Arrogance and anger have disastrous impact on our lives. TB Pesakhim 66

With yesterday’s daf we began the sixth chapter of our massekhet. The opening Mishnah details when erev Passover falls on Shabbat which aspects of the korban Pesakh supersedes the Shabbat prohibitions and which do not. Coincidentally, this year 5781 erev Passover falls on Shabbat.

Today’s Gemara TB Pesakhim 66 recounts  the back-story  how  Hillel the Elder who emigrated to Israel from Babylonia became the head of the Jewish people, the Nasi. The sons of Beteira forgot whether the korban Pesakh overrides the Shabbat. They were told that Hillel studied under Shemaya and Avtalyon and he knows the answer.1 After Hillel shared two different ways proving that the korban Pesakh supersedes the  Shabbat and they appointed him the Nasi, he spent the whole day teaching the laws of Passover. In the course of the lesson, Hillel rebuked the sons of Beteira. 

“He began rebuking them [mekanteran] them with words. He said to them: What caused this to happen to you, that I should come up from Babylonia and become Nasi over you? It was the laziness in you that you did not serve the two most eminent scholars of the generation living in Eretz Yisrael, Shemaya and Avtalyon. ” (Sefaria.org translation)

“Immediately they asked him a question and he forgot what he had learned. “They said to Hillel: Our teacher, if one forgot and did not bring a knife on the eve of Shabbat and cannot slaughter his Paschal lamb, what is the law? Since he could have brought the knife before Shabbat, he cannot bring it on Shabbat; but what should he do in this situation? He said to them: I once heard this halakha from my teachers but I have forgotten it. But leave it to the Jewish people; if they are not prophets to whom God has revealed His secrets, they are the sons of prophets, and will certainly do the right thing on their own.” (Sefaia.org translation) 

The rabbis learned two important ethical imperatives from the story. Arrogance and anger have disastrous impact on our lives.

“With regard to the incident with Hillel, Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: Anyone who acts haughtily, if he is a Torah scholar, his wisdom departs from him; and if he is a prophet, his prophecy departs from him. The Gemara explains: That if he is a Torah scholar, his wisdom departs from him is learned from Hillel, for the Master said in this baraita: Hillel began to rebuke them with words. Because he acted haughtily, he ended up saying to them: I once heard this halakha, but I have forgotten it, as he was punished for his haughtiness by forgetting the law. That if he is a prophet his prophecy departs from him is learned from Deborah, as it is written: The villagers ceased, they ceased in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel.

“Similarly, Reish Lakish said: Any person who becomes angry, if he is a Torah scholar, his wisdom departs from him, and if he is a prophet, his prophecy departs from him. The Gemara explains: That if he is a Torah scholar his wisdom departs from him is learned from Moses, as it is written: And Moses became angry with the officers of the host, the captains over thousands and the captains over hundreds, who came from the battle (Numbers 31:14). And what was his punishment? As it is written afterward: And Elazar the priest said to the men of war who went to the battle: This is the statute of the law, which the Lord commanded Moses (Numbers 31:21), which proves by inference that this law had become hidden from Moses due to his anger. 

“And that if he is a prophet, his prophecy departs from him, we learn from Elisha, as it is written that he became angry with the king of Israel and said to him: Were it not that I have regard for the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judea, I would not look toward you, nor see you (II Kings 3:14), and it is afterward written: But now bring me a minstrel; and it came to pass when the minstrel played that the hand of the Lord came upon him (II Kings 3:15). Because Elisha became angry with the king of Israel, his prophetic spirit departed from him and a minstrel was needed to rouse it anew. 

"Rabbi Mania bar Latish said: Whoever becomes angry, even if greatness has been apportioned to him from heaven, he is lowered from his greatness. From where do we derive this? From Eliab, David’s older brother, as it is stated: and Eliab’s anger burned against David and he said: Why did you come down, and with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your insolence and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle (I Samuel 17:28); we see that Eliab became angry. And when Samuel went to anoint him after God had told him that one of Yishai’s sons was to be the king, concerning all of the other brothers it is written: The Lord has not chosen this one (I Samuel 16:8), whereas with regard to Eliab it is written: and the Lord said to Samuel: Look not at his appearance, nor at the height of his stature, for I have rejected him (I Samuel 16:7). This proves by inference that until now He had loved him, and it was only at this point that Eliab was rejected. Had it not been for his anger, Eliab would have been fit for greatness; but owing to this shortcoming, God rejected him (Sefaria.org translation)”

Moses Maimonides teaches we should follow the Golden mean, השביל הזהב, with all the attributes except two, arrogance and anger.2 According to him we should distance ourselves from arrogance and anger as far as possible. Remember the story how a heathen made a bet that he could make  Hillel angry and lost because Hillel remained composed and answered his silly and nonsensical questions.3 Hillel’s rebuke of the sons of  Beteira  seem so out of character. Perhaps Hillel learned his lesson from today’s story and  became the Hillel we all know and love.