Tanna

Shimon ben Azzai

שמעון בן עזאי

The Tanna whose soul yearned only for Torah, colleague and talmid of Rebbi Akiva, remembered as the model of diligence and one of the four who entered the Pardes.

YahrzeitNot recorded

LifetimeEarly 2nd century CE

KeverTzfasTraditional burial cave of Ben Azzai and other Tannaim, Tzfas, Eretz Yisroel

Biography

Early Life

Shimon ben Azzai zy"a, known throughout the Mishnah and Gemara simply as Ben Azzai, lived in Eretz Yisroel in the early second century, in the hard generations that followed the destruction of the Second Beis HaMikdash. Of his father, Azzai, nothing is recorded beyond his name, and nothing is known of the place or year of his birth.

It is told that as a young man he was still unlearned, and that his path to Torah followed a remarkable family pattern. Years earlier, the daughter of Kalba Savua had sent the unlearned Akiva away to learn Torah, and he returned as the great Rebbi Akiva. Rebbi Akiva's own daughter did the same for Ben Azzai. She became betrothed to him and sent him to learn, and he too grew into one of the great sages of Israel. People would say of her: the ewe follows the ewe, the daughter follows the ways of her mother.

Once he began to learn, Torah became his whole life. His soul clung to it so completely that he never set up a home of his own, and he spent his days in the beis medrash.

With Rebbi Akiva

Ben Azzai learned from Rebbi Akiva, but he was more than an ordinary student. He would speak to his rebbi directly, as a colleague. Once the question was a house that collapsed on a mother and her son, when no one knew which of them had died first. The schools of Shammai and Hillel had agreed on that case, yet Rebbi Akiva offered a view of his own. Ben Azzai protested that they had enough trouble with the cases where those schools disagreed. The Gemara learns from his tone that he was a talmid chaver (a student who is also a colleague) of Rebbi Akiva.

His regard for his teacher had no limit. It is taught that Ben Azzai once said that all the sages of Israel seemed to him as thin as the peel of garlic, except for this bald one, meaning Rebbi Akiva. The respect went both ways. Rebbi Akiva taught a lesson in humility in the name of Ben Azzai: move two or three places down from the seat you deserve and wait until you are told to come up. Better to be told to come up than to be told to go down.

Ben Azzai was a close companion of another great student of that circle, Shimon ben Zoma. The two are often mentioned together, and both were known by their fathers' names rather than by the title Rabbi, though they stood among the giants of their generation. In the Gemara's list of sages who were never called Rabbi, Ben Azzai is named first.

Devoted to Torah

Ben Azzai's opinions appear throughout the Mishnah, in matters as varied as the dates for tithing animals and the laws of yichus (family lineage). He was present on the historic day when the sages appointed Rebbi Elazar ben Azarya as head of the yeshiva, and he later testified to a tradition he had received from the seventy-two elders on that day: that Shir HaShirim and Koheles are holy Scripture. Rebbi Akiva declared that no one in Israel had ever doubted Shir HaShirim, for all the Kesuvim are holy, and Shir HaShirim is the holiest of all. He also reported finding a scroll of family records in Yerushalayim, which helped settle a question about the laws of lineage.

He was careful never to decide a question beyond what he could truly know. When the sages differed over the date on which the new year begins for tithing animals, Rebbi Meir holding one view and Rebbi Elazar and Rebbi Shimon another, Ben Azzai ruled that the animals born in Elul must be tithed by themselves, so that the halacha would be kept according to both opinions. The Gemara asks why so sharp a mind did not simply weigh the arguments and decide. Rebbi Yochanan explains that each side had received its view as a tradition, handed down all the way from the last of the Neviim, Chaggai, Zechariah and Malachi. Before a received tradition, even Ben Azzai would not rely on his own reasoning.

What the sages remembered most of all was his diligence. When Ben Azzai passed away, the Mishnah says, the diligent ceased from the world. His learning was so pure that the joy of Sinai seemed to return as he connected the Torah to the Neviim and the Neviim to the Kesuvim.

His greatness was felt even in the world of dreams. The Gemara teaches that a person who sees Ben Azzai in a dream may hope to grow in chassidus (piety), the same quality the Gemara saw in his passing.

His Enduring Legacy

Ben Azzai was one of four sages who entered the Pardes (literally, the orchard), the realm of the deepest secrets of the Torah, together with Ben Zoma, Elisha ben Avuyah and Rebbi Akiva. Ben Azzai gazed at the Shechinah and his soul left him. The Gemara applies to him the verse in Tehillim: Precious in the eyes of Hashem is the death of His pious ones.

The day and year of his passing were not recorded, so there is no fixed yahrzeit. He left no children. A tradition recorded in the Middle Ages places his resting place in a burial cave in Tzfas, together with other Tannaim.

His teachings still shape Jewish life. In Pirkei Avos he urges every Jew to run to the smallest mitzvah, because one mitzvah brings another, and he warns never to look down on any person, because every person has his hour. When Rebbi Akiva called the mitzvah to love your fellow as yourself a great principle of the Torah, Ben Azzai pointed to an even greater one: the verse that every human being descends from Adam, created in the image of Hashem.

To this day Jews turn to Ben Azzai as the sage whose soul yearned for Torah, whose learning burned with the fire of Sinai, and who taught that every person and every mitzvah is precious.

Stories

The Fire Around Ben Azzai

As Ben Azzai sat linking verses of the Torah, Neviim and Kesuvim, fire blazed around him, and he explained to Rebbi Akiva where it came from.

It is told that Ben Azzai was once sitting and expounding the Torah, and fire was blazing all around him.

Some people went to Rebbi Akiva. Rebbi, they told him, Ben Azzai is sitting and teaching, and fire is burning around him.

Rebbi Akiva went to see for himself. I heard that you were expounding and fire was burning around you, he said to his talmid. Yes, Ben Azzai answered.

Rebbi Akiva wondered whether the fire had come from the study of the Maaseh Merkavah, the most hidden secrets of the Torah. Perhaps you were busy with the secrets of the Merkavah? he asked.

No, said Ben Azzai. I was only sitting and stringing together words of Torah, like pearls on a thread. I connected the Torah to the Neviim, and the Neviim to the Kesuvim, and the words were as joyful as on the day they were given at Sinai, and as sweet as when they were first given. And when they were first given at Mount Sinai, were they not given in fire? As the verse says: The mountain was burning with fire up to the heart of the heavens.

Ben Azzai was not reaching for anything hidden. He was simply learning the words of the Torah that every Jew knows, with so much love and freshness that they became new again, and the fire of Sinai returned to light up the room.

Source: Midrash Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:10 (on Shir HaShirim 1:10, 'your neck with strings of beads'); parallel in Midrash Vayikra Rabbah 16:4.

Practical lessonConnect one verse to another

This week, when you learn a pasuk in the parsha, look for one other place in Tanach where the same word or idea appears. Many Chumashim list such cross-references in the margin. Read the two places side by side and ask what each one adds to the other. Even five minutes of linking verses together can make familiar words feel as fresh as the day they were given.

My Soul Yearns for Torah

When his colleagues challenged him for not marrying, Ben Azzai answered with the deepest truth of his life: his soul longed only for Torah.

It is told that the sages once discussed the great mitzvah of having children. Each one spoke of how serious it is to neglect it. Ben Azzai spoke most strongly of all. A person who does not fulfill this mitzvah, he said, is as though he sheds blood and diminishes the image of Hashem in the world.

His colleagues turned to him. There are those who teach well and do well, they said, and there are those who do well but do not teach well. But you teach well and do not do well. You speak so beautifully about this mitzvah, yet you yourself have never married.

Ben Azzai did not argue with them, and he did not make light of the mitzvah. He simply told them the truth of his heart. What can I do? he said. My soul yearns for Torah. Let the world be kept going by others.

Ben Azzai never made light of the mitzvah; a moment before, he had taught its importance more forcefully than anyone. His answer was simply the truth of his own heart, a soul so bound up with Torah that it could not turn to anything else. When he passed away, the Mishnah said, the diligent ceased from the world.

Ben Azzai's honesty is part of his greatness. He did not pretend to be what he was not, and he did not lower the mitzvah to excuse himself. He named his longing plainly, and he spent his whole life fulfilling it.

Source: Gemara, Yevamos 63b (Talmud Bavli), the exchange also in Tosefta Yevamos 8:5 (Sefaria numbering), where the challenge comes from Rebbi Elazar ben Azarya; English: The William Davidson Talmud (Koren–Steinsaltz translation), Yevamos 63b. 'The diligent ceased': Mishnah Sotah 9:15.

Practical lessonFind what your soul longs to learn

Ask yourself honestly which part of Torah makes your heart beat faster: a certain sefer, a parsha, a halacha topic, mussar or Tehillim. This week, give that longing a fixed place in your day, even ten minutes, at a time when nothing will interrupt you. Put your phone in another room for those minutes. A small seder learned with real yearning can become the most alive part of your day.

The Four Who Entered the Pardes

Four great sages entered the orchard of the Torah's deepest secrets, and Ben Azzai's soul went out in longing as he gazed at the Shechinah.

It is told that four sages once entered the Pardes, the orchard of the highest secrets of the Torah. They were Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Elisha ben Avuyah, who would later be called Acher, the other one, and Rebbi Akiva.

Before they set out, Rebbi Akiva, the eldest among them, warned his companions. When you reach the stones of pure marble, he told them, do not say: Water, water. For the verse says that one who speaks falsehood will not stand before My eyes.

Each of the four came out of the Pardes differently. Ben Azzai gazed at the Shechinah and died. About him the verse says: Precious in the eyes of Hashem is the death of His pious ones. Ben Zoma gazed and was harmed. Of him the verse says: If you have found honey, eat only what is enough for you. Elisha ben Avuyah cut down the young plants, turning away from the path of Torah. Only Rebbi Akiva entered in peace and left in peace.

Ben Azzai's whole life had been a longing to come close to Hashem through His Torah. When he finally stood at the place of that closeness, his soul went out to it and did not return. The Gemara does not describe his passing as a punishment. It describes it with the tenderness of the verse, as the precious passing of a chassid whose soul simply rose to its source.

Source: Gemara, Chagigah 14b (Talmud Bavli), baraisa also in Tosefta Chagigah 2:2 (Sefaria numbering); English: The William Davidson Talmud (Koren–Steinsaltz translation), Chagigah 14b; another version in Talmud Yerushalmi, Chagigah 2:1.

Practical lessonGrow with a guide beside you

Only Rebbi Akiva came out of the Pardes in peace, and he was the one who knew the warnings of the road. When you want to grow in an area of avodah that feels lofty, such as deeper davening, Kabbalah or a new chumrah, do not go alone. This week, choose one question about your spiritual growth and bring it to a rav or a mentor you trust. Let someone who knows the path walk part of it with you.

Teachings

One Mitzvah Brings Another

Ben Azzai teaches in Pirkei Avos: Run to do an easy mitzvah just as you would a weighty one, and flee from sin. For one mitzvah draws another mitzvah after it, and one sin draws another sin after it. The reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah, and the reward of a sin is a sin. A person may think that small mitzvos hardly matter. Ben Azzai shows that each one opens a door. A kind word leads to a favor, a favor leads to a friendship, and a friendship leads to a chance to help again. The same is true in the other direction, which is why he urges us to run from even a small wrong. The greatest reward for doing a mitzvah, he teaches, is that it makes the next one easier to reach.

Pirkei Avos 4:2

Practical lessonGrab the small mitzvah

Today, look for one small mitzvah you would normally let pass: holding a door, answering amen out loud, putting a coin in a tzedakah box, returning a cart, saying a brachah slowly. Do it quickly, the moment you notice it. Then watch for the next opportunity that follows. Try to string three small mitzvos together in one day, and see how one draws the next.

Every Person Has His Hour

Ben Azzai used to say: Do not look down on any person, and do not dismiss anything as useless. For there is no person who does not have his hour, and there is nothing that does not have its place. It is easy to judge people by how they seem today, quiet or awkward, young or struggling. Ben Azzai, who is said to have come to Torah as an unlearned young man and became one of the great sages of Israel, knew how wrong such judgments can be. Every person has been placed in the world for a reason, and there will come a moment when he alone can do what is needed. The same is true of every object and every event. Respect for others is not only good manners; it is recognizing that Hashem has a plan for each of them.

Pirkei Avos 4:3

Practical lessonNotice the overlooked

Think of someone in your circle who is often overlooked: a quiet classmate, an elderly neighbor, a new face in shul, a coworker who rarely speaks. This week, start a real conversation with that person, and ask about something they know or care about. Listen fully. You may discover that this is their hour, and that they have something you needed to hear.

The Greatest Principle of the Torah

Rebbi Akiva taught that the mitzvah to love your fellow as yourself is a great principle of the Torah. Ben Azzai pointed to an even greater one, the verse in Bereishis: This is the book of the generations of Adam, on the day that Hashem created man, in the likeness of Hashem He made him. The Midrash gives an example: a person might think, since I was insulted, let my friend be insulted too. Rebbi Tanchuma answers that if you do so, know whom you are shaming, for in the likeness of Hashem He made him. Ben Azzai's verse does not depend on how we feel. Every human being, without exception, comes from the same Adam and carries the image of Hashem. The respect we owe each other rests on that foundation.

Sifra, Kedoshim 4:12 (on Vayikra 19:18 and Bereishis 5:1); Midrash Bereishis Rabbah 24:7

Practical lessonSee the image of Hashem

The next time someone irritates you, in traffic, on the phone or at home, pause before you answer and say to yourself quietly: this person was made in the image of Hashem. Then let your words reflect that. Try it at least once a day this week. Over time, that one sentence can change the way you see everyone around you.

Family & talmidim

Teachers: Rebbi Akiva (talmid and colleague)

Historical sources