Pt1 The Four Sermons of the Mid-Second Century Sages in Yavne: On Hospitality (Xenia) and the Honor of Torah Sages (Berakhot 63b)

And Appendices: The Sages of Yavne and the Foretold Intellectual Famine (Shabbat 138b); R' Yehuda, R' Yosei, and R' Shimon's Fateful Debate on Roman Rule (Shabbat 33b)

This is the first part of a two-part series. The outline of the series is below.

Intro - The Formulaic Structure of the Homiletic Openings: Honoring Hosts and A Fortiori Reasoning

The structure common to the beginning of all four sermons¹ is as follows:

פתח רבי פלוני

בכבוד אכסניא,

ודרש:

“[Y - Bible verse]”

והלא דברים קל וחומר:

ומה

[Z - the biblical example]

[H - Torah scholars / one who hosts a Torah scholar]

על אחת כמה וכמה!

R' [X - name], opened²

in honor of the hosts,³

and expounded⁴

[It is stated in the Bible:] “[Y - Bible verse]”

This is an a fortiori inference:⁵

If

[Z - the biblical example]

[then]

[H - Torah scholars / one who hosts a Torah scholar]

all the more so!

Outline

1. The Four Sermons of the Mid-Second Century Sages in Yavne: On Hospitality (Xenia) and the Honor of Torah Sages (Berakhot 63b)

   1. Sermon #1 - R' Yehuda on the Honor of Torah Scholars

      1. Part 1: R' Yehuda, known as the “foremost speaker” (Berakhot 63b section 6)

      2. Part 2: Torah scholars who travel long distances in pursuit of Torah are deserving of honor (Exodus 33:7)

      3. Part 3 (Berakhot 63b section 10; Deuteronomy 27:9)

   2. Sermon #2 - R' Neḥemya on Honoring Hosts (Berakhot 63b section 21; 1 Samuel 15:6)

   3. Sermon #3 - R' Yosei on the Virtue of Hospitality (Berakhot 63b section 22; Deuteronomy 23:8)

   4. Sermon #4 - R' Eliezer ben Yosei on the Blessings of Hosting Torah Scholars (Berakhot 63b section 23; II Samuel 6:12)

2. Appendix 1 - The Sages of Yavne and the Foretold Intellectual Famine: Loss of Halakha, Messianic Knowlege, and Prophecy (Shabbat 138b)

3. Appendix 2 - The Price of Speech: R' Yehuda, R' Yosei, and R' Shimon's Fateful Debate on Roman Rule (Shabbat 33b)

4. Appendix 3: Patience and Destiny in Leadership: Rabba and Rav Yosef (Berakhot 64a)

   1. Forcing Fate vs. Yielding to Destiny

   2. Rabba and Rav Yosef's Intellectual Qualities: knowledge of sources vs. analytical skills

   3. The Yeshiva Leadership Question and The Ruling of the Sages of Eretz Yisrael

   4. Rav Yosef’s Deference Due to Astrologers’ Dire Prediction; Rabba’s Leadership; Rav Yosef’s Later Appointment; Rav Yosef’s Humility

The Passage

Berakhot.63b.5-23

A baraita recounts that “when our masters/rabbis (רבותינו) entered the vineyard in Yavne,⁶ Rabbis Yehuda, Yosei, Neḥemya, and Eliezer ben Yosei,⁷ presided.

“They all began (פתחו) [to speak] in honor of their hosts (אכסניא) and lectured (דרשו).”

תנו רבנן:

כשנכנסו רבותינו לכרם ביבנה,

היו שם

1. רבי יהודה

2. ורבי יוסי

3. ורבי נחמיה

4. ורבי אליעזר בנו של רבי יוסי הגלילי.

פתחו כולם בכבוד אכסניא, ודרשו.

The Sages taught:

When our Rabbis, the Sages of the Mishna, entered the vineyard, the academy, in Yavne,

1. R' Yehuda,

2. R' Yosei,

3. R' Neḥemya,

4. and R' Eliezer, son of R' Yosei HaGelili,

were there presiding over the Sages.

They all began to speak in honor of their hosts, the local population hosting them and their students as guests, and they taught.

Sermon #1 - R' Yehuda on the Honor of Torah Scholars

Part 1: R' Yehuda, known as the “foremost speaker” (Berakhot 63b, section 6)

R' Yehuda, known as the “foremost speaker”,⁸ began with a teaching on the significance of Torah study.

Berakhot.63b.6

פתח רבי יהודה --

ראש המדברים בכל מקום --

בכבוד תורה,

ודרש:

R' Yehuda,

head of the speakers in every place,

opened his speech in honor of Torah,

and taught:

Appendix 1 - The Sages of Yavne and the Foretold Intellectual Famine: Loss of Halakha, Messianic Knowlege, and Prophecy (Shabbat 138b)

Shabbat.138b.10-11

A baraita states that “when our masters/rabbis (רבותינו) entered the vineyard in Yavne” they stated a homily that the Torah itself predicted that “the Torah would one day be forgotten by the Jewish people”.

They cited a verse from Amos (8:11-12) that describes a future famine—not of food or water, but of divine knowledge.

They interpreted the famine (i.e. cessation) of “the word of the Lord” in three ways:

As the forgetting of halakha,⁹ as losing knowledge of the future messianic era,¹⁰ and cessation of prophecy.¹¹

תנו רבנן:

כשנכנסו רבותינו לכרם ביבנה

אמרו:

עתידה תורה שתשתכח מישראל,

שנאמר:

״הנה ימים באים

נאם ה׳ אלהים

והשלחתי רעב בארץ

לא רעב ללחם, ולא צמא למים

כי אם לשמוע את דברי ה׳״,

וכתיב:

״ונעו מים עד ים

ומצפון ועד מזרח ישוטטו

לבקש את דבר ה׳

ולא ימצאו״.

1. ״דבר ה׳״ — זו הלכה,

2. ״דבר ה׳״ — זה הקץ,

3. ״דבר ה׳״ — זו נבואה.

The Sages taught a similar idea in the Tosefta:

When our Sages entered the vineyard in Yavne,

they said:

The Torah is destined to be forgotten from the Jewish people,

as it is stated:

“Behold, days are approaching,

says YHWH God,

and I will send forth a hunger in the land,

not a hunger for bread and not a thirst for water,

but for hearing the words of YHWH” (Amos 8:11).

And it states:

“And they will drift from sea to sea,

and from north to east they will roam

to find the word of YHWH,

but they will not find it” (Amos 8:12).

“The word of the Lord” in this context bears many meanings:

1. “The word of YHWH”; that is halakha.

2. “The word of YHWH”; that is the end of days.

3. “The word of YHWH”; that is prophecy.

All these will be lost from the Jewish people.

Appendix 2 - The Price of Speech: R' Yehuda, R' Yosei, and R' Shimon's Fateful Debate on Roman Rule (Shabbat 33b)

Shabbat.33b.5

At the beginning of the famous story of the persecution and hiding of R’ Shimon, the Talmud explains that R' Yehuda was called "head of the speakers in every place" due to an incident involving him, R' Yosei, R' Shimon, and someone named Yehuda “Descendant of Converts [to Judaism]”.¹²

While the four of them were sitting together, R' Yehuda “opened”¹³ and praised the Romans¹⁴ for building marketplaces,¹⁵ bridges, and bathhouses (מרחצאות).

Yosei remained silent, while Shimon criticized the Romans, arguing they built these for selfish purposes—marketplaces for prostitution,¹⁶ bathhouses for their own luxury,¹⁷ and bridges for taxation.¹⁸

Yehuda “Descendant of Converts” reported their conversation, leading the Roman authorities to react as follows:

Yehuda “who elevated¹⁹ [the Romans]” should be “elevated”,²⁰ Yosei should be exiled to Tzippori (in the Galilee), and Shimon was sentenced to death.

ואמאי קרו ליה ״ראש המדברים בכל מקום״?

דיתבי

1. רבי יהודה

2. ורבי יוסי

3. ורבי שמעון,

ויתיב יהודה בן גרים גבייהו.

In this baraita R' Yehuda is described as head of the speakers in every place. The Gemara asks: And why did they call him head of the speakers in every place?

The Gemara relates that this resulted due to an incident that took place when

1. R' Yehuda

2. and R' Yosei

3. and R' Shimon

were sitting,

and Yehuda, son of converts, sat beside them.

פתח רבי יהודה ואמר:

כמה נאים מעשיהן של אומה זו:

1. תקנו שווקים,

2. תקנו גשרים,

3. תקנו מרחצאות.

R' Yehuda opened and said:

How pleasant are the actions of this nation, the Romans, as

1. they established marketplaces,

2. established bridges,

3. and established bathhouses.

רבי יוסי שתק.

נענה רבי שמעון בן יוחאי ואמר:

כל מה שתקנו,

לא תקנו אלא לצורך עצמן:

1. תקנו שווקין —

   1. להושיב בהן זונות,

2. מרחצאות —

   1. לעדן בהן עצמן,

3. גשרים —

   1. ליטול מהן מכס.

R' Yosei was silent.

R' Shimon ben Yoḥai responded and said:

Everything that they established,

they established only for their own purposes:

1. They established marketplaces —

   1. to place prostitutes in them;

2. bathhouses —

   1. to pamper themselves;

3. and bridges —

   1. to collect taxes from all who pass over them.

הלך יהודה בן גרים

וסיפר דבריהם,

ונשמעו למלכות.

אמרו:

1. יהודה

   1. שעילה —

      1. יתעלה.

2. יוסי

   1. ששתק —

      1. יגלה לציפורי.

3. שמעון

   1. שגינה —

      1. יהרג.

Yehuda, son of converts, went

and related their statements to his household,

and those statements continued to spread until they were heard by the monarchy.

They ruled and said:

1. Yehuda,

   1. who elevated the Roman regime —

      1. shall be elevated and appointed as head of the Sages, the head of the speakers in every place.

2. Yosei,

   1. who remained silent —

      1. shall be exiled from his home in Judea as punishment, and sent to the city of Tzippori in the Galilee.

3. And Shimon,

   1. who denounced the government —

      1. shall be killed.

1. דרש.

The beginning of the formula is also used at the beginning of the sugya (from a baraita, quoted in this part):

פתחו כולם בכבוד אכסניא, ודרשו.

They all [= Rabbis Yehuda, Yosei, Neḥemya, and Eliezer ben Yosei] opened in honor of [the] hosts, and expounded.

2. פתח.

This is a common formula in midrashic literature, to signal the beginning of a sermon, quoting a Bible verse, see Hebrew Wikipedia, פתיחתא, my translation:

A petichta (Hebrew: "opening") is a literary form used in nearly two thousand midrashic texts from aggadic literature.

At the beginning of the passage, the preacher (דרשן - darshan - compare also Maggid - Wikipedia) opens with a verse from the Bible [...]

The petichta is usually short in length, and its subject matter does not directly address the [verse] itself but rather discusses general themes.

3. אכסניא - from Greek xenia; i.e. they praised their local hosts.

See Wikipedia, “Xenia (Greek)”

Xenia (Greek: ξενία) is an ancient Greek concept of hospitality. It is almost always translated as 'guest-friendship' or 'ritualized friendship'.

It is an institutionalized relationship rooted in generosity, gift exchange, and reciprocity.

Historically, hospitality towards foreigners and guests [...] was understood as a moral obligation, as well as a political imperative [...]

The rituals of hospitality created and expressed a reciprocal relationship between guest and host expressed in both material benefits (e.g. gifts, protection, shelter) as well as non-material ones (e.g. favors, certain normative rights).

The word is derived from xenos 'stranger'.

4. דרש

See Wikipedia, “Midrash”:

“Midrash ([...] Hebrew: מִדְרָשׁ; pl. מִדְרָשִׁים midrashim or מִדְרָשׁוֹת‎ midrashot) is expansive Jewish Biblical exegesis using a rabbinic mode of interpretation prominent in the Talmud.

The word itself means "textual interpretation", "study", or "exegesis", derived from the root verb darash (דָּרַשׁ‎), which means "resort to, seek, seek with care, enquire, require".

5. On the prevalence of a fortiori reasoning in the Talmud, see my piece “Ancient Interpretations: Talmudic Hermeneutics and Drashot Revisited“, section “Intutive“.

6. כרם ביבנה.

This term appears ten times in the Talmud.

See for example Shabbat.138b.10-11, where a baraita has the exact same beginning: “when our masters/rabbis (רבותינו) entered the vineyard in Yavne” they stated a homily that the Torah itself predicted that “the Torah would one day be forgotten by the Jewish people”.

See my Appendix 1 at the end of this piece.

7. The previous R’ Yosei’s son.

8. ראש המדברים בכל מקום - literally: “"Head of the speakers in every place” or “first/principal speaker everywhere”.

On this title, see Shabbat.33b.5, at the beginning of the famous story of the persecution and hiding of R’ Shimon.

There, the Talmud explains that R' Yehuda was called "head of the speakers in every place" due to an incident involving him, R' Yosei, and R' Shimon.

See my Appendix 2 at the end of this piece.

9. Presumably referring to their own time, in the aftermath of the Bar Kochba rebellion against the Romans, when many scholars were killed by the Romans, as stated in many places elsewhere in Talmudic literature, see especially my note on the “Ten Martyrs”, in my piece “"Destined for the World-to-Come": The Trial and Martyrdom of R’ Ḥanina ben Teradyon by Burning at the Stake (Avodah Zarah 18a)“, section “Intro: The Ten Martyrs Executed by the Romans in the Period Following the Destruction of the Second Temple“.

10. קץ - literally: “end [times]”.

This biblical Hebrew word — ketz — in talmudic literature came to refer to End of Days, based on the final verse in the Book of Daniel, Daniel.12.13:

ואתה לך לקץ

ותנוח

ותעמד לגרלך לקץ הימין

But you, go on to the end (קץ)

you shall rest,

and arise to your destiny (גרלך) at the end of the days (קץ הימין)

See also Hebrew Wikipedia, “אחרית הימים“, my translation:

The End of Days (אחרית הימים; also called The End of Days (קץ הימים / הימין), […] is a general term for prophecies concerning the end of humanity and, at times, the end of the universe […]

In [rabbinic] Judaism, the era of the End of Days […consists of a number of aspects…]:

• The Footsteps of the Messiah (עקבתא דמשיחא)

• The Beginning of Redemption (אתחלתא דגאולה - Atchalta De'Geulah)

• The War of Gog and Magog (מלחמת גוג ומגוג)

• The Coming of Elijah (ביאת אליהו)

• The Birth Pangs of the Messiah (חבלי משיח)

• The Messianic Era (ימות המשיח)

• The Third Temple (בית המקדש השלישי)

• The Abolishment of the Evil Inclination (Yetzer hara) in the End of Days (ביטולו של היצר הרע באחרית הימים)

• The Resurrection of the Dead (תחיית המתים)

• The Destruction of the World in the Seventh Millennium (חורבן העולם באלף השביעי)

11. See Hebrew Wikipedia, הנבואה במסורת ישראל, section הפסקת הנבואה, my translation:

According to Jewish tradition, prophecy ceased among the Israelites at the beginning of the Second Temple period (E.B. more specifically: the Persian period (538–332 BCE)), with the passing of the last prophets (c. late 6th-5th centuries BCE)—Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi—and is destined to return in the future.

Concurrently with the cessation of prophecy, the Bible was sealed, and the era of the Oral Torah began.

12. יהודה בן גרים. This person features in a talmudic story elsewhere, again in the context of R’ Shimon, as well as his son R’ Elazar, see my piece “Two Talmudic Stories of Cryptic Blessings and Their Interpretation (Moed Katan 9a-b)“, section “Story # 1 - R’ Shimon ben Yoḥai; his son (Elazar); R’ Yonatan ben Asmai; R’ Yehuda ben gerim (son of converts)“.

For other people in the Talmud with this surname (=“Descendant of Converts”) and related surnames, related to personal lineage, see my piece “Abba” at my Academia page.

13. פתח. The same “opening” term as discussed in my earlier footnote. This indicates that it wasn’t an informal conversation, but an exposition.

14. Referring to them not by name, but as אומה זו - “this nation”.

15. שווקים - souks.

16. להושיב בהן זונות - literally: “to place/seat prostitutes in them”.

17. לעדן.

The first two claims about the Romans—that they built marketplaces for prostitution and bathhouses for their own luxury—appear verbatim elsewhere in the Talmud as part of a critique of Rome.

In that instance, however, the critique is attributed to God in the context of the final judgment in the messianic era, see my piece “Rome and the Final Judgment: The Messianic-Era Judgement Day in the Talmud and Rome's Role (Avodah Zarah 2a-b)“, section “Rome“.

18. מכס - i.e. to collect tolls.

19. עילה - transitive.

20. יתעלה – intransitive; meaning "was appointed as head of the Sages."

It is likely that in the original tannaitic source of the Talmud, the "Yehuda" elevated by the Romans was not R’ Yehuda, but Yehuda the Descendant of Converts.

This is indicated by the following:

• It is peculiar that the Roman "elevation" of R’ Yehuda would be acknowledged by the Sages in their internal gatherings (like the one in our sugya, in Yavne).

• This beginning part is in Aramaic, while the rest is in Hebrew, indicating that it stems from the redactors of the Talmud (=Stam), while the rest stems from an original tannaitic source (the original tannatic source seems to have been a sermon, as indicated by the “opened” term, as mentioned):

ואמאי קרו ליה ״ראש המדברים בכל מקום״?

דיתבי

רבי יהודה

ורבי יוסי

ורבי שמעון,

ויתיב יהודה בן גרים גבייהו.