Torah in the Mouth.pdf

Torah in the Mouth, Writing and Oral Tradition in Palestinian Judaism, 200 BCE - 400 CE
Jaffee, Martin S., Samuel and Althea Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies, University of Washington
Print publication date: 2001, Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: November 2003
Print ISBN-13: 978-0-19-514067-5, doi:10.1093/0195140672.001.0001
end p.148
Let us move sequentially through the discourse established by this loose chain of texts. The brief narrative about the indignity suffered by
Rabbi Yohanan and the means of his appeasement (unit 1–3) offers a rich representation of the tacit assumptions of the Galilean
community regarding the protocols of honoring the master. The unfortunate Babylonian immigrant Rabbi Eliezer offends his mster
inadvertently by practicng a form of deference to authority that, in Palestine, signifies contempt (1). In his defense, a second disciple,
Rabbi Yaakov b. Idi, offers two arguments. The first provides, as it were, a sociological explanation of Rabbi Eliezer's faux pas (1). The
second effort—rhetorically more clever, but equally unsuccessful—draws out the master on an apparently unconnected halakhic issue
that, in a surprising way, clarifies the propriety of Rabbi Eliezer's motives (2). The implicit suggestion is that, on his own halakhic
principles, Rabbi Yohanan should forgive the snub to his honor.
It turns out, however, that Rabbi Eliezer's unintended slight is only the pretext for Rabbi Yohanan's anger. Rabbi Yohanan finally discloses
the underlying source of his
end p.149
you! 76
3. [Rabbi Yohanan replied:] And yet another thing has this Babylonian done to me! He didn't repeat his traditions in my name! . . . 77
Rabbi Yaakov b. Idi came before him and said: “As God commanded his servant, Moshe, thus did Moshe command Yehoshua” (Josh.
11:15). Now, do you really think that every time Yehoshua sat and expounded he said: Thus spoke Moshe!? Rather, he sat and
expounded and everyone understood that this was the torah of Moshe. So in your case—Eliezer sits and expounds, and everyone
knows it's your torah! 78
Rabbi Yohanan said to the other disciples: How come the rest of you can't appease me like our colleague, ben Idi?
4. Now, why was Rabbi Yohanan so concerned that traditions be recited in his name?
5. Indeed, David already prayed for this, as it is said: “May I abide in Your Tent eternally, may I take refuge in the shelter of Your wings,
selah!” (Ps. 61:5). Now,
could David have imagined that he'd live forever? Rather, this is what David said before the Blessed Holy One: Lord of the World! May
I merit that my words be recited in the synagogues and study circles!
6. Shimon b Nezira in the name of Rabbi Yitzhak said:
When a [deceased] Sage's traditions are recited in this world his lips move simultaneously in the grave, as it is said: “[Your palate is
like fine wine,] moving the lips of those who sleep” (Song 7:10). 79
Like a mass of heated grapes that drips as a person presses a finger upon them, so too are the lips of the righteous [Sages who
have departed]—when one recites a word of halakhah from the mouths of the righteous, their lips move with him in their graves.
7. What kind of pleasure does [the deceased] receive?
Said bar Nezira:
Like someone drinking honeyed wine.
Said Rabbi Yitzhak:
Like someone drinking aged wine. Even though he drank it [long ago], the taste remains in his mouth.
8. Gidol 80 said: One who recites a tradition in the name of its transmitter should imagine him standing before him, as it is said: “Man
walks about as a mere shadow ['k b lm ythlk 'yš ] [. . . amassing and not knowing who will gather in]” (Ps. 39:7) 81
9. It is written: “Many a person does he call his friend”—this refers to most people; “but a trustworthy person, who can find?” (Prov. 20:6)
—this refers to Rabbi Zeira.
For Rabbi Zeira said: We needn't pay attention to the traditions of Rav Sheshet, 82 since he is blind [and cannot reliably verify from
whom he heard his traditions: so Qorban HaEdah].
10. Said Rabbi Zeira to Rabbi Assi: Does the Master know bar Petaya in whose name you recite traditions? He replied: Rabbi Yohanan
[who knows bar Petaya] recited them in his name!
Said Rabbi Zeira to Rabbi Assi: 83 Does the Master know Rav in whose name you recite traditions? He replied: Rabbi Adda bar
Ahavah recited them in his name!
resentment—the offending disciple consistently fails to acknowledge the master as the source of his own torah traditions (3). Leaping
again to the defense, Rabbi Yaakov finally adduces a compelling precedent from Joshua's reporting of Moses' teachings. Rabbi Yohanan
sees the point and congratulates his disciple on his interpersonal skills.
Let us focus now on the motive of Rabbi Yohanan's resentment. The narrative on its own suggests that his displeasure is grounded in
some proprietary desire to receive credit for his own teachings. He wants his disciples to acknowledge him as the immediate source of
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