Pt2 Mourning and Consolation: From the Women of Shekhantziv to the Elders of Yavne (Moed Katan 28b-29a)
This is the second and final part of a two-part series. Part 1 is here; the outline of the series can be found at Part 1.
The Story of the Four Elders Consoling R’ Yishmael upon the death of his sons
Four Elders (R’ Tarfon, R’ Yosei HaGelili, R’ Elazar b Azarya, R’ Akiva)1 console R’ Yishmael upon the death of his sons.
Each derives a kal va-ḥomer: if certain biblical figures were mourned (despite only minor righteousness), all the more so R’ Yishmael’s sons should be mourned.2
R’ Tarfon, R’ Yosei HaGelili, R’ Elazar b Azarya, and R’ Akiva come to console R’ Yishmael upon the death of his sons
תנו רבנן:
כשמתו בניו של רבי ישמעאל
נכנסו ארבעה זקנים לנחמו:
רבי טרפון,
ורבי יוסי הגלילי
ורבי אלעזר בן עזריה,
ורבי עקיבא.
A baraita states the following:
When the sons of R’ Yishmael died,
four Elders entered to console him:
R’ Tarfon,
R’ Yosei HaGelili,
R’ Elazar ben Azarya,
and R’ Akiva.
R’ Tarfon and R’ Akiva plan upcoming protocol of the speeches
אמר להם רבי טרפון:
דעו שחכם גדול הוא
ובקי באגדות,
אל יכנס אחד מכם לתוך דברי חבירו.
R’ Tarfon said to them:
Know that R’ Yishmael is a great Sage
and well versed in aggadot.
Let none of you interrupt (יכנס - literally: “enter”) the words of another,
but rather each person should say something novel of his own.
אמר רבי עקיבא:
ואני אחרון.
R’ Akiva said:
And I shall speak last.
R’ Yishmael - confession of guilt
פתח רבי ישמעאל ואמר:
רבו עונותיו,
תכפוהו אבליו,
הטריח רבותיו פעם ראשונה ושניה.
R’ Yishmael, the mourner, opened and said about himself:
Many are his sins.
Due to this, his bereavements came in quick succession3
and he troubled his teachers once and then a second time
to come and console him.
#1 - R’ Tarfon - a fortiori from Nadav and Avihu - Leviticus 10:6
נענה רבי טרפון ואמר:
״ואחיכם
כל בית ישראל
יבכו את השרפה״.
והלא דברים קל וחומר:
ומה נדב ואביהוא
שלא עשו אלא מצוה אחת,
דכתיב: ״ויקריבו בני אהרן את הדם אליו״ —
כך,
בניו של רבי ישמעאל —
על אחת כמה וכמה.
Having been granted permission to speak,
R’ Tarfon answered (נענה) and said:
With regard to the death of Aaron’s sons it says:
“But let your brethren,
the whole house of Israel,
bewail the burning that YHWH has kindled” (Leviticus 10:6).
Are these matters not inferred a fortiori:
If, with regard to Nadav and Avihu,
who had performed only one mitzva that is explicitly mentioned in the Bible,
as it is written: “And the sons of Aaron brought the blood to him” (Leviticus 9:9),
this was nevertheless stated about them,
then with regard to the sons of R’ Yishmael,
who were well known for their performance of many mitzvot,
all the more so should the entire Jewish people bewail their death.
#2 - R’ Yosei HaGelili - a fortiori from Abijah - I Kings 14:13
נענה רבי יוסי הגלילי ואמר:
״וספדו לו כל ישראל
וקברו אותו״,
והלא דברים קל וחומר:
ומה אביה בן ירבעם
שלא עשה אלא דבר אחד טוב,
דכתיב ביה: ״יען נמצא בו דבר טוב״ —
כך,
בניו של רבי ישמעאל —
על אחת כמה וכמה.
[...]
R’ Yosei HaGelili answered and said:
With regard to Abijah, son of King Jeroboam, the verse states:
“And all Israel shall mourn for him,
and bury him” (I Kings 14:13).
Are these matters not inferred a fortiori:
If, with regard to Abijah, son of Jeroboam (אביה בן ירבעם - c. late 10th century BCE),
who did only one good thing,
as it is written: “Because in him there is found some good thing toward YHWH God of Israel” (I Kings 14:13), i.e., he did only one good thing,
and this was his reward,
then with regard to the sons of R’ Yishmael
all the more so should they be rewarded by having the entire Jewish people mourn for them and bury them.
[...]
#3 - R’ Elazar ben Azarya - a fortiori from Zedekiah - Jeremiah 34:5, 38:10
נענה רבי אלעזר בן עזריה ואמר:
״בשלום תמות
ובמשרפות אבותיך
המלכים הראשונים [אשר היו לפניך
כן] ישרפו לך״,
והלא דברים קל וחומר:
ומה צדקיהו מלך יהודה
שלא עשה אלא מצוה אחת,
שהעלה ירמיה מן הטיט —
כך,
בניו של רבי ישמעאל —
על אחת כמה וכמה.
The baraita continues:
R’ Elazar ben Azarya answered and said:
With regard to King Zedekiah, the verse states:
“But you shall die in peace;
and with the burnings of your fathers,
the former kings that were before you,
so shall they make a burning for you” (Jeremiah 34:5).
Are these matters not inferred a fortiori:
If, with regard to Zedekiah, king of Judea (the 20th and final King of Judah; fl. early 6th century BCE),
who had performed only one mitzva that is explicitly mentioned in the Bible,
for he had Jeremiah lifted out of the mire (טיט - Jeremiah 38:10),
this was nevertheless stated about him,
then with regard to the sons of R’ Yishmael
all the more so should they be rewarded by dying in peace.
#4 - R’ Akiva - a fortiori from Ahab - Zechariah 12:11; I Kings 22:35
נענה רבי עקיבא ואמר:
״ביום ההוא יגדל המספד בירושלם
כמספד הדדרימון [בבקעת מגידו]״,
R’ Akiva answered and said:
The verse states:
“On that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem,
like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon” (Zechariah 12:11).
ואמר רב יוסף:
אלמלא תרגומיה דהאי קרא,
לא הוה ידענא מאי קאמר.
The Talmud comments: With regard to this verse,
Rav Yosef said:
Had it not been for the Aramaic translation of this verse,
we would not have known what it is saying,
as nowhere in the Bible do we find this incident involving Hadadrimmon.
בעידנא ההוא יסגי מספדא בירושלם
כמספדא דאחאב בר עמרי
דקטל יתיה הדדרימון בר טברימון,
וכמספד דיאשיה בר אמון
דקטל יתיה פרעה חגירא בבקעת מגידו.
The Aramaic translation reads as follows:
At that time the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great
as the mourning over Ahab (king of Israel; fl. 9th century BCE), son of Omri,
who was slain by Hadadrimmon, son of Tabrimmon (king of Aram),4
and like the mourning over Josiah (the 16th king of Judah; fl. 7th century BCE), son of Amon,
who was slain by Pharaoh the lame in the valley of Megiddon (in 609 BCE)
והלא דברים קל וחומר:
ומה אחאב מלך ישראל
שלא עשה אלא דבר אחד טוב,
דכתיב: ״והמלך היה מעמד במרכבה נכח ארם״ —
כך,
בניו של רבי ישמעאל —
על אחת כמה וכמה.
The baraita continues:
Are these matters not inferred a fortiori:
If, with regard to Ahab, king of Israel,
who did only one good thing that is explicitly mentioned in the Bible,
as it is written: “And the king was propped up in his chariot facing Aram” (I Kings 22:35), as he did not want the Jewish people to see that he was mortally wounded and flee,
and this, that he was greatly mourned, was nevertheless stated about him,
then the sons of R’ Yishmael
all the more so will be greatly mourned.
Rava and Rabba bar Mari (via R’ Yoḥanan) - Resolve contradictions
Zedekiah “died in peace” since Nebuchadnezzar died in his lifetime - Jer. 39:7
אמר ליה רבא לרבה בר מרי:
כתיב ביה בצדקיהו
״בשלום תמות״,
וכתיב
״ואת עיני צדקיהו עור״!
The Talmud discusses issues in the aforementioned verses:
Rava said to Rabba bar Mari:
It is written with regard to Zedekiah:
“You shall die in peace,”
but elsewhere it is written:
“And he put out Zedekiah’s eyes” (Jeremiah 39:7).
אמר ליה,
הכי אמר רבי יוחנן:
שמת נבוכדנאצר בימיו.
Rabba bar Mari said to him:
R’ Yoḥanan said as follows:
The first verse: “You shall die in peace,” means that Nebuchadnezzar died in Zedekiah’s lifetime
and consequently the latter died in peace, having seen the death of the wicked.
Josiah “gathered in peace” since Temple not destroyed in his days - II Kings 22:20
ואמר רבא לרבה בר מרי,
כתיב ביה ביאשיהו:
״לכן הנני אוסיפך על אבותיך, ונאספת אל קברותיך בשלום״,
וכתיב:
״ויורו היורים למלך יאשיהו״,
And Rava further said to Rabba bar Mari:
It is written with regard to Josiah:
“Behold, therefore I will gather you unto your fathers, and you shall be gathered into your grave in peace” (II Kings 22:20),
and elsewhere it is written:
“And the archers shot at King Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Get me away; for I am grievously wounded” (II Chronicles 35:23).5
ואמר רב יהודה, אמר רב:
שעשאוהו ככברה!
אמר ליה,
הכי אמר רבי יוחנן:
שלא חרב בית המקדש בימיו.
And with regard to this verse R’ Yehuda said that Rav said:
With their many arrows, they made Josiah’s body like a sieve (כברה).
Rabba bar Mari said to him:
R’ Yoḥanan said as follows:
The words “in peace” stated with regard to King Josiah refer to the fact that the (First) Temple was not destroyed in his lifetime,
as the verse itself continues: “And your eyes shall not see all the evil that I will bring upon this place” (II Kings 22:20).
R’ Yoḥanan - Consolers must wait until mourner speaks first - Job 2:13–3:1; 4:1
אמר רבי יוחנן:
אין מנחמין רשאין לומר דבר
עד שיפתח אבל,
שנאמר:
״אחרי כן פתח איוב את פיהו״,
והדר:
״ויען אליפז התימני״.
The Talmud returns to examining the halakhot of consolation.
R’ Yoḥanan said:
The consolers are not permitted to speak words of consolation
until the mourner opens and speaks first.
As it is stated:
“And they sat down with him upon the ground for seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word to him; for they saw that his suffering was very great. After this Job opened his mouth” (Job 2:13–3:1).
And afterward:
“And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said” (Job 4:1).
R’ Abbahu - Mourner reclines at the head of the table - Job 29:25
אמר רבי אבהו:
מנין לאבל שמיסב בראש?
שנאמר:
״אבחר דרכם
ואשב ראש
ואשכון כמלך בגדוד
כאשר אבלים ינחם״.
R’ Abbahu said:
From where is it derived that the mourner reclines (מיסב) at the head [rosh] of the table?
As it is stated:
“I chose out their way,
and sat as chief [rosh],
and dwelt as a king in the army,
as one that comforts [yenaḥem] the mourners” (Job 29:25).
This indicates that the mourner sits at the head of the table, as the chief.
Rav Naḥman b. Yitzḥak - Reads “yinaḥem” (will be comforted) instead of “yenaḥem” (comforts) - Job 29:25
״ינחם״ —
אחריני משמע!
The Talmud raises an objection:
But the word yenaḥem
means that he comforts others,
thereby implying that one who comforts the mourners sits at the head of the table.
אמר רב נחמן בר יצחק:
״ינחם״ כתיב.
Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said:
The word is written as yinaḥem, meaning: “Will be comforted,”
and therefore can be understood as referring to the mourner.
Mar Zutra - Another prooftext: the mourner is made “chief” over those beside him - Amos 6:7
מר זוטרא אמר
מהכא:
״וסר מרזח סרוחים״.
״מרזח״ —
נעשה שר לסרוחים.
Mar Zutra said:
A proof may be derived from here:
The verse “And the revelry [mirzaḥ] of those who stretched themselves out shall pass away [sar]” (Amos 6:7)
means that mirzaḥ, he who is “bitter” [mar] and whose mind is “overwrought” [zaḥ] due to grief,
is made a prince [sar] over those who sit beside him stretched out (סרוחים) below him to comfort him.
R’ Ḥama b. Ḥanina - A groom also reclines at the head, like a priest - Isaiah 61:10
אמר רבי חמא בר חנינא:
מנין לחתן שמיסב בראש?
שנאמר:
״כחתן יכהן פאר״,
מה כהן
בראש
אף חתן
בראש.
R’ Ḥama bar Ḥanina said:
From where is it derived that a groom (חתן) reclines at the head of the table?
As it is stated:
“As a bridegroom decks himself [yekhahen] with a garland” (Isaiah 61:10).
Just as a priest [kohen]
is at the head of the table,
so too, a bridegroom
is at the head of the table.
R’ Yishmael’s School - Priests take precedence - Leviticus 21:8
וכהן גופיה מנלן?
דתנא דבי רבי ישמעאל:
״וקדשתו״,
לכל דבר שבקדושה:
לפתוח ראשון,
ולברך ראשון,
וליטול מנה יפה ראשון.
The Talmud asks: From where do we derive that the priest himself sits at the head?
The Talmud answers: As the school of R’ Yishmael taught:
With regard to a priest it says: “You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God” (Leviticus 21:8),
meaning that you are to sanctify him with regard to all matters of sanctity:
To be first to begin reading the Torah,
to be first to recite the Grace after Meals,
and to be first to take a good portion (מנה יפה) during a meal.
R’ Ḥanina - The soul’s departure is as difficult as a rope through a narrow eye
אמר רבי חנינא:
קשה יציאת נשמה מן הגוף
כציפורי בפי הוושט.
§ The Talmud returns to its discussion of death:
R’ Ḥanina said:
The soul’s departure from the body is as difficult
as it is for a knotted rope6 to pass through an eye [veshet] in a ship’s rigging.
R’ Yoḥanan - Compares death’s difficulty to a rope passing through an eye
רבי יוחנן אמר:
כפטורי בפי וושט.
R’ Yoḥanan said:
It is as difficult as it is for a thick rope7 to pass through an eye [veshet].
R’ Levi b. Ḥayyata - Farewell formulas: To the dead say “Go in peace” ( בשלום); to the living say “Go to peace” ( לשלום)
ואמר רבי לוי בר חיתא:
הנפטר מן המת,
לא יאמר לו ״לך לשלום״,
אלא ״לך בשלום״.
הנפטר מן החי,
לא יאמר לו ״לך בשלום״,
אלא ״לך לשלום״.
And R’ Levi bar Ḥayyata said:
One who departs from the deceased
should not say to him: Go to peace (לשלום),
but rather he should say: Go in peace (בשלום).
One who departs from the living
should not say to him: Go in peace,
but rather he should say: Go to peace.
Prooftexts - Genesis 15:15
הנפטר מן המת,
לא יאמר לו ״לך לשלום״,
אלא ״לך בשלום״,
שנאמר: ״ואתה תבא אל אבותיך בשלום״.
הנפטר מן החי,
לא יאמר לו ״לך בשלום״,
אלא ״לך לשלום״,
One who departs from the deceased
should not say to him: Go to peace,
but rather: Go in peace,
as it is stated: “And you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age” (Genesis 15:15).
One who departs from the living
should not say to him: Go in peace,
but rather: Go to peace,
Disaster of David and Absalom vs success of Jethro and Moses - II Samuel 15:9; Exodus 4:18
שהרי
דוד
שאמר לאבשלום: ״לך בשלום״,
הלך ונתלה,
יתרו
שאמר למשה ״לך לשלום״,
הלך והצליח.
as
David
said to Absalom: “Go in peace” (II Samuel 15:9),
and he subsequently went and was hanged;
whereas Jethro
said to Moses: “Go to peace” (Exodus 4:18),
and he went and was successful.
R’ Levi - One who goes from synagogue to study hall, or vice versa, merits seeing the Shekhina - Psalms 84:8
ואמר רבי לוי:
כל היוצא
מבית הכנסת
לבית המדרש,
ומבית המדרש
לבית הכנסת --
זוכה ומקבל פני שכינה,
שנאמר:
״ילכו מחיל אל חיל
יראה אל אלהים בציון״.
And R’ Levi said:
Anyone who leaves
from the synagogue
and goes to the study hall
or goes from the study hall
to the synagogue,
i.e., he goes from the mitzva of prayer to the mitzva of Torah study or vice versa --
merits to receive the Shekhina,
as it is stated:
“They go from strength to strength,
every one of them appears before God in Zion” (Psalms 84:8).
Rav Ḥiyya b. Ashi citing Rav - Torah scholars have no rest, even in the World-to-Come - Psalms 84:8
אמר רב חייא בר אשי, אמר רב:
תלמידי חכמים אין להם מנוחה אפילו לעולם הבא,
With regard to the same verse, Rav Ḥiyya bar Ashi said that Rav said:
Torah scholars have no rest, even in the World-to-Come,
as even there they remain in constant movement and ascent,
שנאמר:
״ילכו מחיל אל חיל
יראה אל אלהים בציון״.
as it is stated:
“They go from strength to strength,
every one of them appears before God in Zion.”
Even when they are in the World-to-Come, they continue to go from strength to strength, until the final redemption will arrive in the end of days (in the messianic era) and God will appear in Zion.
All members of the 3rd generation of Tannaim (Mishnah sages); fl. early 2nd century CE.
On the literary style here, compare the similarly structured “four sermons of Yavne”, in tractate Berachot, where each one is similarly an ‘a fortiori’ from a biblical precedent; see my two-part series “The Four Sermons of the Mid-Second Century Sages in Yavne: On Hospitality (Xenia) and the Honor of Torah Sages (Berakhot 63b)“, final part: Pt2.
On this verb, see Jastrow (modernized), entry “תָּכַף”:
(see כפף)
1) to seize, join, bring into close contact.
Mishnah Kilayim 9:10 - התּוֹכֵף וכ׳, see תְּכִיפָה.
Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 1:1:30 - מי שהוא תוכף סמיכה וכ׳ - “he that performs the acts of putting on the hand and of slaughtering in immediate succession” (usually: סָמַךְ).
2) to seize, catch, overtake.
Taanit 13b:4 - תְּכָפוּהוּ אבליו וכ׳, see אֵבֶל; Moed Katan 17b; and elsewhere.
Hif’il: - הִתְכִּיף same, to join.
Bereishit Rabbah 67 (referring to Isaiah 63:16) - “and where is Isaac?” מי … את מַתְכִּיפוֹ לאבות - “he who said to him (Esau), decree persecutions over him,
would you join him to (include him with) the Patriarchs?”
And compare the related adverb תֵּכֶף, ibid, entry “תֵּכֶף”:
immediate succession; (adverb) immediately after.
Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 1:1:30 - ת׳ לנטילת וכ׳ - “the benediction (over bread) should immediately follow the washing of the hands”
Bavli Berakhot 42a:8;
and frequently.
For the passage in Berakhot, see Berakhot/42a#7:
[…]
אמר רבי חייא בר אשי, אמר רב:
שלש תכיפות הן:
תכף לסמיכה
שחיטה,
תכף לגאולה
תפלה,
תכף לנטילת ידים
ברכה
[…]
R’ Ḥiyya bar Ashi said that Rav said:
There are 3 pairs that immediately (תכיפות) follow each other:
Immediately (תכף) following placing hands (סמיכה - semicha) on the head of a sacrifice,
is its slaughter;
immediately following the blessing of redemption (גאולה) recited after Shema,
is the Amida prayer;
and immediately following the ritual washing of the hands after a meal,
is the blessing of Grace after Meals.
אמר אביי,
אף אנו נאמר:
תכף לתלמידי חכמים —
ברכה.
שנאמר:
״ויברכני ה׳ בגללך״.
איבעית אימא מהכא,
שנאמר:
״ויברך ה׳ את בית המצרי בגלל יוסף״.
Abaye said that on a similar note, we too will say:
Immediately following the entrance of Torah scholars into a house —
a blessing rests upon that house,
as it is stated with regard to Laban and Jacob:
“YHWH has blessed me because of you” (Genesis 30:27).
If you wish, say instead, that the proof is from here,
as it is stated:
“And it was from when he placed him in charge of his house and over all that he owned, YHWH blessed the house of the Egyptian on account of Joseph” (Genesis 39:5).
On Ahab’s funeral honors, compare the Talmud elsewhere, in my “The Funeral Honors of Hezekiah in II Chronicles 32:33 (Bava Kamma 16b-17a)“, section “R’ Neḥemya - Bared shoulders cannot be the special honor, since the same was done for Ahab“, and see my note there.
During the Battle of Megiddo (609 BCE) against the Egyptian army under Pharaoh Necho II, referred to earlier in the sugya.
ציפורי - tzippori.
On this word, see Jastrow (modernized), entry “צִיפּוֹרֵי”:
(צְפַר II)
whirling waters.
Moed Katan 29a:1 כציפורי בפי וכ׳, see פִּיטּוּרֵי; [Rashi: “like a knotted rope passing through a loop-hole in the mast”);
Kohelet Rabbah to 6, 7 כציפורן, see צִפּוֹרֶן.]
And see my next footnote.
פטורי - pitirei.
On this word, see Jastrow (modernized), entry “פִּיטּוּרֵי”:
(פָּטַר; compare Proverbs 17:14)
water rushing through bars.
Berakhot 8a:13 - “death from croup is” כפיטורי בפי ושט - “like the gushing water at the entrance of a canal” (when the sluice-bars are raised); [Manuscript Beit Natan: כפרוקי פטורי בפי ושט; Manuscript Munich, marginal variant: כפיטוני לפי ושט, see Rabbinowicz, ‘Dikdukei Sofrim’ there, note 4; Rashi referring to פטורי צצים, I Kings 6:18, Targum אטונין: “like ropes pulled through loop-holes in the boards of a ship”].
Moed Katan 28b, sq. - “the departure of the soul from the body is“ כצפורי בפי (ה)וושט ר׳ י׳ אמר כפטורי בפי וושט - “as the whirling waters rushing into the entrance of the channel; R’ Yohanan says, as the water rushing through etc.”; [Rashi: “as the knots of ropes with which two ships are tied together”; for textual variants. see Rabbinowicz, ‘Dikdukei Sofrim’ there, note 60];
Vayikra Rabbah 4 כפיטורין היוצאין מן הוושט as the rushing waters leaving the channel;
Midrash Tanḥuma ed. Buber, Mick. 15 כפיטורי היוצאת בפי ושט (Manuscript Parma כפיטורין; Manuscript Rome: כקפיטורין);
Midrash Tanḥuma ibid. 10 כקפוטורין יוצאה מתוך הושט;
Kohelet Rabbah to 6, 7 כקפיטורין מתוך הושט.