RABBAN JOḤANAN B. ZAKKAI RECEIVED THE TRADITION FROM HILLEL AND SHAMMAI.Hillel the Elder had eighty disciples:1Cf. the parallel passage in Suk. 28a (Sonc. ed., p. 123) and B.B. 134a (Sonc. ed., p. 563). thirty of them were worthy that the Divine Presence should rest upon them as upon Moses our teacher, but their generation was not worthy of it; thirty of them were worthy that the intercalation of the years2The calculations were made only by the leading members of the Sanhedrin. should be determined by them; and twenty were average. The greatest of them all was Jonathan b. ’Uzziel,3[Meg. 3a (Sonc. ed., p. 9) names him as the author of an Aramaic translation of the Prophets. The extant Targum is not by him.] and the least of them all was Rabban Joḥanan b. Zakkai. It was said of Rabban Joḥanan b. Zakkai that he mastered4lit. ‘he had not left (unstudied)’. Scripture, Mishnah, Gemara, halakoth, ’aggadoth, toseftoth, the minutiae5The subtle points of exposition. of the Torah, the minutiae of the Scribes, and all the hermeneutical rules of the Sages. Not a word in the Torah did he not master, fulfilling the text, That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance, and that I may fill their treasuries.6Prov. 8, 21.
HE USED TO SAY: IF YOU HAVE OBSERVED7In Aboth 2:9 (Sonc. ed., II, 8, p. 17) ‘learnt’. MUCH TORAH CLAIM NO MERIT FOR YOURSELF, FOR TO THIS END YOU WERE CREATED; inasmuch as human beings were created solely for the purpose of occupying themselves with the Torah.
Rabban Joḥanan b. Zakkai had five disciples whom he described in these terms: Eliezer b. Hyrḳanos as ‘a cemented cistern that loses not a drop’ and ‘a glazed pitcher that preserves its wine’; Joshua b. Ḥananiah as ‘a threefold cord that is not quickly broken’;8Eccl. 4, 12. This is no doubt intended as alluding to three virtues of Joshua b. Ḥananiah, but they are not specified. Jose [24a] the priest as ‘the saint of the generation’; Ishmael b. Ḥananiah9In conformity with Aboth 2:10 (Sonc. ed. II, 8, p. 18) GRA emends to ‘Simeon b. Nathaniel’. This paragraph corresponds to Aboth 2:10f, but with several variants. as ‘an oasis10A doubtful word; some emend it to ‘arugah, ‘a garden bed’ or ‘grove’, a term applied to a scholar in DEZ I, p. 567 below. in the desert which retains its waters’. Happy the disciple whose teacher acknowledges and describes him [in such terms]! Eleazar b. ‘Arak he described as ‘a swift-running stream and a vigorous fountain whose waters increase and overflow abroad’, thus fulfilling the verse, Let thy springs be dispersed abroad, and courses of water in the streets.11Prov. 5, 16.
HE USED TO SAY: IF ALL THE SAGES OF ISRAEL WERE IN ONE SCALE OF THE BALANCE AND R. ELIEZER B. HYRḲANOS IN THE OTHER, HE WOULD OUTWEIGH THEM ALL. ABBA SAUL SAID IN HIS NAME: IF ALL THE SAGES OF ISRAEL WERE IN ONE SCALE OF THE BALANCE, INCLUDING R. ELIEZER B. HYRḲANOS, AND R. ELEAZAR B. ‘ARAK WAS IN THE OTHER, HE WOULD OUTWEIGH THEM ALL.
HE SAID TO THEM: GO FORTH AND SEE WHICH IS THE GOOD WAY TO WHICH A MAN SHOULD CLEAVE SO that thereby he may enter the world to come. R. ELIEZER came forward, and SAID: A GOOD EYE.12Denoting generosity, freedom from envy which is termed ‘an evil eye’. R. JOSHUA came forward and SAID: A GOOD FRIEND.13Indicating the quality of friendliness. R. JOSE came forward and SAID: A GOOD NEIGHBOUR,14Implies sympathy and goodwill. ‘A good impulse’, etc., is omitted in Aboth 2:13 (Sonc. ed., II, 9, p. 19). a good impulse and a good wife. R. SIMEON SAID: ONE WHO FORESEES THE CONSEQUENCES OF AN ACTION.15The virtue of foresight and prudence. V inserts in brackets, ‘As, for instance, Mordecai the Jew who foresaw the consequences of an action’. R. ELEAZAR came forward and SAID: A HEART THAT IS GOOD16i.e. unselfishness. towards Heaven and is good towards [all] creatures. THEREUPON HE SAID TO THEM: I PREFER THE WORDS OF R. ELEAZAR B. ‘ARAK TO YOUR WORDS, BECAUSE IN HIS WORDS YOURS ARE INCLUDED.HE THEN SAID TO THEM: GO FORTH AND SEE WHICH IS THE EVIL WAY THAT A MAN SHOULD SHUN SO that he may enter the world to come. R. ELIEZER came forward and SAID: AN EVIL EYE. R. JOSHUA came forward and SAID: AN EVIL FRIEND. R. JOSE came forward and SAID: AN EVIL NEIGHBOUR, an evil impulse and a bad wife.17So according to GRA, giving the reverse of R. Jose’s previous statement. V reads, ‘An evil eye, an evil neighbour, and an evil wife’. R. SIMEON came forward and SAID: ONE WHO BORROWS AND DOES NOT REPAY, SINCE HE WHO BORROWS FROM MAN IS AS ONE WHO BORROWS FROM THE ALL-PRESENT, as it is stated, The wicked borroweth, and payeth not; but the righteous dealeth graciously, and giveth.18Ps. 37, 21. R. ELEAZAR came forward and SAID: A HEART THAT IS EVIL towards Heaven and is evil towards [all] creatures. THEREUPON HE SAID TO THEM: I PREFER THE WORDS OF R. ELEAZAR B. ‘ARAK TO YOUR WORDS, BECAUSE IN HIS WORDS YOURS ARE INCLUDED.
When the son of Rabban Joḥanan b. Zakkai died, his disciples came in to console him. R. Eliezer came and sat before him and said, ‘My master, is it your wish that I say a word in your presence?’ He replied to him, ‘Speak’. Thereupon he said, ‘Adam, the first man, had a son who died, and he allowed himself to be comforted in his loss. And whence do we know that he accepted condolence? For it is stated, And Adam knew his wife again.19Gen. 4, 25. Therefore do you also accept condolence’. He retorted, ‘Is it not sufficient for me to bear my own grief that you have to mention Adam’s grief?’ Then R. Joshua20‘One must assume that the disciples came in one by one, each ignorant that his line of approach had been previously tried without success. Joḥanan’s irritation must have increased with each successive attempt’ (Montefiore and Loewe, Rabbinic Anthology, p. 672). entered and said, ‘My master, is it your wish that I say a word in your presence?’ He replied to him ‘Speak’. Thereupon he said, ‘Job had sons and daughters who all died in one day and he allowed himself to be comforted; you too accept condolence. And whence do we know that Job accepted condolences? For it is stated, The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.21Job 1, 21. He retorted, ‘Is it not sufficient for me to bear my own grief that you have to mention Job’s grief?’ Next R. Jose entered, sat before him and said, ‘My master, is it your wish that I say a word in your presence?’ He replied, ‘Speak’. Thereupon he said, ‘Aaron had two grown sons and both died in one day, yet he allowed himself to be comforted, as it is stated, And Aaron held his peace,22Lev. 10, 3. the phrase held his peace implying that he accepted condolence. Therefore do you also accept condolence’. He retorted, ‘Is it not sufficient for me to bear my own grief that you have to mention Aaron’s grief?’ Then R. Simeon entered and said, ‘My master, is it your wish that I say a word in your presence?’ He replied, ‘Speak’. Thereupon he said, ‘King David had a son who died, and he allowed himself to be comforted; do you also accept condolence. And whence do we know that David accepted condolence? For it is stated, And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her; and she bore a son, and called his name Solomon.232 Sam. 12, 24. Therefore do you also accept condolence’. He retorted, ‘Is it not sufficient for me to bear my own grief that you have to mention King David’s grief?’ Finally R. Eleazar b. ‘Arak24In V the name is incorrectly printed as ‘R. Eleazar b. Azariah’. entered. When [Rabban Joḥanan saw him approaching] he said to his attendant, ‘Take my clothes and follow me to the bath-house, because this man is distinguished and I cannot appear before him as I am’.25i.e. in the clothes of a mourner. Then R. Eleazar came in and sat before him and said. ‘Let me tell you a parable. To what is the matter like? To a man with whom a king had deposited an article of value. Daily the man wept and exclaimed, “Woe is me! when will I be free from the responsibility of this trust?” You, too, my master, had a son versed in the Torah, who had studied the Pentateuch,26The usual connotation of this word, מקרא, is ‘Scripture’, but in this context the Pentateuch is intended. Prophets and Hagiographa, Mishnah, halakoth and ’aggadoth. He has departed sinless from this world. Surely you should derive comfort from having returned your trust intact!’ Rabban Joḥanan said to him, ‘Eleazar my son, you have comforted me as men can comfort’.27i.e. as far as lies within the power of human beings to comfort.When they left his presence, R. Eleazar said [to his colleagues], ‘I will go to Dimsith,28In Shab. 147b (Sonc. ed., pp. 749f) the name is given as Diomsith which Jastrow identified with Emmaus, a town in the plain of Judah renowned in Talmudic days for its warm springs and luxurious life. [On this passage, cf. Bacher, Ag. d. Tannaiten, I, p. 71, n. 3, who thinks that Tiberias is meant.] a delectable spot with excellent and refreshing waters’. The others said, ‘We will go to Jabneh,29Or Jamnia, a town north-west of Jerusalem, near the coast, the seat of the Sanhedrin after the destruction of Jerusalem. a place abounding with scholars and lovers of Torah’. Because he went to Dimsith, a delectable spot with excellent and refreshing waters, his fame in the Torah waned;30Cf. Shab. loc. cit. (Sonc. ed., p. 750). whereas they who went to Jabneh, a place abounding with scholars and lovers of the Torah, their renown in Torah increased.