In some ways, this week’s issue— Number 1001— is an even greater cause for celebration
Last week was the celebration of your 1,000th issue — certainly a milestone to be proud of. But in some ways, this week’s issue — Number 1001 — is an even greater cause for celebration.
This is based on an idea that Chazal taught us many years ago. The Gemara in Chagigah (9b) quotes the pasuk in Malachi (3:18), “V’shavtem u’re’isem bein tzaddik l’rasha, bein oved Elokim la’asher lo avado — and you will return and see the difference between a tzaddik and a rasha, between one who serves Hashem and one who does not.”
The Gemara tells us that the “oved Elokim” refers to one who studies his learning 101 times. The reference to “asher lo avado,” on the other hand, alludes to one who reviews only 100 times. It is here that the Gemara presents the famous teaching, “eino domeh shoneh pirko me’ah pe’amim l’shoneh pirko me’ah v’echad — one who reviews his learning 100 times cannot be compared to one who reviews his learning 101 times.”
This gemara is baffling for several reasons. First, how can the pasuk refer to one who studies 100 times as lo avado, “one who does not serve”? Is chazering a sugya 100 times not an incredible accomplishment? Second, we can understand that one who studies 101 times has achieved an even greater feat — but is it really so much greater that the one who learned “only” 100 times cannot be compared to him?
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