Simeon the Temanite — a Sage from Teman, a region in ancient Arabia where Jews had lived for centuries — was a regular fixture of the study hall. He could be counted on to attend the Beit HaMidrash on the eve of every festival, preparing for the yom tov through Torah as the Sages did.
But on one such eve, his seat was empty. The assembled scholars noticed. They asked where he was. No one knew.
The Reason Behind the Absence
When he was eventually found, Simeon explained what had happened. A Roman legion had arrived in his town that day — and Roman legions, unbilleted and hungry, were a known disaster for Jewish communities. They would seize food, quarter themselves in homes, and leave destruction behind.
Simeon had done the math. The only way to protect his town from what an unfed legion would do to it was to feed them first. So he had personally arranged for a feast to be prepared for the soldiers, sparing no expense, making sure every man had more than he could eat.
By the time the meal was over, the soldiers were docile, grateful, and moving on. The town had been saved. But Simeon had missed the study session.
The Sages' Verdict
The exempla, collected by Gaster in 1924 from Tosefta Pesachim and its parallels, preserves this as a teaching about the principle of pikuach nefesh — the saving of life — and its extension to community preservation. Simeon had not skipped study for leisure or for personal business. He had skipped it to prevent a catastrophe.
The Sages did not rebuke him. They recorded his absence as a model. Sometimes the highest form of Torah study is the meal you arrange for the army at the gate, so that your neighbors can keep their homes, their food, and their lives.
A legion fed is a town saved. And a town saved is Torah honored in the only way it could be that night.