Lesson 34

Blessings For a Rabbi

Rav Yitzchak Blau

Talmud

17.01.2016

Text file

26aggada.rtf

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Understanding Aggada 
Yeshivat Har Etzion

Shiur
#26: Blessings For a Rabbi

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By Rav Yitzchak Blau

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When the
Rabbis would depart from the house of R. Ami, and some say from the house of R.
Chanina, they would say to him as follows: "May
you see your world in your lifetime, your end in the life of olam haba, your
hope for all generations, your heart study understanding, your lips speak
wisdom, your tongue whisper joyous songs, your eyelids look straight before
you, your eyes illuminate with the light of Torah, your face shine like the
firmament, your lips express understanding, your kidneys be joyous in the correct
and your legs run to the hear the words of the One old of days." (Berakhot 17a)

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What did these rabbis wish each
other upon departing from the shared study hall.  Maharsha notes that
the hands do not appear among the various body parts that receive good
wishes.  Apparently, these scholars
focused exclusively on limbs used for thinking and speaking.  As they focused their energies into the world
of learning, their blessings for others naturally turned to the world of
learning.

Maharsha also says that seeing your world in this lifetime
refers to the benefits of olam hazeh.  If so,
the first part of the blessing wishes that the recipient receives a portion
both in this world and in the world to come. 
When citing Maharsha, R. Yechiel
Yaakov Weinberg (Lifrakim, p. 399) explains
that these rabbis were engaged in public service.  Such rabbinic positions often demand great
sacrifices in this worldly matters.  They pay is often poor and the hours can be
endless.  This motivated the rabbis to
wish their colleagues some material enjoyment in this world in addition to
their compensation in the world to come.

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R.
Weinberg offers two other interpretations of receiving your world in your
lifetime.  The world in question may
actually refer to olam haba.  According to this reading, the blessing
refers not to the mundane and the material but to the spiritual and the
transcendent.  To bolster this theme, we
might mention the notion of Shabbat as a taste of the world to come.  Performing mitzvot
offers a taste of the transcendent.

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Alternatively,
the world could refer to the ideal world of a human being, the place of his or
her dreams and aspirations.  Many dream
of a more just and noble society and strive to bring that society closer to
realization.  Yet few
merit experiencing anything close to their vision.  The good wishes express the hope that their
colleagues would not only imagine a better world but get to live it to some
degree as well.

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After
the mention of receiving your world in this lifetime, the next two blessings
refer to the world to come and to all generations.  To explain the progression, R. Weinberg cites
a dialogue he had with another famous Jewish personality.  Hermann Cohen, the German Jewish philosopher,
asked R. Weinberg why Hashem says this
his name is "I will be what I will be (Shemot
3:14).  R. Weinberg answered that most
dreams become nullified by success.  If
socialism became a reality, people would stop talking about it as a goal.  So too, the ingathering of all the Jewish
exiles to the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">land</st1:PlaceType>
of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Israel</st1:PlaceName></st1:place> will invariably
generate a loss of ardor in the Zionist cause.

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Our
religious vision works differently.  Any
success just points the way towards new horizons and challenges.  In fact, the maturation and development of
the religious personality always enables that person to appreciate new goals
and aspirations.  The excitement need not
wane as the next page to be learned or the next personality trait to be refined
constantly beckons.  God describes
Himself as the One who will be because the religious vision permanently
maintains a look towards a better future.

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Let
us recall that R. Weinberg suggested that seeing one's world in this lifetime
means a realization of a person's ideal vision. 
Therefore, the next element of the blessing must shift our focus to the
world to come.  In other words, the idea
that we might produce something noble in this world should not lead us to
conclude that nothing remains to look forward to in the world to come.  Rather, the future worlds
promises further spiritual delights not yet realized even when we achieve some
success in building a spiritual society here.

R.
Weinberg also provides a good explanation of "your tongue whisper joyous
songs."  Perhaps these scholars emphasized the study of halakha as
is common in the world of the yeshivot.  If so, they might have easily appreciated the
rigor, logic and discipline of Judaism but missed the excitement and the
poetry.  Therefore, another blessing
hopes that the scholars also experience this crucial aspect of religious life.

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R.
Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen
Kook's Ein Ayah has an interpretation
quite similar to that of R. Weinberg but he adds a few novel elements.  He understands the various blessings about
the lips and tongue as referring to teaching and not just to learning.  If so, the need to speak wisdom and whisper
joyous songs reflects the twin challenges of education the cognitive and the
affective.  A quality rebbe
must impart knowledge and thinking skills as well as an emotional
connection with our tradition.

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The
emphasis on teaching may emerge from a different line of the blessing.  "Your hope for all generations"
could refer to the continued existence of a given individual beyond his of her
death.  Alternatively, as Etz Yosef explains,
the hope in subsequent generations reflects the ongoing impact of one's
educational endeavors.  The teacher
positively influences scores of students who themselves go on to positively
impact upon others.  In this vein, the
scholar's work does continue from generation to generation long after that
scholar's parting.

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"Your
eyes should illuminate with the light of Torah."  Rav Kook explains
this to mean that Torah becomes a perspective on life that impacts on all that
a person does.  The ideals of Torah can
permeate even the mundane discourse of a scholar.  Therefore, the gemara (Sukka 21b)
says that even the idle chatter of a talmid chakham needs to be studies.

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This
last item applies to everyone and not just to scholars.  Ideally, our idle chatter would incorporate
elements of wisdom and religious ideals. 
An insightful comment of R. Yisrael Lifshutz (Tifferet Yisrael) asserts this theme.

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R. Dosa ben Hurkonus
said: Morning sleep, afternoon wine, childish chatter and the gatherings of the
ignorant remove a person from this world. (Avot
3:10)

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While
the mishna seems totally
negative about these activities, R. Lifshutz contends
that each one represents a category that has a positive manifestation when
utilized properly.  Sleep certainly is a
necessary part of a person's schedule. 
Yet sleeping too much, as symbolized by sleep on the morning, prevents
real achievement.  Wine represents human
physical enjoyment.  This too can prove
helpful but not when it becomes the goal of existence as manifest in excessive
afternoon drinking.

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In
both of the above examples, Tifferet Yisrael suggests a quantitative distinction.  Engage in these activities but do not
overindulge. With regard to the last two categories, he raises qualitative
distinctions.  The childish chatter
refers to jokes while the gatherings of the ignorant mean idle chatter.  Both of these elements also have their
legitimate place.  After all, not very
conversation can be a grave discussion of a deep intellectual point.

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However,
the jokes and the idle chatter can be of quality or of coarseness.  Avoiding the gatherings of
the ignorant means preventing our idle chatter from denigration into discussion
of utter frivolity or slander. 
This certainly is a blessing worth having, both for scholars and laymen
alike.

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