2:8
רַבָּן יוֹחָנָן
בֶּן זַכַּאי קִבֵּל מֵהִלֵּל וּמִשַּׁמַּאי. הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, אִם לָמַדְתָּ
תּוֹרָה הַרְבֵּה, אַל תַּחֲזִיק טוֹבָה לְעַצְמָךְ, כִּי לְכָךְ נוֹצָרְתָּ.
חֲמִשָּׁה
תַלְמִידִים הָיוּ לוֹ לְרַבָּן יוֹחָנָן בֶּן זַכַּאי, וְאֵלּוּ הֵן, רַבִּי
אֱלִיעֶזֶר בֶּן הֻרְקְנוֹס, וְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חֲנַנְיָה, וְרַבִּי יוֹסֵי
הַכֹּהֵן, וְרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן נְתַנְאֵל, וְרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲרָךְ.
הוּא הָיָה מוֹנֶה
שְׁבָחָן. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר בֶּן הֻרְקְנוֹס, בּוֹר סוּד שֶׁאֵינוֹ מְאַבֵּד
טִפָּה. רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חֲנַנְיָה, אַשְׁרֵי יוֹלַדְתּוֹ. רַבִּי יוֹסֵי
הַכֹּהֵן, חָסִיד. רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן נְתַנְאֵל, יְרֵא חֵטְא. וְרַבִּי
אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲרָךְ, מַעְיָן הַמִּתְגַּבֵּר.
הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר,
אִם יִהְיוּ כָל חַכְמֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּכַף מֹאזְנַיִם, וֶאֱלִיעֶזֶר בֶּן
הֻרְקְנוֹס בְּכַף שְׁנִיָּה, מַכְרִיעַ אֶת כֻּלָּם.
אַבָּא שָׁאוּל
אוֹמֵר מִשְּׁמוֹ, אִם יִהְיוּ כָל חַכְמֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּכַף מֹאזְנַיִם וְרַבִּי
אֱלִיעֶזֶר בֶּן הֻרְקְנוֹס אַף עִמָּהֶם, וְרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲרָךְ בְּכַף
שְׁנִיָּה, מַכְרִיעַ אֶת כֻּלָּם:
Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai received [the
tradition] from Hillel and Shammai. He used to say, “If you have learned much
Torah, do not take the credit, for this is why you were created.”
Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai had five
disciples. They were: Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrkanos, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananyah,
Rabbi Yose HaKohen, Rabbi Shimon ben Netanel and Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh.
He used to recount their praises: “Rabbi
Eliezer ben Hyrkanos is a well-sealed cistern that does not lose a drop; Rabbi
Yehoshua - happy is she who gave birth to him;
Rabbi Yose is a pious man; Rabbi Shimon ben Netanel fears sin; Rabbi Elazar ben
Arakh is an overflowing spring.”
He used to say, “If all the Sages of
Israel were on one side of a scale and Eliezer ben Hyrkanos were on the other,
he would outweigh them all.”
Abba Shaul said in his name, “If all the Sages
of Israel, including Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrkanos, were on one side of a scale
and Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh were on the other, [Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh] would
outweigh them all.”
Digest of
Commentaries:
The Talmud
states, “Hillel the Elder had eighty disciples. Thirty of them deserved that
the Divine Presence should rest upon them as it rested upon Moses. Thirty
of them merited that the sun should stand still for them as it did for Joshua
bin Nun. The remaining twenty were in between these two levels. The greatest of
them all was Yonatan ben Uziel and the least of them was Yochanan ben Zakkai.
"It
was said of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai that from his studies he did not omit anything
of Scripture, Mishnah, Talmud, halakhah and aggadot, nor the
subtleties of biblical and rabbinical exegesis, logical deductions (kal
ve-chomer), inferences from parallel expressions (gezerot shavot),
calendrical calculations (tekufot), and interpretations based on the
numerical value of Hebrew letters (gematriyot). He knew the speech of ministering
angels, the speech of demons, the speech of palm trees, washers’ parables,
foxes' fables, and great and small matters alike. ‘Great matters’ denotes the
mysteries of the Divine Chariot [i.e., the mystical secrets], while 'small
matters' denotes the questions of Abaye and Rava [i.e., the debates of later Talmudic
authorities]” (Sukkah 28a).
He used to
say, "If
you have learned much Torah, do not take the credit, for this is why you were
created.” Since every Jew is duty bound to study the
Torah, it cannot be considered an act of special merit. Rabban Yochanan ben
Zakkai was well-qualified to make this declaration, for there was no area of
Torah that he had not mastered (Rashi). Alternately, Midrash Shmuel
renders this: "Do not keep a good thing to yourself." Share your
Torah knowledge with others.
He used to
recount their praises. Each of these disciples possessed a quality in which he
surpassed the rest. As their teacher, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai did not push
them all in a single direction. Instead, he appreciated their uniqueness and
endeavored to give each the opportunity to develop his own potential (Likutey
Sichot).
He used to say, “If all the Sages of
Israel were on one side of a scale and Eliezer ben Hyrkanos were on the other,
he would outweigh them all.” As the
Talmud states, “Everyone needs the wheat owner [i.e., the one who possesses
knowledge in all areas of Torah]” (Berakhot 64a).
Abba Shaul
said in his name, "If all the Sages of Israel, including Rabbi Eliezer ben
Hyrkenos, were on one side of a scale and Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh were on the
other, [Rabbi
Elazar ben Arakh] would
outweigh them all.” Abba
Shaul does not dispute the previous statement, for both were made by Rabban
Yochanan ben Zakkai. Rather, he points out that each Sage demonstrated
superiority in a different sense. Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrkenos was superior in
his ability to correctly retain teachings, whereas Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh was
superior in his creativity and insight (Bartenura).
Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai received [the
tradition] from Hillel and Shammai
Reb Noson: After the Holy Temple was destroyed, God’s
glory departed, the Holy of Holies was in ruins, the Ark of the Covenant was
hidden, and Divine knowledge became eclipsed—to the point that all hope seemed
lost and it became impossible to illuminate the world with true wisdom. However,
God did not spurn our efforts to serve Him. He sent us true tzaddikim in every
generation who performed awesome tikkunim to restore the holy light that
had been lost, even in the midst of exile and devastation.
During the very hour of destruction, He
sent us the holy Tanna, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, who was one
of those who had received the entire Torah. The entire Torah of Moses was
transmitted to us in that generation through him, as Pirkey Avot attests
in enumerating all those who transmitted the Torah until "Rabban
Yochanan ben Zakkai received [the tradition] from Hillel and Shammai."
When Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai beheld
the extent of the destruction and the ensuing darkness after the Holy Temple
was lost, he took it upon himself to rectify the situation. Therefore he decreed
that during all seven days of the Sukkot festival, the rite of the lulav[i]
– which formerly had been restricted to the Temple grounds – should be
performed everywhere in commemoration of the Holy Temple (Sukkah 41a).
In this way it would be possible to draw down an illumination of Divine wisdom
to those who were most distant from holiness in every land in the world.
Thus destruction and exile are
transformed into good by the power of our righteous leaders, exemplified by
Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai. As an extension of Moses, he was the true tzaddik (tzaddik
emet) of his day. He accomplished wondrous tikkunim by increasing
the number of holy books in order to complete the revelation of the Torah,
making it possible in every land for one person to impart holy wisdom to his
fellows, until the spirit of enlightenment would fill the world.
This is the meaning of performing the
rite of the lulav all seven days of the Sukkot festival. Now that the
Holy Temple no longer stands, this task is incumbent upon Jews living in every
remote corner of our exile. In this way we continue to transmit the knowledge
of God even to those who are most estranged from Him (Likutey Halakhot, Pikadon
5:42, abridged).
Happy is she who gave birth to him
Reb Noson: I once heard from Rebbe Nachman that
when a student of Torah formulates original Torah ideas, it is extremely
beneficial to his father and mother[ii]
(Tzaddik #569; Likutey Moharan II, 105).
Glowing Praise
It was Rebbe Nachman’s custom to spend
the night of the Pesach Seder just with his wife and family.
During the first year when Reb Noson
became his follower, Rebbe Nachman spent Pesach in Medvedevka, having just
celebrated there the marriage of his daughter, Sarah. Because of the distance,
Reb Noson could not return home in time and therefore spent Pesach near the
Rebbe.
After the evening prayers in Rebbe
Nachman’s lodgings, everyone went home except for Reb Noson, who was still
reciting the Hallel prayer. As Rebbe Nachman sat down to the Seder with
his family, he heard Reb Noson’s intensive and joyous prayers in an adjoining
room and said of him, “Happy is she who gave birth to him!” (Aveneha
Barzel, p. 16, #13).
If all the Sages of Israel were on one
side of a scale … he would outweigh them all
Rebbe Nachman: The verse which describes Moses as
“exceedingly humble, above all men on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3) is
problematic to me. How could this be? How could he be more humble in comparison
to his disciples?
The only way to explain this is as
follows: Moses was “humble, above all men” in the sense that he possessed the
trait of humility of all humankind. That is, he embodied their essential
humility. As far as he was concerned, all men were all in the category of
humility, which is absolute nothingness [before God]. But he considered himself
to be even more “nothing”! (Tzaddik #269, abridged).
Rabbi Nachman Goldstein: My own understanding of what the Rebbe
meant is that Moses had attained such heights in his perception of the greatness
of the Creator that he saw the devotions and service of human beings as being "nothing"
in relation to the greatness of God. He himself was the leader and teacher of
all Israel, because he had attained more than anyone. Nevertheless, he held
himself to be nothing – more so than anyone else. Precisely because his
perception was so exalted did he perceive all the more profoundly how all his
service and devotions were of no importance whatsoever in relation to the
greatness of God (Tzaddik, ad loc.).
[i] This
refers to the ritual of na'anuim (the "waving" of the Four
Species). A palm branch (lulav), myrtle branches (hadasim),
willow branches (aravot) and a citron (etrog) are held together,
close to the heart, and then shaken in six directions while verses of praise
and thanksgiving to God are recited.
[ii] This refers to the souls of one’s
deceased parents, as stated in Tzaddik #521. Similarly, our Sages tell
the story of a suffering soul that was elevated to the heights of Heaven when
Rabbi Akiva taught the son of the deceased to pray and study the Torah; see
Kallah Rabbati, 2; Zohar Chadash, 60a-b; also Likutey Halakhot, Chadash
3:13.
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