Sphirat HaOmer - How Did the Students of Rabbi Aqiva Die?" (Video)

[Tag-MehirTzedek]

[edu]

In the last 2 weeks 2 major disasters have made the headlines in USA news.
1 a terrorist attack on the Boston marathon
2 a huge explosion (given the information currently available, due to some type of industrial accident) at a Texas factory for fertilizer.
We see from the above that although Terrorism is a major problem for the USA, but there are also other incidents that lead to huge loss of life.
Rav Shrira Gaon believes the death of most of Rabbi Akiva's students was due to anti-religious decrees of the Romans. We commemorate their deaths during the Sphirat HaOmer period,
There is a Talmudic source Yevamot 62b that attributes their death not to anti-religious decrees but to some type of sickness called Askara, which was a result of a spiritual problem of the students not sufficiently honoring one another.
Breishit Rabba parsha 61 seems to also back the Talmud's understanding of the event.
Although emotionally we might wish to blame the Romans for all the tragedies that befell the Jewish people, this may not necessarily be correct, just as emotionally we would like to blame the Muslim terrorists for the explosion of the fertilizer factory in Texas, but the facts indicate given what we currently know, that this is not the true cause.
Some Rabbis wish to make peace between Rabbi Shrira Gaon and the Talmud. Namely, they hold that the external reason for the death of the students was the anti-religious decrees of the Romans but the reason why the decrees succeeded was due to the spiritual failings of the students of Rabbi Akiva.
I have not read any explanation that attempts to resolve the contradiction between Rabbi Shrira Gaon and the Talmud, why the Talmud attributes the deaths to the sickness of Askara. However, if we are interested in making peace between the 2 sources, we can say that anti-religious decrees of the Romans created the poor health conditions that made the population less immune to Askara.
Alternately, maybe Askara and anti-religious decrees both caused deaths among Rabbi Akivas' students and the Talmud was relying on one historical source that put most of the blame on the Askara while Rav Shrira Gaon was relying on another historical source that puts the emphasis on the Romans.
Whatever explanation you choose (including one that I have not offered in this thread) I hope it is one that leaves the honor of both the Talmud and Rav Shrira Gaon intact.

[Tag-MehirTzedek]

 Actually it is Rav Shrira Gaons version of the Talmudh which means the copy that he was quoting soo it's not the Talmud vs him. Also the Meiri mentions the same thing. The Talmud as well was centered both internally and externally because of various reasons including for safety. Also at that time on Galut the only thing that could have been taken out was to respect each other, what is a Jew in Bavel to get by saying that they rebelled and fought? Who will they rebel against Bavel?

[edu]

Rashi in his commentary to Breishit(Genesis) 47:2 informs us that midrash Breishit Rabba is an aggada of the land of Israel.
Breishit Rabba parsha 61 also attributes the death of the students of Rabbi Akiva to the spiritual issue of how the students related one to each other
So I think that it is incorrect to portray the historical issue over what reallly happened to the students of Rabbi Akiva as a fight between the outlooks of the  Rabbis of Bavel (Babylon) and the Rabbis of the land of Israel
בראשית רבה (וילנא) פרשת חיי שרה פרשה סא

ר' עקיבא אומר אם היו לך תלמידים בנערותך עשה לך תלמידים בזקנותך שאין אתה יודע איזה מהם מתקיים לך זה או זה ואם שניהם כאחד טובים, י"ב אלף תלמידים היו לר"ע מעכו ועד אנטפריס וכולם בפרק אחד מתו, למה שהיתה עיניהם צרה אלו באלו ובסוף העמיד שבעה, רבי מאיר, ורבי יהודה, רבי יוסי, ור' שמעון, ורבי אלעזר בן שמוע, ורבי יוחנן הסנדלר, ור' אליעזר בן יעקב, ואית דאמרי ר' יהודה, ור' נחמיה, ורבי מאיר, רבי יוסי, ורשב"י, ור' חנינא בן חכינאי, ורבי יוחנן הסנדלר, א"ל בניי, הראשונים לא מתו אלא שהיתה עיניהם צרה אלו לאלו תנו דעתכם שלא תעשו כמעשיהם, עמדו ומלאו כל ארץ ישראל תורה,

[Tag-MehirTzedek]

Edu- Rav Shrira Gaon was the head of the academy in Bavel he was the de Facto top Rav of the world (in his time).

[edu]

We have a principle in Judaism that the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses usually holds more weight than one.
In addition to the sources I have already provided, also midrash Kohlelet Rabba Parsha 11 attributes the death of the students to the attitude one had to another.
The Talmud in Menachot 68b also provides an example of one student, who died during the Omer period, because of  a lack of respect for Rabbi Tarfon. In that example, the emphasis is entirely on the spiritual issue and no hint is made at the Romans.
By the way Bereishit Rabba which holds by the spiritual explanation for the death of the students seems to be much older (and much more widely used) than the writings of Rabbi Shrira Gaon.