Musar for Gittin 133:11
אמר ליה עולא לרב נחמן ואמרי לה רב נחמן לעולא מאחר דכשר אמאי לא תעשה זאת בישראל א"ל חיישינן שמא תשכור עדים
R. Tarfon was a heap of nuts.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' When he was asked a question, his instances came out like a heap of nuts toppling over one another. ');"><sup>11</sup></span>
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
If Rabbi Yehudah chose "Moses received the Torah," as his introductory words to that tractate, he wanted to emphasize that it was the humility of a Moses that enabled him to "receive" the Torah in all its aspects. G–d's example of humility had inspired Moses to model himself after that example. This is the major challenge of ethics as we understand it. What Moses "received," is what our sages call אספקלריא מאירה, "a clear, unblurred vision." We have it on good authority that the attributes of Rabbi Akiva were essentially the same as those of Moses. In Gittin 67a Rabbi Shimon tells his students: "study my מדות, attributes, for my attributes are a tiny fraction of the attributes of Rabbi Akiva." [Clearly, even if we accept Rashi who explains the word מדות there to mean תורה, it is clear that Rabbi Akiva is held up as the ultimate model to follow. Ed.]
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