Commentary for Sanhedrin 198:19

אלא כגון דיתיב קמיה רביה ונפלה ליה שמעתא בדוכתא אחריתי ואמר הכי אמרינן התם ולא אמר הכי אמר מר רבא אמר כגון הני דבי בנימין אסיא דאמרי מאי אהני לן רבנן מעולם

AN EPIKOROS. Rab and R. Hanina both taught that this means one who insults a scholar. R. Johanan and R. Joshua b. Levi maintained that it is one who insults his neighbour in the presence of a scholar. Now on the view that he who insults his neighbour in the presence of a scholar is an epikoros, it is well; for then he who insults a scholar himself will be included in the expression, 'he who acts impudently against the Torah.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So Rashi; v. supra p. 672, n. 1. ');">³¹</span> But on the view that he who insults a scholar himself is an epikoros, who is meant by 'she who acts impudently against the Torah'? — E.g., Manasseh b. Hezekiah.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. supra. ');">³²</span> Others taught this [dispute] with reference to the second clause: 'he who acts impudently against the Torah.' Rab and R. Hanina both maintained that this means one who insults a scholar himself, whilst R. Johanan and R. Joshua b. Levi held that it is one who insults his neighbour in the presence of a scholar. Now, on the view that he who insults a scholar himself is denoted by the expression 'he who acts impudently against the Torah,' it is well, for then he who insults his neighbour in a scholar's presence is dubbed an epikoros; but on the view that he who insults his neighbour in the presence of a scholar 'is considered to have acted impudently against the Torah, who then is meant by epikoros? — R. Joseph said: E.g., Those who give, 'Of what use are the Rabbis to us? For their own benefit they read [the Scripture], and for their own benefit they study [post-Scriptural learning, particularly the Mishnah]'. Abaye said to him: But this too denotes acting impudently against the Torah, as it is written, Thus saith the Lord, But for my covenant [studied] day and night, I had not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Jer. XXXIII, 25, i.e., the world endures only because the Torah ('my covenant') is studied. To deny the utility of scholars therefore is 'to act bare-faced', I.e., express disbelief of what is asserted in the Torah. ');">³³</span> R. Nahman b. Isaac said: it is also deduced from the verse, Then I will spare all the place for their sakes.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Gen. XVIII, 26. To the Rabbis of the Talmud, scholarship and righteousness are synonymous. ');">³⁴</span> But it means one, e.g., who was sitting before his teacher, when the discussion turned to some other subject, and the disciple remarked, 'We said so and so on that matter,' instead of 'Thou Master hast said.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., taking partial credit for the dictum, when in reality it belonged entirely to the teacher. ');">³⁵</span> Raba said: E.g., The family of Benjamin the doctor who say, 'Of what use are the Rabbis to us? They have never

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