Notes, Please: Sequel
I mentioned before that I would try to give an example of writing a chiddush, and how to carefully treat making chiddushim Torah. It’s not a perfect example, because it is still a draft -and there a lot of things editing-wise that haven’t been perfected yet - , but the general ideas -including my answer- have already been discussed and approved by respected rabbis in the community. I wanted to share this with all of you before I went on hiatus.
In Masecta Shvi'is, in the Talmud Yerushalmi (9:1), the gemara tells over the story of Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai (as is known from Masecta Shabbos Bavli, Perek Bameh Madlikin, 33b). The original story (as brought in Masecta Shabbos in the Bavli) tells of how Yehuda ben Geirim indirectly informed on Rebbi Shimon to the Roman government through starting a rumor (Rashi)... and the Roman Government decreed upon [the latter] the death penalty. Rebbi Shimon, with his son Elazar, hid for 13 years in a cave outside of Tiberia. When he came out, he decided to do a favor for the people of Tiberiaא (who knew he was hiding there, and did not inform the government), and he asked what he could do. The locals explained that there was a section of the city which was paved over a cemetery, and they did not know where the graves were – creating a situation of sofek tumas meis, a doubt of the ritual impurity of a dead body. This prevented Kohanim from walking through that area, and forced them to make inconvenient detours through the city. The local Sanhedrin voted to allow Rebbi Shimon to resolve the sofek tumah, whereupon he performed a miracle – he took leaves of Lupine of Terumah, and threw them into the area of sofek tumah, and all of the corpses which were there, floated up above, loosening the soil in a visible manner – making it easy to mark and for the Kohanim to avoid. The Yerushalmi continues with additional details, which are left out of the bavli:
A certain kusi – a non-jew and a wicked person – saw what Rebbi Shimon had done, and he said to himself “Why don't I go and make a fool out of this jewish elder. I'll take a corpse, and hide it in the place where he already purified.” Afterwards, he went to Rebbi Shimon and said “You didn't finish purifying 'that' place – come with me, and I will show you where the body is.” Rebbi Shimon saw (צפה) with Ruach Hakodesh, that this Kusi had hidden the body himself, and he said “I decree upon you. Those who are above (העליונים שירדו) should descend, and those who are below (התחתונים שיעלו) should ascend.” (or according to an alternate nusach, “I decree upon the those who are above, that they should descend, and upon those who are below, that they should ascend.”) and so it was.
First I would like to humbly suggest an inference which is not stated clearly in the meforshim, but which we may be forced to conclude: That the body which the Kusi had hidden had to have been a Jew, since non-jewish corpses only transmit impurity through physical contact (Bavli Yevamos 61a), and a buried non-jewish corpse would not necessarily be a concern for a kohen walking through the street. Now, seemingly, the ending of this story is not understood. Rebbi Shimon knew that this was a non-jew, and a wicked person (the kusim would every year plow the Temple Mount and attempt to seed it, as a show of disdain for the Jews and our holy places), and he could have figured out that he was up to no good – Hashem does not create a miracle for nothing, and therefore we may ask; Why did Rebbi Shimon need Ruach Hakodesh to know that the Kusi hid the body there. Furthermore, the entire concept of Ruach HaKodesh is supposed to be a hint of Nevuah – Since the body had already been hidden, what would Ruach HaKodesh have anything to do with the actions of the Kusi? As the Meforshim explain, Rebbi Shimon's statement (העליונים שירדו והתחתונים שיעלו) means that the Kusi - who was alive – should descend to the grave, and the corpse – who was buried in the ground (Mahara Fulda, Pnei Moshe) – should arise and live again (and so it was, as the gemara continues). However, there is a another difficulty which arises – according to this explanation – which is that Rebbi Shimon made his statement in Lashon Rabim (The fact that his statement was in a plural tense makes it more difficult to accept that his statement was limited to a single Kusi, and a single corpse). Even if you take the basic understanding, as explained by the poshtan meforshim, why was such a radical solution necessary to counteract the actions of the Kusi. The most which was needed was for the burial location of that body to become obvious and marked, like all of the others – why was it necessary to bring them back to life?
We may give a theoretical answer for the first question – why couldn't Rebbi Shimon figure out what the Kusi was planning, without any Ruach HaKodesh or the like. We state a rule in Masecta Sanhedrin in Bavli that, even for a goy, it is forbidden for the Beis Din to make a judgement and exact punishment based on Umdina – estimation. According to this answer, Rebbi Shimon needed “evidence” in order to punish the aforementioned Kusi. However, a revelation via Ruach Hakodesh does not solve this problem completely, since the beis din requires testimony from witnesses in order to exact punishment – and since neither the gemara, nor any of the meforshim mentioned testimony or witnesses, it would seem that there wasn't any.
In my humble opinion, it may be possible to answer the questions in the following manner. Perhaps what Rebbi Shimon needed Ruach HaKodesh for was in order to understand the solution to the problem which arose from this goy's actions. The problem was, that there was a Jew - a corpse – in a place which had already been purified, in a Makom Tahor. The place itself had already been purified – Rebbi Shimon had already done so – only the body was out of place there. The solution to such a problem was not that there should be a further cleansing of the place, but rather that the person - the corpse – should be affected... that there should be a Techias Hameisim. Furthermore, the grammatical pause between גזר אני עליך (I decree upon you) and העליונים (Those [who are above]) in the first reading may likely denote that the second half of the statement did not refer specifically to the Kusi, and to the corpse, but a more general target (and in fact, according to the reading presented by the Vilna Gaon, the word עליך is replaced with על, which changes the basic translation from “I decree upon you. Those who are above should descend...etc” to “I decree upon those who are above, that they should descend...etc”, and gives an even more compelling demonstration of this concept) – generally speaking about the attitude of the Non-jews, and all of the Jews... That the non-jews, who think of themselves as “those above” and enjoy trodding on the jews (and for exactly that reason, this Kusi tried to make Rebbi Shimon stumble), should descend from that place, and those who seem physically as “those below” (The Jews, in Golus) should ascend.
Also, it may be that Rebbi Shimon (standing at the beginning of our Exile) was asking – and making a “halachic ruling”– that there should be at least a beginning to the future techias hameisim, starting with the corpse which the Kusi had hidden.
Footnote:
אThe location, Tiberia, is only mentioned clearly in the Yerushalmi, and not in the Bavli
So we should all merit that Rebbi Shimon’s ruling will come true, and we’ll see the redemption with our own eyes, and without further delay!
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Aharon Ephraim Ben Reuvain