This parable is quite short and, by itself, rather uninteresting. However, the background situation and Rabbi Ishmael’s response to the parable set the stage for a lesson in wisdom. The translation by McArthur and Johnston is given below along with the original in Hebrew. (My goal is to learn a little more of the Hebrew of these parables, when available, and become a little more familiar with the Talmud). I have broken up the text in such a way that will be easier to see some of its structure. After the parable, I will make a few comments.
The Man with a Fine Beard
R. Ekazar b. Azariah; ca. 80; B. Berakoth lla
|
וקורין ומעשה ברבי ישמעאל ור’ אלעזר בן עזריה שהיו מסובין במקום אחד והיה ר’ ישמעאל מוטה ור’ אלעזר בן עזריה זקוף
כיון שהגיע זמן קריאת שמע הטה רבי אלעזר וזקף ר’ ישמעאל
אמר לו רבי אלעזר בן עזריה לר’ ישמעאל
ישמעאל אחי
אמשול לך משל
למה הדבר דומה
משל
לאחד שאומרים לו זקנך מגודל אמר להם יהיה כנגד המשחיתים
אף כך אתה כל זמן שאני זקוף אתה מוטה עכשיו כשאני הטתי אתה זקפת
אמר לו
אני עשיתי כדברי ב”ה ואתה עשית כדברי ב”ש
ולא עוד אלא שמא יראו התלמידים ויקבעו הלכה לדורות
|
Once R. Ishmael and R. Eleazar b. Azariah were dining at the same place, and R. Ishmael was reclining while R. Eleazar was standing upright.
When the time came for reciting the Shema, R. Eleazar reclined, and R. Ishmael stood upright.
Said R. Eleazar b. Azariah to R. Ishmael:
Brother Ishmael,
I will parable you a parable.
Unto what is the matter like?
A parable.
It is like one to whom people say: You have a fine beard. And he says: Let this go to meet the destroyers. [By these words the man rejects the compliment.]
So with you. As long as I was upright, you were reclining, and now that I recline, you stand upright!
He replied:
I have acted according to the rule of Beth Hillel, and you have acted according to the rule of Beth Shammai.
And what is more (I had to act thus), lest the disciples should see and fix the halakah so for future generations!
|
Read more »
For this parable, we are going to have the benefit of not only seeing its Hebrew but also two translations. John Hobbins was kind enough to translate the text in two posts entitled “The Parable of the Banquet in the Talmud.” In the first part, he looks at the exchange between R. Eliezer and his students culminating in a quote from Qohelet. Hobbins reminds us of the importance of taking the context of the parables into consideration as they may have never been stand-alone units.
I have my doubts about the tendency to treat parables as self-contained units. They may have been (or may never have been), once upon a time, autonomous units. But, just as is the case with the parables of the New Testament, the parables of the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud do not stand on their own anymore. Relationship to context needs to be taken into full account.
In the second part, he looks at the parable of a king who invited his servants to a feast (hence the title of the parable). He also provides a list of non-biblical expressions in the Talmud text and a vocalized biblical Hebrew assimilation that makes it a lot easier to read.
In the book They Also Taught in Parables, the authors go all the way to the end of Berakhot 153a since the last unit has R. Meir’s son-in-law expanding on the last parable. To make things a little easier to follow, I will divide this whole section (as demarcated by the book) into three parts. The first two will follow Hobbins’ sense-units and the last will include the conclusion. I will first provide the translation in They Also Taught in Parables (PT) followed by the Hebrew text and Hobbins’ translation (HT) (expect, of course, for the last part).
We learned elsewhere, R. Eliezer said: Repent one day before your death. His disciples asked him:
Does one know on what day he will die? He said: Then all the more reason that he repent today, lest he die tomorrow, and thus his whole life is spent in repentance. And Solomon too said in his wisdom: “Let thy garments be always white; and let not thy head lack ointment” (Eccl. 9:8).
רבי אליעזר אומר
שוב יום אחד לפני מיתתך
שאלו תלמידיו את ר”א
וכי אדם [לא] יודע איזהו יום ימות
אמר להן
וכל שכן ישוב היום
שמא ימות למחר
ונמצא כל ימיו בתשובה
ואף שלמה אמר בחכמתו
בכל עת יהיו בגדיך לבנים
ושמן על ראשך אל יחסר
|
R. Eliezer would say:
“Repent one day before your death.”
His students inquired of R. Eliezer:
“And if a person [does not] know on which day he will die?”
He told them:
“All the more will he repent today
in case he dies tomorrow.
And he will be found in repentance all his days.”
Solomon, too, said in his wisdom,
“At all times let your garments be white;
let there be no lack of oil on your head.” (Qoh 9:8)
|
Read more »
I recently read a fascinating book entitled They Also Taught in Parables: Rabbinic Parables from the First Centuries of the Christian Era by Harvey K. McArthur and Robert M. Johnston. The first part is a collection of selected parables of the תנאים (tannaim – the Rabbinic sages in the Mishnah from approximately 70-200 CE) and the second part comprised of essays on the nature of their parables and some comparisons with the parables of Jesus.
The rabbinic word for parable(s) is mashal/meshalim, and, to mark a literary item as a narrative mashal, the authors chose the following elements:
Explicit label. Often the introductory formulas to the items explicitly label them as meshalim. Some typical introductions are: “A parable”; “A parable: It is like unto . . .”; and “They parable a parable. Unto what is the matter like? It is like unto. . . .”
Abbreviated label. Frequently the introductory formulas are abbreviated in such a way that the word mashal itself is omitted: “It is like unto. . . .”
Structural characteristics. The immediate environment and internal structure of the typical narrative mashal in its fullest form include these five parts:
|
1. Illustrand, or the point to be illustrated.
2. Introductory formula, such as noted above.
3. The parable proper (the so-called picture half, or story part, of the whole unit).
4. Application, usually introduced by the Hebrew word kak (even so; likewise) or another linking word.
5. Scriptural quotation, often introduced by the formula “as it is said” or “as it is written.” (The quotation is often followed by a second application, which itself may become an illustrand, thus producing a chain of parables.)
|
Here is an example:
The King’s Twin Who Was Executed
R. Meir says: What does the Scripture mean: “For that which is hanged is a curse of God” (Deut. 21:23)?
It is like two twin brothers, each resembling the other. One became king over the whole world, and the other went out into robbery. After a time the one who went out into robbery was captured and they crucified (hanged) him on a cross (gallows). And all the passers-by were saying: It is as though the king were crucified.
Therefore it is said: “For that which is hanged is a curse of God.”
(R. Meir; ca. 140; Tos. Sanhedrin 9:7 [cf. B. Sanhedrin 46b])
Read more »
0 Comments 
