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Kesuvos 077b: RYBL and the Mal'ach Hamaves
Ralph Fagelston <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> asked:
I am very puzzled by the Aggatata on this page. the text and the general
thread are relatively simple, but I can't help thinking that ther is some
deep underlying lesson to be learnt from these descriptions of 'brain
surgery',mastery over the Malach hamoves etc.
My questions are:
(a)What are we to learn from all the above
(b)To what extent may (must?) we believe that these are "Ma'ssim Shehayu"
The mentor of our group of talmidim, was a little put out by these
questions -a bit "Apikorkeshka" maybe; we look forward to your answers!
Ralph Fagelston, Netanya, Israel
----------------------------------------------
(Sorry for the delay in the reply; for technical reasons it took us a while
to forward to you Rabbi Pearlman's reply - M. Kornfeld)
Rabbi Joseph Pearlman replies:
I believe you once kept up with my "HaMeir" publications; if you still have
them you are referred to vol. 4 no. 26 (Emor 5745), where the subject of
interpretation of Agadot is discussed. I attach copies of pages 5, 6 and 7
of that volume of HaMeir and refer you to the sections marked "O" to "Q"
there, which include selected quotations from the English translation of
Maharatzs Chayes's "Mevo ha'Talmud," from which you should find a fairly
complete answer to your second question (b).
I also refer you to the Ma'amar Al Odos Derashos Chazal of Rav Avraham ben
ha'Rambam, published in the introductory pages of the standard edition of
the Ein Yakov.
In the light of the foregoing, you should not have much trouble with the
specific Agadah in Kesuvos 77b, and your first question (a). Clearly, that
Agadah is intended to show the greatness of RYBL resulting from his Torah
supremacy, but even more so from his self-sacrificing and amazingly
altruistic Midas ha'Chesed. As Toldos Tana'im ve'Amora'im, (Heiman) writes
of this Agadah (vol II p. 645, translated from the Hebrew), "Although
without a doubt Chazal spoke in metaphors, nevertheless we can see [from
this story] the greatness of RYBL in the eyes of his peers, who saw with
their own eyes how holy and nonphysical RYBL had become, until they said of
him that he entered the Garden of Eden while living."
The knife of the Angel of Death is obviously not a physical weapon but a
spiritual force, used to draw out the human being's last breath of life in
this world. RYBL's achievements and Madregah in this physical world
extended way beyond it into the spiritual realms, whereby he was attributed
with control over these higher forces. So when the time comes for his
departure from the world, it was as if he made a voluntary exit
transcending the powers of the Mal'ach ha'Maves, whose efforts to do his
normal job were thwarted by RYBL's own majestic overriding merit. The
Gemara then continues that his was only a temporary suspension for his
particular case, but not for anyone else - "A heavenly voice rang out and
said, 'Give back the sword; it is needed for the rest of the world!'"
The whole of this Agadah is dealt with at length in the Peirush of the
Maharal l'Agados ha'Shas, but in essence it is just an amplification of the
above. He is at pains to point out that there was nothing physical taking
place: no knife, no speech, no tugging at garments etc. In his words
(loosely translated):
"When the Gemara says 'He went and showed him the Garden of Eden,' do not
think that this is referring to a physical seeing. The same applies to the
entire dialogue recorded here; none of it is physical. When the Gemara says
'He showed him,' it means only that Hashem drew him close to
[understanding] the force known as "Mal'ach ha'Maves." Similarly, the term
"He [the Mal'ach ha'Maves] said" is not referring to physical speech, but
rather it is comparable to the Agados that attribute speech to the moon and
other non-physical beings."
The Maharal adds, "When RYBL tells the Mal'ach 'Give me your *sword*,' he
is referring to the active force of the destructive power known as 'Mal'ach
ha'Maves.' This force is dubbed 'a sword,' for a sword exists solely to cut
and destroy, just like the destructive force of the Mal'ach ha'Maves. The
Tzadik has it in his ability to counteract this destructive force...."
The Maharal continues to develop this theme at length; have a look at his
comments in their entirety.
Best wishes and regards,
Rabbi Joseph Pearlman
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