2021/5781
With much input from Daniel Kroopnick - may this article serve L’ilui Nishmat Dr. Dov Kroopnick z”l, father of Daniel
Differing Fare
It is a comment that lights up the sky! When delving into the extraordinary phenomenon of Eliyahu HaNavi being sustained by meat and bread delivered by ravens while hiding from the evil King Achav (Melachim I Perek 17), TABC Talmid Daniel Kroopnick drew a stunning comparison between Eliyahu HaNavi and Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai.
Daniel notes that while hiding, Eliyahu HaNavi dined on meat and bread while drinking water from the brook. By contrast, Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai (Shabbat 33b) is sustained during his twelve years of hiding from the Roman government by a spring and carob tree.
Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai’s slim diet brings to mind the meager diet of Rabi Chanina Ben Dosa who is famed for being sustained by a small number of carobs (Berachot 17b). This minimal sustenance diet seems ideal to promote reaching the heights of spiritual achievement. Indeed, the Beraita (Avot 6:4 and 6:6) emphasizes reducing the focus on the material in order to maximize spiritual growth.
Thus, we are surprised and even shocked to find Hashem providing the ascetic Eliyahu HaNavi, who does not eat or drink for forty days while at Har Chorev (Melachim I Perek 19), not only with water from the brook but meat and bread to boot! Moreover, what is the need for the miraculous food delivery by ravens? Why did Hashem not simply arrange a simple carob tree to provide for Eliyahu’s eating needs?
Both Eliyahu HaNavi and Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai mustered the great courage to speak truth to power or about power. They both stood up for Torah values and Emet (the very seal of Hashem – Shabbat 55a!) and poked the proverbial ferocious bear in the eye. Why did Hashem treat them differently?
Eliyahu HaNavi’s Food
The contrast between the sustenance of Eliyahu HaNavi and Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai points to a critical difference between the two. Hashem wants ravens to sustain Eliyahu HaNavi while hiding to communicate that Eliyahu HaNavi has gone too far by decreeing a years-long famine until Bnei Yisrael relinquish Avodah Zarah. Ravens are cruel creatures and, as explained by the Alshich, Eliyahu HaNavi is told that he is acting in a raven type manner.
Why then was Eliyahu HaNavi provided with meat and bread and not just carobs? An answer lies in the drying up of the brook from which he drank. Rashi (Melachim I 17:7) explains that the drying up of the brook is destined to emphasize the immense suffering Bnei Yisrael are experiencing due to Eliyahu HaNavi’s hard-hitting decree.
Binyamin Jachter adds that providing Eliyahu HaNavi with meat and wine highlights the suffering, as Eliyahu becomes accustomed to luxuriant fare and then must face starvation due to lack of water. The higher-order fare makes it more difficult for Eliyahu to later be on the brink of starvation.
In addition, the dramatic fall from luxuriant food to subsistence rations reflects the suffering endured by Bnei Yisrael. Although severely spiritually deficient, the Northern kings Omri and his son Achav brought prosperity to their subjects. Their alliance with the Phoenicians and the colony in Moav brought military security and economic prosperity to Am Yisrael of the north.
However, along with prosperity and security came the militant introduction of Avoda Zarah by Izevel, the Phoenician princess Achav married. She introduced hundreds of Avodah Zarah missionaries and persecuted those who remained devoted to Hashem. Eliyahu HaNavi felt compelled to fight back with a severe famine to show that Avodah Zarah will not bring prosperity.
Nonetheless, Eliyahu HaNavi needed to experience the traumatic transition from riches to rags to fully appreciate the depth of the suffering he had brought. The drastic change from daily meat and bread while he hides in Nachal Kerit to surviving on a tiny bit of flour each day while hiding with the Almanah and her son forces Eliyahu to experience the distressing shift from prosperity to ruin he brought by the drought.
Another interesting difference between Eliyahu HaNavi and Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai is that unlike Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai who has an unending source of food and drink, Eliyahu HaNavi has the ravens bring him food each morning and each evening (reminiscent of the Mahn in the Midbar). It seems that Hashem is constantly reinforcing the messages of the raven to Eliyahu HaNavi. Moreover, placing Eliyahu HaNavi in the vulnerable and uncertain situation of not having a food source and not being sure if the miraculous arrival of the ravens would continue, prods Eliyahu HaNavi to appreciate the suffering that Northern Am Yisrael is enduring from the prolonged, bitter drought.
Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai
For Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai, living on meager means represents an ideal. He tells his son-in-law upon his release that the severe material deprivation facilitated his huge spiritual achievements during his many years of confinement in the cave (Shabbat 33b). Rashbi and his son Rabi Elazar turned the distressful isolation into a great opportunity.
The pair barely clung to this world as they devoted almost all their time and energy to spirituality and attended to only the most minimal material needs. They discovered the secrets of the Zohar in a situation which is the closest possible earthly resemblance to Gan Eden.
Interestingly, the story (Ta’anit 25a) regarding Rabi Chanina Ben Dosa and the missing golden leg in his table in Olam Haba expresses the same point. Rabi Chanina’s material deprivation was necessary to propel him and his wife to the pinnacle of piety.
Accordingly, the inexhaustible supply of carobs and spring water represents an ideal existence for Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai. For Rabi Shimon, indulgence in the material is a shameful distraction from our mission to connect to eternity while in this world.
Rewarding Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai
Binyamin Jachter argues that the unending carobs (in contrast to the ending supply of water for Eliyahu HaNavi) is Hashem rewarding Rabi Shimon for speaking out against the Romans. Binyamin posits that Rabi Yehuda praises the Roman contributions to life in Eretz Yisrael to console Am Yisrael. Rabi Yehuda tries to highlight some good in the wake of the brutal Hadrianic persecutions and suppression of the Bar Kochva revolt.
Rabi Shimon bar Yochai, for the sake of truth, feels compelled at all costs to set the record straight. For his dedication to Emet, Rabi Shimon is given the opportunity to experience the closest a human being can achieve to ultimate Emet in this world. It is to such a person that the secrets of the Zohar are revealed.
Rabi Yosi for his part felt discretion is the better part of valor and refrained from comment. He follows in the tradition of Bava Ben Buta (Bava Batra 4a), who refuses to criticize an evil leader even in private. Bava Ben Buta cites Shlomo HaMelech’s wise counsel (Kohelet 10:20) to refrain from cursing a powerful person even if it seems no one will find out about it.
Rabi Yosi’s pragmatic calculations do not matter to Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai. There would be no deviating from the truth for Bar Yochai, no matter the consequences.
Conclusion
Both Eliyahu HaNavi and Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai stand out as special heroes of our people for their steadfast adherence to Hashem and His Torah even in the most trying of circumstances. Both are members of the highest echelons of the Jewish pantheon of greats. Nonetheless, Hashem extends his full stamp of approval to the actions of Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai but not for Eliyahu HaNavi. Even when acting with the noblest intentions and actions, there is a price to pay for afflicting the children of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. This is a profound lesson, of which we must never lose sight.
Interestingly, Daniel Kroopnick observes that it is none other than Eliyahu HaNavi who informs Rabi Shimon and his son that the Roman emperor has died and he is now able to safely leave the cave. Moreover, we find in the Gemara (Sanhedrin 98a) that Rabi Yehoshua Ben Levi finds Eliyahu HaNavi lingering outside the cave of Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai, many decades after the latter’s exit. Daniel suggests that this shows Eliyahu HaNavi very much is attuned to the differences between himself and Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai and has made the adjustments to himself to better align with the approach of Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai centuries after his stay in Nachal Kerit!