Rabbi says: which is an upright path for which a person should opt? – One which is honourable for those who do it and which [also] brings honour from mankind. Be as careful with a simple mitzvah as with a serious one, since you do not know the reward for each mitzvah. Calculate the loss of a mitzvah against its reward, and the reward of a sin against its loss. Watch for three things and you will not come to sin: know what is above you – a seeing eye, a listening ear and all your deeds written in the book.
34:
Having reviewed as thoroughly as possible not only Rabbi's crowning achievement, the redaction of the Mishnah, but also its significant antecedents, we can now return our attention to the great man's biography.
35:
Rabbi was not a healthy man – at least not in the latter part of his life, which is what concerns us now. He suffered from an extremely painful malady. Several doctoral dissertations, both published and unpublished, have attempted to identify the illness which tormented Rabbi towards the end of his life, but the description of the symptoms as given in our sources are not sufficient for a definite diagnosis. What is clear is that he suffered increasingly either in his digestive system or in the egestive system (bowels etc).
36:
Rabbi lived in Bet She'arim, a small town in southern Galilee. (The substantial ruins, which are well worth a visit, can be found very close to the modern town of Kiryat Tiv'on.) When his health began to deteriorate his doctors advised him to move into the highlands of Galilee, where – it was vainly hoped – the fresh mountain air would contribute to a cure. Rabbi moved to the town of Tzippori (transliterated into Greek as Sepphoris) – which means, of course, that the seat of the Sanhedrin moved with him. It is not clear how long Rabbi survived the move from Bet She'arim to Tzippori, but it must have been several years at least. However, eventually the malady from which he suffered grew constantly worse and more and more painful, until it eventually killed him.
37:
A very touching account is given in our sources of Rabbi's last hours. It is clear that his mind was alert to the end. The Gemara [Ketubot 103a] relates that
When Rabbi lay dying he called for his sons. When they had come he instructed them: "Respect your mother's dignity; the lamp should [continue] burning in its place, the desk should be neatly arranged and my bed should be made as usual. Yosef Ĥofni Shim'on Efrati tended to my needs while I was alive and they shall tend to my needs when I die"… Then he called for the sages. When they had entered he instructed them: "Do not have eulogies for me in the villages; resume the sessions [of the Sanhedrin] after thirty days; my son Shim'on shall be the Ĥakham, my son Gamli'el shall be the President and Ĥanina bar-Papa shall moderate."
The Gemara explains that the instruction concerning the sons' mother was because Rabbi's wife (their 'mother') was not their biological mother, but a spouse from a second marriage. Even though their biological mother was dead they must respect their father's wife as their mother (and as his widow). The requirement that his study be maintained as if he were alive was in order to alleviate the distress of the household servants who would also feel bereaved. And, like a veritable monarch, he made certain that there would be no uncertainties concerning the succession and the running of the Sanhedrin. The ordinary people were not to be burdened with long eulogies about the great man who had died.
38:
Rabbi also gave strict instructions as to the disposal of his body. He was to be buried in Bet She'arim where several of his ancestors were buried, but he was to be buried in the ground (and not laid out on a niche in the caverns as was wont). Furthermore, he was to be buried in plain, white, linen shrouds with no adornments. Perhaps, apart from the Mishnah, this is his most lasting legacy to his people: if one of the greatest Jews of all time demanded that his burial be in the ground and with the plainest of grave-clothes, surely no other Jew could claim more than this; and this is typical of Jewish burial to this day: Jews should be buried as was Rabbi.
39:
The Gemara [Ketubot 104a] also describes what happened when Rabbi died:
The day that Rabbi died the sages had decreed a day of fasting and prayer. They said that anyone who said that Rabbi had died was to be thrust through with a sword. Rabbi's [personal] maid went up onto the roof and cried out [to heaven], "Those on high want Rabbi and those below want Rabbi; may it be God's pleasure that the desire of those below be stronger than the desire of those on high." But when she saw how often Rabbi had to remove his Tefillin to go to the toilet and groaned in pain she [changed her prayer and said] "May it be God's pleasure that the desire of those on high be stronger than the desire of those below". All this time the sages continued their prayers [and the noise was obviously disturbing Rabbi's last ,moments]. She took a jug and hurled it to the ground. [The noise startled the sages and] they stopped praying. At that moment Rabbi breathed his last. The sages told Bar-Kappara to go in [to Rabbi's room] and see [what the situation was]. He went in and found Rabbi dead. He tore his garments … and cried out, "The heavenly angels and mere mortals were both claiming the holy ark: the heavenly angels have defeated the mere mortals and the holy ark has been captured!" They asked him, "Is he dead?" He replied, "You said so, not I!"
To be continued.
