A Soulful Journey

Ben Azzai teaches: “Don’t be despising/scornful / Al   t’hi baz to any person/adam, and don’t be rejecting / v’al t’hi maflig   to any thing/davar, for you don’t have a person who does not have his  hour, and you don’t have a thing that does not have its place.” (4:3) Here is the moral: Everyone has their place and every person has their moment. Make some space. Let someone become who they need to be.

Four entered the Garden, Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Acher and Rabbi Akiva.  Rabbi Akiva said to them, “When you arrive at the place of stones of pure marble do not say “Water, water!” Because it is said, he who speaks falsehood will not stand before My eyes (Psalms 101:7).  Ben Azzai looked upon the sixth Palace and saw the ethereal splendor of the marble plates with which the Palace was tessellated and his body could not bear it.  Whereupon he died. Scripture says about him, “Blessed in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his righteous" (Psalms 116:15).  Ben Zoma beheld the splendor and was afflicted. Scripture says about him, "If you have found honey, all your fill because if you become surfeited you will vomit" (Proverbs 25:16).  Acher cut his shoots. Rabbi Akiva departed in peace  - Hagiga 14b and Lesser Hehlaot Mysticism has always had a very narrow and defined place in Judaism. It is meant for the devout, t...

"Which is the most important verse in the Torah?" Rabbi Akiva said, " 'Thou shalt love they neighbor as thyself'; This is a fundamental teaching upon which the entire Torah is based'." HIs colleague, Ben Azzai, said, "The greatest teaching in  the Torah is "This is the book of the generations of man, in the likeness of God, He made him." Akiva moves us to treat one another with kindness. Azzai instructs us to first know that we are each crafted in the image of our Maker.

“In the Talmud there is a competition-which is the most important person in the Bible. Only two verses are selected as finalists. The sage, Rabbi Akiva, says it is, “Love the neighbor as thyself,”-an obvious choice.     But the sage, Ben Azzai, counters with a rather obscure choice that none of us would likely pick.   His s election for the most important person in the Bible, "This is the book of the generations of Adam, on the day God created him...". Far too many of us show affection and respect for those we know, those who look like us, we have the same color of skin, who live in the same neighborhoods, who are of the same economic strata, and share the same religious beliefs.   So along comes Ben Azzai and raises the bar.   He warns that it is not enough to impact the neighborhood we know, that human beings have an obligation to impact our generation in those not yet born.”   - Rabbi Marvin Hier