Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakkai Had Five [Outstanding] Disciples. They Were: Rabbi Eliezer Ben Horkenus, Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Chananya, Rabbi Yosay The Kohen, Rabbi Shimon Ben Nesanel, And Rabbi Elazar Ben Arach.
He Used To Enumerate Their Praiseworthy Qualities: "Rabbi Eliezer Ben Horkenus - A Cemented Cistern Which Does Not Lose A Drop; Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Chananya - Happy Is She Who Bore Him; Rabbi Yosay The Priest - A Chassid; Rabbi Shimon Ben Nesanel - Sin-Fearing; And Rabbi Elazar Ben Arach - Like A Spring Which Flows With Ever-Increasing Strength."
He Used To Say: "If All The Sages Of Israel Were On One Side Of The Scale, And Eliezer Ben Horkenus Were On The Other, He Would Outweigh Them All."
Abba Shaul Said In His Name: "If All The Sages Of Israel, Including Even Eliezer Ben Horkenus, Were On One Side Of The Scale, And Elazar Ben Arach Were On The Other, He Would Outweigh Them All."
Each of these students possessed a quality in which he surpassed all others. As a teacher, Rabbi Yochanan 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.
This concept can be applied on a larger scale. Each person possesses a particular virtue in which he surpasses all others, even the leaders of the generation. He (and those who help him in his growth and development) should not seek universal conformity, but should strive to cultivate this unique gift.
(Sichos Shabbos Parshas Matos-Masei, 5743)
Why does the
mishnah ascribe happiness to Rabbi Yehoshua's mother? Because she was to a large degree responsible for his greatness. When Rabbi Yehoshua was an infant, she would hang his cradle in the House of Study so that he would become accustomed to the sweet singsong of Torah study.
[24] As he matured, the influence of his formative years played a large part in shaping his sagelike character.
This message is relevant to Jewish women today, for they bear the brunt of the responsibility for shaping the environment of their children. A child is always learning from his surroundings; whatever he sees or hears makes an impression.[25] When the home in which a child lives - and more particularly, his individual room - is filled with Torah teachings, when a pushkah is proudly displayed and a siddur is always handy, the values of study, kindness, and prayer will permeate his character.
(Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XXIII, p. 258; Sichos Shabbos Parshas Kedoshim, 5736)
The intent is not to say that he feared the punishment he would receive; he feared the sin itself.
[26] The Hebrew word for sin - - also has the meaning "lack."
[27] Rabbi Shimon feared the loss which sin would cause to his relationship with G-d.
(Likkutei Sichos, Vol. IV, p. 1200)
Both Rabbi Eliezer ben Horkenus and Rabbi Elazar ben Arach represent paradigms of excellence to which all students should aspire. They each, however, had a different approach to study.
Rabbi Eliezer, the "cemented cistern," represents the epitome of concentrated effort to absorb his teachers' wisdom. No other Sage matched his capacity for retention.
Not only during the time he studied under his masters did he diligently strive to soak up their teachings, but even after he became an independent authority, he saw himself as no more than a repository for their wisdom. Although "his two arms were like the two staves of a Torah scroll,"[28] he never mentioned an original concept; "never did he relate a teaching that he had not heard from his teachers."[29]
Nevertheless, Abba Shaul said: "If all the Sages of Israel, including even Eliezer ben Horkenus, were on one side of the scale, and Elazar ben Arach were on the other, he would outweigh them all." Rabbi Elazar ben Arach had a different approach to study. His thrust did not center on preserving his teachers' wisdom, but rather on extending it. "Like a spring which flows with ever-increasing strength," he constantly surged towards new frontiers of knowledge, building on the teachings he received as he proceeded into new domains.
Although this approach required the development of independent ideas and ways of thinking, Rabbi Elazar was still considered a student of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai. For it was Rabbi Yochanan who nurtured his conceptual development until he was able to make these independent strides. Moreover, even his original ideas reflected the teachings he had received from Rabbi Yochanan.[30]
Each of these approaches possesses an advantage over the other. Rabbi Eliezer enjoyed a more direct bond to the guiding light of his master's teachings. Rabbi Elazar, by contrast, by tapping the potential for personal initiative, showed how the fundamental truth of the Torah can be revealed in new and different settings.[31]
These concepts are relevant to our response to the challenge of exile. One approach is to preserve the teachings of the past, to cling to them so that nothing is lost. An alternative is to use these teachings as a springboard to the future - to show how they can permeate the thought patterns which Jews are forced to adopt in exile. Since the Torah is eternally relevant, it must be applicable in all settings and frames of reference.
And as the Torah is taken into these new settings, it remakes them and infuses them with a greater purpose. As these settings become transformed, a dwelling for G-d is established in mortal realms.[32] For worldliness has not been rejected, but neither has it been accepted on its own terms. Instead, it is revealed that while the world exists within its own conception, it constantly gives expression to the essential G-dly truth which the Torah conveys. And this heralds the coming of the era when the awareness of G-dliness will permeate existence - when "the world will be filled with the knowledge of G-d as the waters cover the ocean bed."[33]
(Likkutei Sichos, Vol. V, p. 460ff; Vol. X, p. 82-83)
Notes:
- (Back to text) Jerusalem Talmud, Yevamos 1:6; R. Ovadiah of Bartenura.
- (Back to text) And this applies from the earliest age. From birth (and even from conception) onward, a child is learning.
- (Back to text) See Likkutei Torah, Matos 82a.
- (Back to text) See the commentary of Rashi and Metzudos to I Melachim 1:21.
- (Back to text) Sanhedrin 68a.
- (Back to text) Sukkah 27b.
- (Back to text) A similar concept can be derived from the verse (Mishlei 22:6): "Educate a child according to his way; even when he grows older he will not depart from it." The path which a child follows will remain with him as he matures. He will follow this path through new and different frontiers, but the fundamental thrust will be the same.
- (Back to text) It must be emphasized that Rabbi Eliezer did not merely retain his masters' teachings; he integrated them into his own thinking processes (see our notes to ch. 6, beraisa 6). Nevertheless, the desire to extend these teachings into new frames of reference was indicative of Rabbi Elazar's unique thrust, and not that of Rabbi Eliezer's.
- (Back to text) Cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Parshas Bechukosai, sec. 3.
- (Back to text) Yeshayahu 11:9.
Chapter Two - Mishna 8