Master of mercy, with My attributes, I will have mercy,’ as it is stated: “I have made and I will bear” (Isaiah 46:4).

HALAKHAH: “If somebody eats at his father-in-law’s,” etc. In earlier times they decided on a persecution in Judea because they had a tradition from their forefathers that Jehudah had killed Esaw, as it is written: “Your hand is on your enemies’ neck.” They went and enslaved them and raped their daughters; they decided that a soldier would have sex with her first. They decreed that her husband should come to her when still in her father’s house; for when she knows that her husband’s fear is on her she is drawn after him. But is she not in the end being used for sex by a soldier? She is raped, and a rape victim is permitted to her husband. What did Cohanot do? They were hiding them. Why did they not also hide the daughters of Israel? That becomes talk and the government hears it; then these and those will be taken together. What kind of a sign did they have? The talk of a cook in town: There is a wedding meal, there is a wedding meal; there is light in Beror-Ḥayil: a week for a son, a week for a son. When the persecution ended, the custom did not end. Rebbi Hoshaia’s daughter-in-law was pregnant when she married definitively.

§ The Sages taught: The verse states: “Justice, justice, shall you follow.” This teaches that one should follow the best, most prestigious, court of the generation. For example, follow after Rabbi Eliezer to Lod, after Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai to Beror Ḥayil. The Sages taught: When the gentile authorities issued decrees outlawing observance of the mitzvot, members of Jewish communities devised clandestine ways of indicating observance of mitzvot to each other. For example: If one produces the sound of a millstone in the city called Burni, this is tantamount to announcing: Week of the son, week of the son, i.e., there will be a circumcision. If one displays the light of a lamp in the city called Beror Ḥayil, this is tantamount to announcing: There is a wedding feast there, there is a wedding feast there. The Sages taught: The verse states: “Justice, justice, shall you follow.” This teaches that one should follow the Sages to the academy where they are found. For example, follow after Rabbi Eliezer to Lod, after Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai to Beror Ḥayil, after Rabbi Yehoshua to Peki’in, after Rabban Gamliel to Yavne, after Rabbi Akiva to Bnei Brak, after Rabbi Matya to Rome [Romi], after Rabbi Ḥananya ben Teradyon to Sikhnei, after Rabbi Yosei to Tzippori, after Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira to Netzivin, after Rabbi Yehoshua to the exile [gola], i.e., Babylonia, after Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi to Beit She’arim, and after the Sages in the time of the Temple to the Chamber of Hewn Stone.

It was taught in a baraita: Rabbi Meir was not his name; rather, Rabbi Nehorai was his name. And why was he called by the name Rabbi Meir? It was because he illuminates [meir] the eyes of the Sages in matters of the halakha. And Rabbi Nehorai was not the name of the tanna known by that name; rather, Rabbi Neḥemya was his name, and some say: Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh was his name. And why was he called by the name Rabbi Nehorai? It is because he enlightens [manhir] the eyes of the Sages in matters of the halakha.

Rabbi Nehorai said: go as a [voluntary] exile to a place of Torah and say not that it will come after you, for [it is] your fellow [student]s who will make it permanent in your hand and “and lean not upon your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

Apropos Deyomset, the Gemara cites that Rabbi Ḥelbo said: The wine of Phrygia [Perugaita] and the water of the Deyomset deprived Israel of the ten lost tribes. Because the members of these tribes were attracted to the pleasures of wine and bathing and did not occupy themselves with Torah, they were lost to the Jewish people. The Gemara relates that once Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh happened to come there, to Phrygia and Deyomset, and he was drawn after them, and his Torah learning was forgotten. When he returned, he stood to read from a Torah scroll and was supposed to read the verse: “This month shall be for you [haḥodesh hazeh lakhem]” (Exodus 12:2), but he had forgotten so much that he could barely remember how to read the Hebrew letters, and instead he read: Have their hearts become deaf [haḥeresh haya libbam], interchanging the similar letters reish for dalet, yod for zayin, and beit for khaf. The Sages prayed and asked for God to have mercy on him, and his learning was restored. And that is what we learned in a mishna that Rabbi Nehorai says: Exile yourself to a place of Torah and do not say that it will follow you, as if you are in a place of Torah, your colleagues will establish it in your hands, and do not rely on your understanding alone. It was taught: Rabbi Nehorai was not his name, but rather Rabbi Neḥemya was his name; and some say that Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh was his name and his statement was based on the personal experience of forgetting his Torah due to his failure to exile himself to a place of Torah. And why was he called Rabbi Nehorai? It was because he would illuminate [manhir] the eyes of the Sages in halakha.