“Who is strong? The one who dominates his momentum.”
“Ezehu gibor? Ha-kovesh et yitzró.”
(Pirkei Avot 4:1)
1. Identity and time
Name and status
- Full name: Shimon ben Zomá (שמעון בן זומא).
- Cited almost always just as “Ben Zomá”without the title “rabbi”, because he died young and never received semijá (rabbinical ordination formal).
- It is a tanaita of the first third of the century II d.C., generation immediately after the destruction of the Second Temple (ad 70) and linked to the academy of Yavne.
Teachers and circle
- The sources present him as the chief disciple of R. joshua ben Jananiá (Nazir 8:1, Tosefta Jaguigá 2:6).
- It is contemporary Rabbi Akiva, and belongs to the group of sages that consolidate the halachah and the biblical exegesis after the catastrophe 70.
Academic reputation
- His scholarship became proverbial: “Who sees Ben Zomá in dreams, has secured the wisdom”.
- The Mishna describes it as “the last of the exegetes bible (darshanim)”; that is to say, the closing of an era of great masters of the interpretation of Scripture.
“Who is rich? One who is happy with his portion.”
“Ezehu ashir? Ha-somayach be-jelko.”
(Pirkei Avot 4:1)
2. Historical context and religious
Ben Zomá acts in a key period:
- After the Second Temple: the cult of sacrifice has ceased; the prayer, the study and the halachah is become the fulcrum of jewish life.
- Academy of Yavne: directed by Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai and his successors, is the center from where it was rebuilt pharisaic judaism-rabbinic.
- Generation of large systems: it is the season that are fixed structures of the Mishnah and defined methods of biblical exegesis and hermeneutics.
In this context, Ben Zomá stands out on two fronts:
- the biblical exegesis deep, especially on the Creation, and
- the ethics of character condensed in aphorisms famous.
“Who is honorable? One who honors others.”
“Ezehu mechubad? Ha-mechabed et ha-beriyot.”
(Pirkei Avot 4:1)
3. Traits and biographical anecdotes key
3.1. “The last of the darshanim”
The sources emphasize that his specialty was the interpretation of Scriptureboth in halachah as in agadá (teaching narrative). You said:
“With Ben Zomá died the last of the performers (darshanim)”.
That does not mean that there were more performers after, but it symbolizes the end of a type of teacher: exegete biblical classicfocused on the text, before turning more systematic to the Talmud.
3.2. Obsession with Creation (Maasé Bereishit)
The favorite subject Ben Zomá was the the first chapter of Genesisthe story of Creation.
- It raises questions about such expressions as “God did it” (Gen 1:7) and the verse “the earth was tohu va-vohu” (Gen 1:2).
- One of their questions was so bold that the tradition says that “with this verse, Ben Zomá shocked the whole world”.
A story describes how R. joshua ben Jananiá what is absorbed in these topics. Ben Zomá pass without saying goodbye, sunken in their thoughts about the Creation; when r. joshua hears it, declares to his disciples:
“Ben Zomá is outside” that is to say, it has crossed the limit of the speculation allowed.
This story shows two things:
- The intellectual potential Ben Zomá.
- And the danger the tradition sees in delve too much into the mysteries of the Creation (Maasé Bereshit) and the Merkavá.
4. Ben Zomá and the mystery of the “Pardés”
4.1. The story of the four who entered the Pardés
The agadá famous “the four who entered the Pardés (the ‘garden’ mystic)” mentions:
- Ben Azzai
- Ben Zomá
- Ajer (Elishá ben Abuja)
- Rabbi Akiva
The story talmudic (Jaguigá 14b) says:
- Ben Azzai looked and died.
- Ben Zomá looked and went mad (“nitgane”, “nitztaref”, that is to say, he suffered a mental disturbance).
- Ajer “cut the plantations” (became a heretic).
- Only Rabbi Akiva he entered in peace and left in peace.
4.2. Meaning of the myth
In the reading rabbinic classic and at the reception later mysticism:
- The Pardés it symbolizes the access to the highest levels of esoteric knowledgelinked to the secrets of Creation and of God.
- Ben Zomá is the prototype of the wise get to glimpse “the secret garden” but pay a psychological price very high.
The moral rabbinic is clear:
The intellect, without limits and without the framework of obedience, you can destabilize to the person, even if it is a great sage.
In historical terms, this explains why:
- His life was brief.
- And why never got to receive semijá, being always as a “talmid” bright, but not “Rabbi” with full authority.
5. Contribution halachic
Although her figure is more famous in the plane of the ethical and mystical, also left its mark on fall.
5.1. Exhibition about the Exodus and the Shema
Your derashá most famous is the one about the verse:
“So that you remember the day you came out of Egypt all the days of your life” (Deut 16:3).
Ben Zomá interprets that:
- “Your days” = day
- “All the days of thy life” = day and night
There concludes that the section of the Exodus (Num 15:37-41) should be recited both in the prayer of the morning as in the evening.
This interpretation is cited with praise by Rabbi Elazar ben Azariá in Berachot 1:5 and passed directly to the Haggadah of Passoverwhere it is explicitly mentioned.
5.2. Example of method halachic: the term “naquí” (clean)
In another teaching, Ben Zomá analyzes the word “naquí” (clean) in Exodus 21:28 (responsibility for an ox that kills). Draws daily use of the language to clarify its legal sense, a method close to the philology legal:
- Examines how to use “naquí” in the living language, and from there it defines its scope halachic.
This shows that it was not only a mystic but also a jurist fineattentive to the actual semantics of the words.
6. Ethical teachings central
The fame of Ben Zomá in popular tradition, comes mostly from Pirkei Avot 4:1, where formula four definitions are almost a programme of life.
6.1. Who is wise?
“Who is wise?
The one who learn from everyone.”
Biblical foundation: “From all my teachers I've learned” (Ps 119:99).
Axis of ethics:
- Wisdom is not a title or a position, but an attitude of lifelong learning.
- Disarm the hierarchy rigid: you can learn even from people considered inferior or ignorant.
- To the rabbinical tradition, this phrase is a direct blow against the pride's academic.
6.2. Who is strong?
“Who is strong?
The one who master your instinct (yetzer).”
Supported in Proverbs 16:32: it is better for he who rules his spirit than one who conquers a city.
Message:
- The force authentic is not physical, nor military, but moral and spiritual.
- The decisive battle is internal, against the impulse messynot only against external enemies.
6.3. Who is rich?
“Who is rich?
The one who is happy with his part.”
Rationale: “When you eat of the fruit of thy hands, happy you and well you will go” (Ps 128:2).
Key:
- Criticizes the insatiability economic.
- The true well-being is the satisfaction with what one has, not accumulation without limit.
- This maxim has become one of the phrases most-cited of rabbinic judaism.
6.4. Who is honorable?
“Who is honorable?
The one who honor their fellow men.”
It is supported in passages like 1 Samuel 2:30 (“those who honor me, I honor you”).
Central Idea:
- The honor is not claimed, it is reflected.
- The dignity is measured by the ability to recognize the dignity of the othernot for the honors that one receives.
These four definitions have been the subject of numerous comments later, precisely because redefine the social values key (wisdom, strength, riches, honor) in terms ethical and non-material.
7. Other important lessons
7.1. About the multitude of human and gratitude
A agadá tells Ben Zomá, seeing a large crowd at the Temple mount, and blessed God, saying, in summary:
- “Blessed is the One who created all of these people to serve me.”
- He compares his situation with that of Adamthat had to plow, sow, harvest, grind, knead and bake before eating, while he gets up and is all ready to go thanks to the work of many trades.
Message:
- It is not self-centeredness, but awareness of interdependence: the individual lives thanks to the work of many.
- Invited to a gratitude structural towards the society and, ultimately, to God, who supports that system.
7.2. The world, like the feast of God
Another teaching is presented by comparing two types of guests:
- The grateful guest, which acknowledges all the efforts of the host.
- The guest stingy, which minimizes the performance received.
Ben Zomá apply this to the man as host of God in the world:
The duty of the human being is “magnify the work of God” (Job 36:24), recognizing that everything created is an expression of your generosity.
Here you see a theology of the gratitude radical: the entire life reads like hospitality divine.
7.3. Shame and teshuvah
A phrase attributed to Ben Zomá:
“If in this world you avergonzaste in your teshuvah (repentance),
you don't need to be ashamed in front of God in the world to come.”
Idea of background:
- The shame healthy form part of the return process.
- The emotional cost that is paid by recognizing the sin prevents a shame deeper in the eschatological dimension.
8. Profile spiritual and intellectual
If we were to trace his profile:
- Intellectual bold
- Reach the limits of thought allowed on the Creation.
- It is the classic example of the wise peeks too the abyss of mystery.
- Ethical radical
- Redefines the social values: wisdom = all learn from one another; force = self-control; wealth = satisfaction; honor = honor to the other.
- Their formulas are brief, but a power conceptual huge.
- Mystical dangerous
- The episode of the Pardés places victim of excessive speculation mystical.
- The message of the tradition is pedagogical: the mystical without balance can destroy you.
- A bridge between halachah and agadá
- Joins the rigour legal (interpretation of terms such as “naquí”) with the theological depth (Exodus from Egypt, Creation), and the ethical practice (aphorisms of Avot).
9. Subsequent receipt and modern studies
- In the Haggadah of Passoverits interpretation on the remembrance of the Exodus day and night became a liturgical text, fixed.
- In the jewish mysticism later (Kabbalah), the story of the Pardés with Ben Zomá is used as a warning about the dangers of the access premature secrets.
- Academic studies modern discusses his figure as “moral philosopher” of the Mishnah, taking its maximum of Avot as a micro-ethics of character.
- Other studies trace how his obsession with the Creation became a case study of the limits of theological thought in rabbinic judaism.
10. What is essential about Ben Zomá
In summary, to have a solid vision of the tanaita Shimon ben Zomá:
- Time: Tanaita of the first third of the second century, a disciple of r. joshua ben Jananiá, a contemporary of Rabbi Akiva, active in the academy of Yavne.
- Status: Never received the title “Rabbi” because he died young and became the “talmid”, but with huge kudos; it was called “the last of the darshanim”.
- Focus on intellectual: Specialist biblical exegesisespecially the story of the Creation and the commandment to remember the Exodus.
- Pardés: One of the four that come to the “garden” mystic; his destination is mental disturbance, a symbol of the danger of excess of esotericism.
- Halachah: Sets the obligation of remember the Exodus night (direct impact in the Shema and the Haggadah), and develops legal interpretations based on the actual use of the language.
- Ethics: Its four definitions of wise, strong, rich and honorable (Avot 4:1) are one of the core ethical most cited of rabbinic judaism and condense revolution of values.
- Spirituality: Defends a vision of life as banquet offered by Godthat demands gratitude and recognition of human interdependence.
“The whole world was created to serve me... how Many trades working for a single meal is before me?” (Tractate Berachot 60b)
