The Land I Will Show You, sec. 4, chapter 5
The Opinion of the Babylonian Sages Regarding Return to the Land
Section 4: The Jewish People in the Diaspora – Generations that Didn’t Return to Eretz Yisrael
5: The Opinion of the Babylonian Sages Regarding Return to the Land
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There is no need to speculate in order to explain the Babylonian opinion; it is all explained fully in the words of Chazal:[1]
Blessed is the Name of the King, King of Kings, the Holy, blessed is He, that chose Israel… and gave us the Torah in writing… and explained them in the Oral Torah… for the Written Torah is generalities and the Oral Torah is specifics… and about the Oral Torah it is said: “It is broader than the earth and wider than the sea” (Job 11:9)… for you won’t find the Oral Torah in one who seeks the pleasure of the world… only in one who kills himself for it… for the Holy, blessed is He, made a treaty with Israel only on the basis of the Oral Torah… for one doesn’t learn it except if he loves the Holy, blessed is He, with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might… therefore, the Holy, blessed is He, established the 2 yeshivahs for Israel, that they should study Torah day and night and gather twice a year, in Adar and Elul, from all over, and discuss and debate in the battles of Torah until they establish what is correct and the true halacha… those 2 yeshivahs didn’t see captivity nor spiritual annihilation nor plunder, and not Greece nor Rome ruled over them, and the Holy, blessed is He, took them out 12 years before the destruction of Jerusalem with their Torah and studies, as is written “… all the skilled workers and artisans” (2 Kings 24:14)… this refers to those mighty in Torah… The Holy, blessed is He, did a kindness with Israel that he exiled the exile of Yechaniah before the exile of Zedekiah so that the Oral Law shouldn’t be forgotten by them, and they remained with their Torah in Babylonia from that time until today, and not Greece nor Rome ruled over them, and they didn’t decree spiritual annihilation against them. Even in the days of Messiah[‘s coming] they won’t see the birth pangs of the Messiah, as it says “To Zion escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylonia” (Zechariah 2:11). From Rome and Greece, from their decrees… My Shechinah didn’t budge from you… to teach you that from there redemption will commence, from there they will ascend to Jerusalem…[2]
This midrash presents an elaborate notion of the chain of the Oral Torah and divine providence protecting it. It is very difficult to study the Oral Torah which demands complete dedication and uninterrupted focus, and therefore, it is of supreme importance that there always be a secure and tranquil place that will supply the conditions for its study. From the end of the First Temple era this was the land of exile – Babylonia.
Not only weren’t all the Children of Israel obligated to return to the land, but the fact that the sages of the yeshivahs stayed in Babylonia was actually what preserved the perfection of the Oral Torah, since in Babylonia they were safe from spiritual annihilation, from Rome and Greece. These kingdoms subjugated and oppressed the Children of Israel and decreed spiritual annihilation against them in Eretz Yisrael itself during the Second Temple era, and therefore there was a need for Torah masters to remain in Babylonia and not return with Ezra. They preserved the Torah in its perfection. The sages of Babylonia stayed behind with complete and pure intent, because the era of the Second Temple wasn’t destined to be a golden age in Eretz Yisrael. Rather, the best conditions for study of Torah were going to prevail specifically in Babylonia. The reason for that is that the Shechinah didn’t return. The returnees to the land were returning to a situation similar to the one that prevailed at the end of the First Temple era, a situation of oppression and suffering, lacking divine aid; just as then the supernal providence arranged to save the upper strata of the people and spirit them off to Babylonia, where they could keep a low profile, safe and sound, and through that grow and succeed in studying Torah – in the exact same way did these noblemen understand that it is incumbent upon them to remain in Babylonia and preserve the Torah until such time that the return to Eretz Yisrael wouldn’t be linked to the danger of captivity, spiritual annihilation, or plunder.[3] Sometimes, exile is a “kindness.”
Return to the land without aid from the Shechinah dwelling in it is fraught with the danger of provoking the reigning kingdoms. Captivity, spiritual annihilation and plunder was anticipated for the returnees, and therefore, the elite class that was chosen to be protected in a safe and secure position did not participate in the return, but rather remained in exile and protected the Torah’s perfection at the very same time that a large community would return to Eretz Yisrael and rebuild the Holy Temple.
This conception is not possible according to the opinion of Resh Lakish. In his opinion, had they all ascended from Babylonia – the Shechinah would have returned, and then the Children of Israel would have dwelled in their land in peace and tranquility, and the Torah would have been preserved in its appropriate place, in Zion. Only according to the opinion of Rabbi Yochanan, that the Shechinah’s not returning wasn’t dependent on the actions of the Babylonians, and even if they would have all ascended, the Shechinah would still not have returned, there is room to decide that it is better precisely not to return and thereby to preserve the Torah. Rabbi Yochanan himself held, as discussed, that nonetheless the Babylonians were obligated to return, while the sages of Babylonia that remained there disagreed with him.[4]
There are echoes of this wonderful Midrash in the Talmud Bavli as well. In it, too, was expressed the notion that specifically the sages of Babylonia are the ones who preserve the Torah that is liable to be forgotten under the conditions that prevailed in Eretz Yisrael. The Babylonian sages are presented as the ones who guarantee that the Torah won’t be forgotten: “For at first, when the Torah was forgotten from Israel, Ezra ascended from Babylonia and established it; it was forgotten again, and Hillel the Babylonian ascended and established it; it was forgotten again, and Rabbi Chiya and his sons ascended and established it.”[5] The Jewish nation in Eretz Yisrael, even in the Second Temple era, were liable to forget the Torah, and only a Babylonian sage who preserved the Torah through being in a state of tranquility is able to guarantee the full preservation of the Torah.
Based on this background, the relationship of Rav to the Babylonians can be understood. His behavior toward them serves not only as proof that he didn’t hate them or blame them for not ascending to Eretz Yisrael, but also serves as affirmation and a stamp of approval for the monumental plan of the Jewish community in Babylonia and as recognition of their unique role. This can be derived from what they said: “We have made ourselves in Babylonia like Eretz Yisrael for the purposes of [the laws of] divorce documents, from when Rav came to Babylonia.”[6] According to Rabbenu Tam’s explanation,[7] the meaning is that Babylonia was considered to be on the level of Eretz Yisrael hundreds of years before Rav’s coming to Babylonia – from the days of Yechaniah and on – but Rav taught this fact when he came to Babylonia. Why is it important to attribute this teaching to the time of Rav’s coming to Babylonia? The idea is clear: Rav’s coming to Babylonia and the establishment of the yeshivah there served as a stamp of approval for Babylonia’s position as the Torah center, a position which it claimed even from the time that the sages descended with Yechaniah, except that this wasn’t recognized until the days of Rav.[8]
The other point in this midrash about the significance of Babylonia – that they will remain there tranquil, calm and secure until the coming of the Messiah – is also alluded to in the Talmud Bavli; see the discussion above in sec. 2, chapter 3.
We have studied the opinion of the Babylonian sages regarding the question why they didn’t ascend in the days of the Second Temple. The answer is that they had a unique and important role that would be forbidden to jeopardize, namely preservation of the Torah. From here we learn a new halacha: Residing in Eretz Yisrael is rejected when there is this kind of need.
How does this opinion comport with what has been explained about the mitzvah of residing in Eretz Yisrael? Why and how is the mitzvah rejected?
It is possible to explain the approach of the Babylonian sages as the rejection of a mitzvah due to a concern that the Torah might be forgotten, in accord with the notion that “When there is a time to act for Hashem, they annulled Your Torah” (Psalms 119:126), as Chazal said on a different matter: “Better for the Torah to be uprooted than for the Torah to be forgotten from Israel.”[9] But it seems that there is no need to explain it as a special, temporary ruling. This is rather nothing other than another application of the familiar notion of the oaths. As has been explained above (sec. 2, chapter 3), the three oaths teach that acquisition of Eretz Yisrael is subject to various considerations. We should not ascend to the land in a disorderly fashion, without taking into account national considerations such as security of life, various economic or social risks, and also – and this is the new idea here – spiritual considerations. The Nation of Israel has a spiritual destiny; if its return to the land will endanger the preservation of the Torah, it shouldn’t return. It was expected then that a tension would develop between the Nation of Israel in its land and the powers that reigned in it, the kingdoms of Persia, Greece and Rome. To ascend without taking into account the negative consequences that were liable to minimize the study of Torah – would be simply another way of “hastening the end,” and it was a holy obligation to remain in the place most ideal for preserving the Torah.
This point is agreed to by all and there is no debate about it. Even those who were opposed to the Babylonians didn’t claim that they were obligated to ascend to Eretz Yisrael at the cost of the preservation of the Torah; only that Resh Lakish held that if they would have all returned, the Shechinah would have returned and they would be tranquil and secure in Eretz Yisrael, and even Rabbi Yochanan may have held that they would have been able to preserve the Torah in Eretz Yisrael.[10] The halacha is agreed to and clear that we should not endanger the Torah by ascent to Eretz Yisrael before its time. And in general, we can say: In the event that the destiny of the Nation of Israel will not be realized in Eretz Yisrael – they should remain in exile.
This halacha is not relevant in practice. In our days[11] and in our situation, there is no reason to believe that the Torah will be preserved in exile more than in Eretz Yisrael. But if there would develop a situation such that the nation cannot fulfill its destiny properly in Eretz Yisrael, if – Heaven forbid! – the return would detract from the fear of Heaven and worship of Hashem, then the mitzvah would revert to remain in exile and not hasten the end and rush to return to the Land.
The opinion of the Babylonian sages who remained in exile has been clarified. We have learnt from it what can be learnt from it as halacha. What still requires clarification is the position of those who opposed the Babylonians regarding the return of the Babylonians to Eretz Yisrael after they refrained from ascending in the days of Ezra. In the following section, we will see that those who hated the Babylonians held the opinion that they shouldn’t ascend to Eretz Yisrael once they missed the appropriate opportunity, and that they should remain in exile; there, we will deal with the question that arises: Is it truly right to assert that it is appropriate for certain people to remain in exile? But before we turn to that, we will complete this discussion with a clarification of the opinion of one Babylonian sage – Rav Yehudah – that it is actually forbidden to ascend to Eretz Yisrael from Babylonia.
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[1] In Va’Yoel Moshe, Essay on Three Oaths, sec. 12-13, he dealt with this point that the reluctance of the Babylonians to ascend to Eretz Yisrael was a Torah opinion that should be taken into account when establishing halacha. Rabbi Yoel attempted to explain the reason for the Babylonian sages, but in truth there is no need to speculate, as the matter is explicit in the words of Tanchuma that explain the root of the opinion well.
[2] Midrash Tanchuma, Noah 3.
[3] The notion is mentioned also by Pirkoi ben Baboi; see Ginze Shaechter, New York 1929, vol. 2, pg. 143 and pg. 561, regarding a custom developed due to spiritual annihilation in Eretz Yisrael and the forgetting of Torah that they endured.
[4] It’s possible that Rabbi Yochanan himself retracted his opinion. The Babylonians sages considered it a sacred duty to remain in Babylonia in order to preserve the Torah in full. Rabbi Yochanan disputed this and held that they were all obligated to ascend to Eretz Yisrael. We know that Rabbi Yochanan had an opinion regarding the Torah of Eretz Yisrael as opposed to the Torah of Babylonia, an opinion which he eventually retracted. See Sukkah 44a, that Rabbi Yochanan said: “Yours? I say it is theirs!”, and Rashi explains: “Rabbi Yochanan would say to the inhabitants of Eretz Yisrael, I used to think that the Torah is yours, since you haven’t exiled from your land and you didn’t have mental turmoil, but I saw that it is the Babylonians, for although they exiled, the wisdom of ‘the skilled workers and artisans’ that exiled with Yechaniah remained with them… indicating that Rabbi Yochanan that the Torah was not forgotten in the Babylonian exile.” We see that Rabbi Yochanan first held that the Torah was forgotten in Babylonia and was preserved in Eretz Yisrael, and then he retracted and changed his mind. According to his first opinion, it’s clear that there is no justification for the Babylonians to remain in exile, since the Torah would be preserved in Eretz Yisrael. This explains why Rabbi Yochanan didn’t agree with the Babylonians, and there is no need to seek another reason for his disagreement; this suggests that when he retracted from this opinion, he also retracted from the opinion of opposition to the Babylonians which depends on that very question of where Torah would be preserved in the most optimal form.
[5] Sukkah 20b.
[6] Gittin 6a.
[7] Brought there in Tosafos beginning with “From when Rav came to Babylonia.”
[8] Regarding lack of official recognition of the sages of Babylonia throughout the Second Temple era, see Letter of Rav Sherira Gaon, RB”M Levin edition, Bnei Brak 1987, pg. 73 that there weren’t “Heads of Mesivta and Sanhedrin” in Babylonia. This situation eventually changed; see there, pg. 74: “And until R’ died, they were accustomed to Resh Galusa in Babylonia and not Heads of Mesivta and Nasis which are Heads of Sanhedrin were in Eretz Yisreal.”
[9] Temurah 14b.
[10] See footnote #4.
[11] Written in the year 5773.