“My God! I hate you”: Reish Lakish and R' Yoḥanan on the Consequences of Babylonian Partial Aliyah During Ezra's Era (Yoma 9b)
Intro
The Talmud tells an anecdote about a number of 2nd generation amoraim of Eretz Yisrael.
The Passage
Story of Reish Lakish and Rabba bar bar Ḥana
Reish Lakish was swimming in the Jordan River when Rabba bar bar Ḥana offered him a hand to help him out.
Reish Lakish expressed his disdain for Babylonians, citing a verse from Song of Songs (8:9) and explaining that if all Jews had returned to Israel in the days of Ezra (fl. 480–440 BCE), they would have experienced the full Divine Presence, likened to silver. However, since only some returned, they were likened to cedar, which rots and experiences only partial Divine Presence.
ריש לקיש הוי סחי בירדנא
אתא רבה בר בר חנה יהב ליה ידא.
אמר ליה: אלהא! סנינא לכו — דכתיב: ״אם חומה היא, נבנה עליה טירת כסף, ואם דלת היא, נצור עליה לוח ארז״.
אם עשיתם עצמכם כחומה ועליתם כולכם בימי עזרא — נמשלתם ככסף, שאין רקב שולט בו, עכשיו שעליתם כדלתות — נמשלתם כארז, שהרקב שולט בו.
Reish Lakish was swimming in the Jordan River
when Rabba bar bar Ḥana came and gave him a hand to help him out.
Reish Lakish said to him: My God! I hate you Babylonians, as it is written: “If she be a wall we will build a silver turret upon her, if she be a door we will cover her with boards of cedar” (Song of Songs 8:9).
This is the meaning of the verse as it applies to the Jewish people: Had you rendered yourselves a solid bloc like a wall and all ascended to Eretz Yisrael in the days of Ezra, you would have been likened to silver, which rot does not infest, in the sense that you would have merited experiencing the Divine Presence in all its glory. Now that you ascended like doors, and only some of you came to Eretz Yisrael, you are likened to cedar, which rot infests, and you merit experiencing only partial revelation of the Divine Presence.
What rot infests cedar?
The Talmud inquires about the type of rot that affects cedar, identified by Ulla as a worm called sasmagor.
R' Abba (רבי אבא) explains that just as little remains of a cedar infested by this worm, only a Divine Voice (בת קול) remained from the Divine Presence during the Second Temple period, but the the Holy Spirit (רוח הקדש - Steinzaltz translates this as “Divine Spirit”) departed.
מאי ארז?
אמר עולא: ססמגור.
מאי ססמגור?
אמר רבי אבא: בת קול.
כדתניא: משמתו נביאים האחרונים -- חגי זכריה ומלאכי -- נסתלקה רוח הקדש מישראל, ועדיין היו משתמשין בבת קול.
The Gemara asks: What rot infests cedar?
Ulla said: It is sasmagor, a type of worm.
The Gemara asks: What does sasmagor have to do with the Divine Presence during the Second Temple era?
R' Abba said: Just as little remains from a cedar tree infested by this worm, similarly, all that remained from the Divine Presence during the Second Temple period was a Divine Voice,
as it was taught in a baraita: After the last prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi died, the Divine Spirit of prophetic revelation departed from the Jewish people, and they were still utilizing a Divine Voice, which they heard as an echo of prophecy.
Would Reish Lakish speak with Rabba bar bar Ḥana in public?!
A question arises regarding whether Reish Lakish would speak publicly with Rabba bar bar Ḥana, given his selective communication.
Rav Pappa suggests that the incident might have involved different individuals, either Reish Lakish and Ze’iri or Rabba bar bar Ḥana and R' Elazar.
וריש לקיש, מי משתעי בהדי רבה בר בר חנה?!
ומה רבי (אליעזר), דמרא דארעא דישראל הוה, ולא הוה משתעי ריש לקיש בהדיה,
דמאן דמשתעי ריש לקיש בהדיה בשוקא, יהבו ליה עיסקא בלא סהדי —
בהדי רבה בר בר חנה משתעי?!
אמר רב פפא, שדי גברא בינייהו:
או ריש לקיש הוה, וזעירי,
או רבה בר בר חנה הוה, ורבי אלעזר.
The Gemara asks: And would Reish Lakish speak with Rabba bar bar Ḥana in public?!
If R' Elazar, who was the master of Eretz Yisrael in wisdom and character, and nevertheless, Reish Lakish would not speak with him in public, as Reish Lakish was sparing in his speech and extended friendship to only a select few prominent, righteous people,
to the extent that a person to whom Reish Lakish was seen speaking in the marketplace, one would give him a loan and do business with him without witnesses;
would he have spoken with Rabba bar bar Ḥana?!
Rav Pappa said: Cast a man between them, and say that the incident did not involve Reish Lakish and Rabba bar bar Ḥana:
It was either Reish Lakish bathing in the river and Ze’iri, the prominent Babylonian Sage, who extended him a hand,
or it was Rabba bar bar Ḥana who was in the river and R' Elazar extended a hand to him. In any event, when the Sage who heard what Reish Lakish said came before R' Yoḥanan and related it,
R' Yoḥanan’s view
When the account reached R' Yoḥanan, he disagreed with Reish Lakish's reasoning, stating that even if all Jews had returned in Ezra's time, the Divine Presence (שכינה - Shekhinah) would not have rested in the Second Temple, referencing a verse from Genesis (9:27).
כי אתא לקמיה דרבי יוחנן, אמר ליה:
לאו היינו טעמא,
אי נמי סליקו כולהו בימי עזרא, לא הוה שריא שכינה במקדש שני,
דכתיב:
[…]
R' Yoḥanan said to him:
That is not the reason;
even had they all ascended in the days of Ezra, the Divine Presence would not have rested in the Second Temple,
as it is written:
[…]