סוף פרק ג'

Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah said: Where there is no Torah, there is no right conduct; where there is no right conduct, there is no Torah. Where there is no wisdom, there is no fear of God; where there is no fear of God, there is no wisdom. Where there is no understanding, there is no knowledge; where there is no knowledge, there is no understanding. Where there is no bread, there is no Torah; where there is no Torah, there is no bread. He used to say: one whose wisdom exceeds his deeds, to what may he be compared? To a tree whose branches are numerous but whose roots are few, so that when the wind comes, it uproots it and overturns it, as it is said, “He shall be like a bush in the desert, which does not sense the coming of good. It is set in the scorched places of the wilderness, in a barren land without inhabitant” (Jeremiah 17:6). But one whose deeds exceed his wisdom, to what may he be compared? To a tree whose branches are few but roots are many, so that even if all the winds in the world come and blow upon it, they cannot move it out of its place, as it is said, “He shall be like a tree planted by waters, sending forth its roots by a stream. It does not sense the coming of heat, its leaves are ever fresh. It has no care in a year of drought; it does not cease to yield fruit” (ibid, 17:8). Rabbi Eliezer Hisma said: the laws of mixed bird offerings and the key to the calculations of menstruation days, these are the body of the halakhah. The calculation of the equinoxes and gematria are the desserts of wisdom.

The Gemara notes: This is similar to that incident where Rabban Gamliel and Rabbi Yehoshua were traveling together on a ship. Rabban Gamliel had sufficient bread for the journey. Rabbi Yehoshua also had sufficient bread, and additionally he had flour. The journey lasted longer than expected, and Rabban Gamliel’s bread was finished. He relied on Rabbi Yehoshua’s flour for nourishment. Rabban Gamliel said to Rabbi Yehoshua: Did you know from the outset that we would have so substantial a delay? Is that the reason that you brought flour with you? Rabbi Yehoshua said to Rabban Gamliel: There is one star that rises once in seventy years and misleads sailors at sea, causing their journeys to be extended. And I said: Perhaps that star will rise during our journey and mislead us. Rabban Gamliel said to him: So much wisdom is at your disposal, and you board a ship to earn your livelihood? Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: Before you wonder about me, wonder about two students that you have on dry land, Rabbi Elazar Ḥisma and Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Gudgeda, who are so wise that they know how to calculate how many drops of water there are in the sea, and yet they have neither bread to eat nor a garment to wear. Rabban Gamliel made up his mind to seat them at the head of the academy. When Rabban Gamliel ascended to dry land, he sent a messenger to them to tell them to come so that he could appoint them and they did not come. He again sent a messenger to them and they came. Rabban Gamliel said to them: Do you imagine that I am granting you authority, and since you did not want to accept the honor you did not come when I sent for you? I am granting you servitude, as it is stated: “And they spoke to him saying: If you will be a servant to this people today” (I Kings 12:7). This explains the phrase “in an independent house.”

Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi would praise the virtues of these sages: Rabbi Tarfon, Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri, and Rabbi Yosei HaGalili.
He called Rabbi Tarfon: a pile of stones. (And some say, a pile of nuts.) For when someone pulls one of them out, they all fall down and crash in on each other. So it was with Rabbi Tarfon. When a student would come before him and say: Teach me something, Rabbi Tarfon would cite Scripture, Mishnah, Midrash, Halakhot, and Aggadot. And the student would leave feeling full of goodness and blessing.
He called Rabbi Akiva: a sealed vault. For Rabbi Akiva was like a worker who took his basket and went out to gather. When he found wheat, he put it in his basket. When he found barley, he put it in his basket. When he found spelt, he put it in his basket. When he found beans, he put them in his basket. When he found lentils, he put them in his basket. Then when he came back home, he would separate the wheat into one pile, the barley into one pile, the spelt into one pile, the beans into one pile, and the lentils into one pile. So it was with Rabbi Akiva. He organized the whole Torah into identifiable categories.
He called Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah: a spice-peddlars’ basket. For Rabbi Elazar was like a merchant who took his cart and traveled around the country, and everyone would come out and say to him: Do you have fine oil? Do you have herbal ointments? Do you have persimmons? And they would find that he had everything. So it was with Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah. When a student would come to him and ask a question, Rabbi Elazar would tell him something from Scripture, something from Mishnah, something from Midrash, something from the law, and something from the legends. And the student would leave feeling full of goodness and blessing. When Rabbi Yehoshua was very old, his students came to visit him. He said to them: My children! What new teachings did you come up with in the house of study? They said to him: We are your students, and we drink from your waters. He said to them: God forbid! This is not a generation without sages! Whose turn was it to speak on the Sabbath? They said: It was Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah’s Sabbath. He said to them: And what was the subject of the day? They said: The commandment to (Deuteronomy 32:2) “gather the whole nation; the men, the women, and the babies” [for a public Torah reading]. He said to them: And what did he speak about? They said to him: This is what he said: The men come to learn, and the women come to hear. But why must the babies come? In order to be able to reward those who bring them. He said to them: You had this pearl of wisdom in your hands, and you wanted to keep it from me? If you had come today only to teach me that one thing, it would have been enough! They said: He also taught about the verse (Ecclesiastes 12:11), “The words of the sages are like goads, like nails fixed in herding sticks.” Just as a goad is used to direct a cow to her furrow, so do words of Torah direct a person toward the paths of life. And lest you think that just as a goad is movable, so words of Torah are easily moved around, it says, “like nails fixed,” to tell you that just as something fixed cannot be uprooted, so too, words of Torah cannot be uprooted. “Herding sticks” refers to the scholars, who gather together to sit in packs. Now, these may prohibit something, and these may permit it; these may say something is impure, and these may say it is pure; these may say something is invalid, and these may say it is valid. [And so perhaps someone will say:] I give up! One cannot learn anything! That is why it says [at the end of the verse], “all given from one shepherd.” One God created them. One leader (i.e., Moses) transmitted them. And the Master of all Things said them: As for you, make your ear like a funnel and take in the words of those who prohibit and the words of those who permit, the words of those who say “impure” and the words of those who say “pure,” the words of those who invalidate and the words of those who validate.