“Are you Important Enough to Mourn over Jerusalem?!”: Eliezer the Small’s Imprisonment by the Exilarch's Officials for Publicly Mourning the Destruction of Jerusalem (Bava Kamma 59a-b)
Intro
The Talmud narrates an incident involving Eliezer Ze’eira (אליעזר זעירא - literally: “Eliezer the Small”; an otherwise-unknown personality),1 who was observed in Neharde’a wearing black shoes, a deviation from the typical Jewish attire of the time.
When questioned by the Exilarch's officials (בי ריש גלותא) about his unusual choice, Eliezer explained that he wore black as a sign of mourning for the destroyed Temple and Jerusalem (מאבילנא אירושלים).
The officials, doubting his significance to justify such a public display of mourning, accused him of presumption and imprisoned him (חבשוה).
In prison, Eliezer asserted his stature as a scholar, deserving to mourn publicly. To prove his scholarly credentials, he proposed a challenge involving halakha (Jewish law) - he would either answer a legal question posed by them, or they could respond to one he asked. They invited him to pose the question.
(The Talmud then quotes a halachic discussion between them.)
The Passage
אליעזר זעירא הוה סיים מסאני אוכמי,
וקאי בשוקא דנהרדעא.
אשכחוה דבי ריש גלותא, ואמרו ליה: מאי שנא הני מסאני?
אמר להו: דקא מאבילנא אירושלים.
אמרו ליה: את חשיבת לאיתאבולי אירושלים?!
סבור יוהרא הוה, אתיוה וחבשוה.
אמר להו: גברא רבה אנא.
אמרו ליה: מנא ידעינן?
אמר להו: או אתון בעו מינאי מילתא, או אנא איבעי מינייכו מילתא.
אמרו ליה: בעי את.
The Gemara relates: Eliezer Ze’eira was wearing black shoes, unlike the Jewish custom of that time,
and standing in the market of Neharde’a.
Officials of the house of the Exilarch found him and said to him: What is different about you that causes you to wear these shoes?
He said to them: I am wearing them because I am in mourning over the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem, and so I wear black shoes, as is the custom of mourners.
They said to him: Are you a man of such importance to publicly mourn over Jerusalem?!
They thought that it was simply presumptuousness on his part. Since he was acting against the prevalent Jewish custom, they brought him to the prison and incarcerated him.
Eliezer Ze’eira said to them: I am a great man, a scholar, and it is fitting for me to mourn publicly over the destruction of Jerusalem.
They said to him: How do we know that you are a scholar?
He said to them: Either you ask of me a matter of halakha and I will answer you, or I will ask you a matter of halakha and you will answer me. They said to him: You ask.