from Talmudic Stories: Narrative Art, Composition and Culture by Jeffrey Rubenstein
“To mistake the genre of a literary work inevitably produces misinterpretation. One who fails to recognize satire as satire misses the point entirely…”
“[the] 19th century concept of history certainly does not characterize the ancients’ attitudes toward the past… The distinctions between historical “truth” verisimilitude, and outright fiction were blurred in classical history-writing, for the authors were interested in teaching morals, demonstrating a thesis, or the need to supply a past where none existed. By assuming that rabbinic stories were transmitted to report historical events as they “actually happened,” these historians committed a grave anachronism.”
“Ancient biographers did not intend to present the “true” life of their subject – the life as actually lived, the “what actually happened” of the nineteenth-century historical vision. They sought “truth” in a different sense, the eternal truths that the meaning of the life of their subject held for others…”
“Rabbinic stories, therefore, should not be seen as accurate historical testimonies but as rhetoric that serves the purposes of the storyteller…While rabbinic stories may contain some accurate historical recollections, to retrieve them is not my interest here. My analysis … concentrates on the ideas and values which the story was designed to illustrate.”
דְּיָתְבִי רַבִּי יְהוּדָה וְרַבִּי יוֹסֵי וְרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן, וְיָתֵיב יְהוּדָה בֶּן גֵּרִים גַּבַּיְיהוּ. פָּתַח רַבִּי יְהוּדָה וְאָמַר: כַּמָּה נָאִים מַעֲשֵׂיהֶן שֶׁל אוּמָּה זוֹ: תִּקְּנוּ שְׁווֹקִים, תִּקְּנוּ גְּשָׁרִים, תִּקְנוּ מֶרְחֲצָאוֹת. רַבִּי יוֹסֵי שָׁתַק. נַעֲנָה רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחַאי וְאָמַר: כׇּל מַה שֶּׁתִּקְּנוּ, לֹא תִּקְּנוּ אֶלָּא לְצוֹרֶךְ עַצְמָן. תִּקְּנוּ שְׁווֹקִין — לְהוֹשִׁיב בָּהֶן זוֹנוֹת, מֶרְחֲצָאוֹת — לְעַדֵּן בָּהֶן עַצְמָן, גְּשָׁרִים — לִיטּוֹל מֵהֶן מֶכֶס. הָלַךְ יְהוּדָה בֶּן גֵּרִים וְסִיפֵּר דִּבְרֵיהֶם, וְנִשְׁמְעוּ לַמַּלְכוּת. אָמְרוּ: יְהוּדָה שֶׁעִילָּה — יִתְעַלֶּה. יוֹסֵי שֶׁשָּׁתַק — יִגְלֶה לְצִיפּוֹרִי. שִׁמְעוֹן שֶׁגִּינָּה — יֵהָרֵג.
אֲזַלוּ טְשׁוֹ בִּמְעָרְתָּא. אִיתְרְחִישׁ נִיסָּא אִיבְּרִי לְהוּ חָרוּבָא וְעֵינָא דְמַיָּא, וַהֲווֹ מַשְׁלְחִי מָנַיְיהוּ וַהֲווֹ יָתְבִי עַד צַוְּארַיְיהוּ בְּחָלָא. כּוּלֵּי יוֹמָא גָּרְסִי. בְּעִידָּן צַלּוֹיֵי לָבְשִׁי מִיכַּסּוּ וּמְצַלּוּ, וַהֲדַר מַשְׁלְחִי מָנַיְיהוּ כִּי הֵיכִי דְּלָא לִיבְלוּ. אִיתִּיבוּ תְּרֵיסַר שְׁנֵי בִּמְעָרְתָּא.
אֲתָא אֵלִיָּהוּ וְקָם אַפִּיתְחָא דִמְעָרְתָּא, אֲמַר: מַאן לוֹדְעֵיהּ לְבַר יוֹחַי דְּמִית קֵיסָר וּבְטִיל גְּזֵירְתֵיהּ.
נְפַקוּ, חֲזוֹ אִינָשֵׁי דְּקָא כָּרְבִי וְזָרְעִי, אָמְרִין: מַנִּיחִין חַיֵּי עוֹלָם וְעוֹסְקִין בְּחַיֵּי שָׁעָה. כׇּל מָקוֹם שֶׁנּוֹתְנִין עֵינֵיהֶן מִיָּד נִשְׂרָף. יָצְתָה בַּת קוֹל וְאָמְרָה לָהֶם: לְהַחֲרִיב עוֹלָמִי יְצָאתֶם?! חִיזְרוּ לִמְעָרַתְכֶם! הֲדוּר אֲזוּל אִיתִּיבוּ תְּרֵיסַר יַרְחֵי שַׁתָּא. אָמְרִי: מִשְׁפַּט רְשָׁעִים בְּגֵיהִנָּם שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר חֹדֶשׁ. יָצְתָה בַּת קוֹל וְאָמְרָה: צְאוּ מִמְּעָרַתְכֶם!
נְפַקוּ.
כָּל הֵיכָא דַּהֲוָה מָחֵי רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר, הֲוָה מַסֵּי רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן. אָמַר לוֹ: בְּנִי, דַּי לָעוֹלָם אֲנִי וְאַתָּה. בַּהֲדֵי פַּנְיָא דְּמַעֲלֵי שַׁבְּתָא חֲזוֹ הָהוּא סָבָא דַּהֲוָה נָקֵיט תְּרֵי מַדָּאנֵי אָסָא וְרָהֵיט בֵּין הַשְּׁמָשׁוֹת. אֲמַרוּ לֵיהּ: הָנֵי לְמָה לָךְ? אֲמַר לְהוּ: לִכְבוֹד שַׁבָּת. וְתִיסְגֵּי לָךְ בְּחַד! — חַד כְּנֶגֶד ״זָכוֹר״ וְחַד כְּנֶגֶד ״שָׁמוֹר״. אֲמַר לֵיהּ לִבְרֵיהּ: חֲזִי כַּמָּה חֲבִיבִין מִצְוֹת עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל. אִיְּתִיבָה דַּעְתַּיְיהוּ.
שְׁמַע רַבִּי פִּנְחָס בֶּן יָאִיר חַתְנֵיהּ וּנְפַק לְאַפֵּיהּ. עַיְּילֵיהּ לְבֵי בָנֵי, הֲוָה קָא אָרֵיךְ לֵיהּ לְבִישְׂרֵיהּ. חֲזָא דַּהֲוָה בֵּיהּ פִּילֵי בְּגוּפֵיהּ. הֲוָה קָא בָכֵי וְקָא נָתְרָן דִּמְעָת עֵינֵיהּ וְקָמְצַוְּחָא לֵיהּ. אָמַר לוֹ: אוֹי לִי שֶׁרְאִיתִיךָ בְּכָךְ.
אָמַר לוֹ: אַשְׁרֶיךָ שֶׁרְאִיתַנִי בְּכָךְ, שֶׁאִילְמָלֵא לֹא רְאִיתַנִי בְּכָךְ — לֹא מָצָאתָ בִּי כָּךְ. ... אֲמַר: הוֹאִיל וְאִיתְרְחִישׁ נִיסָּא אֵיזִיל אַתְקֵין מִילְּתָא. דִּכְתִיב: ״וַיָּבֹא יַעֲקֹב שָׁלֵם״.... אֲמַר: אִיכָּא מִילְּתָא דְּבָעֵי לְתַקּוֹנֵי?
Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yosei and Rabbi Shimon were sitting, and Yehuda ben Gerim sat beside them. Rabbi Yehuda opened and said: How pleasant are the actions of this nation, the Romans, as they established marketplaces, established bridges, and established bathhouses. Rabbi Yosei was silent. Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai responded and said: Everything that they established, they established only for their own purposes. They established marketplaces, to place prostitutes in them; bathhouses, to pamper themselves; and bridges, to collect taxes from all who pass over them. Yehuda, son of converts, went and related their statements until they were heard by the monarchy. They ruled and said: Yehuda, who elevated the Roman regime, shall be elevated. Yosei, who remained silent, shall be exiled to Tzippori. And Shimon, who denounced the government, shall be killed.
...They went and they hid in a cave. A miracle occurred and a carob tree was created for them as well as a spring of water. They would remove their clothes and sit covered in sand up to their necks. They would study all day. At the time of prayer, they would dress, cover themselves, and pray, and they would again remove their clothes afterward so that they would not become tattered. They sat in the cave for twelve years.
Elijah the Prophet came and stood at the entrance to the cave and said: Who will inform bar Yoḥai that the emperor died and his decree has been abrogated? They emerged, and saw people who were plowing and sowing. Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai said: How can they abandon eternal life and engage in temporal life?!?!? Every place that they directed their eyes was immediately burned. A Divine Voice emerged and said to them: Did you emerge in order to destroy My world? Return to your cave. They again went and sat there for twelve months. They said: The judgment of the wicked in Gehenna lasts for twelve months! A Divine Voice emerged and said to them: Emerge from your cave.
They emerged.
Everywhere that Rabbi Elazar would strike, Rabbi Shimon would heal. Rabbi Shimon said to Rabbi Elazar: My son, you and I suffice for the entire world. As the sun was setting on Shabbat eve, they saw an elderly man who was holding two bundles of myrtle branches and running at twilight. They said to him: Why do you have these? He said to them: In honor of Shabbat. They said to him: And let one suffice. He answered them: One is corresponding to: “Remember the Shabbat day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8), and one is corresponding to: “Observe the Shabbat day, to keep it holy” (Deuteronomy 5:12). Rabbi Shimon said to his son: See how beloved the mitzvot are to Israel. Their minds were put at ease.
Rabbi Pineḥas ben Ya’ir, Rabbi Shimon’s son-in-law, heard and went out to greet him. He brought him into the bathhouse and began tending to his flesh. He saw that Rabbi Shimon had cracks in the skin on his body. He was crying, and the tears fell from his eyes and caused Rabbi Shimon pain. Rabbi Pineḥas said to Rabbi Shimon, his father-in-law: Woe is me, that I have seen you like this. Rabbi Shimon said to him: Happy are you that you have seen me like this, as had you not seen me like this, you would not have found me this learned...
Rabbi Shimon said: Since a miracle transpired for me, I will go and repair something, as it is written: “And Jacob came whole ...” (Genesis 33:18). ... He said: Is there something that needs repair?
What did they learn in the cave and how did it transform them each time?
What does the story teach about skillfully emerging from isolation?
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1st Time Emerging |
2nd Time Emerging |
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Super Power |
Super Power |
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Scholarly prowess + Laser eyes |
Scholarly prowess + Laser eyes + healing |
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Perception of Others |
Perception of Others |
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Judgment |
Appreciation |
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Question – how can these people forsake the eternal life for the temporal life?!? |
Question – what can I fix? |