During the days of the Omer counting period, it is a prevalent Jewish custom, especially among Sephardic and Middle Eastern communities, that a Torah scholar expounds on the teachings of our Sages in Pirkei Avot between Mincha and Arvit. Indeed, this was the custom of Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef zt”l who would deliver an hour-long discourse on Pirkei Avot every weeknight during this period. He likewise instructed us at “Halacha Yomit” to do the same, for although there is nothing more important that delving in Halacha, nevertheless, it is likewise important to discuss Mussar topics from time to time, especially Pirkei Avot. We will try our best to, G-d-willing, incorporate some halachic anecdotes here as well.
Let us now discuss some things we heard discussed by Maran zt”l during the Omer counting period.
The Mishnah in Pirkei Avot (Chapter 4) states: “Rabbi Yose said: The body of one who honors the Torah is honored by others, however, the body of one who desecrates the Torah is desecrated by others.”
Rabbi Yose himself was a descendant of Rechav, from the family of Yehonadav ben Rechav, who commanded his descendants to never drink wine. Since Yehonadav was deeply revered by his descendants, they heeded his words and Yirmeyahu Ha’Navi prophesized several good things about this family since they were all righteous.
Our Sages taught that Rabbi Yose was always able to provide strong proofs and logical arguments for his rulings and therefore, Halacha was established in favor of his opinion. Even when he disagreed with his colleagues who were some of the greatest Tannaim, such as Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda, and Rabbi Elazar, Halacha still follows Rabbi Yose’s opinion due to his tremendous wisdom.
Our Sages recounted that Rabbi Yose unfortunately married a woman who did not treat him respectfully and she would often degrade him. Rabbi Yose wished to divorce her, but he could not because he had written a considerable sum of money in her Ketubah, which he could not afford to pay. His friend, Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya who was a very wealthy man, saw the plight of Rabbi Yose and offered him a loan to be able to pay his wife’s Ketubah, divorce her, and start a new chapter in his life. Indeed, Rabbi Yose divorced his wife and married another woman. His ex-wife also remarried an impoverished blind man.
In order to survive, this blind man and his new wife (Rabbi Yose’s divorcee) would make their rounds around the town, knock on doors, and beg people for charity. Once, the blind man wanted to enter a certain street where some respectable people lived in order to solicit there. His wife vehemently refused claiming that her ex-husband, Rabbi Yose, lived on this block and she was not prepared for him to see her in this deplorable state. The poor man grew infuriated at his wife, and he began to berate and beat her in public, while she, in turn, did the same. This created a terrible shameful scene.
As this was unfolding, Rabbi Yose was passing by and thought to himself about the words of Yeshaya Ha’Navi who instructed us “Do not turn away from your flesh.” He decided that he could not ignore the plight of his ex-wife, although they were no longer married.
Rabbi Yose sent messengers to financially support his ex-wife and her new husband weekly so that they would be able to live a life of peace and harmony.
Let us stop for a moment and ponder this. We are dealing with a woman who berated, degraded, and hurt Rabbi Yose and nevertheless, he did not leave her stranded. He continued to care for her for the rest of her life so that she would not be ashamed.
Those who hurt Torah scholars will eventually reach a place of shame and degradation. This is precisely what Rabbi Yose taught, “The body of one who honors the Torah is honored by others, however, the body of one who desecrates the Torah is desecrated by others.”
Respecting the Torah can mean two different things: First of all, this means showing honor to the Torah itself, such as, rising when a Sefer Torah passes by (see Kiddushin 33a).
Similarly, if one is sitting on a bench and there is a Sefer Torah laying on that same bench, one must rise immediately. This does not only apply to a Sefer Torah; if a Gemara or any other holy book lays on a bench, one may not be seated there until one removes the Sefer and places it somewhere higher. (Maran zt”l ruled that with regards to this law, a Sefer Torah and other printed holy books retain the same Halacha.)
The second application of respecting the Torah refers to honoring Torah scholars, who contain the Torah within them. Those who honor the Torah shall themselves be respected.
The Chafetz Chaim recounted:
There was once a man who had beautiful bookcases full of holy books lining his walls at home. Unfortunately, he placed a children’s potty opposite the bookcases and had his children relieve themselves there. Shulchan Aruch rules this is absolutely forbidden, and this constitutes extreme disrespect for the Sefarim. Some time passed and this individual eventually died and non-Jews desecrated his corpse!
How important it is to show honor and respect to holy books!
We remember how Rabbanit Margalit Yosef z”l would treat her husband’s Sefarim so lovingly and respectfully. Once, robbers broke into a neighbor’s house when the residents were home, and the children were extremely scared. The Rabbanit told her children, “In a house full of Sefarim, there is nothing to fear!”
