RABBI YEHUDA BAR ILOI and Tsfat

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2019Aug 7

On my trip to Safed on 080619 we pick up Avner and his Mom we stop at the Caver for RABBI YEHUDA BAR ILOI “The Law is like Rabbi Yehuda” by Chana Katz The two-story building hovering over the burial place of Rabbi Yehuda Bar Illoy is clearly visible on the south (left) side of the Meron-Carmiel- Acco Highway (Route 89) as you leave Tsfat, after about a five minute drive. Utterly poor in possessions, yet rich in Torah wisdom and sterling character traits, no other Jewish sage has earned quite a prominent position in the Talmud as Rabbi Yehudah Bar Iloi. One of the five famous last disciples of Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Yehuda is quoted in the Mishnah more than 600 times. When faced with differing opinions from such illuminous contemporaries as Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, it is said that Rabbi Yehudah’s is the deciding opinion. The poverty which followed the Roman destruction of the Second Holy Temple was deeply oppressive, but the ahavat yisroel (love of a fellow Jew) which arose from those dire circumstances, was recorded for posterity. Rabbi Yehudah’s students couldn’t even afford to buy their own talleitim (prayer shawls) — and so they shared — huddling six at a time under one shawl. Once, Rabbi Yehudah’s wife managed to acquire enough money to buy some material in order to sew a cloak, which they both lovingly shared. He wore it to the House of Study and his wife donned it when she went to town. He endured his poverty with grace. Once, upon hearing that Rabbi Yehudah couldn’t even afford to have his own cloak, the famed teacher Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel sent him one. Rabbi Yehudah refused to accept it. A more humorous aspect of the difficult times involved the sharing of one bowl of food between Rabbi Yehudah and another scholar with only one spoon between them: “How long do I have to have your gritty fingernails dipping into the bowl of food which I eat?” asked one. “How long do I have to accommodate the spittle from your spoon!” responded the other. While he reached great heights of Torah learning — tutored in part by his father, a student of Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Eliezer B. Hyrcanus — there was no work that was too meager for him to perform. “Work honors the worker,” held Rabbi Yehudah. In a similar vein, Rabbi Yehudah knew nothing more dear than learning the Torah — except “working,” that is — living — the Torah. Leaving the study hall to gladden a bride and groom or to pay respects to the departed at a funeral. . . taking time to help a quarreling husband and wife…were duties higher than learning itself. “For so you show your fellow man love and honor,” Rabbi Yehudah explained. Rabbi Yehudah is quoted in Pirkei Avos (Ethics of Our Fathers) urging students to be “meticulous in study — for a careless misinterpretation is considered tantamount to a willful transgression.” He also said that man is recognized “through his anger, his cup, and his pocket — how he behaves when he drinks too much, how generous he is with money and how quick to anger.” Today — some 1800 years since the light of Rabbi Yehudah and his students shone in the ancient village of Ein Zeitim on the outskirts of Tsfat — a kollel for learning has been established in a two-story building above the tombs of Rabbi Yehudah and his father. A large patio with a pavilion and tables adjoins the site to accommodate the many festive occasions which take place there such as weddings and bar mitzvah celebrations.