"Rabbi" was very wealthy, [Talmud Bavli Tractate Avodah Zarah 10a-b, my notation ] which was not the case with most other Rabbis, and it was believed that in his stables there was more wealth than in the treasury of the King of Persia! Yet, in spite of his great wisdom and wealth and the great honor in which he was held, "Rabbi' was a modest person and showed respect to all-the great Rabbis, even those amongst his own student He was fond of saying: "I have learned much from my teachers, even more from my friends and fellow students, but most of all I learned from my pupils."
"Rabbi" used his wealth to support the poor and needy. When a famine broke out in the land, Rabbi Judah the Prince opened his orchards and stores of food to feed the hungry.
Because of his high moral character and teachings, because of his refusal to enjoy selfishly his own great wealth, and because of his great personal qualities and piety, he was recognized everywhere as a holy person, and everyone called him "our saintly master" (Rabbenu Hakadosh). Our Sages used to say that all noble virtues were united in him and that even Elijah the Prophet, invisible though he was, sat among the students of "Rabbi" to listen to his teaching of the Torah.
Rabbi Judah the Prince said many things that could serve as a guide to others. "When a Jew performs a Mitzvah," he used to say, "he should not rejoice merely over that commandment alone, for one Mitzvah brings others after it. Likewise, when a Jew commits a sin, he should not regret merely that one sin, for other sins will surely follow that sin."
That a person should never consider himself too great to learn from someone younger or more humble than himself, "Rabbi" showed through the following example. The Torah is likened to water. Just as, with water, an older person is not ashamed to ask someone younger to give him a drink, so should he not be ashamed to ask a younger person to quench his thirst for knowledge. And also, just as no one is too lazy to seek a drink when he is thirsty, so too, no student should be too lazy to seek after Torah.
A person who does not wish to study or pray was regarded by "Rabbi" just like a dumb beast. Indeed, he once declared that he who occupies himself with the study of the Torah may eat the flesh of an animal or bird, but he who refuses to engage in the study of the Torah is not justified in eating the flesh of the lower creatures, of whom he is one.
There are many stories related in the Talmud and Midrash of the great friendship that existed between Rabbi Judah the Prince and the Roman Emperor, Antoninus. The Emperor used to visit "Rabbi's" house secretly in order to learn from him something of the wisdom of the Torah and to consult him about various difficult problems concerning the government of his Empire, for he greatly valued the good advice he received from the Jewish Sage.
In order that others should not suspect that he was asking the Rabbi for his counsel concerning matters of state, they often disguised questions or answers by means of a code or some action which the other alone understood. On one occasion Antoninus sent a messenger to "Rabbi" with the question: "The Imperial Treasury is empty. What shall I do?" Rabbi Judah called the messenger into his garden, where he uprooted some plants and replaced them with others. The messenger from the palace watched in amazement and then asked: "What reply shall I give to my royal master?" "Rabbi" replied that no answer was required. The puzzled Roman returned to the Emperor, informing him that the Rabbi had refused to answer the Emperor's question. Antoninus , however, asked the messenger whether Rabbi Judah had not performed any action in his presence. Thereupon the messenger described to the Emperor how the Jewish Rabbi had pulled up some plants in his garden and had put others in their place. The Emperor understood the message hidden in this action of the Rabbi. He dismissed several of his officials, whom "Rabbi" had suspected of being dishonest, and appointed others in their place. Soon the royal treasury was full again.
Later the friendship between the Emperor and the Rabbi was displayed openly. They began to visit each other and argued and discussed regarding God and His Torah. Once Antoninus asked "Rabbi": "How can the human soul be punished in the next world? The soul will be able to say: 'How can I be held to blame? I am a spiritual creation. It was the body that sinned, not I . . . .' On the other hand, the body will be able to say: 'How can I be guilty? Without the soul I could not have sinned, for it is the soul which gives life to the body.'"
To this question of the Emperor, "Rabbi" replied with a clever parable as follows: -A man once owned an orchard, over which he set two servants to guard it. One of the watchers was blind; the other was lame: The lame man, tempted by the sight of the ripe fruit which he could not reach, said to his blind companion: "Carry me on your shoulders and lead me to that tree, laden with rich fruit, to which I shall guide you. In this way both of us will enjoy the fruit"
When the owner, noticing the loss of his fruit, later accused his two servants of the theft of his choicest fruit, the blind man protested his innocence. "How could I have seen where the fruit was growing?" And the lame servant said: "How could I have reached the fruit?"
How did the owner act? He placed the lame man on the shoulders of the blind man and then punished them together.
So, too, replied the Rabbi, does God with the human body and soul when each falsely tries to avoid punishment for its guilt.
"Rabbi" was sick for many years but he was cured, as he had become ill, through a strange happening.
"Rabbi" was once walking to the Beth Hamidrash (the House of Study), when a calf, which was being driven to shechita (slaughter),broke loose and came up to the Rabbi, appearing to plead with him to save it from death. "Rabbi" said to the calf:, "Go to your fate, for to this end you were created." At this, a Heavenly Voice (a Bat Kol) proclaimed from Heaven that, as "Rabbi" had not had pity on one of God's creatures, he should be punished with physical suffering, e.g. kidney stones, painful flatulence, and other gastric problems.
For thirteen years this holy Rabbi suffered, and then one day he was healed just as suddenly. It happened like this:
A maidservant in the Rabbi's house was once cleaning a room when she found some newly-born weasels . She wanted to put them out of the house, but "Rabbi" restrained her. "God has pity on all His creatures," he said, "and human beings must follow His example. Leave the weasels in the house." A Bat Kol at once proclaimed that, just as "Rabbi" had had pity on God's lowly creatures, so should pity be taken on him. He was immediately cured.
When Rabbi Judah the Prince became seriously ill and near to death, the Rabbis prayed to God for him. Later they sent a Rabbi, called Bar Kappara, to see how "Rabbi" was progressing, but when he arrived he learned that the holy scholar had died. Bar Kappara rent his clothes as a sign of mourning and, returned to the Rabbis. He broke the sad news to them with this remark: "The angels have struggled with us human beings for 'the Holy Ark'! The angels have been victorious and have captured 'the Holy Ark.' . . ." The Rabbis asked: "Is he dead?" Bar Kappara replied: "You have spoken it. I did not want to let my lips utter the words."
The most important achievement for which Rabbi Judah Hanassi is famous is his edition of the Mishnah. Traditionally speaking, (my notation), The Torah, given to us by God on Mount Sinai, consists of two parts - the Written Law (known , as TaNaK, the initials of which stand for Torah, Neviim and Ketuvim, that is, the Five Books of the Torah, the Prophets and the Holy Writings) and the Oral Law, the explanation of the Torah given by word of mouth to Moses, as well as the Laws of Israel (Halacha L'Moshe Mi-Sinai).
This Oral Law was handed down from generation to generation by word of mouth from Moses to Joshua, from Joshua to the Seventy Elders, from the Elders to the Prophets, from the Prophets to the Men of the Great Synagogue, and from them to the greatest scholars of every generation. All these laws, traditions and customs were learned by heart and memorized. They were not allowed to be written down.
Rabbi Judah the Prince saw, however, that as a result of the difficulties of the Exile which the Jewish nation had to endure and would have to suffer for many centuries until the coming of the Messiah, there was a strong probability that many of these sacred laws would be forgotten or accidentally changed. He therefore decided to gather together the laws and write them down, so that they might remain permanently recorded in what was called the "Mishnah" (the meaning of which is "learning by repetition").
This was, of course, a tremendous task, but "Rabbi" succeeded in his great undertaking. He not only assembled the laws of the Oral Law, but he also arranged them in a logical order in six volumes, or "Sedarim," known by the abbreviation, "Shass." The order of the "Shass" is as follows: (1) Zeraim - consisting of the laws of agriculture and the commandments concerned with the land; (2) Moed - consisting of the laws of the Sabbath, Festivals and. Fasts; (3) Nashim - consisting of the laws concerned with family life, marriage, etc.; (4) Nezikin consisting of the laws concerned with injuries done to others, compensation, business and money matters, etc.; (5) Kodoshim - consisting of the laws concerned with the sacrifices; (6) Taharot - consisting of the laws concerned with purity and impurity.
The Mishnah is written in Hebrew. The Gemora is in Aramaic, the language of the streets of Babylon.
The later Rabbis, who discussed and expanded the Mishnah, were no longer called by the title of Tannaim (as the earlier Rabbis had been called from the Aramaic word tena, to teach...my notation ), but were called Amoraim [Aramaic for speaker or interpreter...my notation]. The volumes which contain their learned discussions are called the Gemara, an Aramaic word which means "completion," or "explanation," and these are mainly written in Aramaic. About three centuries of such Rabbinic discussions passed by after the Mishnah had been written down, before the Gemara also was put down in writing. [circa 500 CE]. The Mishnah and Gemara together are known as the Talmud, for whose existence we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Rabbi Judah the Prince.''
Now, we can see parallels in the tales of Judah ha Nasi to Moses himself! Judah is even called Rabbenu Ha Kodesh, while Moses is just called Rabbenu. We find similar allusions to Moses and even Abraham and Jacob in the book of Joshua to establish Joshua's reign on the Hebrew people. Joshua's dividing the Jordan river, erecting two tablets of laws, and doing a mass circumcision, being just three obvious allusions.
And as with all Nasi, except one, [ben Zakkai], Judah was a direct descendent of King David. [Talmud Yerushalmi Tractate Sanhedrin 5a.]
Now in the Talmud Bavli we are told about the death of Rabbi Judah ha Nasi: The rabbis and talmidim are praying for Ha Nasi day and night while he in on his death bed. His maid, knowing that their prayers are continuing to keep Ha Nasi alive, when he is in agony and his time of death was 'now', went up to the roof and tossed a jar of water on them. The stopped praying for a moment, just enough time to allow the Angel of Death to come and let Ha Nasi pass in peace. [Talmud Bavli Tractate Ketuboth 104a]
"The people of Sepphoris said: Whoever tells us that Rabbi has died, we will kill him. Bar Kapparra looked out for them with his head covered and his garments rent. He said to them: Mortals and angels were holding the Tablets of the Covenant and the angels prevailed and snatched the tablets.
They said to him: Rabbi has died. He said to them: You have said it, not I.
And they tore their cloths and the sound of tearing reached Guapaphta, a distance of three mils.
R. Nachman in the name of R. Mean said: Miracles were performed on that day. It was Sabbath eve and all of the people of the towns gathered to eulogize Rabbi And they set down his bier eighteen times for this purpose and they took him down to Beit Shearim. And the day was suspended for them until everyone reached his home, filled up a jug of water and lit the Shabbat light. Once the sunset, the cock crowed indicating that the next morning had already arrived.
'' Rabbi Ezra in the name of Rabbi Yehuda bar Rabbi Shimon: The tablets weighed 40 seahs and the writing was holding them up. When the writing flew off, the tablets became heavy in Moses' hands, and the tablets fell and were broken.'' (Talmud Yerushalmi Ta'anit 4:5).
Further we have literary allusions to the death of Moses, and the mourning. In Deut 34:9 it reads that ''the Children of Israel bewailed Moses in Moab for 30 days.'' The Talmud tell us that this means only the men that Moses taught. Aaron, in Num. 20:29 was mourned by the ''entire house of Israel.'' This includes men and women. Aaron was known for making peace among peoples, even husbands and wives. Moses was the Law teacher. In our Babylonian Talmud, Shalom trumps legalism every time.
We have the ''all the people of the towns,'' meaning in all of Israel mourning Judah. Moses was mourned in Moab. His casket had to make 18 stops, (for chai, life) for 18 funeral services. Moses and Aaron each got one service, and we do not know where Moses is buried, nor actually where Aaron is. But we do know the grave of Judah ha Nasi.
Entrance to Grave of Rabbi Judah Ha Nasi in Beit Shearim , Israel
And like with Moses (Ex. 10:21–29) and Joshua (Jos. 10: 12-13) and Rabbi Nakdimon (Talmud Bavli Tractate Taanit 3:8), the sun stood still (giving extra day time, or 3 days of nighttime in Moses' case), and did not set until everyone could get a chance to mourn Rabbi Judah ha Nasi, prepare for Shabbat, and then, in an instant, night passed and morning arrived.
Now even better than for Moses, any one who mourned Rabbi, was guarenteed to enter Heaven. No one who didn't mourn Moses (and we are told all women), killed themselves. Yet when a fellow realizes he didn't mourn Rabbi Judah, and he may forfeit his share in Olam Ha Ba, he tosses himself off the roof. But a bat kol, a heavenly voice, says he can come into Heaven also.
In Bavli we have a maid tossing a pot of liquid for the sake of Rabbi ha Nasi, [and some oral traditions say it was Rabbi's bed pan], onto bewailing Rabbis, but Yerushalmi has a launderer toss himself off the roof for Rabbi Ha Nasi. And Moses and Aaron get no such human sacrifices. The launderer, the cleaner of dirty sheets and clothes, the one who can turn the impure into pure, gets a pass on the mortal sin of suicide. In Ha Nasi's merit, zekhut, the launderer gets eternal life. We read of these divine rehabilitations , sometimes taking just a second of a mitzvah or even the intention of mitzvah, in Talmud Bavli Tractate Avodah Zarah 17b-18a). We read of it happening to Ha Nasi himself with the 'cow-weasel' story, above.
So Yerushalmi elevates Ha Nasi to status more important than Moses, and by doing so continued to establish Rabbinic Talmudic Judaism, with its Midrash, and ability to teach ethics and spirituality, and to adapt to each generation. In fact, Yerushalmi actually compares ha Nasi with the Tablets!! Mortals and angels are having a tugging match with ha Nasi's life, who is also compared to the Two Tablets brought down from Sinai. Note that Bavli has the same story, but compares Judah to the Ark of the Covenant which carried the Tablets and was lost during the Babylonian siege circa 586 BCE.
Moses carried the Written Torah with him down from Sinai, and passed it in writing. Ha Nasi and the rabbis before him, carried the Oral Torah verbally from one generation to the next, through exiles, famines and wars, from Sinai in circa 1300 BCE to getting it down in writing in 200 CE, traditionally speaking. That is 1500 years of memorizing, compared to Moses' 120 days on Sinai.
I can also expound on how the Talmudic story of Hillel freezing on the roof, and his revival, parallels that of the priestly induction, and how his name is a word play on Hallel, literally ''shout for God,'' but that is for another day.
As Rabbis and Jews, we must acknowledge, how our predecessors worked hard to establish themselves and their Midrash as being the way of Judaism. History shows the average Judean didn't care much for Torah laws and certainly wasn't so excited about Talmudic Gemora pilpul. In fact when a Rabbi had an am h'aretz (regular person) to his home, he had to be very careful with his guest so that he did not defile the rabbi's home. Plus ça change, plus c'est pareil ...the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Great changes have occurred since scribes, marim, tannaim, and rabbis began to develop Judaism 2500 years ago. Without exaggeration our ecology is overlooking an abyss of destruction. While God promised never to destroy the earth again to Noah, man made no promise to God, or to ourselves. In an age where few Jews follow halakah, and pick and chose ,if they do at all, how they wish to define Judaism for themselves, the opportunity to develop a Halakah of the Earth, a reinterpreting Torah via modern Midrash to save us from ourselves, needs to be established. This needs to be done in no way less than the Rabbis established themselves and the Talmud, from the ashes of the Priests and the Temple.
Shalom:
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(001) The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal
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In The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew, Rabbi Dr. Arthur Segal distills millennia of sage advice to reclaim your Judaism and your spirituality.
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(002) A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud
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A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud dissects each of the Torah's weekly sections (parashot) using the Talmud and other rabbinic texts to show the true Jewish take on what the Torah is trying to teach us.
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The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal and A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud. Purchase both books as a set, and I will donate a portion of the sales price in your name to the tzadakkah of your choice. -- Rabbi Segal
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