Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov [II]

Second generation of Tannaim. From the students of Rabbi Akiva. Several years after the killing of Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues, when the decrees were slightly eased, all of Rabbi Akiva’s students gathered in one place before Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel ascended to the Nasi-ship. These were: Rabbi Yehuda [bar Ilai] and Rabbi Nechemia, Rabbi Meir [Ba'al Hanes] and Rabbi Yose [ben Halafta] and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Yose HaGelili and Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov. [שיר השירים רבה] And his teaching is "a kav and clean." [קב ונקי]. All of Rabbi Akiva's students compiled Baraitot and Toseftot.

His Sayings

Rabbi Yose bar Rabbi Hanina said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov: It is written concerning Elisha the prophet: "He passes our way continually" [II Kings 4:9]. Elisha the prophet did not pass by the Shunammite woman regularly, but only when he happened to be in Shunem! Thus, the word "continually" necessarily comes to teach us that whoever hosts a Torah scholar in his house and benefits him from his possessions, the scripture accounts it to him as if he offered sacrifices, such as the "continual offerings" (Temidin) from the root "Tamid" (continually). Rabbi Yose bar Rabbi Hanina said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov: A person should not stand in a high place and pray; rather, he should stand in a low place and pray, as it is stated: "From the depths I have called You, O Lord." [Psalms 130:1] A similar Baraita: A person should not stand during prayer on a chair or on a stool, even if they are not three handbreadths high, because he will be distracted by the thought that he might fall and will not be able to direct his heart in prayer. And he should not stand in a place three handbreadths high and pray, but in a low place and pray, because there is no haughtiness before the Omnipresent, as it is stated: "From the depths I have called You, O Lord." And it is written: "A prayer of the afflicted, when he is faint" [Psalms 102:1], which implies that it is proper to pray in a manner of humility and not in a manner of pride. Rabbi Yose bar Rabbi Hanina said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov: One who prays must align his feet one beside the other in order to resemble the angels. Since one who prays speaks with the Divine Presence, he must remove all bodily thoughts from his heart and resemble an angel, concerning whose feet it is said: "And their feet were a straight foot" [Ezekiel 1:7], appearing as one foot. Rabbi Yose bar Rabbi Hanina said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov: What is the meaning of what is written: "You shall not eat upon the blood"? [Leviticus 19:26] The scripture comes to say: Do not eat before you pray for your blood. Rabbi Yitzchak said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, who said in the name of Rabbi Yose bar Rabbi Hanina, who said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov: Anyone who eats and drinks and only then prays, concerning him the scripture says: "And Me you have cast behind your back." [I Kings 14:9] It would have been sufficient to write: "You have cast behind you," and the word "your back" [גוך] is superfluous! Therefore, he expounded: Do not read "your back" [גוך] but "your pride" [גאיך]. Thus said the Holy One, Blessed be He: And does this one, after becoming arrogant, accept upon himself the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven? Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: Whoever performs one mitzvah acquires one advocate, meaning: a good interceding angel, i.e., a defender who is the opposite of the accuser, from the expression: "enemy of contention." And whoever commits one transgression acquires one accuser, meaning: a bad intercessor, from the expression: "one who raises contention." Repentance and good deeds are like a shield against calamity, meaning: repentance after bad deeds or good deeds preceded by repentance, as our Sages of blessed memory said: "In the place where penitents stand, perfectly righteous individuals cannot stand"; they are like a shield against the calamities that gather and come according to the way of the world. [אבות ד, יא. רע"ב ועיקר תוי"ט]