Lag B’Omer is the day we
remember with celebration the Talmudic sage Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. He was
praised by his teacher Rabbi Akiva that, “it is enough for you that I and your
Creator recognize your greatness”, (כוחך)
(Talmud Yerushalmi tractate Sanhedrin 1:2 page 6b). The gist of the comment is
that intelligence and the righteousness of the Rashbi were far greater that of
his comrades. These are alluded to in the popular song sung about him on Lag
B’Omer fuel, “for joy more than your colleagues”, and, “an amazing light, high
and exalted”.
Concerning himself he
remarked, “I have seen sons of ascension and they are very few . . . if there
are two it is me and my son”. The Gemara continues can they be so few? Wasn’t
it said that 18,000 stand before the Holy One Blessed be He? Answers the
Gemara, there are those that have a clear perception and those whose perception
is not so clear (See Gemara Sukkah 45b). What this means is that Rabbi Shimon
is in the elite therefore many will not understand him or misunderstand him. It
also means that he had a clear perception of the will of G-d and His hand in
the physical world.
Rabbi Shimon had a unique
recognition of what was in the depths of the Torah. Therefore in halacha he
would look at intentions of the person and the reasons inherent in mitzvahs.
This does not mean that he ignored the action. Intention though was an
important component. For example in considering what actions were forbidden on
Shabbos unintended results were not sufficient reason to for a prohibition.
The example given is that of
dragging a bed across a field which can result in breaking up the ground. There
are those that say this is forbidden because in some cases it will result in
ploughing. Ploughing is one of the ordinary labors that go into producing food.
Rabbi Shimon permits dragging the bed because neither the result nor the action
really is ploughing In addition the person’s intention is only to move the bed
not to plough.
In a situation where work is
done in a professional way albeit without intention for the ordinary result
Rabbi Shimon would forbid it. For example properly slaughtering a chicken but
with the intention of using its head for a child’s toy ball and not for the
purpose of the meat, Rabbi Shimon would forbid.
Essentially he is saying that
a specious relationship between an action and the text of the law is not
relevant. In addition he is more conscious of what is in essence work. However
a very logical conclusion is that Rabbi Shimon valued purity of heart more than
purity of action.
Generally the Rashbi focuses
on the language of Scripture and its essence. For example there is a discussion
if forbidden foods like urla (fruit yielded by a tree in its first three years
– (ערלה can be considered as
impure (טמא) foods. Rabbi Shimon
replies not. The source for his reasoning is a verse concerning ritual impurity
of food which says it applies to, “all food that you will eat”,
(Leviticus 11:34). Therefore food which a Jew cannot eat, like urla, would not
contract ritual impurity.
Concerning the Romans, their
building of bath houses, bridges, and market places in and of itself was not
sufficient reason to consider them good people. This is because the reason for
the construction of worthy projects had to be considered as well. In this case
animal pleasure, desire for money, and sexual immorality were the motives. It
would seem that in order to consider them as good people there had to have at
least some intention for the sake of heaven.
The difficulty is that
intentions are not clearly visible and improper motives are common. Therefore
an ordinary person may not be able or wish to discern them. However a chacham
and a tsadik may be keenly aware of the entire situation.
It says in a number of places
in the Gemara the Rabbi Shimon unlike other Mishnaic sages considers reasons
for a mitzvah especially when rendering a decision concerning the law. One
example is the Biblical prohibition against taking a widow’s garment as
security for a loan (see Dvarim 24:17). Rabbi Yehuda sees this as a blanket
prohibition, which would include a rich widow, based on the simple reading of
the Chumash. Rabbi Shimon says that it does not apply to a rich widow. He explains
that a pledged garment, for example a poor person’s blanket, must be returned
to a person at night so he can use it. In connection with this a poor woman’s
garment would have to be returned nightly thereby compromising her reputation.
A rich woman’s cloak would not be returned until the loan is repaid. Because
she suffers no bother, collateral may be taken. It comes out if only a
collateralized loan will be made, then lenient treatment is given to the rich
widow.
The Rashbi is generally
considered lenient. It would seem that this is because he sees the law as being
generally wise and benevolent plus he is sensitive suffering. As a result he
typically does not draw conclusions that are illogical or bothersome.
His analyses tend to be
systematic and may explicitly examine all of the mathematical possibilities. He
was a great Kabalist and most likely used kabalistic structures like the ten
sefiros and the four universes as paradigms for his thinking. He was extremely
literate and could see the nuances in the text of the Chumash to the extent he
could understand its writer and perceive His will.
Songs of Lag B’Omer as sung by Yoseph:
Acknowledgements to
websites: תורת אמת, וויקיטקסט, http://dictionary.reference.com/,
http://hebrewbooks.org/,
וגם בדואר אלקטרוני ניתן באתר http://dyschreiber.blogspot.co.il
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