Reward for the Deed and the Teaching of Rabbi Elazar at Yavneh

Likewise you say, "The one lamb you shall offer in the morning" (Numbers 28:4). Why is this said? Has it not already been said, "and its beasts are not sufficient for a burnt offering" (Isaiah 40:16)? So what does "the one lamb" teach? That you may receive reward. Likewise, "And they shall make Me a sanctuary" (Exodus 25:8) — to receive reward. Once the disciples spent the Sabbath at Yavneh, but Rabbi Joshua did not spend the Sabbath there. When the disciples came to him, he said to them: What new matter was there for you at Yavneh? They said to him: We are your disciples, Rabbi, and we drink your waters. He said to them: Even so, it is impossible that there was no new matter at the assembly. Whose week was it [to teach]? They said: Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah's. He said to them: It is impossible that Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah presided and did not teach you something new. They said to him: Rabbi, he expounded this general principle: "You are standing this day, all of you… your little ones, your wives" (Deuteronomy 29:9-10). Now does a little child know to discern between good and evil? Rather, it is to give reward to the children for the sake of the fathers, to increase the reward of those who do His will, to fulfill what is said, "The LORD desired, for the sake of His righteousness, to make the Torah great and glorious" (Isaiah 42:21). He said to them: This is no new matter. Behold, I am about eighty years old, and I did not merit this teaching until today. Happy are you, Abraham our father, that Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah came forth from your loins. The generation is not orphaned in which Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah dwells. They said to him: He expounded another principle: "Therefore, behold, days are coming, says the LORD, when they shall no longer say, As the LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel" (Jeremiah 23:7). They told a parable: to what is the matter like? To one who longed for sons. A daughter was born to him, and he would vow by the life of the daughter. A son was born to him; he set aside the daughter and would vow by the life of the son. Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai says: to what is the matter like? To one who was walking on the road and a wolf met him; he was saved from it and would recount the miracles done for him with the wolf. He went on and a lion met him; he set aside the miracles done with the wolf and would recount the miracles done with the lion. Likewise he expounded: "And he called the name of that place Bethel" (Genesis 28:19) — the first name passed away and the second name endured.