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Baruch Hashem! In gratitude to Hakodosh Boruch Hu for the making the lectures of HaRav Yisroel Brog, Shlit"a available online. May this gemarah learning be for the merit of the Rav, I've learned so much from him.

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Summary

Beraisa: Hillel Hazakein had 80 talmidim. (There’s a remarkable lesson here, there were 80 talmidim but only 2 are named. Throughout the ages there were very many great men who are not known to us at all. There were 1.2 million nevi’im in our history and yet we only know the names of about 10. The gemara is not a history of the tzadikim, that’s written in the records of Hakadosh Baruch Hu alone. Jews don’t labor in order to be remembered for posterity, all our labor is for Hakadosh Baruch Hu alone.

Thirty were worthy of nevuah like Moshe Rabeinu. Thirty were worthy of having the sun stop for them like Yehoshua. Twenty were in between. The greatest of them was Yonason ben Uziel, the smallest was Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai (some say it means the smallest in age).

They said about Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai: He did not neglect (he studied it by heart) Mikra, Mishna or Gemara (this means the explanation of mishnayos, it was an integral part of Torah Shebaal Peh only it was not memorized word for word like the mishnah. The wording was set in the days of Abayye and Rava and sealed by Rav Ashi). Halacha l’Moshe Misinai, Aggadic moral teachings, Dikdukim - logical inferences that can be derived from the Torah, Dikdukei Sofrim (this refers either to lessons gleaned from the shapes of the letters, or to the study of takanos chachomim), Kal Vachomer, Gezeiros Shavos, the calculations of the seasons, Gimatriyaos, stories that were told about Malochim, Sheidim, or Trees. Meshalim (these were said by the chachomim to teach various ethical lessons but they were set in story form to capture interest) of poor laborers [laundrymen], of foxen (such as the story of the fox and the lion, or the fox and the fish). Great things and Small things: Great things refer to Maaseh Merkavah. Small things refer to the discussions of Abayye and Rava (although they didn’t live yet, all their discussions had already been discussed and debated).

This is what the possuk means: “I have plenty to give to those who love me, and I will fill their treasure houses”. (When a man learns more Torah, it’s Hakadosh Baruch Hu giving him the most important wealth. For more on this subject, see Toras Avigdor on Bar Mitzvah).

If this was the youngest disciple, then those of a previous generations were surely even greater: They said about Yonason ben Uziel (they began calling people with the title “Rabbi” only at the time of the churban, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai lived until after the churban. The Nasi was already called Rabban some time before): When he would sit and study Torah it was with such a fire that any bird flying overhead was burned. This podcast has been graciously sponsored by JewishPodcasts.fm. There is much overhead to maintain this service so please help us continue our goal of helping Jewish lecturers become podcasters and support us with a donation: https://thechesedfund.com/jewishpodcasts/donate