Parshas Chukas
“The pure person shall sprinkle upon the impure person …”
(Bamidbar 19:19)
In the Talmud Yerushalmi Rabi Yehoshua Ben Kabsoy comments: “I always understood this pasuk to mean that one pure person may sprinkle [the ashes of the parah adumah] on one impure person until I learned from the ‘treasure house of Yavneh’ that one person may sprinkle on many impure people!”
Rabbi Meir Shapiro ztz”l of Lublin explained that the “treasure house of Yavneh” is referring to Rabi Yochanan Ben Zakai’s request of Emperor Vespasian to grant him the city of Yavneh and its sages. Rabi Yehoshua was inspired by Rabi Yochanan Ben Zakai’s words which teach us the power of the individual to spread abundant purity. This single achievement of Rabi Yochanan Ben Zakai enabled the entire nation to continue learning and teaching Torah. (Rav Elazar Menachem Mann Shach Merosh Amanah)
The mighty Roman army was besieging Jerusalem. Starvation a horrific civil war battering rams destroying the city walls and the threat of total destruction.… Rabi Yochanan Ben Zakai surveyed the scene and thought of the future when the Jewish nation would disperse to the four corners of the earth and the lishkas hagazis nucleus of the Sanhedrin and heart of the nation would lie desolate. What would become of the Torah?
Create a free account to keep reading.
