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The Key to Receiving the Torah
Tikkun Leil Shavuot, 5771
Shmuel Herzfeld
The Talmud in Tractate Yevamot (62b) tells us that Rabbi Akiva had 12,000 pairs of students
who all died between the holiday of Passover and Shavuot because they did not act with honor to
each other (mipnei she-lo nahagu kavod zeh lazeh). The Talmud tells us that they all died from
a horrible death called askera, which is usually understood to be an upper respiratory illness
associated with diphtheria.
But then Tractate Shabbat (33a) tells us that askera comes to the world from a different group of
sins: either on account of gossip, eating foods that were not tithed, or according to Rabbi Shimon
ben Yochai, causing Torah study to be nullified.
So are these two Talmudic texts contradictory? The answer I heard from a shiur of R. Yaakov
Neuberger is that we must say is that they are all part of one single sin: the sin of causing Torah
study to be nullified and thus a diminution of Torah in the world.
Not treating a Torah scholar properly causes Torah to be cheapened. Gossip too comes from a
good source: at its core we were created to be social people in order to advance the word; the
highest level of Torah study is when it is studied in a chavrutah. So when one gossips they are
destroying Torah. Tithing was a way of supporting the Levites and Kohanim whose main
function was to be a teacher of Torah.
Thus, askera comes to the world because we have lessened the greatness of Torah study in the
world. This is why Rabbi Akiva’s students died from askera.
In this context the Talmud then proceeds to tell us a story about Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai. I
think that the purpose of this story is to help us understand how and why Rabbi Shimon ben
Yochai came to his strong views about askera and the nature of Torah study.
The story of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai fleeing to a cave in order to hide from the Romans is
really two stories.
In the first part of the story everything that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai sees being done by another
person is of absolutely no value. The Romans, he claims, build markets only for their prostitutes,
and bridges only to collect taxes. He doesn’t want to rely on his own wife to save him because
women are unreliable. He has no tolerance for people of the world who also want to work for a
living. Indeed, in Tractate Berachot (35b) he said, “If a person plows and seeds and harvests and
threshes and winnows, what will become of his Torah?”
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The only way he can live in this world is by secluding himself in a cave; he literally is an island
all alone. Isn’t this what Elijah the prophet means when he stands at the entrance to the cave and
says: “Who will tell bar Yochai that no one is trying to kill him?” Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai
literally says to his son: “It is enough to have just the two of us in the world?
But then there is the second part of the story.
In the second part of the story rabbi Shimon bar Yochai sees an old man running on the eve of
Shabbat and R. Shimon b. Yochai has an epiphany.
This reminds me of another well known story in Jewish history.
There was a brilliant and famous Jewish philosopher in the 19th century called Franz
Rosenzweig. In a well known story Rozenzweig was considering converting out of Judaism
when just before he was set to convert, he attended a Kol Nidre service in a small Orthodox
shtibel in Berlin. Suddenly he became inspired again; not from the brilliant sermon the rabbi
gave, but from the intensity and purity of the old men in the congregation.
He returned with a gusto to Judaism and he wrote monumental works of Jewish theology,
including his magnum opus, The Star of Redemption. Rozenzweig the brilliant philosopher and
theologian realized that he needed the inspiration of these old men in the shtiebel in order to
come close to Hashem.
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai too, learned from this old man that just like the zachor (remembrance)
of Shabbat needs the shamor (guarding) of Shabbat, so too, we all need each other. He realized
that this old man—despite the fact that he was working hard the whole week—had a tremendous
love for mitzvoth.
And then, once he realized this, R. Shimon no longer became an island. He relied on others to
rub his sores. He saw the value in others.
As a result of this, his Torah became much richer. Previously, he could only find 12 answers to a
question, but now he could find 24. For the first time, he recognizes that there are many, many
ways to view the world. The more knowledge on attains, the more one knows that there are
equally valid alternative viewpoints. The more possibilities arise around us and the more one
can see truth in another person’s views.
And so then R. Shimon’s whole persona had changed. He now set about making it easier for
more people to study Torah. He fixed the roads so that Kohanim could teach Torah and he did
so by relying on the testimony of an old man. He even went so far as to employ legal fictions in
his zeal to help the public study Torah.
The man who previously felt that no one else in the world was worth anything and that only he
was a capable student of the Torah, now was bending the Torah in order to enable more of the
masses to study.
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The man who said that the Romans just build markets because of their prostitutes was now
saying that even Torah scholars can learn a thing or two from prostitutes!
Well, if Torah scholars can learn from prostitutes, then how much more so can they learn from
other Torah scholars!
Rabbi Akiva’s students died of askera in the days leading up to Shavuot.
The message for us is clear: If we want to be worthy of receiving the Torah on Shavuot then we
need to do all we can to encourage and foster Torah study in the world. And that is
accomplished by seeing the greatness in other people and learning and valuing the thoughts and
opinions of others.
This same idea was taught by Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Ha-Kohen Kook, who wrote: “There are
some who mistakenly think that true peace will only come when there is a consensus of opinion.
Thus, when they see Torah scholars arguing, and through their scholarship more and more
divergent opinions developing, they mistakenly think that these Torah scholars are causing
disputes to exist in the world, and in fact are creating the opposite of peace. In truth, it is just the
opposite. The true peace can only come to the world through what is called riboi hashalom; i.e.
to see all the sides and positions that exists, and to clarify how each on e of them has a place
according to its value, place, and content.”
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