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The Tarmodians' Eyes: Hashem Prepares Us in Advance

Name a tzaddik: tap for who he wasTitle a sefer

Shabbos 21b
מִצְוָתָהּ מִשֶּׁתִּשְׁקַע הַחַמָּה עַד שֶׁתִּכְלֶה רֶגֶל מִן הַשּׁוּק. וְעַד כַּמָּה? אָמַר רַבָּה בַּר בַּר חָנָה אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: עַד דְּכָלְיָא רִיגְלָא דְתַרְמוֹדָאֵי
Its mitzvah is from sunset until the foot ceases from the marketplace. And until when is that? Rabbah bar bar Chanah said in the name of R' Yochanan: until the feet of the Tarmodians are gone.
119The holy Arizal hinted at hidden, sealed secrets in these words of the Gemara, “until the feet of the Tarmodians are gone.” By our small understanding we may explain them through another passage in the Gemara. Someone asked Hillel, “Why are the eyes of the Tarmodians [a people of the desert] terutos?” He answered, “You have asked a great question, she'elah gedolah: because they live among the sands.”1 gives two explanations there.2 The holy Kozhnitzer Maggid explains the passage according to the first.3 But on that reading it is hard to see what makes this “a great question.” On Rashi's second explanation, that is what makes it a great question: Hillel meant, you have asked about something that shows how great (gedolim) are the works of Hashem, Who created not a single thing in vain, Heaven forbid. He devises many plans “so that no one banished should stay banished from Him.”4 He looks ahead to where each creature will live, and creates for it the tools that suit that place. That is why the Tarmodians were created with round eyes, as Rashi explains, so that the wind would not get into them, and they could live on the face of the earth with open eyes.
[לט] מִצְוָתָהּ מִשֶּׁתִּשְׁקַע הַחַמָּה עַד שֶׁתִּכְלֶה רֶגֶל מִן הַשּׁוּק וְעַד כַּמָּה עַד דְּכָלְיָא רִגְלָא דְתַרְמוֹדָאֵי (שבת כ"א). האר"י הַק' רָמַז בְּאֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים סוֹדוֹת צְפוּנִים וּכְמוּסִים חֲתוּמִים וּסְתוּמִים. וּלְפִי קַט שִׂכְלֵינוּ נוּכַל לְפָרֵשׁ כִּי אִיתָא בְּשַׁבָּת (ל"א ע"א) שָׁאַל לְהִלֵּל מִפְּנֵי מָה עֵינֵיהֶם שֶׁל תַּרְמוֹדִים תְּרוּטוֹת א"ל שְׁאֵלָה גְּדוֹלָה שָׁאַלְתָּ מִפְּנֵי שֶׁדָּרִים בֵּין הַחוֹלוֹת. עיי"ש ברש"י הַק' שְׁנֵי פֵּירוּשִׁים. ועפ"י פֵּירוּשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן מְפָרֵשׁ הַמַּגִּיד הַק' מקאזניץ [עיי"ש]. אוּלָם לִכְאוֹרָה אֵינוֹ מוּבָן מַה זֶּה שְׁאֵלָה גְּדוֹלָה. אוּלָם עפ"י פִּי' הַשֵּׁנִי מרש"י ז"ל הַפֵּי' הוּא שֶׁשָּׁאַלְתָּ דָּבָר שֶׁנִּיכָּר ע"י כַּמָּה גְּדוֹלִים מַעֲשֵׂה ה' שֶׁלֹּא נִבְרָא דָּבָר אֶחָד לָרִיק ח"ו. וְחוֹשֵׁב מַחֲשָׁבוֹת רַבּוֹת לְבַל יִדַּח מִמֶּנּוּ נִדָּח ח"ו וְצוֹפֶה וּמַבִּיט בְּאֵיזֶה מָקוֹם יְהִי' דִּירָתוֹ שֶׁל אוֹתוֹ נִבְרָא, וּבוֹרֵא לוֹ כֵּלִים לְפִי אוֹתוֹ הַמָּקוֹם לְפִיכָךְ נִבְרְאוּ הַתַּרְמוֹדִים בְּעֵינַיִם תְּרוּטוֹת כפירש"י ז"ל לְבַל יִכָּנֵס בָּהֶם הָרוּחַ. לְמַעַן יוּכְלוּ לִחְיוֹת עַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה בְּעֵינַיִם פְּקוּחוֹת:
  1. Shabbos 31a. ↩
  2. Rashi on Shabbos 31a. First, terutos means “soft,” because the wind blows the sand into their eyes. Second, it means “round”: because they live among the sands, Hashem made their eyes without a long slit like ours, so that the sand would not get in. Rashi speaks of the sand; the Rebbe says the wind, which carries it. ↩
  3. Avodas Yisrael, Chanukah, where the Maggid reads the Tarmodians' dim eyes as the lower worlds, which the Chanukah light reaches too. ↩
  4. Shmuel II 14:14. ↩
In shortHillel called the Tarmodians' eyes “a great question” because, on Rashi's second reading, they show Hashem's foresight: He shapes each creature for the place it will live.
120From this every person can see that everything comes by hashgachah pratis, Hashem's watchful care over each individual, and not by happenstance or chance, Heaven forbid. Through this he will come to contemplate the greatness of Hashem, blessed be He.
וּמִזֶּה יוּכַל כָּל אָדָם לִרְאוֹת שֶׁכָּל דָּבָר הוּא בְּהַשְׁגָּחָה פְּרָטִית לֹא בְּדֶרֶךְ עֲרַאי וּמִקְרֶה חָלִילָה וְיִתְבּוֹנֵן עי"ז גְּדוּלַּת ה' ית"ש:
In shortThe Tarmodians' eyes teach that nothing happens by chance, and seeing Hashem's care in every detail leads a person to contemplate His greatness.
121This may also be the meaning of the Midrash Rabbah. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Aharon [when his tribe brought no offering at the Mishkan's dedication]: “By your life, yours is greater than theirs.” The korbanos last only as long as the Beis HaMikdash stands, “but the lamps endure forever.”5 The Ramban explains that this alludes to the lamps of the Chashmona'im.6 At first glance, are the lamps of the Chashmona'im greater than the korbanos? Moreover, the mitzvah of the Chanukah lamp is not for the Kohanim alone; it is entrusted to all Israel. But the meaning is that they reveal Hashem's kindness, alluded to in the word gedolah, “greater,” the same word as in Hillel's “great question.” He looks ahead to the end of all the generations, when we would be in a low state and in darkness. So that we would have something to strengthen ourselves with, He gave us the mitzvah of the Chanukah lamp.7
וְכֵן יוּכַל לִהְיוֹת הַפֵּי' במד"ר (בהעלותך) אָמַר לוֹ הקב"ה חַיֶּיךָ שֶׁלְּךָ גְדוֹלָה מִשֶּׁלָּהֶם הַקָּרְבָּנוֹת וְכוּ' אֲבָל הַנֵּרוֹת לְעוֹלָם קַיָּימִים. וּמְפָרֵשׁ הרמב"ן ז"ל שֶׁרָמַז לְנֵרוֹת חַשְׁמוֹנַאי. לִכְאוֹרָה הֲכִי נֵרוֹת חַשְׁמוֹנָאִים גְּדוֹלִים מִקָּרְבָּנוֹת. וּמַה גַּם כִּי אֵינֶנָּה לַכֹּהֲנִים בִּלְבַד רַק לְכָל יִשְׂרָאֵל מְסוּרָה מִצְוַת נ"ח. אוּלָם הַפֵּי' הוּא שֶׁנִּיכָּר בָּזֶה חַסְדֵי ה' הַמְּרוּמָּז בְּתֵיבַת גְּדוֹלָה, שֶׁצּוֹפֶה וּמַבִּיט עַד סוֹף כָּל הַדּוֹרוֹת כְּשֶׁנְּהִי' בְּשֵׁפֶל הַמַּצָּב וּבְחַשְׁכוּת שֶׁיְּהִי' לָנוּ בַּמֶּה לְחַזֵּק א"ע נָתַן לָנוּ מִצְוַת נ"ח (כתי"ק):
  1. Bamidbar Rabbah 15:6, on Parshas Beha'aloscha: “The korbanos are offered as long as the Beis HaMikdash stands, but the lamps endure forever.” The words “By your life, yours is greater than theirs” are in Rashi on Bamidbar 8:2. ↩
  2. Ramban on Bamidbar 8:2. ↩
  3. The sefer's note, added by his son, the editor: printed from his own handwriting. ↩
In shortAharon's lamps are “greater” because they reveal Hashem's foresight: long before our darkest exile, He gave us the Chanukah lights to strengthen ourselves.
Takeaway

Nothing in our lives is happenstance: Hashem shaped each creature for the place it would live. When we light the Chanukah lamp in a low and dark time, we can draw strength from knowing that He foresaw this very darkness and prepared this light for us long before.

Translated with AI assistance. Sources not yet mapped; not yet reviewed by a human editor.

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