Pt1 Exploring the Greatness of R' Hiyya (Bava Metzia 85b-86a)
R’ Hiyya’s Greatness; R' Ḥanina and R' Ḥiyya - “Do you think you can debate with me?!”; R' Ḥiyya’s methodical strategy to ensure the Torah is never forgotten
The first part of a three-part series.
Outline
R’ Hiyya’s Greatness
R' Ḥanina and R' Ḥiyya - “Do you think you can debate with me?!”
R' Ḥiyya’s methodical strategy to ensure the Torah is never forgotten
R' Yehuda HaNasi: “How great are the deeds of R' Ḥiyya!”
List of four Sages’ placements in heaven
Story of Elijah guiding an ascension to the Heavenly Yeshiva
Story of Elijah and R’ Yehuda Hanasi
Shmuel Yarḥina’a, physician of R' Yehuda HaNasi
The failed effort to give ordination to Shmuel Yarḥina’a
The passage
R’ Hiyya’s Greatness
Reish Lakish was identifying and marking the burial sites of Sages, but when he reached R' Ḥiyya's cave, he couldn't locate the exact grave, which distressed him as he felt unworthy.
Questioning his worthiness and comparing his Torah study to R' Ḥiyya's, a Divine Voice (בת קול) confirmed that while his analysis (פילפול - pilpul) of Torah was on par, he had not spread1 Torah knowledge as extensively as R' Ḥiyya had.
(The following two sections elaborate on R’ Hiyya’s dissemination of Torah knowledge.)
ריש לקיש הוה מציין מערתא דרבנן,
כי מטא למערתיה דרבי חייא, איעלמא מיניה.
חלש דעתיה.
אמר: רבונו של עולם! לא פלפלתי תורה כמותו?!
יצתה בת קול ואמרה לו: תורה כמותו פלפלת, תורה כמותו לא ריבצת.
Reish Lakish was demarcating burial caves of the Sages.
When he arrived at the cave of R' Ḥiyya, the precise location of his grave eluded him.
Reish Lakish became distressed, as he was apparently unworthy of finding the grave.
He said: Master of the Universe! Did I not analyze the Torah like R' Ḥiyya?!
A Divine Voice emerged and said to him: You did analyze the Torah like him, but you did not disseminate Torah like him.
R' Ḥanina and R' Ḥiyya - “Do you think you can debate with me?!”
In a discussion between R' Ḥanina and R' Ḥiyya on Torah matters, R' Ḥanina confidently claimed that if the Torah were ever forgotten, he could restore it through his analytical skills (pilpul - as above).
R' Ḥiyya countered this by emphasizing his proactive efforts to prevent the Torah from being forgotten in the first place, suggesting that preventing the problem was more valuable than being able to solve it after the fact.
כי הוו מינצו רבי חנינא ורבי חייא,
אמר ליה רבי חנינא לרבי חייא:
בהדי דידי קא מינצית?!
חס וחלילה, אי משתכחא תורה מישראל – מהדרנא לה מפילפולי!
אמר ליה רבי חייא לרבי חנינא:
בהדי דידי קא מינצית?!
דעבדי לתורה דלא תשתכח מישראל!
The Gemara relates: When R' Ḥanina and R' Ḥiyya would debate matters of Torah,
R' Ḥanina would say to R' Ḥiyya:
Do you think you can debate with me?!
Heaven forbid if the Torah were forgotten from the Jewish people, I could restore it with my powers of analysis and intellectual acumen!
R' Ḥiyya said to R' Ḥanina:
Do you think you can debate with me?!
You cannot compare yourself to me, as I am acting to ensure that the Torah will not be forgotten by the Jewish people.
R' Ḥiyya’s methodical strategy to ensure the Torah is never forgotten
R' Ḥiyya detailed his methodical strategy to ensure the Torah is never forgotten:
He starts by sowing flax seeds,
using the flax to create nets,
which he then uses to catch deer.
The deer meat is provided to orphans,
and their hides are used to make parchment for scrolls.
On this parchment, R' Ḥiyya writes the five books of the Torah (חמשה חומשי - literally: “five fifths”),
He then goes to a city, and teaches each of the five books to a different child. Additionally, he teaches six other children the six orders (שיתא סדרי) of the Mishnah.
He instructs these groups to continue reading and teaching each other the Torah and Mishnah until his return.
Thereby safeguarding the continuous knowledge and transmission of the Torah.
מאי עבידנא –
אזילנא, ושדינא כיתנא,
וגדילנא נישבי,
וציידנא טבי,
ומאכילנא בשרייהו ליתמי,
ואריכנא מגילתא
וכתבנא חמשה חומשי,
וסליקנא למתא, ומקרינא חמשה ינוקי בחמשה חומשי, ומתנינא שיתא ינוקי שיתא סדרי,
ואמרנא להו: עד דהדרנא ואתינא, אקרו אהדדי, ואתנו אהדדי,
ועבדי לה לתורה דלא תשתכח מישראל.
R' Ḥiyya elaborated: What do I do to this end?
I go and sow flax seeds
and twine nets with the flax,
and then I hunt deer
and feed their meat to orphans.
Next I prepare parchment from their hides
and I write the five books of the Torah on them.
I go to a city and teach five children the five books, one book per child, and I teach six other children the six orders of the Mishna,
and I say to them: Until I return and come here, read each other the Torah and teach each other the Mishna.
This is how I act to ensure that the Torah will not be forgotten by the Jewish people.
“תורה כמותו לא ריבצת“, on this talmudic idiom, see Hebrew Wiktionary, “הרביץ תורה“.