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The Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection is the one-stop shop for the Torah inspiration shared by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe in one simple feed. The Jewish Inspiration Podcast, Parsha Review Podcast, Thinking Talmudist Podcast, Living Jewishly Podcast and Unboxing Judaism Podcast all in one convenient place. Enjoy!
00:03 - Intro (Announcement)
You're listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of Torch in Houston, Texas. This is the Thinking Talmudist Podcast.
00:12 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
All right, welcome back everybody. Welcome back to the friday thinking talmudist. It is so wonderful to be here. Is this your first time at this class, at this one on the friday? Oh, welcome, welcome. We're so excited that you're here, dav. All right, so today we're going to continue the Talmud 82b, 82b in tractate Bab Mitzia. Today's going to be a very interesting Gemara, a very interesting Talmud. Every Gemara is interesting, every piece of Talmud is interesting.
00:38
It says the Gemara we remember last week we talked that he said that if he was incorrect with his ruling of this is Rebbe Elazer the son of Rebbe Shimon, that if he was wrong in his ruling then all the babies should be girls and if he was correct in his rulings they should all be boys. And indeed, nine months later, all the babies, all 60 babies, were boys. And we see that. And they all named him after Rabbi Lazar. So they had a bunch of little, a lot of Lazar's running around. Okay, the Gemara records a comment concerning this part of the narrative Tanya, it was taught in Abraes. So, amir Rebbe, rebbe said how much procreation was eliminated by this evil regime from the Jewish people when they appointed Reb Elazer, the son of Reb Shimon, as marshal. Since he was busy ferreting out thieves, he was not always able to come to the house of study, and the women in turn would not seek rulings from him regarding their blood samples, and therefore they remained in Nida and they weren't allowed to be with their husbands. I told you this story. I think it's a phenomenal, phenomenal story.
01:56
Reb Moshe Feinstein, of blessed memory, had two children in Europe and then one that was born in the United States eight years later, not in Europe, in Russia. He was living in Russia. What happened, what happened was, is that they didn't have a mikvah. So for eight years, his wife did not go to the mikvah because she couldn't. So they didn't have any children, because a man cannot be with his wife Because she couldn't. So they didn't have any children Because a man cannot be with his wife while she is in an impure state, and that's why there's a big time period between his first son and his second son. His oldest was a daughter Either way. So very, very interesting it's something that you know if the rabbi wasn't there because he was the marshal, you know, or the police officer for the community getting thieves off the street he was not in the study hall available to answer these questions. Okay, so now listen to this Gemara. The Gemara continues and says. The Gemara continues and says Ki Hava Kanoch Yisnafsheh.
03:04
When Reb Elazer, the son of Reb Shimon, was dying, omer Leila Debesu, he said to his wife Yodano B'derabonon, d'retichai Alai. He says I know that the rabbis are angry with me. The rabbis are angry with me, v'lo Me'askei Bey Shapir, and they will not take care of me properly after my death. So after I die, they're not going to take care of me. Well, when I die, lay me to rest in my attic, don't bury me, put me in the attic and and don't be afraid of me. Rabbi Shmuel, the son of Rabbi Nachmani, said Rabbi Yonason's mother related to me that Rabbi Lozer, the son of Rebbe Shimon's wife, had related to her. The following For a period of not less than 18 years and not more than 22 years, he laid to rest in the attic.
04:28
When I would go up to the attic, I would examine his hair. Whenever a single hair would fall out from him, blood would appear in that place, meaning it seemed like there was still circulation going on in his body. Yom echad ha'zai rikhashe. One day, she says, I saw a worm, dikonofik mi'une, that emerged from his ear, chola ashtayte. This woman says to her friend, I became disheartened, thinking that perhaps now he would begin to decay and decompose. He came, he appeared to me in a dream, she says. He said to me the worm is nothing with which to be concerned. To me in a dream, she says, omar Ali. He said to me, lo mi de who. The worm is nothing with which to be concerned. It is simply punishment for the following incident One day I heard the disparagement of the rabbinical students V'lo machai ki diboyli.
05:45
I did not protest as I should have, and this is my punishment. So don't be afraid that you saw this worm. It's not a sign that now my body is starting to decompose, okay, so first is, what in the world is going on here? What is going on here? So the commentaries say that Reb Shimon, that Reb Elazer, the son of Rabbi Shimon, was very concerned that the sages were angry at him. And he was right. And because they were angry at him, they would not bury him with his father, rabbi Shimon, and he felt that that would be a disgrace. So what happened? He requested, even though the halacha says that you need to be buried. Okay, we're going to talk about this in a second. He said when they see that my body does not decompose, they'll see that I was righteous and then they'll bury me with my father. And indeed that's what happened At the end of the story. They ended up burying him with his father. And indeed that's what happened At the end of the story they ended up burying him with his father.
06:46
Now there's another very interesting story. This is just a frightening story the Gaon of Vilna. The Gaon of Vilna was a, a towering scholar. I mean, he finished the Torah before he was five years old, the Talmud before he was eight years old. They say that he knew the entire Zohar before his bar mitzvah. He knew every single piece of Torah inside out. He was completely committed on the highest level of Torah study. I mean, it's like it's unfathomable.
07:20
The Gaon of Vilna was like wow, when he passed away he was buried and a few years later people decided you know what? Let's dig up his grave and bring his body to Jerusalem, because our sages teach us that at the coming of Messiah, at the coming of the resurrection of the dead, what's going to happen? Those who are buried outside of Israel are going to roll in an underground tunnel all the way to Jerusalem and it's not going to be so pleasant. It's not going to be so pleasant. So there's a special thing about being and there are many, many of our sages from of yore that have been transported and reburied in Israel. It's a common thing, but you got to be careful what you do and how you do. And they went to dig up the grave of the Gaon of Vilna and they looked at his body, which you're not supposed to do. They saw that his hair was still wet from the Tahara and they were so terrified and frightened. It was in its complete perfection, not decomposed, nothing, and they decided to just leave him there. They were like terrified, and they just kept him in his same burial place. None of them finished that year. None of those people finished that year, not one.
08:54
There's another point which needs to be discussed. First is we know that the righteous, because they didn't live the physical life of this world for the purpose of this physical world. So then their physical body gets preserved in its perfection, because it wasn't here as a vessel for nonsense, it was here for a vessel of the neshama, because the neshama, the soul, is so lofty and so holy. The body that carried. It deserves to maintain that level of holiness, that level of sanctity now just as a disclaimer here. Okay, to maintain that level of holiness, that level of sanctity Now just as a disclaimer here, okay. The Torah prohibits anything to the Jewish body other. The Torah prohibits anything other than burial. That means cremation is prohibited in the Torah and it's a terrible thing for the body and it's a terrible thing for the body, it's a terrible thing for the soul.
09:48
I was once called to a. I was very young, a young rabbi, here in Houston. I get called to a hospice. Someone called me and said my friend, his mother's dying. I need you to go there and just be there, say the Shema with them, do whatever the proper things that are recited and done at the end of life. So I go over there and I'm with the family and we do this whole prayer together.
10:17
And then I talk to the son and I say so what's the plan with burial? He says no, burial, we're not doing any burial. I said no, burial, we're not doing any burial. I said what do you mean? You're not doing any burial? He says listen to me, I've been taking care of my mother for the last 20 years. He says I'm done, I don't even want to have a cemetery to go to. She'll be in a little jar and I'll be able to have coffee with her every morning because she'll be sitting on my kitchen table and now you can leave, basically. So that was a little bit of an right. So I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to say. So I called the prominent rabbi in New York and I said to him look, this is the situation. This guy wants to cremate his mother. What do I tell him? He says look, most likely he made up his mind already. He made the arrangements already. You're not going to change his mind, but just inform him that it could be a little bit of cruelty to his mom.
11:17
Why, look at the body. The body works hard. Who gets the reward? Who gets the reward for the good deeds that we do? So there's a dispute between the body and the soul. The soul says I always want to do good, I want to connect with Hashem. I'm a piece of Hashem. All the good deeds is my influence, it's my inspiration. The body says excuse me, you think you can go and do acts of kindness without me. You think you can sign a check to charity without me. You need the physical, you need the body. If you don't have the body as a soul, you can't do anything. So I get the reward and they go back and forth. What's the compromise? God says, you know what? At the time of resurrection, the body and the soul get reunited. The body and the soul get reunited so that way they both get the reward. And this is Jewish tradition, this is our understanding of what will be the body and the soul get reunited.
12:16
Now, people always ask the following question whenever this comes up, they're like well, rabbi, we know that there's something called reincarnation, right? So if I came back multiple times, which body do I get? So the answer? There are two answers. There's the correct answer, which is I don't know, and then there's another, perhaps, answer whichever one was the most handsome body, right? Whichever one was the best version of yourself, or actually it could be the one that actually brought you to your perfection? Because we know why are we recycled? Sometimes? We're recycled because we still have a correction to make, we still have a perfection of the soul that needs to be brought to its greatness, and if there's still work to be done. Then we come back. There's still work to be done, we come back. So the body that brings the soul to its highest level is the one that wins. Perhaps Okay, but this whole idea today, where people think that they're doing good for the world with cremation, is a catastrophic error for the soul.
13:33
There's actually a book that we have here in our magnificent library here, about the challenges of cremation or burial over there in the Jewish philosophy. In the middle of the shelf, up, up up One more, yeah, in the middle of the shelf, right, right, right, right, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more. Stop there you go. So I recommend that anybody who has the question should read this Cremation or Burial. It's published by Mosaic Press. Rabbi Doron Kornbluth wrote this magnificent book. It talks about all of the full dimension of this, and I think it's important for a person to just know what it is that they're deciding for their afterlife. Yes, I am very familiar with them.
14:27
There are Jewish funeral homes that offer cremation as part of their services. Typically they do the cremation for non-Jewish customers, but unfortunately and very, very sadly, that's not the case always. Sometimes there are Jewish people who opt for that. I've tried with many people to persuade them, to dissuade them from that leaning. It's difficult because people get their mind set because they read some newspaper that says that it's better for the environment, which happens to be. It's much worse. It's terrible for the environment, it's much worse. The best thing for the environment is burial. That's number one. But there's another thing, which is just the wholesomeness of this body that's done so much in a lifetime that now we just burn it away is just a terrible thing. So it's a terrible thing for the body Either way. That's not the topic. But there's another piece here, which is the burial society, the preparation that's done, the Hever Kadisha, which is an incredible, incredible group of people who get together to prepare the body for burial.
15:45
I remember before I did my first tahara, my first purification of a deceased, I called a friend of mine who's been doing them for years and years before and I asked him this is going back now 23 years, even before living in Houston, and maybe it's 21 years Either way. It's not relevant exactly when it was, but this is before I lived in Houston and I remember I was on my way to my first Tahara and I said to him what should I expect. I've never seen a dead person, I've never been like, what do I do? And it's like it's a little startling, it's frightening. See, he said to me just think of it as follows. It's frightening, see. He said to me just think of it as follows. And this is the truth, is the most beautiful perspective. He says you are the last person to deal with this deceased, to prepare him before his heavenly meeting with the Almighty. After he's done with you, he's getting buried and he's going in front of the heavenly courts. You are the last person to prepare him in the most dignified way, to prepare him to stand in front of the Almighty. There's nothing more special than that, and it changed my whole perspective, from fear to like. This is an opportunity. It's an opportunity to really do a service. Now it's a huge mitzvah and if anybody wants to volunteer, I urge you to do so.
17:06
I'm a member here of the Hever Kaddish in Houston and when there is a need, they call me and I go. There are times that we didn't have enough people to do taharas. Today, there's a very big list of volunteers, but there's always need for more, and I remember there was one day it there's always need for more, and I remember there was one day it happened to be a holiday it was Purim. It was Purim. Typically, you don't do Taharas on Shabbos. You know it's only during the weekdays, because you don't do the burials on Shabbos, burials only on weekdays. So it was on Purim and I think we did four or five in one day, like one after another, because you know I guess it was the season. But either way, it's a very, very special thing to do. It's a very special thing to be part of, and if anybody has any doubts about whether or not they should choose burial or cremation, I urge you to choose burial and to read this book, because it will give you all of the information you need about it, both the spiritual, the Kabbalistic and the physical aspects of it.
18:14
Okay, now there's another thing here. So we see at the end that he was buried with his father. Back to our story with Reb Belezeb and Reb Shimon buried with his father. Back to our story with Reb Eliezer ben Upshimon. And there is a transgression of leaving a deceased unburied. There's a prohibition. The Torah tells us that we should bury those who are deceased, and someone who is not doing that is violating a prohibition of the Torah. His body didn't decompose. His body didn't decompose, it's a very again, someone who's on a very, very high level. But then what did she see? His wife, when she came to check on him, she saw a worm coming out of his ear. So he said he came to her in a dream, said don't worry about the worm, that's not me decomposing, that's a punishment for me hearing something and not responding. And I think that this is something which we. Why does the Talmud tell us the story? To teach us things. The Talmud is here to tell us something so we understand how to conduct our lives.
19:18
When you hear disparagement about another person, first, I think it's unfair to speak negatively about another person. First is I think it's unfair to speak negatively about another person when they're not there to defend themselves. You can't speak behind someone's back. It's just not fair. It's not fair. It's not fair to speak behind someone's back and they don't have the opportunity to defend themselves, they don't have the opportunity to stand up and correct you, so you're talking behind their back. That's not fair.
19:47
Someone hears that the Chafetz Chaim, who wrote the book about the prohibitions in the Torah 17 prohibitions in the Torah about not speaking slanderously about another person 17 prohibitions in the Torah. Chafetz Chaim says that the person who listens and doesn't give criticism to the person and doesn't stop the person who's speaking Lashon Hara is worse than the person speaking. The person listening is worse. Why? Because imagine this Okay, I come to you, ron, and I say Ron, let me tell you some juicy, I got the scoop, I got the inside, I'll spill the tea, right, okay, oh, there you go. So if I got that pushback from Ron, I wouldn't go to the next guy, because that wasn't pleasant for me to be shot down like that. But he did the right thing Because if he listens he's like oh, tell me, tell me, he's my enemy anyway. I got to wipe him off the map now, right, so now I'm encouraged to go, now share it to somebody else and I'm going to go to the next guy. I'm going to go to the next guy. I'm going to go to the next guy because I got this encouragement, but the second you stop me. That's not encouraging for me to go and continue to share the slanderous information. Therefore, lech HaFetz Chaim tells us that a person has to be very, very, very careful not to accept.
21:18
But there's another thing. Imagine someone. You overhear somebody speaking Lashon Hara about someone else and you don't say anything. What does that mean? That means sort of that you agree. Imagine the following Okay, david, if someone came to you and said David, we know your dad, your dad is, you know this and he's that, and they start saying all these disparaging things, I don't know about you, but I would feel very defensive.
21:48
Do you know my dad? My dad is a great guy. My dad are you. Who? Do you think you're talking right? And people get very, very defensive. Why? Because it's my dad. I know my dad and I know my dad would never do what you're saying. You're claiming he has done, but he has done, but about another person. Would we let someone speak slanderously about our father without defending him? I don't think so. But to speak about another person, I don't care, it's not my fight.
22:15
No, here the Talmud tells us that you have to stand up and correct them from their mistakes, particularly when the people they're speaking about are the scholars, the ones who are sitting and learning Torah, who are not there to defend themselves. You have to stand up because by you not standing up, you're agreeing with the statements. For you not standing up, you're saying yeah, count me in on that. When you hear the disparagement of the righteous, you're obligated to correct them, to stop them and say hey, hey, hey, no, we don't talk like that about the rabbi. No, we don't talk like that about that community. No, we don't talk like that about those people.
23:01
And this is something which can touch a little bit on current events. I don't want to get into it too much because I just don't have the strength for it today, but there's this ongoing dispute currently in the state of Israel about the yeshiva students serving in the military, and we need to understand that. Even Pharaoh, even Pharaoh in Egypt, when the Jewish people were enslaved, he said the ones who study Torah sit and study Torah, you're not going to be enslaved. What are you talking about? You're enslaving an entire people. But those who study Torah Because we always have to remember the importance of those who maintain the people, the nation, spiritually. If you don't have them, you don't have a nation. Show me a nation that has survived in total secularism. They all fall apart. There needs to be something, a spiritual engine, and the Torah and those who study it are the spiritual engine of the Jewish people. And to disregard it and to say well, you know, why should my children die on the battlefield? It's a good question. It's a good question For someone who's not studying Torah. They are obligated to go and serve in the military, in the IDF.
24:31
My grandfather said that anybody who is not seriously studying in Yeshiva and still considers themselves I'm in Yeshiva but I'm really not, such a person is considered a Rodayf, a pursuer. Because of such a person is considered a rodeif, a pursuer Because of such a person who's not sitting seriously. That's who they're coming after. Everybody's saying oh, you guys aren't sitting seriously. I can show you in the mirror yeshiva, the largest yeshiva in the world, 11,000 to 12,000 yeshiva students in Jerusalem. You go there and you see people sitting and studying Torah all day, all night. They don't pick up their eyes from the books. I'll tell you a little bit close to home.
25:16
My brother-in-law, my brother-in-law, the one who wrote the Rav Wolbein Chumash, rabbi Yitzhak Kaplan, very prominent scholar today in Jerusalem, who wrote the Rav Wolbein Chumash, rabbi Yitzchak Kaplan, very prominent scholar today in Jerusalem, learns in the Meir Yeshiva. He made a couple of siyumim. A siyum is a celebration of the conclusion of a study, one on the entire Tanakh, one on the entire Talmud, entire Mishnah. One on the entire Tanakh. One on the entire Talmud, entire Mishnah. One on the entire Talmud, not in the study hall. On the bus from his house to the study hall he would get on the bus with his study partner and they would sit there in the entire 45-minute drive to the yeshiva. They're sitting and learning, not wasting a minute. Just from those 45-minute bus rides to and from yeshiva and home they finished the entire Talmud, the entire Mishnah, the entire Tanakh.
26:19
Tell me you want such a guy to go into the battlefield and to shoot an M16. I don't think you want that. I don't think anybody wants that. You want those. Those are the spiritual pillars of the Jewish people. Do you know why we have success in the battlefield? Because we have the spiritual engine backing us Back in the yeshivas. So yeah, if someone is able to sit and learn Torah, they have to sit and learn Torah, and if someone is not, they have to go into the battlefield.
26:53
I personally enlisted into the IDF. They didn't take me, but I tried. I went into the office of the army enlistment and I said, hey, sign me up. They look at me and they're like what are you doing here. I said I just got my Israeli documentation, I just got my citizenship, I'm ready to serve.
27:21
And I was in yeshiva at the time. I was in colo as a married man. I had one and a half children. You know I had a second child on the way. They said give us your ID. I give them the ID. They check me up on the computer. They're like you can go home. I'm like what do you mean? What's? If you need me for war, you need me, for If we need you, we know how to find you. Don't worry, you can go.
27:45
But I came and I enlisted and I encouraged my children to do the same. I said if you're not going to sit and learn, I was actually sitting and learning pretty seriously, but still I felt this desire. I want to do this. And they didn't want me. So I'm the opposite. But why do they reject you? Probably because when you have two children at home, they're not interested in that headache of like you're going to have to be home for Shabbat every week. It's too much of a headache for them. They're just like just go, but you know. Okay, that's just again.
28:18
I don't want to get too much into the political side of things, but there is a big responsibility that we all need to feel, each one to do our job Right. Just like the guy in the kitchen is cooking the food and the person out there is setting the table and the person out there is serving the food and the person over there is cleaning the floors. Each one has a different task. There's someone who's in charge of the spiritual well-being of the Jewish people, and this is something that needs to be very respected and very regarded. Now, when we talk about Reb Elazar, the son of Rebbe Shimon, who heard the disparagement of rabbinical students and he did not protest as he should have, that was his punishment, as the commentaries over here say. Commentaries don't go into this too much over here, so let's continue. Now we're going to continue the talmud.
29:09
The talmud says herbalazer's greatness manifested itself in other ways as well, even after his death. When two people would come for judgment, when two people would come for judgment, they would stand by the gate of Reb Lozah, the son of Reb Shimon's house. One would state his case and the other would state his case Again. He was up in the attic. Okay, reb Lozah ben Reb Shimon was already passed on. He's in the attic and they'd come, they'd stand by his gate, the entrance to his house, and they would each one give their claim. One would state his case, another would state his case Nofi kolo mi'ilitei ve'omar. A voice would then emanate from the attic and would say Ishploni atachayev, so and so you are liable, or Ishploni, so and so you are liable, or so and so you are not liable. This is what would go on. They would come and stand there at the gate and they would hear this voice come from the attic.
30:12
What does the commentary say here? The Gemara states, based on the verse in the Torah, that it this by the way, this is in next week's Torah portion. The Torah is verse in the Torah that it this by the way, this is in next week's Torah portion. It is the Torah is not in the heaven and that matters of Allah may not be decided based on a heavenly voice. Our sages tell us further that they were puzzled as to how Reb Elazer, the son of Reb Shimon, could rule on cases after his passing. Moreover, the Maharal posits that such open miracles do not recur daily. He therefore explains that the Gemara means to say that a spiritual voice was heard in the hearts and minds of litigants in Reb Elezer's city, and this moved them to arrive at a just settlement on their own. Thus, in death, he eliminated quarrels from his city, just as if he had actually ruled while he was alive. So and so you are liable. So and so you are not liable. So we see that even after his death, he had a tremendous impact. A tremendous impact.
31:22
Now we know what does the verse say Lo bashamayim hi. The Torah is not up in the heavens and the Torah is not across the sea. The Torah b'ficha u'bilvavcha la'asoso. Our sages tell us you have the ability in your mouth, in your heart, to attain Torah If a person desires it, and a person actually does it. Just sit and read the Torah. I say this all the time here in our class. I say take the Parsha, take the Stone Edition, chumash, and just read the portion in English. It's it. You don't have to be some scholar to understand Hashem talking to us directly. Hashem talks to us and he tells us Okay Story continues about Rabla Zebar B'Shem.
32:14
One day, yom HaChadah Havakaminsia debisu behadei Shababto, his wife was quarreling with her neighbor. The neighbor spoke this curse to her To hey Kabbalah, may you. He says to the wife of Rabbalazza, may you be as hapless as your husband Shalom, because he was never given to burial. Amir Rabbanon, the rabbis heard of this remark and they said Kulo hi, is it so that he wasn't buried? Va'ad daylav orachara, this is improper. This is not appropriate. Ikad Amri, some say that what they said, rebbe Shimon ben Yochai, rebbe Shimon ben Yuchay, yitchazel lehu b'chamo, that Rebbe Shimon ben Yuchay, the father of Rebbe Lazar, the son of Rebbe Shimon, appeared to them in a dream and he said to them Amr lehu pireido achas, yeshli beineichem, I have only one fledgling amongst you and you do not want to bring him to me.
33:24
The rabbis went to attend to Rebbe Loza and Rebbe Shimon and his burial, and the residents of Achbariya did not let him Because the entire time that Rebbe Loza, the son of Rebbe Shimon quote, slept in the attic. Lo solik chaya rab l'mosaya, a wild animal, never entered their city. He was a protector for their city. Yom echad omali. Yom di kippurei, hava. One day, it was the day before Yom HaChad O'Mal. Yom HaDikipurei, hava. One day, it was the day before Yom Kippur, hava Toridi. The residents of the city were very busy with their own affairs. Shadru Rabbonon, libnei Biri. The rabbi sent the residents of Biri, ve'askuhu L'Arsei, and they took their, took his body up and they brought him to his father's burial cave. They found a serpent encircling the cave, amrullah. They said to it Serpent, serpent, open your mouth, meaning distance your mouth from your tail, and let the son enter to his father, pasach l'hu. The serpent opened up for them, meaning he removed, he was circled around. He was there protecting the cave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. He opened it up and they buried Rebbe Lazar, the son of Rabbi Shimon.
35:19
Now I want to tell you an amazing story that happened not too long ago, after the Chafetz Chaim passed away. The Chafetz Chaim passed away in 1934. He was buried in Radin, which today is Belarus. It used to be Poland, and I went to his gravesite. I was there Very, very modest, very small city.
35:38
It's like you almost miss it on the road. It's like so small. It's not like you see, like these big signs, for like buckies you have, in 199 miles there's a buckies and in 183 miles there's a buckies. The signs are no, it's a little little sign. It says Radun, which is where he lived, in Radun, the city of Radun. Yeah, they were there. They're from Radin. Wow, very special, very special it could be at some point.
36:06
It was Ukraine. That place is a little mess, you know. You may have heard there's some mess going on there. Yeah, so he was buried in Radin and one day people came and they wanted to dig up Rav Etz Chaim and bring him to Jerusalem. And they started digging. And while they're digging they realize that the entire city is locked arm in arm around the cemetery. So they stop what they're doing, they look around, they walk over to the people, like what's going on here? What are you guys doing? They're like we're not Jewish and this is our city. Since the Chavetz Chaim was buried here, no woman ever had a miscarriage. You're not taking our spiritual protector from us. So they didn't take the Chavetz Chaim.
37:03
Now, just so you understand, the Chavetz Chaim published 24 books, 24 books in his life, all number one bestsellers in the Rodden Times Number one bestseller, right, not New York Times, rodden Times. But just to show you what one of the books are, you have the, for example, the Mishne Barua. The Mishne Barua is the book of Jewish Code of Jewish Law that has six volumes. That's just one. Six volumes, that's just one of the books that the Chavetz Chaim wrote. He has many, many books that he wrote on, as we know, the one that he became famous for, which was the book on proper speech, and he spoke about the laws, which is the Chavetz Chaim, and then he spoke about Shemira Salashon, which is a book. We have many books, all these books we have here in our magnificent Levitt family library here at the Torch Center. But there's also an amazing, amazing story that I need to share with you.
38:07
So imagine the Chavetz Chaim was the most influential rabbi of his generation. I mean, when they had the world the rabbinic conference back in the early 1900s, the Chavetz Chaim was the highlight. Obviously he had many, many other sages and scholars and you know great people. But when the Chavetz Chaim came, it was like something to behold the Chavetz Chaim, and he was the simplest. He came with a little simple head covering a little hat. Everyone had these fancy hats, people came from these wealthy communities. Chavetz Chaim was the simplest of simplest. And the Chavetz Chaim people heard the Chavetz Chaim, people just wanted to see him. You're talking about such greatness. Everybody just wanted to see him. Put their eyes. They should just be able to see him.
39:00
One time Chavetz Chaim was traveling and he was on the train, simple guy. He gets on the train himself, goes, sits down and is like learning. This other guy sees the Chavetz Chaim on the train. He walks over to him. He doesn't see that, he doesn't know that it's the Chavetz Chaim. He thought the Chavetz Chaim was so simple. See, he says where are you heading to? He says, oh, I'm heading to this and this town. See, he says, oh, whoa, you're going to see the Chavetz Chaim. He didn't realize he's talking to the Chavetz Chaim. See, he says ah, chavetz Chaim, who's the Chavetz Chaim?
39:38
So this guy got so irritated with the Chavetz Chaim he gave him a spanking across his face, a slap across his face. He says how dare you talk like that about the Chavetz Chaim, the leader of our generation? That's how you talk about him, such disrespect. Okay, he was so upset about what the Chavetz Chaim said about himself, without knowing who he was talking to, he changed carts in the train. He didn't want to even sit in the same cart as such a person who was disrespectful to the Chavetz Chaim.
40:09
So they get to the stop of that city and that guy gets out in his train cart and the Chavetz Chaim gets out in his and this guy goes. He walks out and he sees the whole commotion of all the people waiting and he's looking and he can't believe it. The person he was talking to was the Chafetz Chayim and he's beside himself. How can he have disrespected the Chafetz Chayim like that? How could he have treated the great sage with such utter disrespect?
40:44
The Chavetz Chaim saw him and he calls him over. He says I want you to come tomorrow and visit me the next day. The Chavetz Chaim greets him. He comes out to greet him and he says I need to thank you. He's like you to thank me. I need to ask forgiveness. You're the great Chavetz Chaim.
41:05
What did I do? He says no, you taught me something. You taught me that a person is not even allowed to say Lashon Hara about themselves. He says that's something I didn't include in my writing, but now I need to include it because of you. So thank you, thank you for teaching me this, thank you. And this person was horrified, obviously, but you see the sensitivity that the Chafetz Chaim had here in understanding and learning. He didn't think about oh, look at my honor, look at how I was affected, look how disrespectful he was. Do you know who I am? No, he saw that it was a sign from Hashem. He needed to learn something.
41:50
We always are dealing with things in our lives, so we're thinking about how dare you treat me like that? How dare you talk to me like that? If we realize that everything is a message from Hashem, our lives will be much more beautiful. You talk to me like that. If we realize that everything is a message from Hashem, our lives will be much more beautiful, because, even if someone does something that's not to our taste, not to our liking, we are able to learn something from it. You had a question. Right, we do, but it's a greater thing for that body to be buried in Jerusalem. There's something very, very powerful about it. It's not the topic of our conversation. We will, god willing, at some point we'll talk about it.
42:29
But there are many people who have made arrangements for afterlife with places like the Houston Jewish funerals to have their body flown to Israel, so that you know, or wherever they'll be. They make that arrangement. They buy a plot in Jerusalem. By the way, it's an interesting thing. There's a special, special omen, a positive omen, that if you buy a plot during your life, it's a blessing for a long life that you don't use it for a long time. Okay, it's a blessing for a long life that you don't use it for a long time. Okay, to buy it in advance is a merit for a long life, is an omen for a long life. So, yes, no, no, no, everywhere. Everywhere, not only in Israel. Right, so it's a special thing for a person to do to, because it sort of grounds us also. It grounds us to be prepared for the end of life, which is a reality for every single human being. Yeah, I get commissioned, don't worry. No, I don't, I don't, I don't. It wouldn't be a bad idea though, all right.
43:37
So the Gemara continues the narrative Shalach, rebbe L'daber Be'ishto. After the burial, rebbe sent an agent to speak to Reb Elazer, the son of Rebbe Shimon's wife, about the possibility of marriage. All right, here's a single, a widowed woman. Maybe we can make a shirach here, we can make a, we can do a wedding. She sent back the following message to him Shall, a vessel that was once used for the sacred be used for the secular Right, meaning you don't come close to the holiness of my late husband, rabbi Lazar Ben-Hur, shimon Tamon Amrin, there in the land of Israel. They express the same thought in this way, ba'atar dimori, beisah tolo zayneh. In a spot where the Lord of the manor once hung his weapon, the coarse shepherd now hangs his knapsack. So the rabbi sent her in reply.
44:50
Granted, he was greater than me in Torah study. Granted, he was greater than me in Torah study. But was he greater than me in good deeds? Okay, you're right. In Torah study, there's no question. I didn't come close to Rabbalazer ben Ripshimin, but in good deeds I think I may have been better. I may be better. She sent back a message that he was actually greater than you in Torah. I didn't even know about that before. You just informed me. But regarding good deeds, that I knew. That's what I was referring to. I know that he was greater than you in that Because he voluntarily accepted physical suffering upon himself. I know that he was greater than you in that, dehor kabil alei yisuri, because he voluntarily accepted physical suffering upon himself.
45:38
The Midrash states that Rebbe Lazar's wife told Rebbe that when Rebbe Lazar, the son of Rebbe Shimon, would invite the suffering upon himself each night, he would say may all the pains of the Jewish people come upon me. I don't want the Jewish people to suffer Any pain, any suffering that the Jewish people experience. It shouldn't go on them, it should come on to me. They should be healed. That was that what? What greater act of kindness is there in the world than to remove the pain of other people, that any other pain? She says? I wasn't referring to the Torah. I didn't even know that. But thank you for telling me Now that you told me. He was better than you in both. He was better than you also in Torah and also in good deeds.
46:21
And now the Gemara elaborates, the Talmud elaborates, on Rebbe's statement that Rebbe Lazar, the son of Rebbe Shimon, was greater than he in Torah. By Torah, my he. What was it that he revealed? That was greater in Torah? What was so great about Rabbi Lozab and Rabbi Shimon D'chi havu? Yosvi, rabbi Shimon ben Gamaliel, rabbi Yeshua ben Korcho, asaf sali.
46:46
When Rabbi Shimon ben Gamaliel, the father of Rabbi and Rabbi Yeshua ben Korcho, would sit in the house of study on the benches along with many other rabbis Yosvi Kamei, rebbe Lozob, rebbe Shimon and Rebbe Aara, rebbe Lozob, their son, rebbe Shimon, their students, would sit before them on the ground Makshu umifarki. The two students would ask and answer like mature scholars, meaning even though they were the students. They were really advanced in their Torah study. They would ask the questions and they would give the answers. Just so that you understand what that means.
47:19
Our sages tell us that whenever you study something, you should learn. We learned this previously, that one of the great sages, he, would ask 24 questions on everything that he learned from his rabbi and then offer 24 answers to answer those difficulties. That means asking questions is part of our learning. The reason we study Talmud is so that we can see how many times there is a question on every statement that is brought. We don't take blind faith, we don't take a leap of faith. We don't just trust because a rabbi said it. No, no, no. We need a verification. What's our verification? What's our source?
48:06
The Torah, everything is brought with a verse and it's appropriate for a student to ask a question of their rabbi and to ask for proof to what the rabbi is saying. Give me backup, give me a source to what you are telling me. So the rabbis would sit there on the floor. Now the rabbis, who were the teachers, would sit higher up. The students would sit on the floor. That's the way it used to be, or the rabbis would stand and the students would sit, amri. They the other rabbis sitting on the benches said Meimei and Anushasim, we are drinking their waters, veheim, yoshim, Agave Kaka. Yet they're the ones sitting on the ground and that perhaps isn't appropriate. They're sitting like ordinary students, but they're really our teachers. Thereupon the rabbis made the benches for them and elevated them from the ground.
49:09
Rabbi Shem HaGamblio said to the other rabbis Pray to Achas Yeshli B'neichem. I have only one fledgling amongst you and you seek to divest me from it. What was this referring to? Rabbi Shem HaGamliel and Rabbi Yochanan and Yeshua ben Korcho are mentioned specifically because they were the Torah luminaries of their generation and they were worried that the public veneration in elevating Rebbe to bench status would attract the attention of the evil eye and do him harm. So sometimes we have to stay out of the public eye because we don't want the damage of the quote evil eye, which is a real thing. A person needs to be concerned for that and that's what they were concerned of, with these young great rabbis Meaning. So he was saying you're divesting him from me, you're asking for the evil eye to take him down, to take him away, achsuhu l'Rebbe.
50:10
So they lowered Rebbe back onto the ground. Amr lehem, rabbi Yeshua ben Koch, rabbi Yeshua ben. So they lowered Rebbe back onto the ground. Shall he who is a father, meaning a teacher, a Rebbe, may he live. And whoever does not have a father, let him die. Someone who doesn't have a teacher, like Rebbe Lazar, the son of Rebbe Shimon, he didn't have a teacher. Like Rabbi Lazar, the son of Rabbi Shimon, he didn't have a teacher any longer. They lowered Rabbi Shimon Ben Elazar as well. Rabbi Shimon, the son of Rabbi Lazar, was lowered down to the ground as well, became disheartened and he said Omar. He said they are reckoned, they have reckoned him to be like me, when it's not the case at all.
51:08
Until that day, rabbi Milsa, whenever Rebbe would say something, rabbi Milsa, the son of Rabbi Shimon, would support him. Whenever Rebbe would say something, rebbe Lezer, the son of Rebbe Shimon, would support him. But from there further, from that point on, whenever Rebbe would say I have an objection to raise, rebbe Lezer, the son of Rebbe Shimon, would preempt him with his objection. He would say I know what you want to object with, and here is the answer Haashto hikavtonu tshuvos chavilos. Now you have surrounded us with bundles of objections she'en bohem mamash that have no substance, cholesh, died to the Rebbe.
52:07
Now Rebbe became disheartened. Osa amar lahu la'avua. He came and told his father, rebbe Shimon ben Gamliel. He came and told his father what had happened. He said to him he is a lion, the son of a lion, while you are the lion the son of a fox. What does that mean? Who was the lion? Rabbi Lozabar and Rabbi Shimon, who was his father? Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Right, he was a lion of lions, but he says about himself. He says you, although you're very righteous, you're a lion, but me, I'm a nobody, I'm a fox. And therefore don't be disheartened that he was elevated above you because he comes from a lineage of lions. I'm a nobody, I'm a fox.
52:58
Ve'ha'inu da'am ha'Rebi. And this self-deprecating statement demonstrates that which Rebbe said shlosha, an v'sonin hein. There are three truly humble people, v'elu hein. And these are they Abba, my father, ubnei B'seira, the sons of B'seira, the Yonason B'shol, and Jonathan, the son of King Saul, reb Shemigam Leal, hodam Arn. And proof that Reb Shemigam Leal was humble is that which we have already said, namely that he described himself as a fox. So he was someone who was so great You're talking about. Shem HaGamliel was such a giant scholar, yet he considered himself to be lowly.
53:41
I'm a nobody, and we see that many of the great sages didn't hold themselves as being in a high regard because they found their flaw which, by the way, I was just listening yesterday to the teaching of my rabbi. I have a recording that he was talking about teshuva. What is teshuva? So most people think, when we talk about teshuva, that it means that I have to correct my ways. So he said something very, very profound my ways. See, he said something very, very profound.
54:13
So what Teshuvah really means is you have to connect with the source of why you did it and you have to recognize that who created you imperfect? God created you imperfect. What we do in Teshuvah is we say Hashem, you created me with my imperfection. That imperfection is showing. I need you to help me fix it. I need you to help me correct it. That's what Teshuvah is. That means if a person is born with jealousy, a person born with that, with that nitiya, with that, you know, with that leaning, a person has to ask Hashem, hashem. I realize you gave me this imperfection. It's showing up in my life a lot. I want to correct it. I need your help to correct it. You gave me this imperfection. I need you to help me correct this imperfection so that it not take over my life, so that I not exercise a trait that you don't want me to use, and that's a very, very powerful thing. Let's just end out this, Gemara.
55:32
How do we know that the sons of Biserah were humble? Bnei Biserah de Amamar? Because the master said HaShivu Barosh. The sons of Ben Biserah seated Hillel at the head, uminuhu lenasi alem, and they appointed him as the nasi, as the leader over them. Yonason ben Shoal. And where do we know that Jonathan the son of Saul was humble? Deh ko? And where do we know that Jonathan the son of Saul was humble? Because he told David Now you will rule over Israel and I will be your assistant, I will be your second in command. To be able to say that is a very, very powerful thing. I'll share with you a great story, a great story. I heard this from Senator Joseph Lieberman After he lost the election where he was going to be vice president with Al Gore. So the next morning he's sitting in Connecticut on his deck in the back of his house and he's reading the paper they lost. So his wife comes out and she said to him Joe, don't worry, in this house you'll always be vice president. True story. I heard it from his mouth. I heard him say the story Okay, very, very special for a person to always be humble You'll always be vice president in this house.
56:54
The Gemara questions the last two proofs Mimai, from what in these accounts do you deduce humility? Dilmara, yonason ben Shoal, perhaps Jonathan, the son of Shoal, seated the throne. Dechaza digore, amo basar David, because he saw that everyone had already drawn after David, after King David. So what's he being some big hero? What do you mean? You saw that he won the election. You saw that everybody followed him. Now you're just saying, okay, you take the throne. What's the big deal? Maybe that's Bnei B'seira, nami, the children of B'seira. Also, perhaps they ceded the office of the Nasi, of the leadership, to Hillel because they saw that Hillel was superior to them in Torah scholarship. However, abishimon ben Gamliel was certainly a humble person, for he had no motivation to unnecessarily belittle himself. He was so great he had no need to call himself a fox. It is. You know, someone of that caliber, of that stature, didn't need to humiliate himself, but he did it because he knew his place. My dear friends.
58:09
This concludes today's Talmud study, the final Talmud study for this year, 5-7-8-5 in our Jewish calendar. This coming week, on Monday night, we begin the celebration of coronating our king. I think it's an amazing, an amazing vision that we were able to see this week of the King of England and the President of the United States being together and we see royalty. You see the horses, you see the trumpets, you see the. It's just the majesty. Do you know what it means?
58:49
When we crown God as King, creator of heaven and earth, the majesty needs to be so much greater, which is why we dress up in our finest clothes, we eat, we wine and dine on the finest foods, because God is king over us and not to shy away from it. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to wear your Judaism on your sleeve, don't be afraid. It's an amazing awakening that we're seeing now after the murder of Charlie Kirk. You see that many people are reestablishing their relationship with religion as Jews. We need to take a page out of that book and not be afraid and not cower and be worried. Oh, I don't want them to know that I'm Jewish With pride, with pride, be Jewish.
59:48
God is our king Hashem, creator of heaven and earth, who took us out of Egypt. Let's make Hashem proud On Rosh Hashanah. We'll stand there, hear the shofar blowing, recognize that this is the coronation of our king. The king, the creator of heaven and earth, the creator of every single human being, who is alive and kicking today and every day, who didn't die for our sins, who didn't die for our redemption. Hashem lives every minute of every day. Visualize the royalty. I'm telling you. Hashem did it for us a few days before Rosh Hashanah, just so that we can have a little bit of a vision. If this is the way the royalty of flesh and blood is, imagine the royalty of Hashem, creator of heaven and earth. My dear friends, have an amazing Shabbos. Thank you so much. Have an amazing Shabbos.
01:00:51 - Intro (Announcement)
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