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Bava Metzia 84b

בבא מציעא פ״ד ע״ב

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Topic

The suffering, death, burial and greatness of רבי אלעזר ברבי שמעון

Overview

This amud is one long aggadic story about רבי אלעזר ברבי שמעון, not a legal debate. Out of fear that he had ruled wrongly, he took suffering upon himself. He welcomed his pains every night and sent them away every morning so he would not lose Torah learning. His wife nursed him but kept him out of the בית מדרש. When she learned the pains were self-inflicted, she left him. Sixty sailors then came to care for him, and he returned to the בית מדרש, where Heaven confirmed his rulings on blood samples. After his death his body lay in his attic for many years without decaying, until the רבנן finally buried him beside his father, רבי שמעון בן יוחאי. His widow turned down רבי's marriage proposal, and the גמרא tells how רבי אלעזר ברבי שמעון was greater than רבי in Torah. The amud ends as רבי begins listing three humble people, starting with his father.

Opening lines

וַאֲפִילּוּ הָכִי לָא סְמַךְ

And even so, he did not rely

רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בְּרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אַדַּעְתֵּיהּ,

Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Shimon on his own judgment,

קַבֵּיל עֲלֵיהּ יִסּוּרֵי.

he accepted sufferings upon himself.

בְּאוּרְתָּא הֲווֹ מָיְיכִי לֵיהּ שִׁיתִּין נַמְטֵי,

At night they would spread out sixty felt covers for him,

The steps (29)

  1. Statementרבי אלעזר takes suffering upon himself
  2. StatementHis wife's daily care and her worry
  3. StatementInviting the pains at night, sending them away by morning
  4. StatementHis wife hears him and leaves
  5. StatementSixty sailors come to care for him
  6. StatementHe tells his wife he is now richer, gets healthy, and returns to learning
  7. StatementHis rulings on sixty blood samples are proven right by a sign
  8. Statementרבי criticizes the wife for keeping him from the בית מדרש
  9. StatementBefore dying, he asks to be laid in his attic
  10. StatementWitness report: he lay in the attic for eighteen to twenty-two years
  11. StatementThe wife describes his body and the worm in his ear
  12. StatementA voice from the attic judges court cases
  13. StatementA neighbor's insult reveals he was never buried
  14. StatementAnother version: his father asks in a dream for his son
  15. StatementThe people of עכבריא refuse to let him go
  16. StatementOn ערב יום כיפור the people of בירי carry him away
  17. StatementA snake at the cave opens the way for the son
  18. StatementThe widow refuses רבי's marriage proposal
  19. Statementרבי argues he is greater in good deeds
  20. StatementThe widow says he was greater in deeds because he accepted suffering
  21. QuestionHow was he greater in Torah?
  22. ResponseThe two young scholars sat on the ground before the great Sages
  23. ResponseThe young scholars are raised to benches
  24. Responseרבן שמעון בן גמליאל has his son lowered
  25. Responseרבי אלעזר ברבי שמעון is lowered too and feels insulted
  26. ResponseBefore that day, he used to support רבי
  27. ResponseFrom then on, he got ahead of רבי's objections and dismissed them
  28. Responseרבי is hurt, and his father comforts him
  29. Statementרבי's teaching that there are three humble people, starting with his father