Megillah, Daf Kaf Tet, Part 2
Introduction
This section continues to discuss the importance of the synagogue.
תניא, רבי שמעון בן יוחי אומר: בוא וראה כמה חביבין ישראל לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא. שבכל מקום שגלו – שכינה עמהן. גלו למצרים – שכינה עמהן, שנאמר: +שמואל א‘ ב+ הנגלה נגליתי לבית אביך בהיותם במצרים וגו‘, גלו לבבל – שכינה עמהן, שנאמר: +ישעיהו מ"ג+ למענכם שלחתי בבלה. ואף כשהן עתידין ליגאל שכינה עמהן, שנאמר: +דברים ל‘+ ושב ה‘ אלהיך את שבותך, והשיב לא נאמר אלא ושב, מלמד שהקדוש ברוך הוא שב עמהן מבין הגליות.
It was taught: R. Shimon b. Yohai said: Come and see how beloved are Israel to God every place to which they were exiled the Shekhinah (God’s Divine Presence) went with them. They were exiled to Egypt and the Shekhinah was with them, as it says, "Did I reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt" (II Samuel 2:27). They were exiled to Babylon, and the Shekhinah was with them, as it says, "For your sake I was sent to Babylon" (Isaiah 43:14). And when they will be redeemed in the future, the Shekhinah will be with them, as it says, "Then the Lord your God will return [with] your captivity" (Deuteronomy 30:3). It does not say here veheshiv [and He shall bring back] but veshav [and he shall return]. This teaches us that the Holy One, blessed be He, will return with them from the places of exile.
This baraita conveys one of the most central theological messages of the rabbis God was with Israel in their times of trouble, when they were exiled in the past, and God has not abandoned them now that they are in exile for the foreseeable future. The baraita cites a variety of verses that teach this message. Clearly after the destruction of the Temple and with competing groups, including Christians, claiming that God had abandoned Israel, it was very important for Jews to believe that God remained with them. This was surely a message of great comfort.
בבבל היכא? אמר אביי: בבי כנישתא דהוצל, ובבי כנישתא דשף ויתיב בנהרדעא.
ולא תימא הכא והכא, אלא: זמנין הכא, וזמנין הכא.
אמר אביי: תיתי לי, דכי מרחיקנא פרסה – עיילנא ומצלינא התם.
Where [is the Shekhinah] in Babylonia? Abaye said: In the synagogue of Huzal and in the synagogue of Shaf Veyativ (lit. was destroyed and then rebuilt) in Nehardea.
Do not say that it is in both places, but it is sometimes in one and sometimes in the other.
Abaye said: May I be rewarded for whenever I am within a parasang I go in and pray there.
Abaye has a very concrete view of where God is, indeed I would argue that this is what the above source itself said as well. This is not the idea that God is everywhere at all times. Rather, God’s presence is in a particular place at a time. In Babylonia He goes back and forth between two synagogues. I’m sure there’s a third one even God never sets foot into. He’s Jewish after all.
Abaye even makes sure he sets foot in each of these synagogues when he passes by them. If you knew that God was in synagogue, wouldn’t you go out of your way to go there?
אבוה דשמואל [ולוי] הוו יתבי בכנישתא דשף ויתיב בנהרדעא, אתיא שכינה, שמעו קול ריגשא. [קמו ונפקו רב ששת הוה יתיב בבי כנישתא דשף ויתיב בנהרדעא, אתיא שכינה] ולא נפק. אתו מלאכי השרת וקא מבעתו ליה, אמר לפניו: רבונו של עולם! עלוב ושאינו עלוב מי נדחה מפני מי? – אמר להו: שבקוהו.
The father of Samuel and Levi were sitting in the synagogue Shaf Veyativ in Nehardea. The Shekhinah came and they heard a sound of trembling and rose and went out.
R. Sheshet was once sitting in the synagogue Shaf Veyativ in Nehardea, when the Shekhinah came. He did not go out, and the ministering angels came and threatened him. He said to Him and said: Master of the World, if one is afflicted and one is not afflicted, who gives way to whom? God said to them: Leave him alone.
The synagogue Shaf Veyativ seems to have been prone to earthquakes. Its very name means "was destroyed and then rebuilt." In any case, the rabbis interpret these movements as being signs of the presence of the Shekhinah.
When this occurred to R. Sheshet, he stayed in the synagogue. The angels came and threatened him, trying to get him to leave. R. Sheshet brazenly says to God why should I, a person afflicted with blindness, leave? In general, an afflicted person does not give way to one who is not afflicted. God tells the angels to leave R. Sheshet alone. Lesson learned.
+יחזקאל י"א+ ואהי להם למקדש מעט, אמר רבי יצחק: אלו בתי כנסיות ובתי מדרשות שבבבל. ורבי אלעזר אמר: זה בית רבינו שבבבל.
"Yet I have been to them as a little sanctuary [in the land into which they will go]" (Ezekiel 11:16). R. Yitzchak said: This refers to the synagogue and study houses
R. Elazar says: This refers to the house of our teacher in Babylonia.
In Ezekiel, God promises Israel that he will remain with them in exile, that He will be for them a "little sanctuary." To R. Yitzchak this refers to synagogues and study houses. Indeed, historically the synagogue has been called a "little sanctuary" a "mikdash me’at."
R. Elazar provides a more limited and particular definition the house of our teacher in Babylonia. Rav, the Babylonian amora, was R. Elazar’s teacher. It may be that this is a subtle jab at Babylonia. God, according to R. Elazar, is not found everywhere in Babylonia, in any old synagogue or study house. He is only found in one particular place, the house of Rav.
דרש רבא: מאי דכתיב +תהלים צ+ ה‘ מעון אתה היית לנו – אלו בתי כנסיות ובתי מדרשות. אמר אביי: מריש הואי גריסנא בביתא ומצלינא בבי כנשתא, כיון דשמעית להא דקאמר דוד +תהלים כ"ז /כ"ו/+ ה‘ אהבתי מעון ביתך, – הואי גריסנא בבי כנישתא.
Rava gave the following exposition: What is the meaning of the verse, "Lord, You have been our dwelling place" (Psalms 90:1)?
This refers to synagogues and study houses.
Abaye said: At first I used to study at home and pray in the synagogue, but when I heard the words of David, "O Lord, I love the dwelling place [me’on] of Your house" (Psalms 26:8), I began to study in the synagogue.
Rava’s midrash provides another source for the idea that God is present in synagogues and study houses.
Abaye’s midrash relates to Rava’s for both verses use the word "maon dwelling place." Abaye says he used to study at home and only pray at the synagogue. But when he heard Rava’s interpretation of "meon" he started studying in the synagogue. I should note that this statement contradicts a statement found elsewhere that at first he would study at home and pray in the synagogue but later he started praying at home too. I should also note that "home" here may really be synonymous with the Bet Midrash.
תניא, רבי אלעזר הקפר אומר: עתידין בתי כנסיות ובתי מדרשות שבבבל שיקבעו בארץ ישראל, שנאמר +ירמיהו מ"ו+ כי כתבור בהרים וככרמל בים יבוא, והלא דברים קל וחומר: ומה תבור וכרמל שלא באו אלא לפי שעה ללמוד תורה – נקבעים בארץ ישראל, בתי כנסיות ובתי מדרשות שקורין ומרביצין בהן תורה – על אחת כמה וכמה.
It has been taught: R. Elazar HaKappar says: The synagogues and study houses in Babylon will in time to come be planted in Eretz Israel, as it says, "For as Tabor among the mountains and as Carmel by the sea came" (Jeremiah 46:18-19). Now can we not draw an a fortiori inference from here: Seeing that Carmel and Tabor which came only on a single occasion to learn the Torah were set in Eretz Israel, how much more so with the synagogues and study houses of learning where the Torah is read and spread throughout the land.
R. Elazar HaKappar reads Jeremiah as if it says that Mt. Tabor and Mt. Carmel came to Sinai to hear the Torah being given. If these places which only heard the Torah being given once merited being returned to Israel and planted there for eternity, all the more so the synagogues and study houses in Babylonia will be restored at the end of times to the land of Israel.
This source is very interesting in terms of the value of Israel vis a vis Babylon. It seems that the source is in essence saying that right now, the highest level of Torah is found in Babylonia, but the land of Israel is the holiest place. At the end of times, this Torah will be restored to its proper place Israel.
דרש בר קפרא: מאי דכתיב +תהלים ס"ח+ למה תרצדון הרים גבננים, יצתה בת קול ואמרה להם: למה תרצו דין עם סיני? כולכם בעלי מומים אתם אצל סיני. כתיב הכא גבנונים וכתיב התם +ויקרא כ"א+ או גבן או דק, אמר רב אשי: שמע מינה האי מאן דיהיר – בעל מום הוא.
Bar Kappara gave the following exposition: What is the meaning of the verse, "Why do you look askance [terazedun], mountains of peaks (gavnunim)" (Psalms 68:18). A bat kol (heavenly voice) went forth and said to them: Why do ye desire litigation [tirzu din] with Sinai? You are all full of blemishes as compared with Sinai.
It is written here "gavnunim," and it is written elsewhere "or humpbacked [gibben] or a dwarf" (Leviticus 21:20).
R. Ashi observed: You can learn from this that if a man is arrogant, this is a blemish in him.
In this derashah the mountains come to Sinai with a complaint (a litigation) why was the Torah given on you and not on us? [Note this is based on a pun on the word "terazedun."] God responds that in comparison with Sinai, these mountains are full of blemishes. This is cleverly based on another pun on the word "gavnunim" which here means "mountains of peaks" but sounds like the word for "humpbacked" in a list of blemishes that disqualify a kohen from serving at the altar.
R. Ashi adds a lesson learned from this derashah. The mountains were disqualified due to their arrogance. This is a blemish as much as any physical blemish.