{"id":10711,"date":"2007-04-19T23:41:00","date_gmt":"2007-04-19T23:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/production.ou.org\/life\/other\/masechet_hagigah_1319\/"},"modified":"2015-10-26T06:17:40","modified_gmt":"2015-10-26T11:17:40","slug":"masechet_hagigah_1319","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/torah\/masechet_hagigah_1319\/","title":{"rendered":"Masechet Chagigah 13a-19b"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Coming Week’s Daf Yomi by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz<\/em><\/p>\n

This essay is based upon the insights and chidushim (original ideas) of Talmudic scholar Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, as published in the Hebrew version of the Steinsaltz Edition of the Talmud.<\/em><\/p>\n

This month\u2019s Steinsaltz Daf Yomi is sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. Alan Harris, the Lewy Family Foundation, and Marilyn and Edward Kaplan<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Chagigah 13a-b<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The discussion of ma’aseh bereshit<\/em> – the secrets of creation – continues with a description of the heavens. The Gemara<\/a> records that Rabbi Yehuda<\/a> recognizes two heavens, while Reish Lakish<\/a> enumerates seven heavens. (It should be noted that Rabbi Yechezkel Landau<\/a> explains in his Tziyon le-Nefesh Chayah<\/em> that the heavens referred to here are spiritual ones, rather than physical ones. Rav Aha bar Yaakov<\/a> argues, based on the passage in Yechezkel<\/a> 1:22<\/a>, that there is another heaven that stands above these.) \u00a0Nevertheless, this highest heaven cannot be discussed, because of the saying that appears in Sefer Ben-Sira<\/a><\/em>: “Do not discuss things that are beyond your understanding, nor investigate that which is hidden from you; contemplate that which is permitted, and deal not in secret things.”<\/p>\n

Sefer Ben-Sira<\/a> <\/em>is one of the earliest books composed after the closing of the Biblical canon<\/a>. It was authored by Shimon ben Yehoshua ben Sira, a native of Jerusalem<\/a>, who was a younger contemporary of Shimon ha-Tzaddik<\/a>, prior to the Hasmonean<\/a> era. The book of Ben-Sira was held in great esteem, and after its translation into Greek by the author’s grandson (in the year 132 BCE in Alexandria<\/a>) it because widely known even among those who were not familiar with the Hebrew language. Sefer Ben-Sira<\/em> is included as a canonical work in the Septuagint<\/a> (and therefore is considered such in many other translations of the Bible), and although the Sages chose to view it as one of the sefarim chitzoni’im<\/em> – books outside of the canon – they quote it in a respectful manner throughout the Talmud<\/a>, sometimes even referring to it as Ketuvim<\/a><\/em>. Still, because of confusion between this work and another one that was known as Alfa-Beta d’Ben-Sira<\/a><\/em>, which was a popular – and problematic – work, we find statements in the Gemara forbidding the study of Sefer Ben-Sira<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The quote from Sefer Ben-Sira<\/em> that appears in our Gemara can be found (with minor changes) in chapter 3, passages 21-22<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Chagigah 14a-b<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Gemara<\/a> on our daf <\/em>quotes a baraita<\/a><\/em> that tells of arba she-nikhnisu ba-pardes<\/em> – four\u00a0tannaim<\/u><\/i><\/span>\u00a0who embarked on the study of esoteric secrets of the Torah<\/a>: Rabbi Akiva<\/a>, Acher<\/em> (literally “the other,” but here referring to the Tanna<\/em> Elisha ben Avuya<\/a>), Ben Azzai<\/a> and Ben Zoma<\/a>. Rabbi Akiva, the eldest of the group, warned the others of the dangers involved in such an experience – for example, not to be taken in by illusions when engaged in this study. He told them that when entering the higher worlds and gazing on the pure marble, they should not shout out “water, water,” for even though it appears to be water, it is an illusion, and someone who utters a falsehood will not be allowed entrance into the higher realms (see Tehillim<\/a> 101:7<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The expression pardes<\/em> – which, in modern Hebrew, simply means “an orchard” – is mentioned in Tanach<\/a><\/em> (see Shir ha-Shirim<\/a> 4:13<\/a>). Its source is apparently ancient Persian, where it meant “an enclosed area surrounded by a fence.” Variations of the word appear in many languages; English speakers may be most familiar with it as the source of the word “paradise,” which is the way the term Gan Eden<\/a><\/em> is translated in the Septuagint<\/a>. In our story in the Gemara, the pardes<\/em> is, among other things, “the garden of God.”<\/p>\n

In the end, each of the four participants in this study had different reactions to it:<\/p>\n