Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Musar for Berakhot 125:27

אמר להם והלא עקיבא בן יוסף היה מעבר שנים וקובע חדשים בחו"ל אמרו לו הנח רבי עקיבא שלא הניח כמותו בארץ ישראל א"ל אף אני לא הנחתי כמותי בא"י אמרו לו גדיים שהנחת נעשו תישים בעלי קרנים והם שגרונו אצלך וכן אמרו לנו לכו ואמרו לו בשמנו אם שומע מוטב ואם לאו יהא בנדוי

He replied, "Did not 'Akiba b. Joseph act similarly?" They said to him, "Keep R. 'Akiba out of it, because he left not his equal in the land of Israel." He said to them, "I also have not left my equal in the land of Israel." They said to him, "The kids which thou didst leave behind have grown into goats with horns; and they have sent us to thee, saying to us 'Go, tell him in our name; if he obeys, well and good ; but if not, let him be excommunicated.

Shenei Luchot HaBerit

The best way to explain the Midrash is by reference to the three different kinds of crowns. When G–d describes Israel as a flock and Himself as its shepherd, this is an allusion to the crown of Torah. We have a verse in Ezekiel 34,31: "Now you My flock, flock of My pasture—you are Adam. I am your G–d, says the Lord G–d." The meaning of this verse is that though, at this time, Torah knowledge amongst the Jewish people is only at the level of sheep, there will come a time when the Jewish people will once more be comparable to Adam, a time at which the whole earth will be full of the knowledge of G–d. David Kimchi explains the verse by saying that even when we are in exile the Torah will not be forgotten, since we have an assurance כי לא נשכח מזרעו, "it will not be forgotten by his descendants" (Deut. 31,21). We are only called צאן. Our sages have used similar terminology for Jews who have studied little Torah whom they describe them as גדיים, rather than as תישים, young goats instead of mature billy-goats (Berachot 63). Solomon, referring to such immature Jewish people, says in Song of Songs 1,8: צאי לך בעקבי הצאן, "Go out and follow the tracks of the sheep "
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