Eliezer was the son of Hurkanas, a leading rabbi of his generation and a very wealthy man. Eliezer was plowing on the mountain, and he began to cry. His father said: Why are you crying? If its hot up on the mountain, Ill move you down to the plain. So Eliezer began to plow in the plain, and cried there too. Why are you crying? Hurkanas asked. I want to learn Torah, said Eliezer. He cried until Elijah the Prophet came and told him to go to Jerusalem and seek out Rebbe Yochanan Ben Zakkai, the greatest sage of his generation. Eliezer went to Jerusalem -- and you guessed it -- started crying: I want to learn Torah. Rebbe Yochanan Ben Zakkai asked: Didnt they even teach you to say the Shema? Nope. And so the great sage, Rebbe Yochanan Ben Zakkai, taught Eliezer the ABCs of Judaism. Then he said, Very good, Eliezer. We were successful. Now its time for you to go. Eliezer started crying: I want to learn more Torah. So Rebbe Yochanan Ben Zakkai taught Eliezer the Five Books of Moses and the Oral Law. After this, Rebbe Yochanan said, Eliezer, it is time for you to go. Eliezer cried: I want to learn more Torah! And so it went. Then one day, Eliezer was sitting and learning Torah in the back of the study hall. Unexpectedly, his father Hurkanas walked in. At which point, Rebbe Yochanan Ben Zakkai told Eliezer to move to the front and recite his Torah aloud. After Eliezer had finished, Hurkanas stood up, and beaming with pride, said: Eliezer, at first I wanted to give my property to all of my sons but you. But now I am going to give everything I have to you and you alone! Eliezer replied, My father, if I wanted gold and silver, I would have stayed working on the farm. All I want is Torah. And Rabbi Eliezer Ben Hurkanas went on to become the leader of his generation, and the teacher of the great Rebbe Akiva. THE LESSON UNFOLDS There are many difficulties with this story. 1. How could it be that Hurkanas, a great rabbi and wealthy man, did not teach his son Torah? 2. Why did Hurkanas make his son do the menial labor of plowing? He could have hired other workers to plow, and given his son a supervisory position. 3. Why did Elijah the Prophet tell Eliezer to go learn basic Judaism from such an esteemed sage as Rebbe Yochanan ben Zakkai? Any intermediate yeshiva student could have done that! There is only one answer to explain all of these difficulties. Eliezer had a head made of straw. He was extremely slow. Of course, Hurkanas hired teachers for his son! But even the best teacher couldnt get Shema into the thick head of Eliezer! So what is a father supposed to do with such a son? Make him a foreman? No way! Give him a plow. At least hell be productive. But Eliezer cried: I want to learn Torah! The only one left who stood a chance of getting through to Eliezer was the leader of the generation, Rebbe Yochanan Ben Zakkai. Rebbe Yochanan struggled and achieved a major accomplishment: He taught Eliezer the basics. And when Eliezer cried for more, Rebbe Yochanan realized it had worked once, maybe he could teach him more. And so it went, until Eliezer became one of the greatest scholars of his generation. You have to want it so badly that you will cry for it. From all of this we see that even the slowest of the slow can achieve greatness. The secret? You have to want it so badly that you will cry for it. This was the merit of Rabbi Eliezer Ben Hurkanas.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 22:45:01 +0000
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