The Sages taught: What is the meaning of that which the verse states: “And you shall gather your grain”? Because it is stated: “This Torah shall not depart from your mouths, and you shall contemplate in it day and night” (Joshua 1:8), I might have thought that these matters are to be understood as they are written; one is to literally spend his days immersed exclusively in Torah study. Therefore, the verse states: “And you shall gather your grain, your wine and your oil,” assume in their regard, the way of the world; set aside time not only for Torah, but also for work. This is the statement of Rabbi Yishmael.
Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai says: Is it possible that a person plows in the plowing season and sows in the sowing season and harvests in the harvest season and threshes in the threshing season and winnows in the windy season; what will become of Torah?
Rather, one must dedicate himself exclusively to Torah at the expense of other endeavors; as when Israel performs God’s will, their work is performed by others, as it is stated: “And strangers will stand and feed your flocks...” (Isaiah 61:5). When Israel does not perform God’s will, their work is performed by them themselves, as it is stated: “And you shall gather your grain.” Moreover, if Israel fails to perform God’s will, others’ work will be performed by them, as it is stated: “You shall serve your enemy...” (Deuteronomy 28:48).
Summing up this dispute, Abaye said: Although there is room for both opinions, many have acted in accordance with Rabbi Yishmael and were successful. Many have acted in accordance with Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai and were not successful.
(יא) וכבר היה רבי טרפון ור' יוסי הגלילי ור' עקיבא מסובין בבית ערוד, נשאלו: מי גדול, תלמוד גדול או מעשה? נענה כולם ואמרו: תלמוד גדול, שהתלמוד מביא לידי מעשה.
(11) R. Tarfon, R. Yossi Haglili and R. Akiva were once seated in the house of Nitzah in Lod when they were asked: "What is greater? Learning or doing?" R. Tarfon said: "Doing is greater." R. Akiva: "Learning is greater." All of them responded: "Learning is greater, for learning leads to doing."
אמר לו רבי טרפון עקיבא עליך הכתוב אומר (איוב כח) מבכי נהרות חבש ותעלומה יוציא אור דברים המסותרים מבני אדם הוציאם רבי עקיבא לאורה. בכל יום ויום היה מביא חבילה של עצים חציה מוכר ומתפרנס וחציה מתקשט בה עמדו עליו שכניו ואמרו לו עקיבא אבדתנו בעשן מכור אותן לנו וטול שמן בדמיהן ושנה לאור הנר אמר להם הרבה ספוקים אני מסתפק בהן אחד שאני שונה בהן ואחד שאני מתחמם כנגדן ואחד שאני יכול לישן [בהם] עתיד רבי עקיבא לחייב את כל העניים בדין שאם אומר להם מפני מה לא למדתם [והם אמרו מפני] שעניים היינו אומרים להם והלא רבי עקיבא עני ביתר ומדולדל היה [והם אמרו מפני טפינו אומרים להם והלא רבי עקיבא] היו לו בנים ובנות (אלא אומרים להם מפני) שזכתה רחל אשתו. בן מ׳ שנה הלך ללמוד תורה סוף שלש עשרה שנה לימד תורה ברבים אמרו לא נפטר מן העולם עד שהיו לו שולחנות של כסף ושל זהב ועד שעלה למטתו בסולמות של זהב. היתה אשתו יוצאה בקרדמין ובעיר של זהב אמרו לו תלמידיו רבי ביישתנו ממה שעשית לה אמר להם הרבה צער נצטערה עמי בתורה:
Rabbi Tarfon said to him: Akiva, it is about you that the verse says (Job 28:11), “He stops up the streams so that hidden things may be brought to light.” For Rabbi Akiva has brought to light things which are kept hidden from human beings.
Every day, he would bring a bundle of sticks, half of which he would sell to support himself and half he would use for kindling. His neighbors came and said to him: Akiva, you are choking us with all this smoke. Sell it all to us instead, and then buy oil with the money, and study by the light of a candle. He said to them: But I take care of many of my needs with it. I study [by its light]. I warm myself [by its fire]. And then I can [make it into a bed and] sleep on it.
All the poor will one day be judged against Rabbi Akiva, for if one says to them: Why did you never study? [And they say: Because] we were poor! then we will say to them: But wasn’t Rabbi Akiva even poorer, completely impoverished?
(ד) שמואל ב ז זאת תורת האדם. נמצאת אומר: שלושה כתרים הם: כתר תורה וכתר כהונה וכתר מלכות. כתר כהונה – זכה אהרן ונטלו. כתר מלכות – זכה דוד ונטלו. הרי כתר תורה מונח, כדי שלא יתן פתחון פה לבאי העולם לומר "אלו היה כתר מלכות וכתר כהונה מונחים – הייתי זוכה בהן ונוטלן", הרי כתר תורה מונח לכל באי העולם, שכל שזוכה בו – מעלה אני עליו כאלו שלשתם מונחים וזוכה בכולם; וכל מי שאין זוכה בו – מעלה אני עליו כאלו שלשתם מונחים ולא זכה באחת מהם. וא"ת: מי גדול משניהם? – היה ר' שמעון בן אלעזר אומר: גדול הממליך או המלך? – הממליך. העושה שרים או העושה שררה? – הוי אומר העושה שררה. כל עצמו של שני כתרים, אין באים אלא מכחה של תורה! וכן הוא אומר (משלי ח) "בי מלכים ימלכו ובי שרים ישורו":
(4) Rabbi Yishmael quoted the verse (II Samuel 7:19) "This is the Torah of man" and explained:
We find that there are three crowns: the crown of Torah, the crown of priesthood and the crown of kingship. The crown of priesthood was merited by Aaron and he took it. The crown of kingship was merited by David and he took it. The crown of Torah is left (vacant), so that those who enter the world be given no pretext to say: If the crown of kingdom and the crown of priesthood were left (vacant), I would merit them and take them. The crown of Torah is left (vacant) for all who enter the world. For whoever merits it, I account it to him as if all three were left (vacant) to him and he merits all of them. And whoever does not merit it, I account it to him as if all three were left (vacant) for him and he did not merit any one of them.
Rabbi Akiva used to say:Beloved is man for he was created in the image [of God]. Especially beloved is he for it was made known to him that he had been created in the image [of God], as it is said: “for in the image of God He made man” (Genesis 9:6).
Beloved are Israel in that they were called children to the All-Present. Especially beloved are they for it was made known to them that they are called children of the All-Present, as it is said: “your are children to the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 14:1).
Beloved are Israel in that a precious vessel was given to them. Especially beloved are they for it was made known to them that the desirable instrument, with which the world had been created, was given to them, as it is said: “for I give you good instruction; forsake not my teaching” (Proverbs 4:2).
(ב) ד"א תורה צוה לנו משה - וכי ממשה אנו אוחזים את התורה? והלא אבותינו זכו בה, שנ' מורשה קהילת יעקב! שומע אני ירושה לבני מלכים. ירושה לבני קטנים מנין? ת"ל אתם נצבים היום כולכם. אל תקרי מורשה אלא מאורסה, שהתורה מאורסה היא לישראל, וכאשת איש לאומות העולם. וכן הוא אומר (משלי ו׳:כ״ז-כ״ח) היחתה איש אש בחיקו ובגדיו לא תשרפנה. אם יהלך איש על הגחלים ורגליו לא תכוינה כן הבא אל אשת רעהו כל הנוגע בה לא ינקה: מורשה קהילת יעקב:
(2) Variantly: "Torah was commanded to us by Moses": It is not from Moses alone that we hold the Torah; for our fathers, too, acquired it, viz. (Devarim, Ibid.) "the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob." This tells me (only) of an inheritance for the sons of kings. Whence do I derive the same for the sons of non-kings? From (Devarim. 29:9) "You are standing this day, all of you, etc." Variantly: Do not read it "morashah" ("inheritance"), but me'orasah" ("betrothed"), the Torah being betrothed to Israel, and (it is forbidden) to the gentiiles as (is) a married woman. Similarly, (Mishlei 6:27-29) "Will a man draw forth fire into his lap, and his clothes not be burned? Will a man walk on coals and his feet not be scorched? So, he who comes to his friend's wife. No one who touches her shall go clean." Thus "the betrothed of the congregation of Jacob."
§ Apropos the above discussion, the Gemara relates incidents involving Sages who were sentenced by the ruling authorities. The Sages taught: When Rabbi Eliezer was arrested and charged with heresy by the authorities, they brought him up to a tribunal to be judged. A certain judicial officer [hegemon] said to him: Why should an elder like you engage in these frivolous matters of heresy? Rabbi Eliezer said to him: The Judge is trusted by me to rule correctly. That officer thought that Rabbi Eliezer was speaking about him; but in fact he said this only in reference to his Father in Heaven. Rabbi Eliezer meant that he accepted God’s judgment, i.e., if he was charged he must have sinned to God in some manner. The officer said to him: Since you put your trust in me, you are acquitted [dimos]; you are exempt. When Rabbi Eliezer came home, his students entered to console him for being accused of heresy, which he took as a sign of sin, and he did not accept their words of consolation. Rabbi Akiva said to him: My teacher, allow me to say one matter from all of that which you taught me. Rabbi Eliezer said to him: Speak. Rabbi Akiva said to him: My teacher, perhaps some statement of heresy came before you
and you derived pleasure from it, and because of this you were held responsible by Heaven. Rabbi Eliezer said to him: Akiva, you are right, as you have reminded me that once I was walking in the upper marketplace of Tzippori, and I found a man who was one of the students of Jesus the Nazarene, and his name was Ya’akov of Kefar Sekhanya. He said to me: It is written in your Torah: “You shall not bring the payment to a prostitute, or the price of a dog, into the house of the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 23:19). What is the halakha: Is it permitted to make from the payment to a prostitute for services rendered a bathroom for a High Priest in the Temple? And I said nothing to him in response. He said to me: Jesus the Nazarene taught me the following: It is permitted, as derived from the verse: “For of the payment to a prostitute she has gathered them, and to the payment to a prostitute they shall return” (Micah 1:7). Since the coins came from a place of filth, let them go to a place of filth and be used to build a bathroom. And I derived pleasure from the statement, and due to this, I was arrested for heresy by the authorities, because I transgressed that which is written in the Torah: “Remove your way far from her, and do not come near the entrance of her house” (Proverbs 5:8). “Remove your way far from her,” this is a reference to heresy; “and do not come near the entrance of her house,” this is a reference to the ruling authority. The Gemara notes: And there are those who say a different interpretation: “Remove your way far from her,” this is a reference to heresy and the ruling authority; “and do not come near the entrance of her house,” this is a reference to a prostitute. And how much distance must one maintain from a prostitute? Rav Ḥisda said: Four cubits.
A person may not engage in dealings with heretics, and one may not be treated by them even in a case where it is clear that without medical attention one will experience only temporal life. The baraita relates an incident illustrating this point. There was an incident involving ben Dama, son of Rabbi Yishmael’s sister, in which a snake bit him. And following the attack, Ya’akov of the village of Sekhanya, who was a heretic, a disciple of Jesus the Nazarene, came to treat him, but Rabbi Yishmael did not let him do so. And ben Dama said to him: Rabbi Yishmael, my brother, let him treat me, and I will be healed by him. And I will cite a verse from the Torah to prove that accepting medical treatment from a heretic is permitted in this situation. But ben Dama did not manage to complete the statement before his soul departed from his body and he died. Rabbi Yishmael recited with regard to him: Fortunate are you, ben Dama, as your body is pure and your soul departed in purity, and you did not transgress the statement of your colleagues, who would state the verse: “And who breaks through a fence, a snake shall bite him” (Ecclesiastes 10:8), i.e., one is punished for ignoring an ordinance of the Sages. This incident indicates that it is not permitted for one to accept medical treatment from a heretic even if it is clear that without it he will live only a short while.
תוספת הילקוט:[יג] "וחי בהם" – לא שימות בהם. היה ר' ישמעאל אומר, מנין אתה אומר שאם אמרו לו לאדם בינו לבין עצמו עבוד עכו"ם ואל תֵהָרֵג!, יעבור ואל יֵהרג? תלמוד לומר "וחי בהם" – ולא שימות בהם. או אפילו ברבים ישמע להם?... תלמוד לומר (ויקרא כב, לב) "ולא תחללו את שם קדשי ונקדשתי" – אם מקדישים אתם את שמי אף אני אקדש את שמי על ידכם כשם שעשו חנניא מישאל ועזריה שהיו כל אומות העולם בזמן ההוא שטוחים לפני הצלם והם עומדים דומים לתמרים. עליהם מפורש בקבלה (שיר השירים ז, ח) "זאת קומתך דמתה לתמר אמרתי אעלה בתמר אוחזה בסנסיניו" – היום אני מתעלה בהם לעיני אומות העולם מכחישי התורה. היום אני נפרע להם משונאיהם. היום אני מחיה להם את המתים. אני ה' " – אני דיין ליפרע ונאמן לשלם שכר.
13) (Vayikra 18:5) "and he shall live in them": and not die in them. R. Yishmael was wont to say: Whence is it derived that if one is told in private to serve idolatry or be killed, he should transgress and not be killed? From "and he shall live in them," and not die in them. — But perhaps even in public he should accede. It is, therefore, written (Vayikra 22:32) "And you shall not desecrate My holy name, and I shall be sanctified in the midst of the children of Israel." If you sanctify My name, I, too, will sanctify My name through you...
[י] "ושמרתם את חקותי ואת משפטי אשר יעשה אותם האדם" ליתן שמירה ועשיה לחוקים ושמירה ועשיה למשפטים. "וחי בהם" – לעולם הבא. ואם תאמר בעולם הזה, והלא סופו מת הוא! הא מה אני מקיים "וחי בהם"? לעולם הבא. "אני ה' " – נאמן לשלם שכר.
(טו) הַכֹּל צָפוּי, וְהָרְשׁוּת נְתוּנָה, וּבְטוֹב הָעוֹלָם נִדּוֹן. וְהַכֹּל לְפִי רֹב הַמַּעֲשֶׂה:
(טז) הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, הַכֹּל נָתוּן בְּעֵרָבוֹן, וּמְצוּדָה פְרוּסָה עַל כָּל הַחַיִּים. הַחֲנוּת פְּתוּחָה, וְהַחֶנְוָנִי מֵקִיף, וְהַפִּנְקָס פָּתוּחַ, וְהַיָּד כּוֹתֶבֶת, וְכָל הָרוֹצֶה לִלְווֹת יָבֹא וְיִלְוֶה, וְהַגַּבָּאִים מַחֲזִירִים תָּדִיר בְּכָל יוֹם, וְנִפְרָעִין מִן הָאָדָם מִדַּעְתּוֹ וְשֶׁלֹּא מִדַּעְתּוֹ, וְיֵשׁ לָהֶם עַל מַה שֶּׁיִּסְמֹכוּ, וְהַדִּין דִּין אֱמֶת, וְהַכֹּל מְתֻקָּן לַסְּעוּדָה:
(15) Everything is foreseen yet freedom of choice is granted, And the world is judged with goodness; And everything is in accordance with the preponderance of works.
(16) He used to say: everything is given against a pledge, and a net is spread out over all the living; the store is open and the storekeeper allows credit, but the ledger is open and the hand writes, and whoever wishes to borrow may come and borrow; but the collectors go round regularly every day and exact dues from man, either with his consent or without his consent, and they have that on which they [can] rely [in their claims], seeing that the judgment is a righteous judgment, and everything is prepared for the banquet.
§ The Gemara now considers which prohibitions are permitted in times of mortal danger. Rabbi Yoḥanan says in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yehotzadak: The Sages who discussed this issue counted the votes of those assembled and concluded in the upper story of the house of Nitza in the city of Lod: With regard to all other transgressions in the Torah, if a person is told: Transgress this prohibition and you will not be killed, he may transgress that prohibition and not be killed, because the preserving of his own life overrides all of the Torah’s prohibitions. This is the halakha concerning all prohibitions except for those of idol worship, forbidden sexual relations, and bloodshed. Concerning those prohibitions, one must allow himself to be killed rather than transgress them.
The Gemara asks: And should one not transgress the prohibition of idol worship to save his life? But isn’t it taught in a baraita: Rabbi Yishmael said: From where is it derived that if a person is told: Worship idols and you will not be killed, from where is it derived that he should worship the idol and not be killed? The verse states: “You shall keep My statutes and My judgments, which a person shall do, and he shall live by them” (Leviticus 18:5), thereby teaching that the mitzvot were given to provide life, but they were not given so that one will die due to their observance. The baraita continues: One might have thought that it is permitted to worship the idol in this circumstance even in public, i.e., in the presence of many people. Therefore, the verse states: “Neither shall you profane My holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the Lord Who sanctifies you” (Leviticus 22:32). Evidently, one is not required to allow himself to be killed so as not to transgress the prohibition of idol worship when in private; but in public he must allow himself to be killed rather than transgress.
The Gemara answers: Those in the upper story of the house of Nitza stated their opinion in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer. As it is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer says: It is stated: “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). If it is stated: “With all your soul,” why is it also stated: “With all your might,” which indicates with all your material possessions? And if it is stated: “With all your might,” why is it also stated: “With all your soul”? One of these clauses seems to be superfluous. Rather, this serves to teach that if you have a person whose body is more precious to him than his property, it is therefore stated: “With all your soul.” That person must be willing to sacrifice even his life to sanctify God’s name. And if you have a person whose property is more precious to him than his body, it is therefore stated: “With all your might.” That person must even be prepared to sacrifice all his property for the love of God. According to the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer, one must allow himself to be killed rather than worship an idol.