by Rabbi Yisroel (Israel) Rubin
There’s an oft-quoted conversation in Talmud tractate Taanis 5b-6a, where Rabbi Yitzchak blesses Rabbi Nachman, using the metaphor of a tree with sweet fruit, abundant shade and a refreshing brook of water passing underneath. There’s even a popular contemporary Jewish song put to these words. I was (literally) cutting and pasting this for a student learning at the school, when it struck me that part of this conversation is very odd and seems out of place, even inappropriate.
Here’s a synopsis of the whole conversation (Talmud Taanit 5b-6a), let’s divide it into 4 parts:
1) DON’T TALK WHILE EATING
Rabbi Nachman and Rabbi Yitzchak were eating together. Rav Nachman said, “Tell us something (a teaching etc).” Rabbi Yitzchak replied, “For safety reasons you aren’t supposed to speak while you are eating.”
2) JACOB NEVER DIED
After the meal, Rabbi Yitzchak said, “Our forefather Jacob never died.” Rabbi Nachman argued: “Did they eulogize him, embalm him, and bury him in vain!?” To which Rabbi Yitzchak replied, “I learn this from a verse that connects Jacob to his descendents, just as they are alive, so is he.”
3) EFFECT OF RACHAV’S NAME
Then Rabbi Yitzchak said, “Whoever says Rachav’s (an attractive harlot who played a key role in the conquest of Jericho) name twice will have a stimulating physiological effect.” Rabbi Nachman said, “I can say her name twice and it has no effect on me.” So Rabbi Yitzchak explained: “It has such a real effect on those who knew her and with familiar with her.”
4) THE TREE BLESSING
They were about to leave. Rabbi Nachman asked Rabbi Yitzchak to bless him. Rabbi Yitzchak gave an analogy: “Once a man was walking in the desert. He was hungry, tired and thirsty. He came upon a tree that had deliciously sweet fruit, abundant shade and a brook of water passing underneath. He ate and drank and rested. He said to the tree: How shall I bless you? You already have sweet fruit and abundant shade and water nearby. I bless you that your offshoots should be like you!”
I have many questions on this piece of Talmud, and there are numerous commentaries to discuss as well. But for now let’s focus on this question: How did Rachav end up here? That’s the seemingly inappropriate part I had to cut around before presenting it to kids, made me think: what is it doing here in the first place? What’s the point of sharing that altogether and what does it have to do with anything they are speaking about?
Here’s how I see this Talmudic conversation: Rabbi Yitzchak was trying to explain how Jacob can live on through his descendents. If we live by Jacob’s vision, if we continue in his path, he lives on through us. How can we make that happen? Look at Rachav. People who are connected with her, merely say her name twice and it has a very stimulating effect. We ought to connect with Jacob (et al) like that. In fact, in the introduction to Tanya, the Alter Rebbe, paraphrases 3 words from this Rachav exchange to indicate that via a personal connection with the Rebbe, words have a much greater effect.
This is easier said than done, to create that level of intimacy, familiarity and connection with our righteous, our heritage and our past. So Rabbi Nachman asked for a blessing. In his analogy of the tree, Rabbi Yitzchak is telling Rabbi Nachman that it’s not about him. He doesn’t need the blessing. The main focus has to be about our children, about the next generation. We must do all we can to pass on this familiarity and connection and personal bond with Jacob (et al) to our children!
So #’s 2-4 are very much related. #2 is the mission to keep “Jacob” alive, living through us. #3 is the connection that makes that happen in a very real and personal way. #4 is the focus on this being passed on to our children. The “living on through descendents” of #2 and “offshoots be like you” of #4 are one and the same message. #3 is what makes that happen, what keeps it real, what keeps it going from generation to generation.
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The Rebbe often spoke passionately of #2 above, with “Jacob” referring to his father-in-law, the Previous Rebbe, that he lives on through his Chassidim. And we Chassidim today feel very much this way about the Rebbe. If we follow in his ways and live his mission, the Rebbe, our “Jacob” lives on through us. The above insight into the flow of this Talmudic conversation may lend additional depth to this Chassidic sentiment, how one is to live on with the Rebbe, how to continue to feel connected and how to pass that on to our children and all whom we interact with.