Avot249

Today's shiur is dedicated by Ellen Goldmuntz and Jay Slater
in honor of their son, Peter Lawrence Metz,
Nechemia ben Yirmiyahu v'Esther,
who reached the age of mitzvot on 23 Tevet,
and was called to the Torah for the first time on Shabbat Va'era.

8:
The biography of Rabbi Shim'on bar-Yoĥai depicts a man of uncompromising character and utter devotion to the study of Torah. After spending a long period of time devoted almost completely to study of Torah and worship, he came out of his cave. We have seen how shocked he was to see ordinary people just going about their daily business, trying to earn a living from the soil. However, this insistence that study of Torah must take precedence over everything else was not a momentary aberration but an integral part of his philosophy. The Gemara [Berakhot 35b] records a discussion between two sages concerning the way in which earning a living and Torah study must live together. One verse in the Torah [Deuteronomy 11:14] tells us that we must gather in the produce of the fields at the appropriate time; but another biblical verse [Joshua 1:8] warns us that we must constantly study Torah, night and day. Rabbi Yishma'el, most reasonably, maintained that these verses cannot possible be understood literally: the Torah wishes to teach that we must gather in the produce of our fields when we should and we should also find time for Torah study by day and by night. But Rabbi Shim'on bar-Yoĥai will have none of this:

His recommendation is to trust that God will provide and to devote oneself completely to study of Torah. Some two centuries later the great Babylonian Amora Abbayé laconically remarked [Berakhot 35b]:

The Gemara goes on to relate that

To be continued.

In Avot 247 I mentioned that some of the statements recorded in the name of Rabbi Yehudah ben-Ilai sound like material that a tourist may have heard from a tour guide. In that same shiur I also mentioned that Rabbi Yehudah may well have been poverty-stricken.

Judith May writes:

I'm having trouble reconciling Rabbi Yehudah the tourist with Rabbi Yehudah who couldn't afford a chair. Surely then, as now, tourism required some extra wealth.

I respond:

I am not at all sure that we can compare modern tourism with ancient tourism. The Jewish tourist would have made his way on foot or hitch-hiking and would have stayed in accommodation provided by the local community. Furthermore, it is possible that Rabbi Yehudah visited Alexandria as part of a delegation sent by the Sanhedrin, in which case it may have been "all expenses paid". Also, please bear in mind that the visit to Alexandria is surmise as is also the issue of poverty: neither are specifically attested by the records.