Rav Kahana vs. R’ Yoḥanan, Babylonia vs. Eretz Yisrael: Rav Kahana’s Flight, Resurrection, and Recognition (Bava Kamma 117a-b)
This sugya centers on a dramatic story that occurred circa mid-3rd century CE, focusing on Rav Kahana (רב כהנא), a Babylonian sage whose zealous action triggers a chain of events involving exile, mistaken death, and miraculous resurrection.
The narrative opens with a man declaring his intent to betray a fellow Jew’s property to non-Jewish authorities. Rav explicitly prohibits this, but the man persists. Rav Kahana, witnessing this defiance, kills him on the spot. Rav Kahana’s teacher Rav justifies the act using Isaiah 51:20, arguing that surrendering Jewish assets to hostile powers endangers lives and nullifies mercy.1
Yet times have changed: Greek (=Hellenistic) authorities now enforce laws against vigilante violence. Rav warns Rav Kahana to flee to Eretz Yisrael and, as a condition of continued Torah study, to remain silent before R' Yoḥanan for seven years.2
Rav Kahana complies—almost too well. When he arrives, he silently defers to R' Yoḥanan even when he knows better. Misreading this as incompetence, Kahana is physically demoted through the ranks. Rav Kahana finally prays that these humiliations count in place of the seven years, begins asking sharp questions, and quickly restores his status—causing R' Yoḥanan to be demoted, demonstrated by having his seat cushions physically removed.
But tragedy strikes: Yoḥanan sees Rav Kahana’s cleft lip (פריטה שפוותיה) and wrongly thinks he’s being mocked. Deeply hurt, he causes Rav Kahana’s death (via evil eye).
The next day, realizing the misunderstanding, Yoḥanan begs for forgiveness and resurrects Rav Kahana through prayer. The two reconcile, and Rav Kahana answers all of R' Yoḥanan’s unresolved doubts. The sugya ends with a rare moment of Babylonian triumph: R' Yoḥanan, once the emblem of Eretz Yisrael’s Torah greatness, concedes, 'What I thought was yours is theirs'—an admission that Babylonian Torah, through Rav Kahana, has surpassed his own.
Outline
Intro
The Passage - Rav Kahana vs. R’ Yoḥanan, Babylonia vs. Eretz Yisrael: Rav Kahana’s Flight, Resurrection, and Recognition (Bava Kamma 117a-b)
The Informer and the Forbidden Disclosure; Rav Kahana’s Vigilante Act; Rav’s Justification: Isaiah 51:20 and the Antelope Metaphor
A Shift in Regime: From Persian (=Parthian) Tolerance to Greek (=Hellenistic) Justice; Kahana’s Exile and the Condition of Silence
First Contact: Reish Lakish Recognizes the “Lion from Babylonia”
Rav Kahana Seven Silences and consequent Seven Demotions
Rav Kahana Resumes His Challenges; He is restored to the front row
Rav Kahana’s Split Lip, R' Yoḥanan's Misjudgment, and Rav Kahana’s Consequent Death by Offense
R' Yoḥanan Visits Rav Kahana’s Grave and Resurrects Him
R' Yoḥanan’s recognition of Babylonian scholarly supremacy
Appendix - “Ascending” (‘Aliyah’) from Babylonia to Eretz Yisrael – Notes on the Term
The Passage
The Informer and the Forbidden Disclosure; Rav Kahana’s Vigilante Act; Rav’s Justification: Isaiah 51:20 and the Antelope Metaphor
A man informs Rav of his intent to report his peer’s straw to the authorities. Rav explicitly forbids him. The man insists he will do it anyway.
Rav Kahana, present at the time, kills him.3 Rav Kahana’s teacher Rav justifies this extrajudicial act by citing Isaiah 51:20 and comparing the situation to an antelope caught in a trap—once a Jew’s property falls into non-Jewish hands, it leads to mortal danger.
ההוא גברא דהוה בעי אחוויי אתיבנא דחבריה.
אתא לקמיה דרב,
אמר ליה: ״לא תחוי ולא תחוי!״
אמר ליה: ״מחוינא ומחוינא!״
יתיב רב כהנא קמיה דרב,
שמטיה לקועיה מיניה.
קרי רב עילויה:
״בניך עלפו
שכבו בראש כל חוצות
כתוא מכמר״;
מה תוא זה,
כיון שנפל במכמר –
אין מרחמין עליו;
אף ממון של ישראל,
כיון שנפל ביד גוים –
אין מרחמין עליו.
The Talmud relates another incident: There was a certain man who desired to show another individual’s straw to the non-Jew authorities, who would seize it.
He came before Rav,
who said to him: Do not show it and do not show it, i.e., you are absolutely prohibited from showing it.
The man said to him: I will show it and I will show it, i.e., I will certainly show it.
Rav Kahana was sitting before Rav,
and, hearing the man’s response, he dislodged the man’s neck from him, i.e., he broke his neck and killed him.
Seeing Rav Kahana’s action, Rav read the following verse about him:
“Your sons have fainted,
they lie at the head of all the streets,
as an antelope in a net” (Isaiah 51:20).
Just as with regard to this antelope,
once it falls into the net,
the hunter does not have mercy upon it,
so too with regard to the money of a Jew,
once it falls into the hand of non-Jews,
they do not have mercy upon him, i.e., the Jew.
Since non-Jews who seek a Jew’s money will kill him in order to seize the property, Rav Kahana acted appropriately when he broke the miscreant’s neck, as he protected the Jew’s property and, by extension, the Jew himself.
A Shift in Regime: From Persian (=Parthian) Tolerance to Greek (=Hellenistic) Justice; Kahana’s Exile and the Condition of Silence
Rav then cautions Kahana that times have changed: under Greek (=Hellenistic/Sassanian) rule, unlike the Persians (=Parthians), bloodshed is prosecuted.4
He sends Kahana to Eretz Yisrael with the condition that he not challenge R' Yoḥanan for 7 years.
אמר ליה רב:
״כהנא!
עד האידנא הוו פרסאי –
דלא קפדי אשפיכות דמים,
והשתא איכא יוונאי –
דקפדו אשפיכות דמים,
ואמרי: ׳מרדין, מרדין׳.
קום סק לארעא דישראל,
וקביל עלך דלא תקשי לרבי יוחנן שבע שנין״.
Rav then said to Rav Kahana:
Kahana!
until now there were Persian rulers
who were not particular about bloodshed.
But now there are Greeks
who are particular about bloodshed,
and they will say: Murder [meradin], murder, and they will press charges against you.
Therefore, get up and ascend to Eretz Yisrael to study there under R' Yoḥanan,
and accept upon yourself that you will not raise any difficulties to the statements of R' Yoḥanan for 7 years.
First Contact: Reish Lakish Recognizes the “Lion from Babylonia”
In Eretz Yisrael, Rav Kahana observes Reish Lakish summarizing R' Yoḥanan’s lecture and offers alternative readings.
Impressed, Reish Lakish alerts R' Yoḥanan: “A lion has come from Babylonia,5 the Master should examine (לעיין) [the discourse he will deliver] in the ‘sitting’6 of tomorrow”.
אזיל,
אשכחיה לריש לקיש
דיתיב וקא מסיים מתיבתא דיומא לרבנן.
אמר להו: ריש לקיש היכא?
אמרו ליה: אמאי?
אמר להו:
האי קושיא והאי קושיא,
והאי פירוקא והאי פירוקא.
אמרו ליה לריש לקיש.
אזל ריש לקיש אמר ליה לרבי יוחנן:
״ארי עלה מבבל,
לעיין מר במתיבתא דלמחר״.
Rav Kahana went to Eretz Yisrael
and found Reish Lakish,
who was sitting and reviewing R' Yoḥanan’s daily lecture in the academy for the Rabbis, i.e., the students in the academy.
When he finished, Rav Kahana said to the students: Where is Reish Lakish?
They said to him: Why do you wish to see him?
Rav Kahana said to them:
I have this difficulty and that difficulty with his review of R' Yoḥanan’s lecture,
and this resolution and that resolution to the questions he raised.
They told this to Reish Lakish.
Reish Lakish then went and said to R' Yoḥanan:
A lion has ascended from Babylonia,
and the Master ought to examine the discourse he will deliver in the academy tomorrow, as Rav Kahana may raise difficult questions about the material.
Rav Kahana Seven Silences and consequent Seven Demotions
Rav Kahana is seated in the front row, but in deference to Rav’s charge, he does not raise any objections to R' Yoḥanan’s statements.
Each silence leads to his demotion by one row, until he reaches the back.
R' Yoḥanan concludes: “The lion has become a fox.”
למחר
אותבוה בדרא קמא קמיה דרבי יוחנן.
אמר שמעתתא – ולא אקשי,
שמעתתא – ולא אקשי;
אנחתיה אחורי שבע דרי,
עד דאותביה בדרא בתרא.
אמר ליה רבי יוחנן לרבי שמעון בן לקיש:
״ארי שאמרת –
נעשה שועל!״.
The next day,
they seated Rav Kahana in the first row, in front of R' Yoḥanan.
R' Yoḥanan stated a halakha and Rav Kahana did not raise a difficulty, in accordance with Rav’s instruction.
R' Yoḥanan stated another halakha and again, Rav Kahana did not raise a difficulty.
As a result, they placed Rav Kahana further back by one row.
This occurred until he had been moved back 7 rows,
until he was seated in the last row.
R' Yoḥanan said to R' Shimon ben Lakish:
The lion you mentioned
has become a fox, i.e., he is not knowledgeable.
Rav Kahana Resumes His Challenges; He is restored to the front row
Rav Kahana then prays that these 7 demotions substitute for the 7 years he was instructed to remain silent.
He asks R' Yoḥanan to repeat the lesson and begins challenging him effectively.
He is restored to the front row.
Unable to respond to Rav Kahana’s questions, they remove R' Yoḥanan’s cushions one after another—symbolically lowering him—until he sits on the floor.
אמר:
יהא רעוא
דהני שבע דרי
להוו חילוף שבע שנין דאמר לי רב.
קם אכרעיה,
אמר ליה: ״נהדר מר ברישא״.
אמר שמעתתא,
ואקשי.
אוקמיה בדרא קמא.
אמר שמעתתא, ואקשי.
רבי יוחנן הוה יתיב אשבע בסתרקי,
שלפי ליה חדא בסתרקא מתותיה.
אמר שמעתתא – ואקשי ליה,
עד דשלפי ליה כולהו בסתרקי מתותיה,
עד דיתיב על ארעא.
Rav Kahana said to himself:
May it be God’s will
that these 7 rows I have been moved
should replace the 7 years that Rav told me to wait before raising difficulties to the statements of R' Yoḥanan.
He stood up on his feet
and said to R' Yoḥanan: Let the Master go back to the beginning of the discourse and repeat what he said.
R' Yoḥanan stated a halakha
and Rav Kahana raised a difficulty.
Therefore, they placed him in the first row,
and again, Rav Yoḥanan stated a halakha, and he raised a difficulty.
R' Yoḥanan was sitting upon 7 cushions [bistarkei] so that he could be seen by all the students,
and since he could not answer Rav Kahana’s questions, he removed one cushion from under himself to demonstrate that he was lowering himself out of respect for Rav Kahana.
He then stated another halakha and Rav Kahana raised another difficulty.
This happened repeatedly until R' Yoḥanan removed all the cushions from underneath himself
until he was sitting on the ground.
Rav Kahana’s Split Lip, R' Yoḥanan's Misjudgment, and Rav Kahana’s Consequent Death by Offense
R' Yoḥanan is quite elderly; his (long) eyebrows (גביניה) obscure his vision.
Once they are lifted,7 he sees Rav Kahana’s split lip and mistakenly believes he is smirking.
Offended, R' Yoḥanan's distress leads to Kahana’s death.8
רבי יוחנן גברא סבא הוה
ומסרחי גביניה,
אמר להו: דלו לי עיני ואחזייה.
דלו ליה במכחלתא דכספא.
חזא דפריטה שפוותיה,
סבר אחוכי קמחייך ביה.
חלש דעתיה,
ונח נפשיה.
R' Yoḥanan was an old man
and his eyebrows drooped over his eyes.
He said to his students: Uncover my eyes for me and I will see Rav Kahana,
so they uncovered his eyes for him with a silver eye brush.
Once his eyes were uncovered, R' Yoḥanan saw that Rav Kahana’s lips were split
and thought that Rav Kahana was smirking at him.
As a result, R' Yoḥanan was offended,
and Rav Kahana died.
R' Yoḥanan Visits Rav Kahana’s Grave and Resurrects Him
The next day, the students explain that Kahana’s lips naturally appear that way.
Realizing his mistake, R' Yoḥanan visits Kahana’s grave, which is blocked by a serpent (עכנא) forming a circle.9
Only when R' Yoḥanan refers to himself as Kahana’s student does the snake allow him to enter.10
R' Yoḥanan prays and revives11 Rav Kahana.
למחר
אמר להו רבי יוחנן לרבנן: חזיתו לבבלאה היכי עביד?
אמרו ליה: דרכיה הכי.
על לגבי מערתא,
חזא דהוה הדרא ליה עכנא.
אמר ליה:
״עכנא, עכנא!
פתח פומיך
ויכנס הרב אצל תלמיד״,
ולא פתח.
״יכנס חבר אצל חבר״,
ולא פתח.
״יכנס תלמיד אצל הרב״,
פתח ליה.
בעא רחמי
ואוקמיה.
The next day,
R' Yoḥanan said to the Rabbis, his students: Did you see how that Babylonian, Rav Kahana, behaved in such a disrespectful manner?
They said to him: His usual manner of appearance is such, and he was not mocking you.
Hearing this, R' Yoḥanan went up to Rav Kahana’s burial cave
and saw that it was encircled by a serpent [akhna], which had placed its tail in its mouth, completely encircling the cave and blocking the entrance.
R' Yoḥanan said to it:
Serpent, serpent!
open your mouth and allow the teacher to enter and be near the disciple,
but the serpent did not open its mouth to allow him entry.
He then said: Allow a colleague to enter and be near his colleague,
but still the serpent did not open its mouth.
R' Yoḥanan said: Allow the disciple to enter and be near the teacher, referring to Rav Kahana as his own teacher.
The snake then opened its mouth for him to allow him entry.
R' Yoḥanan requested divine mercy from God
and raised Rav Kahana from the dead.
R' Yoḥanan’s recognition of Babylonian scholarly supremacy
Kahana initially refuses to return to the study hall unless guaranteed he will not die again.
Since the decreed time for his death had passed, he returns.
R' Yoḥanan proceeds to ask Kahana about all his unresolved doubts, which Kahana successfully resolves.
This leads to R' Yoḥanan stating: “What I said was yours12 is theirs”.13
אמר ליה:
״אי הוה ידענא דדרכיה דמר הכי,
לא חלשא דעתי;
השתא ליתי מר בהדן״.
אמר ליה:
״אי מצית למיבעי רחמי דתו לא שכיבנא – אזילנא,
ואי לא – לא אזילנא,
הואיל וחליף שעתא, חליף״.
תייריה אוקמיה.
שייליה כל ספיקא דהוה ליה,
ופשטינהו ניהליה.
היינו דאמר רבי יוחנן:
״דילכון אמרי;
דילהון היא״.
R' Yoḥanan said to Rav Kahana:
Had I known that this was the Master’s manner of appearance,
I would not have been offended.
Now let the Master come with me to the study hall.
Rav Kahana said to him:
If you are able to request divine mercy so that I will not die again, I will go with you,
and if not, I will not go with you.
The Talmud comments: Since the time decreed for his death had passed, it had passed.
R' Yoḥanan then completely awakened him and stood him up.
Thereafter, he asked him about every uncertainty that he had,
and Rav Kahana resolved each of them for him.
And this is the background to that which R' Yoḥanan says to his students on several occasions:
What I said was yours
is in fact theirs,
i.e., I thought that the Torah scholars in Eretz Yisrael were the most advanced, but in fact the scholars of Babylonia are the most advanced, as evidenced by Rav Kahana’s knowledge.
Appendix - “Ascending” (‘Aliyah’) from Babylonia to Eretz Yisrael – Notes on the Term
Compare the literary line that I cite in “A Cycle of Five Elegeic Poems in the Talmud (Moed Katan 25b)“, section “A young man’s Eulogy for Rabba bar Rav Huna“:
גזע ישישים
עלה מבבל
The shoot of an ancient line, i.e., Rabba bar Rav Huna, who was the descendant of great people,
has ascended from Babylonia
I note there that this second clause (עלה מבבל) is possibly alluding to the verse in Ezra.7.6:14
הוא עזרא עלה מבבל
that Ezra came up from Babylon
Compare also the famous Mishnah in the fourth chapter of tractate Kiddushin, which begins with:
עשרה יוחסין עלו מבבל
Literally:
Ten lineages (יוחסין) ascended from Babylonia [to Eretz Yisrael]
Ed. Steinsaltz translates and interprets:
There were ten categories of lineage, with varying restrictions on marriage, among the Jews who ascended from Babylonia to Eretz Yisrael with Ezra before the building of the Second Temple.
In general, the standard classical Hebrew term for going from Babylonia to Eretz Yisrael is “ascended, went up”, already in the Bible. See Hebrew Wikipedia, “עלייה לארץ ישראל“, section “מקור ומשמעות המונח“, my translation:
An early mention of the term aliyah appears in the Bible, in the Book of Genesis, when the sons of Jacob came from Egypt to the Land [of Israel] to bury their father—they are referred to as olim [those who ascend].
In Numbers 13:30, Caleb son of Jephunneh says: ‘Caleb silenced the people before Moses, and said: Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it.’ […]
The term is also found in the Mishnah: ‘All are brought up to Eretz Yisrael, but not all are taken out’ [Ketubot 13:11].
And in a tangential statement in the Babylonian Talmud: ‘The Land of Israel is higher than all other lands’ [Kiddushin 69a].
And see Wikipedia, “Aliyah“, section “Terminology“:
The Hebrew word aliyah means "ascent" or "going up".
Jewish tradition views traveling to the Land of Israel as an ascent, both geographically and metaphysically.
In one opinion, the geographical sense preceded the metaphorical one, as most Jews going on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, which is situated at approximately 750 meters (2,500 feet) above sea level, had to climb to a higher geographic elevation.
The reason is that many Jews in early rabbinic times used to live either in Egypt's Nile Delta and on the plains of Babylonia, which lay relatively low; or somewhere in the Mediterranean Basin, from where they arrived by ship.
It is noteworthy that various references in the earlier books of the Bible indicate that Egypt was considered as being "below" other countries, so that going to Egypt was described as "going down to Egypt" while going away from Egypt (including Hebrews going out of Egypt to Canaan) was "going up out of Egypt".
Thus, in the Book of Genesis 46 God speaks to Jacob and says “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you."
And in the Book of Exodus 1, the oppressive new King of Egypt suspects the Hebrews of living in Egypt of being enemies who in time of war might "Fight against us, and so get them up out of the land".
Going from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia - “descending”
Conversely, going from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia is referred to as “descending”, compare the nahotei (נחותי).
See Hebrew Wikipedia, “נחותי“, my translation:
The Neḥutei (an Aramaic word meaning 'those who go down', also called our rabbis who descend from the Land) were sages in the Talmudic period who would travel from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia and vice versa, serving as emissaries and intermediaries between the two great centers of Amoraic scholarship that produced the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds (e.g. Rav Avina, Ulla, and Rav Dimi).
This connection lasted for at least 150 years.
Explanation of the Name
The Talmudic rabbis refer to anyone leaving Eretz Yisrael for another land as 'descending' (yeridah).
[This terms is interpreted] based on the philosophical principle that 'Eretz Yisrael is higher than all other lands'.
This principle already appears in the Torah in the verse: 'I shall go down with you to Egypt, and I shall surely bring you up again' (Genesis 46:4).
The Aramaic word for 'descend' is naḥat, plural neḥutei, and in Modern Hebrew too, noḥet means someone going down.
The major Torah and leadership centers of Judaism during the Talmudic period were in Babylonia and Eretz Yisrael, and communication between them was maintained via these sages who traveled back and forth.
For this reason, some refer to the Neḥutei as 'connectors' or mekashrim.
Some sages moved to Eretz Yisrael after studying in Babylonia for a long time, and vice versa. These too were called Neḥutei, since in moving to the other center they carried significant Talmudic tradition with them.15
For another interesting story featuring Rav Kahana and his teacher Rav, see my “Three Stories: Mistaken Death Caused by the Angel of Death's agent; R' Yehoshua ben Ḥananya and a Heretic in Caesar’s Palace; and Rav Kahana’s Voyeuristic Eavesdropping on Rav (Chagigah 4b-5b)“, section “Story of Rav Kahana’s voyeurism, listening in on Rav having sex”:
רב כהנא הוה גני תותי פורייה דרב,
ושמעיה דסח, וצחק,
ועשה צרכיו.
אמר: דמי פומיה דרב, כמאן דלא טעים ליה תבשילא.
אמר ליה:
כהנא!
פוק!
לאו אורח ארעא!
Rav Kahana lying beneath Rav’s bed (פורייה),
and he heard Rav chatting and laughing with his wife,
and performing his needs, i.e., having sex with her.
Rav Kahana said out loud: The mouth of Rav is like one who has never eaten a cooked dish, i.e., his behavior is lustful.
Rav said to him:
Kahana!
leave!
as this is not proper conduct.
And see the related story with Rav Kahana and Rav in my “Pt2 Snowy Mountains and Three Legs: Aphorisms and Metaphorical Portraits of Aging in the Talmud (Shabbat 152a)“, section “Story: Rav Kahana Interprets Rav's Sigh As Lack of Libido or Struggle With Sexual Dysfunction“:
״ותפר האביונה״ —
זו חמדה.
רב כהנא הוה פסיק סידרא קמיה דרב.
כי מטא להאי קרא,
נגיד ואתנח.
אמר:
שמע מינה
בטל ליה חמדיה דרב
“And the caper berry (אביונה) shall fail” (Ecclesiastes 12:5) —
this is sexual desire (חמדה) that ceases (E.B. playing on אביונה to mean אבה - “want, desire”)
The Talmud relates that Rav Kahana was reading biblical verses (פסיק סידרא) before Rav.
When he got to this verse [=Ecclesiastes 12:5]
Rav sighed (נגיד ואתנח)
Rav Kahana said [to himself]:
We can derive from this that
Rav’s desire (חמדיה - i.e. sexual libido) has ceased.
See also my recent piece for another extended Talmudic story featuring R' Yoḥanan: “The Beauty and the Bandit: The Talmudic Tragedy of R' Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish (Bava Metzia 84a)“.
On vigilante justice of an informer in Talmudic and post-Talmudic literature, see my previous pieces:
“Pt1 Thief-Catching, Corpulence, and Virility: Stories of R' Elazar ben Shimon and R' Yishmael ben Yosei (Bava Metzia 83b-84a)”, see my extended note on section “"Vinegar Son of Wine" or "Removing Thorns from the Vineyard"? The Debate Between R’ Yehoshua ben Korḥa and R’ Elazar ben Shimon on Handing Jews Over to Roman Authorities“
“Pt3 Rabbinic Elitism and the Am Ha’aretz: Hierarchy, Hostility, Hatred, and Distrust (Pesachim 49b)“, section “Appendix 3 - Treatment of Outsiders and Transgressors: Rules for Rescuing Non-Jews, Shepherds, Heretics, Informers, and Apostates (Avodah Zarah 26a-b = Tosefta Bava Metzia 2:13)“
ואמרי: ׳מרדין, מרדין׳ - “and they will say: Murder, murder!“
See Jastrow:
Hai Gaon derives our w[ord] from the Persian, giving it the meaning of murder;
Fleisher, 'Appendix to Levy’s Targumic or Talmudic Lexicon' 3, p. 317b suggests murdan, to die.
Based on this, the word is cognate with English murder.
ארי עלה מבבל.
On “ascending from Babylonia [to Eretz Yisrael]”, see my appendix at the end of this piece: “Appendix - “Ascending” (‘Aliyah’) from Babylonia to Eretz Yisrael – Notes on the Term“.
מתיבתא.
This is the direct Aramaic equivalent of the Hebrew yeshiva - “sitting”. On the term yeshiva in the sense of a study session, see my recent note and appendix, here, section “Appendix 2 - ‘Yeshiva’ (formal Torah study) always existed - A List of 6 major periods and personalities from the Pentateuch (Yoma 28b): the Biblical Patriarchs, and in Egypt and in the Wilderness“.
And compare also the Talmudic concept of a “Heavenly Yeshiva” (מתיבתא דרקיעא), for example here and here. And see “Pt2 Selected Dream Interpretations, Especially Those Relating to Illicit Sex (Berakhot 56a-57b)“, section “Sex with a goose = will become head of the yeshiva“:
והבא עליה --
הוי ראש ישיבה.
אמר רב אשי:
אני ראיתיה,
ובאתי עליה,
וסלקית לגדולה.
One who dreams that he has sex with the goose —
will become head of the yeshiva (ראש ישיבה - rosh yeshiva).
Rav Ashi said:
I saw a goose
and had sex with it (באתי עליה) in my dream
and I ascended (סלקית) to greatness (גדולה) and became head of the yeshiva.
“with a silver eye brush (מכחלתא - literally: “a kohl applicator”)”.
Via the evil eye.
Causing death by evil eye is a common trope in the Talmud. For example, see twice in the extended story of R’ Shimon, in “Pt2 R’ Shimon’s Flight from the Romans, Hiding, and Return: A Story of Persecution, Miracles, and Retribution (Shabbat 33b-34a)“:
In section “Part 3: R’ Shimon’s Confrontation with the Skeptical Elder: Defending His Ruling, Emphasizing Scholarly Cooperation, and Delivering a Fatal Rebuke“:
יהב ביה עיניה
ונח נפשיה
He directed his eyes toward him [=the unnamed Elder]
and the Elder died.
And right after that, in section “Fatal Revenge on Yehuda “Descendant of Converts”:
נפק לשוקא
חזייה ליהודה בן גרים.
אמר: עדיין יש לזה בעולם?!
נתן בו עיניו,
ועשהו גל של עצמות.
R' Shimon went out to the marketplace
and he saw Yehuda, son of converts, who was the cause of this entire incident.
R' Shimon, said: This one still has a place in the world?!
He directed his eyes toward him
and turned him into a pile of bones.
The same thing is found in stories elsewhere with R' Yoḥanan himself.
This is a common trope in the Talmud: A burial cave being supernaturally guarded—usually by a snake—to prevent those unworthy to enter or be buried there.
For example, see the very similar story told in Bava_Metzia.84b.12 about the burial of R' Elazar ben Shimon, where a serpent blocks the burial cave of his father R’ Shimon (to prevent anyone else from being buried there) but yields when asked to admit "son to father":
יומא חד
מעלי יומא דכיפורי הוה,
הוו טרידי.
שדרו רבנן לבני בירי
ואסקוהו לערסיה
ואמטיוה למערתא דאבוה.
אשכחוה לעכנא דהדרא לה למערתא.
אמרו לה:
עכנא עכנא!
פתחי פיך
ויכנס בן אצל אביו.
פתח[ה] להו.
One day,
which was Yom Kippur eve,
everyone in the town was preoccupied with preparations for the Festival.
The Rabbis sent a message to the residents of the adjacent town of Biri instructing them to help remove the body of R' Elazar, son of R' Shimon, from the attic,
and they removed his bier
and brought it to his father’s burial cave.
They found a serpent [le’akhna] that had placed its tail in its mouth and completely encircled the entrance to the cave, denying them access.
They said to it:
Serpent, serpent!
Open your mouth
to allow a son to enter next to his father.
It opened its mouth for them and uncoiled, and they buried R' Elazar, son of R' Shimon, alongside his father.
And see my “The Laughing Sage and the Stung Scholar: The Story of the Osctracism of the Rabbi With the Bad Reputation (Moed Katan 17a)“, section “Pt3 - Death by being stung by a wasp on his penis, and burial in a cave“:
נפק כי קא בכי ואזיל,
אתא זיבורא וטרקיה אאמתיה, ושכיב.
עיילוה למערתא דחסידי, ולא קיבלוה,
עיילוה למערתא דדייני, וקיבלוה.
the ostracized scholar left in tears.
A wasp came and stung the ostracized scholar on his penis and he died.
Because he was a great Torah scholar, they took him into the caves in which the pious are interred in order to bury him there, but the caves did not accept him. A snake stood at the entrance of the caves and did not let them pass.
They then took him into the caves of the judges, and they accepted him.
It’s notable that in that story as well, “laughing” at someone plays an important part.
After first trying “let the teacher/master (רב - Rav) come to the student” and “let the colleague/friend (חבר) come to the colleague”.
For another case where a sensitivity arose over being referred to as “colleague” or no honorific vs. being referred to with the honorific Rav, see my ““Huna, our friend, we wish you peace!”: The Story of a Tense Correspondence between Rav Anan and Rav Huna (Ketubot 69a-b)“:
שלח ליה רב ענן לרב הונא:
הונא חברין, שלם!
Rav Anan sent the following letter to Rav Huna:
Huna, our friend/colleague (חברין), we wish you peace (שלם - i.e. shalom)!
[…]
אזל רב ענן לקמיה דמר עוקבא,
אמר ליה:
חזי מר היכי שלח לי?!:
רב הונא ״ענן ענן״,
Rav Anan went before Mar Ukva to consult with him about Rav Huna’s reply.
He said to him:
Let the Master see how Rav Huna sent me an offensive message,
addressing me as Anan, Anan (without the honorific Rav).
[…]
אמר ליה:
גברא דלא ידע מאי ניהו ״מרזיחא״,
שלח ליה לרב הונא ״הונא חברין״?!
He said to him:
A man who does not know what a marzeiḥa is
sends a letter to Rav Huna addressing him as Huna, our friend/colleague?!
It is not your place to take such liberties in your correspondence with him, and Rav Huna was justifiably offended.
אוקמיה - literally: “he [=R' Yoḥanan] stood him [=Rav Kahana] up”.
דילכון - i.e. the scholarship of Eretz Yisrael scholars.
דילהון - i.e. the scholarship of Babylonian scholars; a recognition of Babylonian scholarly supremacy.
This verse is cited in the Talmud here: “The Evolution of Hebrew Script and Ezra’s Role in Torah Transmission (Sanhedrin 21b-22a)“, section “R' Yosei: Ezra as a Second Moses and the Script Change“ > “Ezra's Potential as Lawgiver (Exodus 19:3; Ezra 7:6)“.
And see my Appendix there: “Appendix 2 – Ezra’s Genealogy, Journey from Babylon to Jerusalem, and His Mission (Ezra 7:1-11)“.
And see the subsequent paragraph re 'those who go down to the sea' (Neḥutei Yamma - i.e. sailors; equivalent with Hebrew יורדי הים):
[…I]n other places the Talmud reports questions about plants and animals asked of the Neḥutei Yamma.