Avot122

נושא: Avot

BET MIDRASH VIRTUALI

Rabban Yoĥanan ben-Zakkai received [the tradition] from Hillel and Shammai. He used to say: If you have learned much Torah do not keep a good thing to yourself, because it is for that you were created.

20:
The work of Rabban Yoĥanan ben-Zakkai at Yavneh was stupendous. Almost single-handedly he managed to create an alternative for two institutions essential for Judaism. We have already seen how he insinuated that an alternative could be found for the Bet Mikdash and its ritual. He also created an alternative for the Sanhedrin which had sat in the Gazit Chamber in the Bet Mikdash. It was the assembly of sages which used to meet in a vineyard in Yavneh that was to continue the work of the Sanhedrin. Clearly there were arch-conservatives who vehemently disapproved: for them it was inconceivable that the Sanhedrin should meet anywhere except within the Temple precincts – as it had done for centuries! Had that view prevailed, of course, it is highly unlikely that Judaism as we know it could have survived. Rabban Yoĥanan ben-Zakkai needed a pretext to establish beyond doubt that the assembly of sages in Yavneh was the legitimate heir of the ancient Sanhedrin. I recounted the story when we studied Tractate Rosh ha-Shanah 4:1.

21:
The mishnah had taught that

When the festival of Rosh ha-Shanah falls on Shabbat they would sound the Shofar in the Bet Mikdash, but not in the rest of the country.

This was because the Sanhedrin was present in the Bet Mikdash to ensure that the shofar was not carried through public thoroughfares, which is forbidden on Shabbat. The Gemara [Rosh ha-Shanah 29b] succinctly explained how Rabban Yoĥanan ben-Zakkai acted:

Once Rosh ha-Shanah fell on Shabbat and people from the outlying towns were all converging [on Yavneh]. Rabban Yoĥanan ben-Zakkai told ["the main opposition",] the Beteyrah family that they would sound the Shofar [on Shabbat in Yavneh]. They responded: "Let's discuss it". He replied: "We shall sound the Shofar and hold the discussion afterwards". After the Shofar had been sounded they said, "Let's discuss it". He then said to them that the horn had already been sounded in Yavneh and it was not appropriate to question the decision after the fact!

By this simple act of political adroitness Rabban Yoĥanan ben-Zakkai managed to demonstrate, despite conservative opposition, that all the privileges of the erstwhile Great Sanhedrin were now vested in the Bet Din in Yavneh. And the sages, in that same Mishnah, added that "there was no difference between Yavneh and any other place where the Bet Din met." (For greater coverage of this event please read Rosh ha-Shanah 4:1.)

To be continued.

In Avot 119 I wrote: Thereafter no one but the rabbi's two most prominent students, Yehoshu'a ben-Ĥananyah and Eli'ezer ben-Hyrkanos, might carry his bier so that no one would notice that the 'body' was lighter than a dead body should be.

Aaron Wolf asks:

Why would a live body be lighter than a dead one?

I respond:

I don't know. That is what the Gemara says. Is there anyone with more expert knowledge who can shed light on this?

In Avot 120 I responded to a critical message from Jim Feldman. I wrote: While I do not entirely agree with these sentiments I can understand them. And yet Hillel's standing in our Jewish tradition is almost without peer. Perhaps those who think that these latter teachings attributed to Hillel leave much to be desired can salvage something of Hillel's reputation… In Avot 099 I wrote: It will be easier for us to suggest a resolution of this issue if we can identify the Hillel of our mishnah. One suggestion would be that the Hillel in question is the son of the Rabban Gamli'el… Rabban Gamli'el did have a son named Hillel who succeeded his bother Yehudah as president of the Sanhedrin…

Ed Frankel writes:

I understand Jim, and were Hillel alive today I would be chagrined by his comments. However, Hillel, as all of us, is a product of the times in which he lived. I doubt he intended any misogyny. For all I know, his views of women may have been liberal for his era. However, what Hillel's comments seem to show me are the dangers of excess.

I respond:

Jim did not criticize Hillel for misogyny: he criticized him for misogamy – hatred of marriage. I don't think Hillel was criticizing marriage: a careful reading of his teaching would suggest that he was criticizing polygamy rather than the institution of marriage itself.

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