R. Yochanan ben Zakkai l'a reçu de Hillel et de Shammai. Il avait coutume de dire: si vous avez beaucoup appris la Torah, ne vous en attribuez pas le mérite, [en disant: «J'ai beaucoup appris la Torah». Car vous avez été créé pour cela. (C'est parce qu'il n'a laissé ni l'Écriture, ni la Michna, ni la halakha, ni l'aggadah qu'il n'a appris, qu'il a dit cela.)] R. Yochanan ben Zakkai avait cinq disciples: R. Eliezer ben Hurkanos, R. Yehoshua ben Chananiah, R Yossi Hakohen, R. Shimon ben Nethanel et R. Elazar ben Arach. Il avait coutume de citer leurs distinctions (respectives): R. Eliezer ben Hurkanos—une fosse enduite de chaux, qui ne perd pas une goutte. [Donc, lui aussi ne perd pas un élément de son apprentissage]. R. Yehoshua—[Il était si plein de bon middoth que tous disaient de lui: "Heureuse celle qui l'a enfanté!" (D'autres disent: Ils ont dit cela parce que c'est elle qui l'a fait devenir sage. Elle faisait le tour de toutes les maisons d'étude de sa ville et leur disait (les disciples): "S'il vous plaît, priez pour ce fœtus en mon estomac, qu'il soit un sage! »Et depuis le jour de sa naissance, elle n'a pas retiré son berceau de la maison d'étude, pour que seuls les mots de la Torah entrent dans ses oreilles.] R. Yossi— chasid, [agissant au-delà de la lettre de la loi.] R. Shimon ben Nethanel —un craintif du péché, [rigoureux avec lui-même et s'interdisant à lui-même a permis des choses par crainte qu'il puisse venir au péché. Car sinon, quelle est la particularité de cela? Même un ignorant peut avoir peur du péché.] R. Elazar ben Arach—un puits résurgent, [de cœur large, dialectique "jaillissant" et conjecture qui lui est propre.] Il (R. Yochanan ben Zakkai) avait coutume de dire: Si tous les sages d'Israël étaient dans le même équilibre de l'échelle et Eliezer ben Hurkanos dans l'autre, il les surpasserait tous. Abba Shaul dit dans son nom (de R. Yochanan b. Zakkai): Si tous les sages d'Israël étaient dans une balance de l'échelle et R. Eliezer ben Hurkanos aussi avec eux, et R. Elazar (ben Arach) dans l'autre, il les dépasserait tous. [J'ai trouvé écrit qu'Abba Shaul n'est pas en désaccord avec le premier tanna et que les deux choses ont été dites par R. Yochanan ben Zakkai et que les deux sont vraies. En termes de connaissances et de mémoire, R. Eliezer (ben Hurkanos) les a tous emportés sur eux, et dans la netteté et la dialectique, R. Elazar ben Arach les a tous emportés sur eux.]
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
Adam ruined this state of affairs by interfering with the סוד היין, the mystical properties of the grapes. [I suppose that this is based on the tree of knowledge having been a grape bearing tree. Ed.] He followed an evil path by squeezing a cluster of grapes (and consuming its juice). Had he not done so, that "wine" would have remained in the state of what our sages call the יין המשומר בענביו, "the wine that remained preserved within its grapes (compare Berachot 34).” In that event he would have been like "the cistern that does not lose a single drop” [hyperbole for total recall, see Avot 2,11. Ed.]. He would have retained all the holiness that had been his when he was created. When Adam sinned, he did not only lose some of his former glory, fall from a "high roof" (to the ground), but he fell into a "very deep pit" (below the ground). This was a בור רק, an empty pit [allusion to the pit Joseph had been thrown in. Genesis 37,24], since it did not even contain the ingredients for the survival of the species. The species was wiped out at the time of the deluge as a direct consequence of Adam having polluted that "drop of sacred semen," and made it "evil smelling." Due to G–d's personal intervention, Noach was saved seeing he was righteous, and the righteous are the foundation of the universe. The present universe was founded by him as a result.
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Mesilat Yesharim
Rather, if he possess great wisdom, behold, he is under duty to teach it to those in need of it, similar to the statement of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai: "if you learned much Torah, do not take credit for yourself since for this you were created!" (Avot 2:8).
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Orchot Tzadikim
And there is another wrong which smacks of gossip — for example, where a person says, "Oh, better be silent about so and so; I don't want to say what I know about him!" — and so in all similar cases. And our Sages further said, "Let no man ever talk in praise of his neighbor, for through his praise he will come to disparage him" (Arakin 16a, and see Baba Bathra 164b). The meaning of this is: if you praise a man to his enemy, he will retort, "How can you praise him so much when he does this and this." And concerning this it is said, "He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him" (Prov. 27:14). But to praise a man before his friends is permitted, as we have learned, "Rabban Johanan the son of Zakkai had five (outstanding) disciples, and he used to recount their praises" (Aboth 2:8). Then, there is the one who speaks gossip by way of a joke or by way of frivolity (that is, he is not speaking out of hatred), and that is what Solomon said in his wisdom, "As a madman who casteth firebrands, arrows and death; so is the man that deceiveth his neighbour and saith: "Am not I in sport?" (Prov. 26:18—19).
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Shenei Luchot HaBerit
The first Rabbi quoted makes it plain that he speaks of a person who seeks such a position for his personal gratification. He views it as his due for having studied a great deal of Torah. The objection to the appointment of such a person is that it is forbidden to seek personal gratification and advantage from words of Torah. We are told in Sotah 4 in the name of Rabbi Chiyah bar Abba in reference to Proverbs 6,26, that "a married woman can ensnare even a prestigious man," that a haughty person will sooner or later commit the sin of adultery. Haughtiness could be the result of someone having studied Torah. The reason that one must not become boastful even if one has studied a great deal of Torah, is that we are told in Avot 2,8, that "if you have studied much Torah do not take credit for this, for after all you have only done what you have been created for." If not for Torah, man would have been no better than the smelly drop of semen which is his origin. Torah converts this smelly drop into a waterproof cistern which does not lose anything that is put into it. Under such conditions the words of Torah have a chance to increase and multiply. This is why we have a tradition that words of Torah are compared to seedlings. Just as seedlings increase and multiply, so do words of Torah multiply. Torah has been called אשה, "wife," as we know from Deut. 33,4, where the expression מורשה קהלת יעקב, is also interpreted as מאורסה, i.e. she is Israel's "betrothed." When one uses one's Torah knowledge to boast, then this "betrothed" is considered as an alien woman (compare Pessachim 49). Such a woman is like a vessel full of excrement, though everybody runs after her. Hence the drop of semen becomes an evil smelling drop.
