Gravesite of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai in TIBERIAS
It says of Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai: All his days, he did not have a conversation not related to holiness. And, he did not walk four cubits without Torah or without Tefillin. No one came before him to the Beit Midrash and he did not sleep in the Beit Midrash, not scheduled sleep and not naps.1
1 http://www.breslev-‐midot.com/eng/enlarge/album05_27.jpg
Father, oh merciful Father Be to me a trusted soul-mate Cushion my heart in your faith Lend to me awe at the sound of your name I never found myself a teacher and my laws are improvised When I am in distress I take a pill I made great progress (descendant of monkeys) And for all my weaknesses my parents are to blame And there’s no well-ploughed furrow, it’s a multi-lane highway That leads to the general mall And if a miracle happens it’s really no big deal Doesn’t happen because of me Father, oh merciful Father Be to me a trusted soul-mate Cushion my heart in your faith Lend to me awe at the sound of your name That’s how I prayed at a Jewish minyan Next to me a Haredi trembled a volcano of fears For the sake of G-d he is a systematic robot Hugely sweaty, blessed with (many) children Next to us a National Orthodox who worships dust And for all his invasion of the past He praises battle-dress as if the battle’s won And we all live by his sword An immigrant and caretaker decorated in a hunched back A reform Jew with a brand new cover, or a different book. A traditional and his lad Bar Mitzvah boy Kuzaris without candies And from behind there is a wild rustling and whispering Headscarves and wigs and hair-do’s For on the other side of the divide lifts the sensuous sound The feminine voice Of the non-counted Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai wept from on high out of sadness, or maybe happiness And the rain fell or he shed a tear A sigh escaped my heart All are thy students, Powerful Hammer, Candle of Israel, Right-hand Pillar. Bless thy children of all kinds, both religious and also secular Father, oh merciful Father Be to me a trusted soul mate Cushion my heart in your faith Lend to me awe at the sound of your name.2 2Kobi Oz: http://makomisrael.org/blog/album/mizmorei-‐nevuchim-‐psalms-‐for-‐the-‐perplexed
The story of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai that Kobi Oz draws on is from the Babylonian Talmud Gittin 55b-57a. When the Romans were besieging Jerusalem, extremists were in control of the population of the Holy City. In order to hasten the coming of the messiah, these zealots even burned all the food stores of Jerusalem. It was at this point that Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai decided to sneak out of the city. The Roman commander Vespasian came upon him, and Yochanan ben Zakkai cried out: “Greetings, Emperor of Rome!” Before Vespasian could explain to ben Zakkai that he was not the Emperor, a messenger from Rome arrived with the decree naming Vespasian Emperor. Vespasian was so impressed with ben Zakkai’s prophetic powers; he offered to grant the Rabbi’s any request. Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai did not ask for Jerusalem to be saved, or for the Holy Temple to be spared destruction. Instead, he asked for “Yavneh and her sages” – the permission to establish a Jewish scholars’ academy in the city of Yavneh. In Yavneh, following the destruction of the Temple by the Romans, these scholars built the Jewish religion anew. This religion would have no centralizing Temple, nor would it be ruled by the hereditary Priestly caste: it would be, in Kobi Oz’ words, a privatized religion, interpreted differently in different places. The multi-denominational, multicustomized Judaism that we know today was set in motion – so Kobi (and others) would maintain – by the fateful decision of Yochanan ben Zakkai. [Kobi Oz sees Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai as something of a ‘Patron Saint’ of Pluralism. He is so pluralist, suggests Kobi, that he even has three names! These three names are given to R Yochanan Ben Zakkai on his deathbed, by his distraught students, when asking him to bless them as he weeps.]3 For me however the scene at the death of this great Tanna holds me in awe. The very radical doubt that allows a man of such greatness not to know where his afterlife will lead to heaven or hell and his utter honesty and humility before his students as he weeps haunts me. When R. Yochanan ben Zakkai was sick, his students came to visit him. When he saw them, he started to cry. His students said to him: “Lamp of Israel, right - hand pillar, mighty hammer, why are you crying?” He said to them: “If I was brought before a king of flesh and blood, who is here today and in the grave tomorrow, if he becomes angry with me, his anger is not eternal, if he imprisons me, it is not eternal imprisonment, if he kills me, it is not a permanent death, and I could appease him with words or bribe him with money, even so I would cry. Now that I am brought before the king of kings, the holy One, blessed be He, who lives for all eternity, if he becomes angry with me, it is an eternal anger, if he imprisons me, it is eternal imprisonment, if he kills me, it is a permanent death, and I cannot appease him with words or bribe him with money, and not only that but I have two 3 See his album: http://makomisrael.org/blog/album/mizmorei-‐nevuchim-‐psalms-‐for-‐the-‐perplexed/
roads before me: one to Gan Eden and one to Gehinom, and I do not know on which one they will take me, should I not cry?... At the time of his passing, he said to them: “Remove the vessels because of ritual impurity and prepare a chair for Chizkiyahu, king of Yehuda, who is coming.” Talmud, Berakhot 28b4 Maharsha: For this zaddik did not believe in himself as in David’s self doubt (Ps. 27:3, “[They would have crushed me] had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”] or He was instructing his students in the need for humility. This expositor provides both the self doubt theory i.e. his humility at moment of death facing the unknown, as well as his ongoing need even in death to instruct his students in the need for humility even in one as exalted a teacher as himself. Rif: for there are some wicked in Gehinnom who must stay until a zaddik passes who instills fear and is thus able to raise these souls. Rebbe was uncertain as to whether he must past the “emek habacha” the ‘vale of tears’ of Gehinnom, prior to entering heaven or might he go directly there. Clearly the Rif has nothing of the self doubt plaguing this great Rabbi. He is merely conjecturing which way they will lead him to his assured place in Gan Eden. Whether directly or does he still have a last task on the way via Hell, to rescue souls floundering there. Ein Yosef: (citing the Alshich to Psalm 16:10): There are paths to Gan Eden, one left, via Gehinnom and one to the right, direct. There are some zaddikim who are led via the left-Gehinnom in order to rescues souls through his merits, those who are ready at that time to leave. But there are those zaddikim who fear going via that path for fear of arousing the Midas HaDin on them, for in Gehinnom is the power of rage, and this is what Reb Yochanan ben Zakkai was in doubt about, whether he might be led to the right or left. Here the Rif cites the Alshich who sees in the tanna’s question as to whether he will merit the path via Gehinnom in order to rescue souls from there, or whether it might be too dangerous for his soul for fear of arousing the divine attribute of justice against himself in the process. Rav Zev Leff : “When R’ Yohanan ben Zakkai’s students went to visit him on his death bed, he began to cry. His students asked him why he was weeping. He answered that if he were brought before a mortal king who could be appeased or bribed, and whose decrees extended only as far as the grave, he would wail, how much more so now that he was soon to face the judgment of Hashem, Who cannot be appeased or bribed and Whose punishment is eternal. Did R’ Yohanan ben Zakkai really entertain the possibility that he was deserving of eternal death, the punishment reserved for heretics of the worst type?” The suggestion that ben 4 http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=47606&st=&pgnum=142
Zakkai could have deserved damnation is not a serious possibility for surely, his humility renders that unthinkable. Neusner: “ben Zakkai’s total lack of assurance of salvation is a great example of a “good death,” and “the mark of the humility of the sage,” who expressed his free will in the best way possible, namely, in his devotion to the study of and obedience to Torah – right to his last breath.5 “It’s understandable why ben Zakkai felt unrighteous, unjustified, uncertain before God, because foolhardy is the man, who, usually aware of falling short of the righteous requirements of God, presumes – uncircumcised or not – to have “made the cut.” But there is more to it: ben Zakkai, as a synergist (Greek syn “with” ergon “work”), believed that he co-operated with God in his justification/salvation. Now, such a man knows that he and “all of us are like someone unclean, all our righteous deeds like menstrual rags “BEGED IDIM” we wither, all of us, like leaves; and our misdeeds blow us away like the wind” (Isaiah 64:6). Neusner continues: “Yohanan [ben Zakkai] died in full command of his senses, entirely aware of the next step in his life. Exemplifying a good death, he expressed his humility before the judgment that awaited. As he lay dying, no sage represented in the classical writings of Judaism cited Ps. 22:l, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” But if they died serenely, it was not with an excess of self-confidence or pride. For, with all humanity, all of them expected to come before God in judgment, and none took vindication for granted. Death takes place in the context of faith, and the spirituality of Judaism comes to concrete embodiment in that larger context as well. For sages and the Torah that they shaped for all of holy Israel, not only did death form a natural stage in human life, but it also marked a step on a longer journey, one that led to eternal life.6 Rav Yochanan ben Zakkai, upon seeing his disciples, realized that his Heavenly Judgment was not something that was unilateral, depending solely on his relationship with the Almighty. Rather, his Heavenly judgment was also dependent on the effect he did or didn't have on all his students. This caused him to cry and be sincerely afraid. He was no longer so sure of where he was headed after his passing. Neusner adds: “The mark of the sage is that, at the hour of death, he continues to engage in study of the Torah. The blessing that the sage receives is that he is able to do so even to his last breath.” And “lf you have learned much Torah, do not puff yourself up on that account, for it was for that purpose that you were created.” 5 Neusner, “The sages’ good death,” in Neusner and Chilton, “Comparing Spiritualties,” p. 48 6 https://onedaringjew.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/ben-‐zakkai-‐judaism-‐humility-‐and-‐the-‐good-‐death/
“The measure of pride that characterizes the prayer diminishes when we remember Yohanan ben Zakkai’s humility, after a life of Torah study. The disciple of the sage has the right to thank God for the portion that God has meted out, a life of penury and even separation from loved ones perhaps, but also a life that produces a reward for work, meaning, life of the world to come.” “Ben Zakkai did not die of a puffed up heart; he died of a swollen heart, swollen with humility – not of the biblical but the Talmudic kind. The Baalei Mussar ask two questions on this Gemara. First - did Rav Yochanan ben Zakkai, the great Candle of Israel and the right hand pillar, have any doubt about whether he was headed for Gan Eden or Gehinnom? More to the point, he was initially sitting on his death bed and apparently not showing any emotion. It is only "when he saw his students approaching" that he began to cry. Reb Elya Lopian explains that if Rav Yochanan ben Zakkai only had to worry about himself, he would have been confident that he was destined for the World to Come and for residence in Gan Eden. But when he saw his students he thought to himself, "Did I do justice with each of my students? Did I treat each student properly? Did I give enough attention to each student? Was I perhaps too harsh with one student and too lenient with another?" Rav Yochanan ben Zakkai said to himself, if I wasn't good enough with even one of my disciples, it will affect not only him but his children and his grandchildren and his great grandchildren until the end of all time. When Rav Yochanan ben Zakkai saw all his students come visit him, he realized "the voice of the bloods of your brother are crying out to Me". One lapse regarding a single individual can have a negative impact on all future generations! The Lubavitcher Rebbe cried bitterly in 1952 when discussing this passage in Berachot, from Sefer Ha’maamarim, a year after he took on the Nesius of the movement. In this remarkable confessional piece one can almost see his burden of accepting the leadership in sync with the radical doubt plaguing the ancient Tanna. I am of course reading this against the grain, putting more currency on his tears than his exposition, which reads like an exhortation to be totally focused on the mission to the point of lack of any self-awareness. Yet for me the tears betray an almost autobiographical reading of a life of tragedy, being at the top, burdened with leadership, clearly not fully desired, taking a full year for him to accept it, now expressing itself (unconsciously associating?) with the ancient Rabbi, who at the end of his days could say so truthfully, “I’m not exactly sure which path I will be lead down!” Let me translate the passage freely:
“For each day, each hour and moment, one must toil at his task and mission in this world, (to the point where) so busied that he has no time to think about his spiritual level of attainment,. “This is the topic of the passage regarding Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, (where he states) “I am not sure which path they will be leading me down”. And one of the Chassidic interpretations of this is, since Rabbi ben Zakkai was so busy and soaked in fulfilling his mission every day hour and moment, he had no time to reflect on his intellectual status, or his emotional level, and for sure not those hidden aspects of his soul. And as he meditated on “Your eyes saw my limbs and in Your book all was written, the days they were spent” (Ps. 139:16). ו ְעַ ל , ָראוּ עֵ ינֶיָך,טז ָגּלְמִ י :יִכָּתֵ בוּ ֻכּלָּם ,סִ פְ ְרָך ולא )ו ְלוֹ( אֶ חָ ד ;י ָמִ ים יֻצָּרוּ .בָּהֶ ם
16 Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance, and in Thy book they were all written-even the days that were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
[in the footnote the Zohar is cited Vol I: 224, which describes the righteous and the wicked, both of whose deeds are recorded, citing this verse from Psalms, to prove that all is recorded, and all the deeds present as indictments until the man repents. Rashi comments as follows: Your eyes saw my unformed body: From the time that You created the world, Your eyes saw all the forms of the coming generations. My unformed body: Heb. גלמי. My splendor and the pattern of my form, before I was born and before I came into the world, Your eyes saw. and on Your book they were all written: And all the creatures of the world, like me, like them, even all of them, before they were created, were together revealed before You. days have been formed and one of them: All man’s deeds and the end of the days are revealed before You as if they were already formed, although not one of them was in existence, and not one was yet in the world. These are the wonders of God’s works and the way of His might, that future events are revealed to Him before they come. And so, Scripture says (Jer. 1:5): “When I had not yet formed you in the womb, etc.” and on Your book, they were all written: The book of the generations of man, which You showed to Adam.
written: lit. all of them will be written, like נכתבוּ. days were formed without one of them: Ultimately, many days were destined to be created, but not one of them was yet created. According to the Masoretic text, in which לאis written, this is its explanation. And according to the reading for it is read לוthis is its explanation: days have been formed. He showed the days that were destined to be created, and for His share, He chose one of them, viz. the Sabbath day. Another explanation: This is the Day of Atonement, for forgiveness.
The kri/ktiv allows for opposite reading according to Rashi: either “not one of them was created” as yet, although destined not realized, Alternatively “for Him (His share) one was created already” i.e. the Sabbath. The midrashic readings allow for alternative and radically opposing interpretations of the ultimate relationship we have with divine foreknowledge. For the Zohar the reading takes on a moralistic impulse to do good for God receives the penitent, however for midrash it is more subtle and nuanced.] And each moment one must focus solely on fulfilling his mission and not allow a moment to pass or a day without fulfilling his work, lest he rebels against the King of Kings (at this point the footnote states the Rebbe would cry much, hesitating at this point for a few minutes), in the fact that he has failed to perform his mission of the Sender, so that when they ask him “what has become of your “land” [referring to the previous citation from Exodus 23:26: , כו ֹלא תִ הְ י ֶה מְ שַׁ ֵכּלָה ו ַעֲ קָ ָרה26 None shall miscarry, nor be barren, in thy . אֲ מַ לֵּא,ְאַרצֶָך; אֶ ת מִ סְ פַּ ר י ָמֶ יָך ְ בּland; the number of thy days I will fulfill. Troping on the word “in thy land” as in “this worldliness”, the world of “land” as opposed to the eternal of world of heaven, the Rebbe claims each will be asked “what did you do with your “this worldliness”?] “crying out from the depths of the soul, ’what need have I of desire? What need have I of pleasure? What needs have I of love? Of fear? For when that fateful moment arrives (when the “days are complete”) for now he must stand on the witness block, and answer as to whether he wasted even a moment, which if so amounts to treason against the divine authority. So, at this moment, were he to give thought as to his spiritual level, he is so busy and troubled, pressured and soaked in the mission fulfillment in this world he has no time to ponder at all regarding his own spiritual accomplishments or levels.
Rather than the moralistic tone of the Zohar or even the midrashic interpretation of Rashi as to the enigmatic self criticism of the Tanna Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, the Rebbe sees a man so busied with his mission on this earth he had no time to actually contemplate where he was spiritually and morally so that by the time of his last breath he could literally not know whether he had accomplished his mission and where they might be leading him in the next world either heaven or hell. This breathtaking view of his doubt removes us from the moral introspection so typical of the Mussar movement and launches us into the dizzying heights of what is the definition of a military mission, as outlined in his meditation. Any moment away from the mission is like an act of subversion, an act of rebellion or treason. Like a marine or spotter or even a sniper all attention must be focused on the mission and its accomplishment. One minute away from the task at hand might mean the loss of the mission. The Rebbe used military language often when commanding his troops on their missions, the shiluchim.
For me, however, the Rebbe’s tears produced a different type of radical doubt. The author of the Agaddah in Berachot 28b, was prescient in providing us an insight into the last moments of the life of the greatest Tanna, Reb Yochanan ben Zakkai. The Rebbe was engaged himself in a mission, to rescue the Jews from the Holocaust physically and spiritually. He spent his life working with the powers that be to bring the plight of the Jews in the Soviet Union to world attention and behind the scenes, to establish Chabad houses in all corners of the world, I believe, in direct response to the murderous plan of the Nazis to rid the world of Jews. In this mission he was engaged so fully he himself had no time like his illustrious forebear in the Talmud, to experience the luxury of analysis and introspection.