Bava Metzia 85a (פה.) — the Talmud in English

And these are: Abba,

and the sons of Beteira, and Jonathan son of Saul.

And Rabbi explains from where we know that they were humble:

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel: This is what we said!

As he said to his son that he was a lion, the son of a fox.

The sons of Beteira: As the Master said

in tractate Pesaḥim [66a], that the sons of Beteira were Nesi’im, and when they recognized Hillel’s greatness in Torah, when he had only just come up from Babylonia, they relinquished their position as Nasi, and

seated him—

Hillel—

at the head, and appointed him Nasi over them.

Jonathan son of Saul: As he said to David: [I Samuel 23:17] “

‘You shall reign over Israel, and I shall be second to you.’”

And you shall reign over Israel, and I shall be second to you.”

And we challenge this:

From where?

What is the proof that they were humble?

Perhaps Jonathan son of Saul

agreed to be second to David because

he saw that the entire world was following David,

as he saw that the people were inclining toward David, and not because of his humility.

The sons of Beteira likewise

relinquished the position of Nasi because

they saw that Hillel was superior to them,

as they realized that Hillel was greater than they were in Torah, whereas they did not know how to answer many of the questions that had been asked concerning halakha, and they were ashamed of this.

And we conclude:

Rather, Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel was certainly humble!

Rabbi said: Suffering is beloved!

Since he saw that suffering had benefited Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, as worms had not ruled over him.

He accepted upon himself thirteen years,

Rabbi accepted suffering upon himself for a period of thirteen years.

Six with tzemirta,

six years of suffering from a stone located at the place where small discharges emerge.

And seven

years

with tzefarna,

a disease inside the mouth.

The horsekeeper of Rabbi’s household,

the keeper of the horses in Rabbi’s house,

was wealthier than Shapur the king,

he was wealthier than Shapur, the Persian king.

When he would place fodder before the animals

when he fed the animals,

a sound would travel three mil

the sound of the animals’ lowing could be heard at a distance of three mil.

He would arrange for him to place it at that time,

he would arrange to feed the animals at precisely that time

when Rabbi entered

when Rabbi entered

the lavatory,

as Rabbi would then suffer and cry out because of his suffering. In order that Rabbi’s voice should not be heard, he would therefore feed the animals at that time, so that their voices would overpower his.

And even so, his voice surpassed their voices.

Despite everything, Rabbi’s voice overpowered the animals’ voices.

And the sailors heard him.

Even those who went down to sea heard Rabbi’s voice as he suffered.

And even so, the suffering of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, was superior to

the suffering

of Rabbi.

For in the case of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, they came through love and departed through love,

as he himself would summon the suffering every evening to come, and in the morning he would tell it to leave because it interfered with Torah study.

Whereas the suffering

of Rabbi came through an incident and departed through an incident.

And the Gemara explains: “

‘It came through an incident’—what is it?”

What was the incident on account of which Rabbi was punished with suffering?

There was a certain calf that they were bringing to slaughter,

they were leading a calf to slaughter,

and it went and placed its head beneath Rabbi’s cloak and cried,

the calf fled and hid beneath the folds of Rabbi’s garment, and it cried.

He said to it,

Rabbi said to the calf:

Go,

go and submit yourself to slaughter, for

for this you were created!

They said

they said in Heaven:

Since he does not have mercy,

because he does not have mercy on the calf,

let it come upon him,

let suffering come upon Rabbi,

suffering!

And it departed through an incident

the suffering.

And this is what happened:

One day, Rabbi’s maidservant was sweeping the house,

one day Rabbi’s maidservant was sweeping the house.

The young of a weasel were lying there,

the young of a rat were lying on the ground,

and she was sweeping them up,

and she wanted to sweep them away and throw them into the garbage.

He said to her,

Rabbi said to her:

Leave them,

leave them, for

it is written: “

And His mercy is upon all His works”!

They said,

they said in Heaven:

Since he

he

has mercy, let us have mercy on him,

on Rabbi. And his suffering ceased.

Throughout all the years of Rabbi Elazar’s suffering

son of Rabbi Shimon, throughout all the years during which he suffered,

no person died before his time,

no one died prematurely, by virtue of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon’s, suffering.

Throughout all the years of Rabbi’s suffering,

throughout all the years during which Rabbi suffered,

the world did not require rain.

The world did not need rain and continued to exist without it.

For Rabba bar Rav Sheila said: A day of rain is as difficult as a day of judgment.

A day of rain is difficult for the world like Monday and Thursday, when the courts sit [as instituted by Ezra], and the litigants gather for judgment and loud voices are heard. So too on a day of rain.

And Ameimar said: Were it not that the world required it,

were it not that the world required rain,

the Sages would pray for mercy concerning it and abolish it.

The Sages would pray that there be no rain!

And by virtue of Rabbi’s suffering, the world continued without rain.

And

even so,

despite the fact that no rain fell throughout all those years,

when they uprooted a radish from the garden bed,

when they pulled a radish from the garden bed,

there would remain

a well filled with water,

a pit filled with water would remain in the ground!

Rabbi happened to come to the place of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon.

Rabbi happened to come to the city of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, after his death.

He said to them,

Rabbi asked the townspeople:

Does that righteous man have a son?

Did Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, leave a son behind?

They said to him: He has a son! And every prostitute who is hired for two

who is paid two gold coins for her service,

hires him for eight.

She pays Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon’s, son eight gold coins because of his beauty.

He ordained him with the title “Rabbi.”

Rabbi ordained him so that he would be called “Rabbi,” in order to encourage him in Torah study,

and he completed his education,

and entrusted him

to Rabbi Shimon ben Isi ben Lakonya, his mother’s brother,

his maternal uncle, so that he would study with him.

Every day he would say: “I am going to my city.”

Every day that son of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, would tell his uncle that he wanted to return to his city.

His uncle said to him,

his uncle said to him:

If you remain, they will make you a sage.

If you remain to study, they will make you a Torah scholar.

And they will spread a golden canopy over you,

and they will spread a golden canopy over you,

and they will call you Rabbi,

they will call you “Rabbi.”

And you say,

“I am going to my city!”

And you want to return to your city?

He said to him,

Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon’s, son said to him:

By my oath, I abandon this!

I swear, I have reconsidered, and I no longer want to return to my city.

When he grew,

when he grew in Torah,

he came and sat in Rabbi’s academy.

He came to Rabbi’s yeshiva and sat there.

Rabbi heard his voice,

Rabbi heard his voice,

and said: “This voice resembles the voice

this voice resembles the voice

of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon!”

They said to him: He is his son,

indeed, he was Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon’s, son!

He recited concerning him

Rabbi recited concerning him the verse in Proverbs [11:30]: “

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and one who captures souls is wise.” “

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life”—

this is Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon,

as he was the son and fruit of a righteous man. “

And one who captures souls is wise”—

this is Rabbi Shimon ben Isi ben Lakonya,

who taught him Torah, and it is as though he acquired a son.

When his soul departed,

when that son died,

they brought him

to his father’s cave,

they brought his bier to the entrance of the cave of his father, Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon.

A snake encircled the cave.

There was a snake there that encircled the cave.

They said to it,

they said to the snake:

“Snake, snake! Open your mouth, and let a son enter beside his father!”

It did not open it for them.

The snake did not want to open its mouth so that they could enter the cave.

The people thought to say: This one is greater than that one!

Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, was greater than his son, since the snake had opened its mouth for Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, but it refused to open it for his son.

A Divine voice emerged and said: It is not because this one is greater than that one, but because this one experienced the anguish of the cave,

Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, hid with his father in a cave for thirteen years out of fear of the Romans.

And this one,

Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon’s, son,

did not experience the anguish of the cave.

Rabbi happened to come to the place of Rabbi Tarfon.

Rabbi happened to come to the city of Rabbi Tarfon after his death.

He said to them,

to the townspeople:

Does that righteous man have a son?

Did that Rabbi Tarfon leave a son behind,

who would strike down his sons,

who was accustomed to swear using the formula “May I strike down my sons” [if the matter is not so or so]?

They said to him: He has no son,

but

he has a daughter’s son,

his daughter’s son is alive.

And every prostitute who is hired for two

hires him for eight.

They brought him before him,

they brought that grandson of Rabbi Tarfon before Rabbi.

Rabbi said to him,

Rabbi said to him:

If you repent,

if you return in repentance,

I will give you my daughter,

I will give you my daughter as a wife.

He repented,

he returned in repentance.

Some say: He married her and divorced her.

Rabbi Tarfon’s grandson married Rabbi’s daughter and subsequently divorced her.

Some say: He did not marry her at all,

he did not marry her at all,

so that they would not say

people:

For the sake of

this

woman, this one repented

and returned in repentance!

And we inquire about this:

Why did he need all this?

Why did Rabbi make such an effort and inquire about others to find out whether they had left a son behind?

And we answer:

As Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav.

And some say: Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan.

And some say: Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan: Whoever teaches his fellow’s son Torah merits to sit in the academy on high.

As it is stated [Jeremiah 15:19]: “

If you return and I restore you

If you return, I will bring you back

[Jeremiah said this to Israel; the Holy One, blessed be He, said to me: If you return to what is proper through my rebuke, then]

you shall stand before Me.”

You shall stand and endure before Me forever.

And whoever teaches the son of an am ha’aretz Torah, even if the Holy One, blessed be He, decrees a decree, He annuls it for his sake.

As it is stated there: “

“

And if you bring forth the precious from the vile

a Torah scholar from an am ha’aretz,

you shall be as My mouth”—

as the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, who decrees a decree and you annul it.

Rabbi Frank said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: Whoever is

himself

a Torah scholar, and his son is a Torah scholar, and his grandson is a Torah scholar, Torah will never cease from his descendants.

As it is stated [Isaiah 59:21]: “

And as for Me, this is My covenant

says the Lord: My spirit that is upon you, and My words that I have placed in your mouth,

shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring, says the Lord, from now and forever.”

And the Gemara explains:

What is the meaning of

“says the Lord”?

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I guarantee this matter for you.

What is the meaning of

“from now and forever”?

Rabbi Yirmeya said:

Since he, his offspring, and his offspring’s offspring are Torah scholars,

from that point onward Torah seeks out its proper lodging.

Rav Yosef sat in forty fasts

he fasted for forty fasts and prayed that Torah should not cease from his descendants,

and they recited it to him

from Heaven they recited the verse to him: “

It shall not depart from your mouth.”