Bava Metzia 84a

בבא מציעא פ״ד ע״א

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Topic

Stories of the חכמים: אליהו's rebuke, the size and beauty of the חכמים, and the friendship and loss of רבי יוחנן and ריש לקיש

Overview

This amud is all אגדה, stories rather than legal debate. It opens with אליהו הנביא rebuking רבי ישמעאל ברבי יוסי for handing Jews over to the Roman government, telling him to run away as his father did. Next the גמרא describes how large רבי ישמעאל and רבי אלעזר ברבי שמעון were, and how they answered a Roman noblewoman who mocked them. The גמרא explains that they answered her only to protect their children's good name. It then turns to רבי יוחנן's great beauty, and to why he sat by the מקוה without fearing the עין הרע: he came from יוסף. Then comes the famous story of how רבי יוחנן brought ריש לקיש, a bandit, to Torah and made him a great scholar. After a sharp exchange in the בית מדרש, רבי יוחנן was hurt, ריש לקיש fell ill and died, and רבי יוחנן mourned him so deeply that no one could replace him, until he too died.

Opening lines

The steps (38)

1. Challengeאליהו challenges רבי ישמעאל ברבי יוסי
2. Resolutionרבי ישמעאל says he has no choice
3. Rejectionאליהו says: run away like your father did
4. StatementThe two חכמים were so large that oxen fit between them
5. ChallengeA noblewoman claims their children are not theirs
6. ResolutionThey answer that their wives are even larger
7. ChallengeShe says: all the more so
8. ResolutionAnother version: a פסוק, 'as the man, so is his strength'
9. ResolutionA third version: love compresses the flesh
10. ChallengeWhy answer a foolish question at all?
11. ResolutionThey answered to protect their children's good name
12. Statementרבי יוחנן on the size of רבי ישמעאל ברבי יוסי
13. Statementרב פפא on the size of רבי יוחנן, and רב פפא himself
14. Statementרבי יוחנן's beauty
15. ChallengeWhy is רבי יוחנן missing from the list of beautiful people?
16. Resolutionרבי יוחנן had no beard
17. Statementרבי יוחנן sits by the gates of the מקוה
18. ChallengeAren't you afraid of the evil eye?
19. Resolutionיוסף's descendants are above the evil eye
20. ProofA second source: like fish hidden in the sea
21. Statementריש לקיש jumps into the Jordan after רבי יוחנן
22. Statementריש לקיש accepts and loses his strength
23. Statementרבי יוחנן turns ריש לקיש into a great scholar
24. StatementA study hall discussion about when weapons can become impure
25. QuestionWhen exactly is their manufacture finished?
26. ResponseFurnace or water: רבי יוחנן and ריש לקיש disagree
27. Statementרבי יוחנן's remark: a bandit knows his trade
28. Challengeריש לקיש: What did you do for me?
29. Resolutionרבי יוחנן: I brought you under the wings of the שכינה
30. Statementרבי יוחנן is hurt, and ריש לקיש falls ill
31. StatementHis sister pleads, and רבי יוחנן answers with a verse
32. Statementריש לקיש dies, and רבי יוחנן grieves deeply
33. QuestionWho will comfort רבי יוחנן?
34. ResponseThey choose רבי אלעזר בן פדת for his sharp teachings
35. Statementרבי אלעזר supports every statement with a ברייתא
36. Statementרבי יוחנן explains why agreement cannot replace ריש לקיש
37. Statementרבי יוחנן cries out for ריש לקיש
38. Conclusionרבי יוחנן loses his mind and dies