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Posted October 29, 2010, by Rabbi Judy Abrams. Please refer
to Maqom's home page for information about previous passages.
BH
LOTS AND LOTS OF OPTIONS IN THE MOURNING
PROCESS IN THE YERUSHALMI
© Judith Z. Abrams, 2010
One of the Yerushalmi's most endearing features is the way
it embraces different customs without conveying the need to pick
one over another. In the following passage, we find that there
is enormous flexibility with regards to the way people deal with
those who are mourning. What's even more fascinating is that the
different customs are based on geography.
In the Yerushalmi, the center of rabbinic life is in Tiberias
and the nearby town of Sepphoris (Tsippori in modern Hebrew).
And just as today, when Jewish practice in large Jewish centers
can differ from outlying communities, so, too, did Jewish practice
differ between the Northern centers and everything south of these
two cities. (This would include Jerusalem, which, at this point,
may have lost its centrality to Jewish life due to Roman oppression.)
Here is our text:
It was taught: In a place where they
were accustomed to greet mourners on Shabbat, they may greet
them. And in the South they would greet them.
Rabbi Hoshia the Great went to a place
where he saw mourners on the Sabbath and he would greet them.
He said to them: I do not know the custom
in your town, but peace be with you in accord with the custom
in my town.
Rabbi Yose of the house of Rabbi Halafta
was praising Rabbi Meir before the townsfolk of Sepphoris., saying,
"He is a great person, a holy person, a modest person."
Once he saw mourners on the Sabbath and he greeted them. (Y.
Berhachot 2:7)
Discussion Questions:
- Here we see that there were differences in Jewish practice,
not only between Babylonia and the land of Israel but within
the land of Israel itself. So what is the correct way to act?
One acts according to the custom of one's place of origin…provided
that one explicitly says that one is acting according to one's
native custom. Why would some locales develop the custom that
one does not greet mourners while others would not? Might it
have something to do with the tragic history of Jerusalem?
- Rabbi Meir, one of the all-time greatest sages, and one of
the primary creators of the Mishnah, seems to have a genuine
empathy for those who are mourning and an appreciation for local
customs. Does this reflect a flexibility toward Jewish practice
on his part? Could it be because he is flexible because he experienced
the death of two of his sons and thus has a great deal of empathy
toward those who've experienced a loss?
- The compliment Rabbi Meir is paid, in Hebrew, is "Adam
gadol, adam kadosh, adam tsanua." It is a unique compliment.
Would you ordinarily link greatness with modesty? Why is this
one of the greatest compliments a person could ever be paid?