Eretz-Israel 003

13:
In the previous shiur we began looking at a passage from the Tosefta [Avodah Zarah 5:2]. We shall now continue our stidy of that passage. But first of all, it may be useful to describe briefly what the Tosefta is. The Tosefta is a work that mirror-images the Mishnah, but contains halakhot that Rabbi Yehudah, the President of the Sanhedrin and the compiler of the Mishnah, excluded from his Mishnah: these halakhot are called baraytot, which comes from the Aramaic for 'an excluded mishnah'. The Tosefta was compiled in Eretz-Israel early in the 3rd century CE.

14:
You will recall that the passage from the Tosefta began with an extraordinary ruling:

Having stated that "a person should always reside in Eretz-Israel" the passage now continues to support that statement:

Not only should a person always reside in Eretz-Israel – according to the Tosefta – but even when the economic situation becomes almost interable that may not be an indication that it is permissible to leave the country! The se'ah was a unit of weight and the sela was a unit of currency. If we 'translate' the ruling of the Tosefta into modern terms it would say that a person may not leave Eretz-Israel even if the cost of living has doubled! (We presume that the normal rate was four se'ahs of wheat or flour for one sela.)

The Rabbi Shim'on of this barayta is Rabbi Shim'on bar-Yoĥai. The ultimate meaning of his rider to the barayta is that even if the cost of living has quadrupled one should not leave Eretz-Israel! The extraordinary exaggeration implied in his teaching – extraordinary even for Rabbi Shim'on! – must be understood against the background of his time. Rabbi Shim'on was active in the period immediately following the ignominious defeat of the Jews under Shim'on bar-Kokhba by the Roman military machine in the year 135 CE. The situation in Eretz-Israel was deplorable. Tens of thousands of people had been deported to Europe as slaves, particularly men. The ratio of women to men was so acute that most women could not find a husband. The cost of living skyrocketed not only because of the devastation caused by the war but also because of several years of severe drought. People were leaving the country in droves in order to live a better life elsewhere. This was something that Rabbi Shim'on was trying to stem. When the phenomenon began to appear even among his own students he was very bitter. A midrash [Shemot Rabbi 52:3] recalls that

15:
Rabbi Shim'on bar-Yoĥai was a very demanding person – demanding of himself and demanding of others.
When we bear in mind what the Romans did to his beloved teacher, Rabbi Akiva, and all the other rabbinic leaders of his generation we can understand why Rabbi Shim'on bar-Yoĥai developed an uncompromising hatred for Romans and everything Roman. Because he refused to compromise in any way neither in his opinions nor in his teachings it is also not surprising that that the Romans condemned him to death. The well-known story is told in the Gemara [Shabbat 33b]:

The animus that Rabbi Shim'on has against the Romans and their culture is clear. It is also reasonably clear that Rabbi Yehudah belonged to the 'peace party' of his time. Rabbi Yosé probably agreed with Rabbi Shim'on, but was more circumspect and knew that it was much safer not to be so outspoken. The Gemara goes on to recount how the Romans got to hear of this private conversation and took their revenge: Yehudah ben-Gerim was promoted – to what is not clear; Rabbi Yosé was 'exiled' to Tzippori (Sepphoris) in Galilee; and on Rabbi Shim'on they pronounced the death sentence. So he and his son hid in the Bet Midrash where his wife would bring them food every day. But even so Rabbi Shim'on was concerned that the Romans might learn of their whereabouts if they tortured his wife, so he and his son went off to live in a cave in the middle of nowhere.

Twelve years seems to serve regularly in rabbinic stories for 'a long time'. At last, it seems, that even in heaven it was thought that they were exaggerating.

Apparently, someone came to let them know that Hadrian had died. Since the Hadrianic persecution had begin immediately after the Bar-Kokhba débâcle in 136 CE and the emperor Hadrian died on July 19th 138, their stay in the cave could not have lasted twelve years! In all probability we should either read 'twelve months' or 'two years'. Be that as it may, father and son left their cave. But when they saw people going about their daily business they could not reconcile this with what they had been doing exclusively all that time they had been in the cave.

Thus even heaven itself disapproved of their exaggerated demands on human religiosity. The Gemara now recounts the end of the story:

He meant that the world would have to be sustained by the constancy of their study of Torah since, given the economic and social condition of the country, ordinary mortals are clearly not capable of single minded devotion such as the father and the son had elected to show.

To be continued.