Hello Everyone,
Yesterday we saw Rav Kook’s lesson taken from one of the most dramatic stories in the Talmud.
The story tells about the marriage of Rabbi Akiva to Rachel, the daughter of Kalba Savua. Before Rabbi Akiva became Rabbi Akiva he was simply Akiva, an unlettered and poor peasant. Rachel on the other hand was the daughter of one of the most prominent and wealthiest leaders of the Jewish community. When Akiva and Rachel were engaged to be married Kalba Savua was outraged. He disowned Rachel and vowed that she would never benefit from his property. Rachel and Akiva married despite the opposition of Kalba Savua. They were so poor that they slept on straw. Rachel would pick the straw out of her hair, and when Akiva saw this he told her that could he afford to, he would buy her an ornament called “Jerusalem of Gold.” One day Eliyahu appeared to the couple. He pretended to be a poor man begging for straw so that his wife who was in labor could lay down on something soft. Akiva then told Rachel, “You see, there is someone poorer than us.”
At that point Rachel said the words that may have changed Jewish history; she told her husband to go to a yeshiva. Akiva went off for twelve years of study at the academy of Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua who were the greatest scholars of their time. During this time Rachel lived in abject poverty. After twelve years Rabbi Akiva returned home. As he approached his house he heard an evil neighbor mock Rachel. The evil neighbor told Rachel that her father was right. Akiva was totally unworthy of Rachel and his leaving for all these years just proves the point. Rachel answered that if she could, she would tell her husband to spend another twelve years in the yeshiva.
When Rabbi Akiva heard these words he turned around and went back to the yeshiva for another twelve years.
Finally Rabbi Akiva returned home with 24,000 pairs of students. Rachel left her home to greet her husband, dressed in her rags. The evil neighbor mocked her again, saying that she will never gain admittance to Rabbi Akiva looking as she did. Rachel was confident that her husband will recognize her. As Rachel approached Rabbi Akiva his students tried to push her away but Rabbi Akiva told them to leave her be saying, “What is mine and yours is hers.”[1]
This story is in masechet Nedarim. In masechet Shabbat there is a discussion regarding the wearing of jewelry on Shabbat. The Halacha restricts the wearing of jewelry on Shabbat by women because there is a concern that they may remove their jewelry to show it to their friends and then carry the jewelry in the street.
In the course of this discussion the “Jerusalem of Gold” ornament is mentioned.
תלמוד בבלי מסכת שבת דף נט עמוד א- נט עמוד ב
לא בעיר של זהב מאי בעיר של זהב רבה בר בר חנה אמר רבי יוחנן ירושלים דדהבא כדעבד ליה רבי עקיבא לדביתהו
The Gemarah asks, “What is the Jerusalem of Gold ornament?” The Gemarah answers that it is the ornament that Rabbi Akiva purchased for his wife.
The plain reading of the suggyah indicates that the only concern is that women may carry their jewelry in the street. Rav Kook uncovers another level of meaning in this suggyah.
Rav Kook says that there is a need to find a balanced between asceticism and extravagance. The allure of luxury has led to much misery in families and even in entire countries.
The rabbis didn’t limit the wearing of jewelry on Shabbat because they opposed ornaments. The rabbis appreciated beauty. Rabbi Akiva bought a Jerusalem of Gold ornament for Rachel. But this ornament was not a mere piece of jewelry. It was a beautiful example of the jeweler’s art but it contained within it a deep meaning. It merged physical beauty with the spiritual beauty of Jerusalem. The blending of the physical with the spiritual is the beauty which the Torah appreciates.
Nevertheless the rabbis forbade wearing even the Jerusalem of Gold ornament on Shabbat. The reason for this is that the pursuit of beauty needs to be controlled; it needs limits and must be reined in. Shabbat is the day which has an inherent beauty given by Hashem. Superficial physical beauty is distracting, we cannot allow it to distract us from the essence the Sabbath. That is why we do not wear jewelry on Shabbat.[2]
Thanks to everyone who participated in the shiur.
Stuart Fischman
[1] It almost goes without saying that Kalba Savua annulled his vow after Rabbi Akiva’s rise to fame.
[2] I want to emphasize that the shiur on Sunday is a shiur on the עין איה. It is not a shiur on Halacha. The Gemarah discusses a prohibition against wearing jewelry on Shabbat. The accepted practice is to be lenient with regard to this prohibition. The basis for the leniency is the accepted Ashkenazic ruling that our cities do not have רשות הרבים .